ORDER OF WORSHIP - OCTOBER 19TH, 2025

Union Church
19 minutes ago
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ORDER OF WORSHIP

OCTOBER 19TH, 2025 10:30 AM

NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

**Kindly stand if you are able

PRELUDE John Coates

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL TO WORSHIP (Adapted from Psalm 119)

LEADER: Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long.

PEOPLE: Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always

with me.

LEADER: I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your decrees are my

meditation.

PEOPLE: I do not turn away from your ordinances, for you have taught me.

LEADER: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

PEOPLE: Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false

way.

INVOCATION

Lord, we feel your spirit in this place. We ask for your blessings as we worship here

together.

**OPENING HYMN “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” Red #638

CALL TO CONFESSION

The Lord hears our prayers and knows our most intimate thoughts. We pray not to be given gifts, but to let God know we understand and accept his vision for the church.

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING

Lord, we see injustice all around us, yet we are too often slow to respond. Help

us to see our neighbors when they need our help and give the courage and

strength to provide the help needed. Forgive us when we respond too slowly or

not at all. We understand that we must do better, and we commit to making the

most of the gifts you have provided us.

(A moment for silent personal confession)

ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS

The justice of the Lord will not be denied, neither in this life or the next. All sins can be

forgiven, all sinners can be redeemed.

**GLORIA PATRI Avery & Marsh (Back of the Red hymnal)

PASSING OF THE PEACE

**AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (adapted from the Scottish Confession of Faith)

We confess and acknowledge one only God, to whom only we must cleave, whom only we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom only we must put our trust; who is eternal, infinite, unmeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible: one in substance, and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and in earth, as well visible as invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable Providence, to such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice has appointed them, to the Manifestation of his own glory.

HYMN OF PRAISE “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” Red #486

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Dear God, let these words sound forth clearly so that all might gain a greater understanding of your will.

SCRIPTURE READINGS

OLD TESTAMENT Jeremiah 31:27-34 Rob Ferguson

NEW TESTAMENT 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

GOSPEL Luke 18:1-8

SERMON MESSAGE “When Do We Get Justice?” James Phillips

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE CHURCH

And Lord we pray for those in our own hearts whose names you already know, for their

own healing and comfort, in your name and that of our redeemer Jesus Christ, who

taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS:

Let us return to God the offerings of our life and the gifts of the earth. May our gifts be a blessing to those who receive them. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

OFFERTORY “Lord of All Good” Red # 645

**PRAYER OF THANKS

We thank you, our Lord for those gifts to us that we send to you for your work and ours

in congregation, community, and culture. Guide us in good use as we ask in Jesus’

name. Amen

**DOXOLOGY Avery & Marsh (Back of the Red hymnal)

HYMN OF PARTING ”Blest Be the Tie That Binds” Red #708

BENEDICTION

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or

imagine. -Adapted from Ephesians 3:20

POSTLUDE “Lead On, O King Eternal” Red # 747

John Coates, Piano