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PRELUDE
“Vesper Voluntaries (selected)” Edward Elgar
GREETINGS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS The Rev. Gregg Neel
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
AN ACT OF PRAISE
INTROIT
“Cast Thy Burden” Felix Mendelssohn
*WESTMINSTER CHIMES
*INVITATION TO WORSHIP The Rev. Junha Kim
The Lord is the darkness and the light, our creator and our salvation.
Who do our lives honor?
The Lord is the thread that makes us whole.
Who do our lives respect?
Friends, we belong to wholeness, directed towards restoration.
Let us bring our whole selves to worship.
*HYMN #750
“Goodness Is Stronger Than Evil” GOODNESS IS STRONGER
Recognizing that this text arose from the years of apartheid in South Africa adds depth and resonance to its already confident language. These words can also be read as a declaration of our true hope in God in the midst of institutional evils.
Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours; victory is ours through God who loves us.
*INVITATION TO CONFESSION The Rev. Gregg Neel
When we come to God in confession, God hears us. Not to shame or to judge, but to offer us grace and mercy. When we come to God in confession, God sees us. God sees our hearts desiring to be whole and sees our reliance and love for God and God’s people. Let us come to God with love, first in silent prayer.
*SILENT PRAYER
*UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Heartful God, as detractors of your name continue to grow louder and larger, the distance between your inbreaking kin-dom and the earth we inhabit feels insurmountable. So, we sometimes lose sight of you. Restore our sight that can turn away. Heal our spiritual numbness and apathy. Heal us, to love you more than we love ourselves. May we be a community of individuals aligned with who you are.
*ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
God defines grace and goodness; God is love and compassion, wholeness and health. God abounds in steadfast love for every person crafted by God.
Know that in Jesus Christ, we are invited into this vast embrace.
All: Let us be whole!
*THE PASSING OF THE PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
AN ACT OF PROCLAMATION
THE SCRIPTURE READING The Rev. Junha Kim
Luke 13:31-35 (p. 77)
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 33 Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ 34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
MOMENTS WITH CHILDREN The Rev. Eileen Parfrey
ANTHEM
“Benedictus” Karl Jenkins
from The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Elise Massicotte, cello
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
SERMON The Rev. Junha Kim
“Healing through Resistance”
A MOMENT FOR SILENT REFLECTION
AN ACT OF RESPONSE
INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS
Deacon to be installed:
Melissa Shuping
Elder to be installed:
Tracy Miller
INTRODUCTION The Rev. Gregg Neel
PRESENTATION OF THE PERSONS TO BE INSTALLED
Jan Poujade, Clerk of Session
On behalf of the Session of Westminster Presbyterian Church, I now present those to be installed to the officer of elder and deacon, and invite these people to come forward at this time.
CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS The Rev. Gregg Neel
Do you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ your Savior, acknowledge him Lord of all and Head of the Church, and through him believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?
Do you accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be, by the Holy Spirit, the unique and authoritative witness to Jesus Christ in the Church universal, and God’s Word to you?
Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith as expressed in the confessions of our church as authentic and reliable expositions of what Scripture leads us to believe and do, and will you be instructed and led by those confessions as you lead the people of God?
Will you fulfill your ministry in obedience to Jesus Christ, under the authority of Scripture and continually guided by the confessions?
Will you be governed by our church’s polity, and will you abide by its discipline? Will you be a friend among your colleagues in ministry, working with them, subject to the ordering of God’s Word and Spirit?
Will you in your own life seek to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, love your neighbors, and work for the reconciliation of the world?
Do you promise to further the peace, unity, and purity of the church?
Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?
(for elder)
Will you be a faithful elder, watching over the people, providing for their worship, nurture, and service? Will you share in government and discipline, serving in councils of the church, and in your ministry will you try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ?
(for deacon) The Rev. Lindsey Hubbard-Groves
Will you be a faithful deacon, teaching charity, urging concern, and directing the people’s help to the friendless and those in need, and in your ministry will you try to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ?
QUESTIONS TO THE CONGREGATION Jan Poujade
Do we, the members of the church, accept these people as elder and deacon,
chosen by God through the voice of this congregation to guide us in the way of Jesus
Christ?
We do.
Do we agree to pray for them, to encourage them, to respect their decisions, and to
follow as they guide us, serving Jesus Christ, who alone is Head of the Church?
We do.
SHARING JOYS & CONCERNS The Rev. Lindsey Hubbard-Groves
(At the conclusion of spoken joys, let us pray together, “Thanks be to you, O God.” For concerns, let us make them our own by praying, “Lord, hear our prayer.”)
PASTORAL PRAYER AND 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.
OFFERING OURSELVES AND OUR GIFTS
(Text 73256 the word WESTPRESPDX to give using your mobile device. This number will never send unsolicited texts to you. To cancel further messages, text STOP. If you need assistance with text giving, text HELP. Standard text message and data rates may apply.
If you’re new to Westminster, please let us know by filling out a pink visitor card and dropping it in the offering plate. Thank you.)
OFFERTORY ANTHEM
“Blow Ye the Trumpet” Kirke Mechem
from the opera, John Brown
The text, quoted in Stephen B. Oates’ book, To Purge This Land With Blood: A Biography of John Brown, was John Brown’s favorite hymn text and foreshadowed his death following his lifelong quest to abolish slavery.
Blow ye the trumpet, blow.
Sweet is Thy work, my God, my King.
I’ll praise my Maker with all my breath.
O happy is the man who hears.
Why should we start and fear to die.
With songs and honors sounding loud.
Ah, lovely appearance of death.
*DOXOLOGY – Hymn #606
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
-OR-
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host;
Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*HYMN #302
“When Hands Reach Out and Fingers Trace” O WALY WALY
When hands reach out and fingers trace the beauty of a loved one’s face,
We thank you, God, that love relies on gifts of grace not seen with eyes.
When fingers spell and signs express our prayer and praise and thankfulness,
We thank you, God, that hands can sing; you bless the silent songs we bring.
When broken bodies will not mend, we thank you, God, for Christ our friend.
In him, our healing can begin: he welcomes all the wounded in.
And when the ways we learn and grow are not the ways that others know,
we thank you, God, that we have learned your love’s a gift, and never earned.
Your Spirit gives us differing ways to serve you well and offer praise.
When all are joined as one, we’ll be your able strong community.
*BENEDICTION The Rev. Junha Kim
*POSTLUDE
“Prelude and Fugue in d minor, BWV 539” J. S. Bach
(You may be seated for the postlude or you may depart.)