Since the new year, we’ve been paging through the gospel of Luke. This week we read about how Jesus’s ministry began. There is no shortage of controversy! All the words that we’ll be using in worship this week are below. You can also download and print a copy here.

Prelude               Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine

Call to Worship – Psalm 82

To you, O Lord, I call;
   my rock, do not refuse to hear me,
for if you are silent to me,
   I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my supplication,
   as I cry to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
   towards your most holy sanctuary.
Blessed be the Lord,
   for he has heard the sound of my pleadings.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
   in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults,
   and with my song I give thanks to him.
The Lord is the strength of his people;
   he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
O save your people, and bless your heritage;
   be their shepherd, and carry them forever.

 Song – Come, Christians Join to Sing!  #599

Prayer of Confession

Most High and holy God, you are a refuge and our strength. You hear cries for help and see hands lifted high in praise. You are a faithful shield for all who trust in you. And, that’s where you confess to stumbling and struggling. We believe in you. We agree that you are the truth. We long for Spirit. But, we struggle to follow your call in this fallen world. We stumble through temptations and distractions. So, we ask for your Spirit once again to find our way back to the way of Christ and walk further down his path. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers.

ANTHEM – I Give You My Heart (see #340)

Words of Assurance

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you was not ‘Yes and No’; but in him it is always ‘Yes.’ 

For in Christ every one of God’s promises is a ‘Yes.’

For this reason it is through him that we say the ‘Amen’, to the glory of God. 

But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

Song – Jesus, Light of the World  #100

Scripture – Luke 4:14-30

Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

Sermon

Song – When Peace Like a River #451

Ordination & Installation of Elders & Deacons

God of grace, pour out your Holy Spirit, gentle as a dove, burning as a fire, upon Annette, Don, and Monica. Fill them with grace and power for this ministry of Deacon & Elder. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.

Prayers w/ 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.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.

Offertory – You Are My Hiding Place (see #412)

Benediction

Sending Song – Jesus, Light of the World  #100 (refrain only)