Estes Park United Methodist Church

August 16, 2020

Order of Worship

Prelude

Call to Worship

Leader: Come, siblings in Christ, everyone is welcome here.

People: God’s people are many — of every land and race, of every age and every condition.

Leader: We gather to celebrate God’s mercy and revelation to us in Jesus Christ.

People: Through him, we are one big family.

All: Let us praise and worship our God!

Opening Prayer

Faithful God, always ready to welcome, always ready to hear, we come before you open to new faith. Disturb us, so that we shed the old and grow into new creations in Christ. Move us to deepen our discipleship as you reveal fresh challenges and call us into new identities. Strengthen us to share in Christ’s suffering, that we might also know the power of his resurrection. In the name of Jesus the Christ, who claims us as his own. Amen.

Opening Hymn – “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”

Prayer of Confession

Leader: Trusting in God’s grace, let us make our prayer of confession.

All: Forgive us, O God, for thinking we have you all figured out. We pretend we know who is in and who is out of your family, as if your care were not for all of us. We want people to be like us before we help them, and we welcome into our company only those who will benefit us. Forgive us. Reconcile us to those we have treated as worthless or unwanted; mold us into a community where all your children are accepted, included and loved.

Silent Prayer

Words of Assurance

Leader: In this, we have assurance of God’s forgiveness: While we were sinners, we were reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Because we have received God’s mercy, we are able to grant mercy to those who have wronged us. Thanks be to God!

All: Thanks be to God!

Offering

Hymn – “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Scripture Lesson – Matthew 15:10-28 

Sermon – “An Unexpected Jesus”

Benediction