Virtual Worship – Sunday, August 8, 2021

First Presbyterian Church

Delavan, Illinois

Service for the Lord’s Day

8 August 2021

11th Sunday after Pentecost

Prelude “Majesty”    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6m3lO9XmLI&t=1s

Welcome and Announcements

Good morning everyone. We continue to do a new thing. We are still a community of faith, even though we are separated for the safety of ourselves, our families, our congregation, and our communities. We will continue to offer this service for the foreseeable future. 

In this bulletin, you will find links to the hymns which also show the lyrics (or are shown below). If you get an ad (and you likely will) you can skip it by clicking the SKIP AD usually found in the lower right corner of the video. There are also links to the Gospel reading and the sermon.

For inclusion in next week’s service, please email or phone the church or Pastor Jean (who can also receive texts) with any prayer requests.

We have resumed in-person worship. Please read the guidelines below!

We offer praise and prayer to God

^Call to Worship

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in God’s word is my hope.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.

^Opening Prayer

Grant, O Lord, that we may see in you the fulfillment of all our need, and may turn from every false satisfaction to feed on the true and living bread which you have given us in Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

^Hymn     “All Creatures Of Our God And King” #22 (1-3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdfTekZcgGM

Call to Confession

Remember that our Lord Jesus can sympathize with us in our weaknesses, since in every respect he was tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with boldness approach the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Confession of Sin

Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us amend what we are, and direct what we shall be, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name.

Time of Silent Confession

(Lord, have mercy on us) #300

Assurance of Pardon

Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. Amen.

^Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father) #35

^Passing the Peace

Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us forgive one another. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

And also with you.

We listen to God’s Word

Prayer for Illumination

Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own, that, hearing, we may also obey your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Reading               1 Kings 19:4-8  

(Elijah despairs but is refreshed)

4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

The Word of The LORD.  Thanks be to God.

Psalm    34:1-8 (Praise to the LORD for His  deliverance) Responsive

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD, and was saved from every trouble.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.

Second Reading           Ephesians 4:25-5:2   

(Rules for New Life)

25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 

1: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2: and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

The Word of The LORD.  Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading           John 6:35, 41-51   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB_05mMPgSM

(The Bread from Heaven)

35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Word of The LORD.  Thanks be to God.

Sermon Fed By Our Saviour Into New Life    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoeD7KftaFM

^Affirmation of Faith  Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come again to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.  Amen.

^Hymn     “Gather Us In”  #284  (1-2)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f44OvSt26TU

Prayers of the People

Almighty and merciful God, from whom comes all that is good, we praise you for your mercies, for your goodness that has created us, your grace that has sustained us, your discipline that has corrected us, your patience that has borne with us, and your love that has redeemed us. Hear us as we lift our concerns to you.

Remember your church. . . . Unite it in the truth of your Word and empower it in ministry to the world. Unite us as members of your kingdom with all who trust in you so your glory may shine.

Remember the world of nations. . . . By your Spirit renew the face of the earth; let peace and justice prevail. Bring the end to all wars and violence. Protect those who serve in the armed forces so they may return to their loved ones.

Remember our family and friends. . . .

Bless them and watch over them; be gracious to them and give them peace.

Remember the sick and the suffering, the aged and the dying. . . . Encourage them and give them hope.

Rejoicing in the communion of saints, we remember with thanksgiving all your faithful servants, and those dear to us, whom you have called from this life. . . .

We are grateful that for them death is no more, nor is there sorrow, crying, or pain, for the former things have passed away.

We ask for the miracle of growth in this congregation, the revitalization of the main street, and your blessing on this community and its schools,

In union with your church in heaven and on earth, we pray, O God, that you will fulfill your eternal purpose in us and in all the world. Amen

Offering Invitation

Offertory  “Sweet By and By”    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6h7VzNiYM0

^Doxology (Praise God from Whom all blessings flow)     #46

^Prayer of Thanksgiving

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Eternal God, creator of the world and giver of all good, we thank you for the earth, our home, and for the gift of life. We praise you for your love in Jesus Christ, who came to heal this broken world, who died rejected on the cross and rose triumphant from the dead. Because he lives, we live to praise you, our God forever. Gracious God, who called us from death to life, we give ourselves to you; and with the church through all ages we thank you for your saving love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

^Lord’s Prayer

We depart to serve Christ in the world

^Hymn “Gather Us  In” #284 (3-4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f44OvSt26TU

^Charge

Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous and strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

^Benediction 

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. 

