First - Last- Fair

Sunday, September 24, 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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What is fairness? That question comes to the fore today as we hear Jesus share a parable about a vineyard owner, and how he pays his workers.

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!

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First, Last, Fair

Psalm 145:1-9; Matthew 20:1-16

Union Presbyterian Church

September 24, 2023

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

Liturgist: Barbara Lustgarten Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube

Welcome

Announcements Barbara Lustgarten

Prelude Chris Bartlette

“He Giveth More Grace,” Mark Hayes

Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847

Call to Worship (responsive) Barbara Lustgarten

The steadfast love of the Lord

is from everlasting to everlasting.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;

there is no end to God’s greatness.

Who can be angry because God is so generous?

Who can complain about the love of the Lord?

We shall speak out about your great goodness;
We shall sing joyfully of your righteousness.

Hymn #661 W & R

“All People That on Earth Do Dwell,” Bradley Sowash

Used by permission.

All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
Him serve with joy, his praise forth tell,
Come ye before him and rejoice.

Know that the Lord is God indeed;
Without our aid he did us make;
We are his folk, he doth us feed,
And for his sheep he doth us take.

O enter then his gates with praise,
Approach with joy his courts unto;
Praise, laud and bless his name always,
For it is seemly so to do.

For why? The Lord our God is good,
His mercy is forever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood,
And shall from age to age endure.

Call to New Life

Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

Merciful God, you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you. We humbly confess our failures and ask for your mercy. We have not loved you with our whole hearts. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not done justice, loved kindness, or walked humbly with you, our God. But we trust in your loving-kindness and your great compassion. Restore us, we pray, to wholeness, and give us your peace. 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 145:1-9

I will exalt you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
there is no end to your greatness.

One generation shall praise your works to another
and shall declare your power.

I will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and all your marvelous works.

They shall tell of the might of your wondrous acts,
and I will recount your greatness.

They shall publish the remembrance of your great goodness;
they shall sing joyfully of your righteousness.

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Lord, you are good to all,
and your compassion is over all your works.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube, Joan Kellam, Rev. Jeff Kellam

Music: “Give Thanks,” Henry Smith

Used by permission, CCLI License #CSPL068847

Scripture Matthew 20:1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Sermon “First, Last, Fair”

Affirmation of Faith From the Confession of 1967

To be reconciled to God is to be sent into the world as God’s reconciling community. This community, the church universal, is entrusted with God’s message of reconciliation and shares God’s labor of healing the enmities which separate us from God and from each other. Christ has called the church to this mission and given it the gift of the Holy Spirit. The church maintains continuity with the apostles and with Israel by faithful obedience to this call.

Anthem

“By Your Mercy,” Craig Courtney

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

By Your mercy find in me

Your image, Lord, that I may be

A true reflection of Your face,

By Your mercy, by Your mercy.

By Your mercy speak to me

Clear words of hope and victory;

Your loving voice assuring me

Of Your mercy, of Your mercy.

Your righteousness exalts me to Your throne

Where I may stand by faith in Christ alone;

Not by any merit of my own,

But by Your mercy. By Your mercy.

By Your mercy set me free

In childlike faith to trust and see

Your truth in radiant robes displayed,

Robes of mercy, robes of mercy.

Your righteousness exalts me to Your throne

Where I may stand by faith in Christ alone;

Not by any merit of my own,

But by Your mercy. By Your mercy.

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 #718 W & R

“Forth In Your Name,” Charles Wesley

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Forth in your name, O Lord, I go
My daily labor to pursue;
You, Lord, alone I choose to know
In all I think or speak or do.

The task your wisdom has assigned
Here let me cheerfully fulfill;
In all my work your presence find

And prove your good and perfect will.

You I would set at my right hand
Whose eyes my inmost secrets view;
And labor on at your command
And offer all my work to you.

Help me to bear your easy yoke
And every moment watch and pray;
And still to things eternal look
And hasten to that glorious day.

Gladly for you may I employ
All that your generous grace has given;
And run my earthly course with joy,
And closely walk with you to heaven.

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.

And may grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the love of God,

and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit

be with us, this day, and every day. Amen.

Postlude Chris Bartlette

“Let All Things Now Living,” Lloyd Larson

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