Watchword for the Week

I delight to do your will, O my God; your law

is within my heart. (Psalm 40:8)

(Moravian Daily Texts 2018)

ORGAN PRELUDE

WELCOME and CALL to WORSHIP

(Verses from Psalm 139 – New International Version)

O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue,

you know it completely, O LORD.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and

wonderfully made; your works are

wonderful, I know that full well.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would

outnumber the grains of sand.

Hymn 97 * O God, you search me

People’s Choice Hymns are marked with an asterisk (*)

(Children may join the Kids’ Church programme)

PRAYER of APPROACH ending with the words:

Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

ASSURANCE of FORGIVENESS

These are the words of Jesus.

They are strong and true, so believe them:

“I have come

that you may have life in all its fullness.”

“Go in peace; your sins are forgiven:

Come, each one, and follow me.”

Now, God, help us to live as a forgiven people:

visibly different, gloriously free,

for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Hymn 65 * Jubilate, everybody

SCRIPTURE READINGS

1 Samuel 3:1-10 OT p. 267

St. Mark 2:23 – 3:6 NT p. 48

People may stand for the Gospel reading.

The word of God: Thanks be to God!

Hymn 533 * Will you come and follow me?

SERMON Rev. James Brown

Hymn 502 * Take my life, Lord, let it be

(Offerings are gathered and brought forward)

AFFIRMATION of BELIEF

We believe in God,

who is older than eternity

and younger than our next breath;

who is beyond describing

yet knows us all by name;

who inspires faith

yet cannot be contained by religion.

We believe in Jesus Christ,

flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone.

He came in the body

to give worth to every human life.

He touched the untouchable,

loved the unlovable,

forgave the unforgivable,

and endured slander, persecution and death

in order that, through suffering love,

God’s Kingdom might come on earth.

He rose from the grave as living proof

that what is laid down in faith

will be raised in glory.

He ascended to heaven that he might be

present at all times to all people.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

who leads us into truth and freedom,

who gives good gifts to all God’s children,

who inspired research, enables prayer,

and wills that human economics and politics

should prioritise justice, care of the earth,

and the healing of the nations.

We celebrate the potential of the Church,

the life in our bodies,

the yearning in our souls,

the promise of good things in store

for those who love the Lord. Amen.

PRAYERS for OTHERS

Response: God, send your Spirit;

renew the life of the earth.

The LORD’S PRAYER

(Please pray in your own preferred language / version.)

English words: Hymn 652, Second Form (b)

COMMUNION PRAYER

The Lord be with you, and also with you.

Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is right to praise you … we praise you, singing

the hymn of your everlasting glory:

Hymn 769 * Holy, holy, holy

BREAKING the BREAD

INVITATION

COMMUNION

SHARING GOD’S PEACE

NOTICES and THANKSGIVING PRAYER

Hymn 235 God is working his purpose out

(Hymn of the Month, June 2018)

BLESSING and Threefold Amen (No. 819)

ORGAN POSTLUDE