Alleluia! Amen.

Please remember in your prayers:

Marge Donley (Pekin Manor), Helen Hopkins, Barb Day, Verbie Hoffman (broken ankle), Susan (Sinn) Funke, Glenn Holmes, Meryl Place (Pastor Jean’s cousin), Joyce Culbertson, Mardelle Neumann (Apostolic Christian Skylines), Dick Temple (home after surgery), Myrna and Don Brose, Margaret Altine, Blake Renner (Diane Allen Renner’s son), Jeremy Warner, Rose Goeken, Richard Hopkins (cancer surgery), Dick Watts, Kyle Diekhoff, Rick Woodrow (Crohn’s), Father Tim Nolan (vocal chord surgery infection and death of sister), Martha Dunnam (multiple health issues and a fall) and Millie Alexander

The families and friends of Gloria Cunningham, Charles Houston, Loretta Holmes, Marge Tuley, Rev. Don Crannell, and Donna Diekhoff 

All affected by the Covid-19 virus, those caring for them in any way, and those working to find a cure

WORSHIP RESUMES – I’m sure many of you are overjoyed to see these words but they come with some precautions. Based on the latest CDC guidelines, masks are optional if you are fully immunized but please feel free to continue to wear them if you so desire. (Masks are available if you wish to use them.) When you enter please use the provided hand sanitizer then pick up a bulletin. We will not move around during the Passing of the Peace, instead wave, bow, or give air hugs. The offering plates will not be passed. Instead, they will be located at the rear of the sanctuary so you may make your offering as you enter or leave. Some may feel these restrictions are too much, others may feel they are not enough. Your Session has considered all the available information in making these changes. If you are uncomfortable in attending worship, please know we are continuing the virtual services. PLEASE, IF YOU FEEL AT ALL ILL, STAY AT HOME and use the virtual option.

Calendar:

Sun., 8/8: Worship, 10:30 a.m.; Virtual option available. Pastor Jean Sparks preaching; recognition of Jack Andrews for his many years of service to the church for his accounting experience

Tues., 8/10: Threads of Love, 9:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Thurs., 8/12: Bible Study based on “The Chosen,” 10-11:15 a.m. or 6-7:15 p.m.

Sat., 8/14: Prayer Group, 9:00 a.m., or Zoom, if requested

Sun., 8/15: Worship, 10:30 a.m.; Virtual option available. Pastor Jean Sparks preaching

Wed., 8/18: Cro-Knits, 9:00 a.m., Historical Society; Session, 6:30 p.m.

Thurs., 8/19: Bible Study based on “The Chosen,” 10-11:15 a.m. or 6-7:15 p.m.

Sat., 8/21: Prayer Group, 9:00 a.m., or Zoom, if requested

Sun., 8/22: Worship, 10:30 a.m.; Virtual option available. Pastor Jean Sparks preaching

Mon., 8/23: 4th Monday Meal, 5:30 p.m., watch Delavan Times for directions

Thurs., 8/26: Bible Study based on “The Chosen,” 10-11:15 a.m. or 6-7:15 p.m.

Sat., 8/28: Prayer Group, 9:00 a.m., or Zoom, if requested

Sun., 8/29: Worship, 10:30 a.m.; Virtual option available. Pastor Jean Sparks preaching

P.O. Box 602, 201 W. Fourth Street, Delavan, IL 61734

(309) 244-7105

E-mail: firstpresdelavan@gmail.com

www.firstpresdelavan.org

Rev. Jean Sparks, Pastor

Linda Clauser, Organist