Welcome
Please use this link for the
Zoom Service October 20, 2024 at 8:30 AM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81188368778?p30wd=QzZNMlFNNWVRVFIyUXZieWtNWkV0UT09
October 20, 2024
Acton Community Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 177, 32142 Crown Valley Road, Acton, CA 93510
Message: 661-208-8032 w who ww.actonpc.org
1888 – 2024 Celebrating Heritage and Sharing Hope
“The Word of God is proclaimed and causes a division among those who hear; God’s people receive the Word, understand it, and obediently fulfill it; others fail to listen because of a hardened heart, a basic superficiality, or a vested interest in riches and possessions.” —Simon Kistemaker
WELCOME, ANNOUNCMENTS, GUESTS AND SPECIAL DAYS
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Blessed are those who walk not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; in all that they do, they prosper.
People: Their delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law they meditate day and night.
Leader: They are like a tree planted by streams of water.
People: That yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither.
Leader: O Lord, put our roots down deep into your grace today!
People: O Lord, make us evergreen and fruitful! Alleluia!
OPENING HYMN – #555 - Now Thank We All Our God
1 Now thank we all our God With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done, In whom this world rejoices;
Who, from our mothers’ arms Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.
2 O may this bounteous God Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts And blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills In this world and the next.
3 All praise and thanks to God, Who reigns in highest heaven,
To Father and to Son And Spirit now be given.
The one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore,
The God who was, and is, And shall be evermore.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Loving Father, have mercy on us when we are stagnant in our walk with Christ, when we are not growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus our Lord. Please forgive us for our lawlessness and the lack of stability and steadfastness in our faith. May you abound in patience and lovingkindness toward us, dear Father, as you promise in your word. Spirit of God, compel us to put the roots of our faith down deep into Christ, into who he is and what he offers us through the gospel. Jesus, may we grow up into your likeness, the likeness of Christ our Savior and head of the church. In your name we pray. Amen.
SILENT CONFESSION PRAYERS FOR GOD’S PEOPLE
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 11:1-10
A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God
NEW TESTAMENT READING: Romans 15:1-13
We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbour for the good purpose of building up the neighbour. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, ‘Therefore I will confess[a] you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name’; and again he says, ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’; and again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him’; and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.’ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters,[b] that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. Nevertheless, on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God
SERMON : “The Glory of God”
CALL FOR OFFERING–Congregation sings - Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH: The Heidelberg CatechismU, Q. #27 & 28
Leader: What do you understand by the providence of God?
All: Providence is the almighty and ever-present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.
Leader: How does the knowledge of God’s creation and providence help us?
People: We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love. All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will, they can neither move nor be moved.
HYMN #333 - Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you. Allelu, alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you, Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. Allelu, alleluia!
HOLY COMMUNION
CLOSING HYMN #151 - Crown Him with Many Crowns
1 Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King Through all eternity.
2 Crown Him the Lord of love; Behold His hands and side,
Rich wounds, yet visible above, In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye At mysteries so bright.
3 Crown Him the Lord of peace; Whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, Absorbed in prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end; And round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend Their fragrance ever sweet.
4 Crown Him the Lord of years, The Potentate of time;
Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail Throughout eternity.
BENEDICTION – The Lord Be With You
Congregation sings
God be with you till we meet again, By his counsels guide, uphold you, With his sheep securely fold you God be with you till we meet again.
**Offerings
1. May be deposited in the Offering Box by the Narthex.
2. Processed through “E-Give” online at actonpc.org
3. Send a check to Acton Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 177 Acton, Ca. 93510
