July 26, 2020 Virtual Worship

The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. Fourth St., Coshocton, OH 43812

Pastor Karen Crawford

Musicians: Mark Wagner, Mary Ann Gill

Liturgists: Ethan Swigert, Mason Gano, Ashley Bryant, Jim Crawford

Prelude: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Setting by Donald Hustad), Mark Wagner, Organ

Greeting/Announcements: Pastor Karen

Opening Words: Ashley Bryant

O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually.

Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

Gathering Prayer: Ethan Swigert

Holy God, we try to fix and fasten you, but you will not be stayed. You are love in motion: always breathing us into being, calling us to serve, sustaining us in the wilderness. Come to us as the morning breaks. Soften what has grown dry and brittle in our hearts until we worship with abandon, for we pray in the name of the Son you sent and through the Spirit that gives us life. Amen.

Hymn: Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart (E. H. Plumptre), Mark Wagner, Organ

Rejoice, ye pure in heart, 
rejoice, give thanks, and sing; 
your festal banner wave on high, 
the cross of Christ your King. 

Refrain:
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, give thanks, and sing! 

Yes, on through life’s long path, 
still chanting as you go, 
from youth to age, by night and day, 
in gladness and in woe. [Refrain] 

 At last the march shall end; 
the wearied ones shall rest, 
the pilgrims reach their home at last, 
Jerusalem the blest. [Refrain] 

Praise God, who reigns on high, 
the Lord whom we adore: 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
one God forevermore. [Refrain] 

Call to Confession/Prayer of Confession/Assurance of Pardon with Pastor Karen

God of mystery, God of life, we imagine that we are capable of power and wisdom and goodness. We trust our own standards; we separate and categorize; we mark the performance of others. We fail to trust your power, hidden in all things. We fail to watch for you, working out your purposes. Gracious God, hidden and manifest transform our withered imaginations until we yield the judgments we trust to a love we cannot control. Amen.

Time with Children and Youth: Rachel and Jacob

Prayer for Illumination: Mason Gano

Spirit of life, we do not know how to pray as we ought. Meet us in words written, in words spoken; intercede for us with sighs too deep for words, until we shine with the hope that is hidden in our hearts, for we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scripture: Romans 8:26-39 and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, Jim Crawford

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, O Christ!

Solo: Your Ways Are Higher Than Mine (Rachel McCutcheon) Mary Ann Gill

Based on Isaiah 55:9

It’s not what I prayed for
It’s not what I wanted
It’s not something I understand
My circumstances seem so confusing
I’m placing it all in Your hands.

Your ways are higher than mine
I want mountains to move
You want me to climb
So I’m gonna trust Your work, Your will, and Your time
Your ways are higher than mine.

One day I’m sure
I will look back and marvel
At how You knew best all along
You see from Heaven
You know it’s the hard times
That make my faith steady and strong.

Your ways are higher than mine
I want mountains to move
You want me to climb
So I’m gonna trust Your work, Your will, and Your time.
Your ways are higher than mine,

When I start to doubt, help me believe
Somewhere, so far above me.

Your ways are higher than mine
I want mountains to move
You want me to climb
So I’m gonna trust Your work, Your will, and Your time.
Oh
Your ways are so much higher than mine.
Your ways are higher than mine.

Scripture: Genesis 29:9-28, Pastor Karen

Holy wisdom, Holy word. Thanks be to God!

Message: The God Whose Ways Are Higher Than Ours

Hymn: Be Thou My Vision (Ancient Irish Poem, Transl. by Mary E. Byrne), Mark Wagner, Organ

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art–
thou my best thought by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
thou mine inheritance, now and always:
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my great Father, I thy true son;
thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Invitation for Offering/Prayer of Thanksgiving and Lord’s Prayer

Holy One, receive these offerings as you receive our lives. Gather our false starts and uncertain efforts, our generosity and our reluctance. Enliven us with your breath and make your purposes known, that our lives might show forth your glory. 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.

Hymn: Day by Day (Lina Sandell), Fountainview Academy

“Day by Day (and with Each Passing Moment) is a Christian hymn written in 1865 by Lina Sandell several years after she had witnessed the tragic drowning death of her father. It is a hymn of assurance used in American congregational singing.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_by_Day_(hymn)

Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

Charge and Benediction

Postlude: March [Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1636-1704); Arranged by S. Drummond Wolff], Mark Wagner, Organ