The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. Fourth St., Coshocton, OH 43812
Pastor Karen Crawford
Tina Johnson, Liturgist
Alice Hoover, Organist
Prelude: In Faith I Quiet Wait… Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. David Paxton
Opening Sentences: Tina Johnson
Have we not known? Have we not heard?
Has it not been told to us since the beginning?
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
Gathering Prayer: Tina Johnson
Gracious God, you call us to follow Christ and spread the good news of your love for all people. Help us to become all things to all people that we might reach many with your good news. Amen.
Hymn # 396 Brethren, We Have Met to Worship (stanzas 1 and 4)
For the song in the hymnal:
Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the word? All is vain unless the Spirit of the holy One comes down. Brethren, pray, and holy manna will be showered all around.
Let us love our God supremely; let us love each other, too. Let us love and pray for sinners till our God makes all things new. Christ will call us home to heave; at his table, we’ll sit down. Christ will gird himself and serve us with sweet manna all around.
Prayer of Confession
O God you bring healing to our lives and comfort to our hearts. Forgive us, O Lord, when we contribute to the things that break your heart. You would have us share our gifts with the world, but we keep our resources close and our minds closed. You would have us live in faithful community, but we isolate ourselves and eye our neighbors with mistrust. You would have us see all people as our siblings, but we try to separate ourselves from anyone whose existence challenges our comfort. Forgive us, O God, by your grace, and free us to be agents of your healing. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Time with Children and Youth
Prayer for Illumination: Liturgist
Holy God, speak to us what has been told from the beginning, your Word that is the foundation of the world. Amen.
Readings: Isaiah 40:21–31
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in;
who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God!
Reading: Mark 1:29–39
As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Message: Joy in the Morning
Hymn # 187 Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (stanzas 1 and 2)
For the song in the hymnal:
Savior, like a shepherd lead us; much we need your tender care. In your pleasant pastures feed us; for our use our fold prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have bought us: we are yours. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have bought us: we are yours.
Early let us seek your favor; early let us do your will. Blessed Lord and only Savior, with your love our spirits fill. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have loved us; love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, you have loved us; love us still.
Invitation to the Offering
Prayer of Thanksgiving/Lord’s Prayer
We sing to you, God, with thanksgiving, making melody to you with our praise. Use these gifts to spread your gospel near and far, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray…
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.
Charge/Benediction
Postlude: Now Praise the Lord (a setting of “St. Anne”) Christina Beckett
Sharing God's Love and Grace 