Stewardship 2: The Faith of Christ

Sunday, October 8, 2023
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

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In a passage that starts with Paul boasting of all his religious credentials, he lands in an unexpected place: It is all nothing, and he would give it all up for Christ. In fact, he has given it all up for Christ. Citing his faith in Christ (the faith of Christ?) Paul encourages us to press on towards the goal of the heavenly call of God.

Join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship videos are available here or on Youtube following the service. You are invited!

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Stewardship 2

The Faith of Christ

Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4b-14

Union Presbyterian Church

October 8, 2023

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Liturgist: Joan Kellam Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube

Welcome Rev. Pat Raube

Announcements Joan Kellam

Prelude Choir

“Knowing You (All I Once Held Dear),” Graham Kendrick

Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847

All I once held dear, built my life upon,

All this world reveres and wars to own.

All I once thought gain I have counted loss,

Spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you,

There is no greater thing.

You’re my all, you’re the best,

You’re my joy, my righteousness,

And I love you Lord.

Now my heart’s desire is to know you more,

To be found in you, and known as yours.

To possess by faith what I could not earn,

All surpassing gift of righteousness.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you,

There is no greater thing.

You’re my all, you’re the best,

You’re my joy, my righteousness,

And I love you Lord.

Oh, to know the power of your risen life

And to know you in your sufferings.

To become like you in your death, my Lord,

So with you to live and never die.

Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you,

There is no greater thing.

You’re my all, you’re the best,

You’re my joy, my righteousness,

And I love you Lord.

Call to Worship (responsive) Joan Kellam

In the beginning, before time, before people,

before the world began,

God was.

Here and now, among us, beside us,

enlisting the people of earth for the purposes of heaven,

God is.

In the future, when we have turned to dust,

and all we know has found its fulfillment,

God will be.

Not denying the world, but delighting in it,

not condemning the world, but redeeming it,

through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit,

God was. God is. God will be.

Hymn #70 W & R

“Lord, for the Years,” Timothy Dudley-Smith, Michael Baughen

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
Urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
Sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided,
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.

Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
Speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
Teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us,
Lord of the word, receive your people's praise.

Lord, for our land, in this our generation,
Spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care;
For young and old, for this and every nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.

Lord, for our world; when we disown and doubt him,
Loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain;
Hungry and helpless, lost indeed without him,
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.

Lord, for ourselves; in living power remake us–
Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne;
Past put behind us, for the future take us,
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.

Call to New Life

Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

In you, gracious God, the widowed find a carer, the orphaned find a parent, the fearful find a friend. In you, the wounded find a healer, the penitent find a pardoner, the burdened find a counsellor. In you, the miserly find a beggar, the despondent find a laughter-maker, the legalists find a rule-breaker. In you, Jesus Christ, we meet our Maker and our match. And if some need to say, “Help me,” and if some need to say, “Save me,” and if some need to say, “Hold me,” and if some need to say, “Forgive me,” then let these be said now, in confidence, by us.

~Silent Prayer~

And we pray,

O Christ, whose heart is both welcome and warning, say to us, do to us, reveal within us the things that will make us whole. And we will wait. And we will praise you. Amen.

Words of Assurance

The Lord is kind and merciful;  

Slow to anger and filled with steadfast love.  

In the name of our brother, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ,  

We are forgiven. We are free. Alleluia! Amen.  

Sharing of the Peace

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us share a sign of God’s peace with one another.

Scripture Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    and the sky proclaims its Maker’s handiwork.
One day tells its tale to another,
    and one night imparts knowledge to another.
Although they have no words or language,
    and their voices are not heard,
their sound has gone out into all lands,
and their message to the ends of the world,

    where God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
    it rejoices like a champion to run its course.
It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens
    and runs about to the end of it again;
    nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

The teaching of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
and gives wisdom to the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, and endures forever;
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold;
sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

By them also is your servant enlightened;
and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can detect one’s own offenses?
Cleanse me from my secret faults.

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins;

let them not get dominion over me;
then I shall be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube

Music: “This is a Day of New Beginnings,” Carlton R. Young

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Scripture Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Sermon “The Faith of Christ”

Anthem

“God Gives Us a Future with Hope,” Pepper Choplin

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Surely I know the plans I have for you,

Plans for your welfare and not for harm.

Surely I know the plans I have for you,

Plans for a future that’s full of hope.

Our God lives, our God loves,

And gives us a future with hope.

Our God hears, our God cares,

And gives us a future with hope.

Our God gives a future.

Surely I know the plans I have for you,

Plans for your welfare and not for harm.

Surely I know the plans I have for you,

Plans for a future that’s full of hope, so full of hope.

Our God lives, our God loves,

And gives us a future with hope.

Our God hears, our God cares,

And gives us a future with hope.

If you call Me, I will answer.

If you pray to Me, I will hear.

When you search for Me, I will be there.

When you seek Me with all your heart,

You’ll find Me, you will find Me.

We know our God lives, our God loves,

And gives us a future with hope.

Our God hears, our God cares,

And gives us a future with hope.

So look to the future, embrace the future,

God gives the future, God gives us hope!

Affirmation of Faith From the Confession of 1967

God’s sovereign love is a mystery beyond the reach of the human mind. Human thought ascribes to God superlatives of power, wisdom, and goodness. But God reveals God’s love in Jesus Christ by showing power in the form of a servant, wisdom in the folly of the cross, and goodness in receiving sinful humanity. The power of God’s love in Christ to transform the world discloses that the Redeemer is the Lord and Creator who made all things to serve the purpose of his love.

Mission for Ministry: Stewardship Kevin Kelley

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s Prayer

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.

Prayer Response #475 W & R 

“Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ,” Frank von Christierson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Come with the vision and the strength I need  

To serve my God, and all humanity;  

Fulfillment of my life in love outpoured—  

My life in you, O Christ, your love in me.  

Call for Offering

Doxology

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Brian Wren

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.   

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God, all creatures high and low.

Praise God, in Jesus fully known:

Creator, Word, and Spirit one.

Prayer of Dedication

Hymn #723 W & R

“For the Fruit of All Creation,” Fred Pratt Green

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

For the fruit of all creation,
Thanks be to God.
For the gifts to every nation,
Thanks be to God.
For the plowing, sowing, reaping,
Silent growth while we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth's safekeeping,
Thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labor,
God's will be done.
In the help we give our neighbor,
God's will be done.
In our worldwide task of caring
For the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing,
God's will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit,
Thanks be to God.
For the good we all inherit,
Thanks be to God.
For the wonders that astound us,
For the truths that still confound us,
Most of all, that love has found us,
Thanks be to God.

Benediction

Go out into the world in peace.

Have courage.

Hold onto what is good.

Return no one evil for evil.

Strengthen the faint-hearted.

Support the weak.

Help the suffering.

Honor all persons.

Honor all creation.

Love and serve the Lord,

rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Postlude Chris Bartlette

“Heaven,” Ruth Elaine Schram

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.

“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.

“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal

The Call to Worship and the Prayer for Wholeness and Peace are taken from the A Wee Worship Book, c) 1999 by Wild Goose Worship Group.