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https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82730716739?pwd=javTba0kt5Zak5jN1rOo5Q9MaQIzSU.1

 

Meeting ID: 827 3071 6739

Passcode: 514679

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November 16, 2025

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

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                                                                                                GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

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SILENT PREPERATION: Albert Schweitzer gave up earthly fame to become a doctor to the poor in Africa. He writes, “One day, in my despair, I threw myself into a chair...and groaned..‘What a blockhead I was to come out here!’ “Thereupon [an associate] said quietly, “Yes, doctor, here on earth you are a blockhead, but not in heaven.”

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRELUDE     

CHIMES

*CALL TO WORSHIP (Please join responsively)

Leader:   God is ready to answer us, even before we call.  God is eager to listen, though we may not be ready to speak.

People:  The hills sing together before God’s presence.  All of nature proclaims God’s glory.

Leader:   If the seas join in praise, how much more should we!  If the hills are alive with song, let us, too, awake to sing.

People:  Make a joyful noise to God, all people of the earth!  Break forth into joyous song!

Leader:   Be glad!  Rejoice in all that God is creating.  Welcome the new heaven and the new earth God has planned.

People:  We worship God with great joy and delight.  We welcome God’s healing touch in our midst.

* HYMN                                   “The Church’s One Foundation”                                               #547

PRAYER OF INVOCATION (Unison)

Great God of hosts, our strength and our salvation: there are no words large enough to adequately praise you. No response of ours can fully describe the love you have shown us in Jesus Christ. Gather us now in your warm embrace, that our faith may be renewed, and our work empowered, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

CDALL TO CONFESSION

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Unison)

O God, our salvation, we confess that we have tried to live apart from you.  Our daily habits deny your reality. We toil without seeking your will, and we often fail to give our best effort. We compete with brothers and sisters, without valuing them as your children, or relating to them as our kin.  We follow fads and false leaders, while neglecting our faith.  Forgive our misplaced trust, our hesitation to take the risks of caring witness, and our failure to empathize with others.  Restore our connections with all from whom we are alienated, and enable us to take risks, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord...

SILENT PRAYER OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

 

                                                                                          PROCLAIMING GOD’S WORD

 

PRAYER OF ILUMINATION

FIRST SCRIPTURE READING           II Thessalonians 3:6-13   NT p. 222

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness – and not according to the tradition that they received from us.  For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.  This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.  For even when we were with you, we gave you this command:  Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.  For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.  Now such persons we command and exhort – in the Lord Jesus Christ – to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.  Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

 

                                                                 This is the Word of the Lord:  Thanks be to God!

ANTHEM                                            

SECOND SCRIPTURE READING      Luke 21:5-19, 37-38   NT p. 87

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down." They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them. "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.  "But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish.  By your endurance you will gain your souls. Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.

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                                                  This is the Word of the Lord:  Thanks be to God!

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TIME FOR YOUNG DISCIPLES

SERMON                                                    “Now, What!”

                                                           Rev. Dr. David Lovelace

*HYMN                                                     “The Solid Rock”                                                   #92

 

                                                                       RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD

 

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Unison)                                      Adapted from the Confession of 1967

The church responds to the message of reconciliation in praise and prayer.  In that response, it commits itself afresh to its mission, experiences a deepening of faith and obedience, and bears open testimony to the gospel.  Adoration of God is acknowledgment of the Creator by the creation.  Confession of sin is admission of our guilt before God, and of our need for God’s forgiveness.  Thanksgiving is rejoicing in God’s goodness to all people and in giving for the needs of others.  Petitions and intercessions are addressed to God for the continuation of his goodness, the healing of human ills, and deliverance of all humanity from every form of oppression.  Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD'S PRAYER             

OFFERING INVITATION

OFFERTORY                            

*DOXOLOGY                                                                                                                         #382

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)

Great God of glory, in thanksgiving for your abundant goodness, we seek to reach out to others as you have reached out to us.  We want to treat sisters and brothers as we wish to be treated – with dignity, understanding, and grace.   And, we want Christ to be more loved and better served, both here, and well beyond these walls. To these worthy ends, we dedicate these offerings to the furtherance of your kingdom here on earth. May all our giving prove to be a blessing – both to those who receive, and to those who give.  Amen.

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                                                                                GOING IN GOD’S NAME

 

*HYMN                                          “O Jesus, I Have Promised”                                                #402

*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

*BENEDICTION RESPONSE     “Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing” (Vs. 1)           #538 (Blue)    

*POSTLUDE