On the day we celebrate the Reign of Christ, we find our king under arrest, standing before the man who has the power of life and death over him. (Or does he?) Pilate challenges Jesus with questions, and Jesus challenges Pilate right back.
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Last Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reign of Christ Sunday
Testimony to the Truth
Psalm 93; John 18:33-38a
Union Presbyterian Church
November 24, 2024
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Pat Sullivan Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome
Announcements Pat Sullivan
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“O Lord, Thou Art My God and King,” Edward Broughton
©2010, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
* Call to Worship
Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice!
Christ will reign forever and ever.
The Lord is robed in majesty and girded in strength.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
God has established the world, and God’s realm will never be shaken.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
God will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
* Hymn # 150 PH
“Come, Christians, Join to Sing”
(Public Domain)
Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia! Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King;
Alleluia! Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
Before His throne rejoice;
Praise is His gracious choice;
Alleluia! Amen!
Come, lift your hearts on high;
Alleluia! Amen!
Let praises fill the sky;
Alleluia! Amen!
He is our guide and friend;
To us He’ll condescend;
His love shall never end;
Alleluia! Amen!
Praise yet our Christ again;
Alleluia! Amen!
Life shall not end the strain;
Alleluia! Amen!
On heaven’s blissful shore
His goodness we’ll adore,
Singing forevermore,
“Alleluia! Amen!”
* Call to New Life
In Christ, God came to reconcile all things. God came to bring peace. Trusting in God’s grace, let us open our hearts and lives to God’s healing.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace
Righteous God, you have crowned Jesus Christ as Lord of all. We confess that we have not yielded our lives to his Way and are slow to acknowledge his sovereignty. We give allegiance to the powers of this world, and fail to be governed by his love, justice, and peace.
[Silent Prayer]
And we pray,
In your mercy, forgive and renew us. Lift us up so that we might follow in Jesus’ Way and be instruments of his peace. We pray in his holy name. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
The Lord is kind and merciful.
God overflows with steadfast love.
By the love and mercy of God, we are forgiven and made whole!
Thanks be to God! Amen!
* Sharing of the Peace
Scripture foretells a Prince of Peace,
whom Christians have identified as Jesus.
May the peace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.
Scripture Psalm 93 (Responsive)
A responsive reading from the book of Psalms, Psalm 93.
The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he is girded with strength.
He has established the world; it shall never be moved;
your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
more majestic than the waves of the sea,
majestic on high is the Lord!
Your decrees are very sure;
holiness befits your house,
O Lord, forevermore.
The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.
God has established the world; it shall never be moved.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “Lead On, O King Eternal,” Bill Carter
©2004, Presbybop Music, All rights reserved.
Used with permission.
Anthem Choir
“Majesty,” Jack Schrader
©2013, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Majesty, worship his majesty;
Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise.
Majesty, kingdom authority,
Flow from his throne, unto his own; his anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus;
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the King.
Majesty, worship his majesty;
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings.
He is Lord, lift up his name, the name of Jesus;
He is risen from the dead, and he is Lord.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Majesty, worship his majesty;
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings;
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings.
Scripture John 18:33-38a (NRSVUE)
A reading from the Gospel according to John, beginning at chapter 18, verse 33.
Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “Testimony to the Truth”
* Statement of Faith Adapted from the Westminster Shorter Catechism
Q. 107. What does the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?
A. The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen,” teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing Kingdom, power, and glory to him; and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, “Amen.”
* Hymn # 349 PH [sung to the tune Amazing Grace]
“Let All Who Pray the Prayer Christ Taught,” Thomas H. Troeger
©1986, Oxford University Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Let all who pray the prayer Christ taught
First clear the cluttered heart.
Make room to breathe the living thought
Those well-worn words impart.
Dismiss the fear that this world drifts
With no one in command.
Your pulse and breath are signs and gifts
From God’s attentive hand.
Refine and test each passing aim
Against this final one:
Has your life hallowed heaven’s name
And has God’s will been done?
Discard each vengeful hope that’s fed
The dreams of wars you’ll win,
Then freely ask for daily bread
And pardon from your sin.
Examine how temptation breeds
Inside the mind’s dark maze,
Acknowledging that your life needs
Deliverance from its ways.
By faithful discipline prepare
An inward holy space
That when you offer Jesus’ prayer
Your heart may fill with grace.
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 #489 W & R
“Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying” Ken Medema
©1973, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Lord, send your Spirit in this place;
Lord, listen to your children praying,
Send us love, send us power, send us grace.
Call for Offering
* Doxology
“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Brian Wren
©1989, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
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 # 141 PH
“A Hymn of Glory Let Us Sing,” Richard Proulx
©1985, GIA Publications, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
A hymn of glory let us sing,
New hymns throughout the world shall ring;
By a new way none ever trod
Christ takes His place, the throne of God!
You are a present joy, O Lord,
You will be ever our reward,
And great the light in You we see
To guide us to eternity.
O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
All praise to You let earth accord.
You are, while endless ages run,
With Father and with Spirit One.
* Benediction
May God bless us. May God keep us in the Spirit’s care,
and lead our lives with love.
May Christ’s warm welcome shine from our hearts,
and Christ’s own peace prevail through this and every day,
till greater life shall call. Amen.
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“Jesus Shall Reign,” Mark Hayes
©2020, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
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
Call to Worship taken from, and Call to New Life and Prayer for Wholeness and Peace adapted from, the Book of Common Worship (PCUSA, 2018).