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AUGUST 11, 2024
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
REV. KENDRA BALLIET
JAMES ROSS, ORGANIST


Prelude -  Invitation-Paul Randall Keith
 
Welcome
 
 *Call to Worship
LEADER: We gather today knowing there are people in our world who are surrounded by violence and conflict on every side.
ALL: Our work of peace begins with prayer.
LEADER: We gather today knowing there are people in our community who feel lost, alone, abandoned, and forgotten.
 ALL:Our work of love begins with prayer.
LEADER: We gather today knowing there are people in this place, this neighborhood, this world that we all share who experience overwhelming grief, despair, and sorrow.
 ALL:Our work of hope begins with prayer.
LEADER: We gather not to look away from the world but to witness the needs of our neighbors through the lens of God's love.
ALL: May we be a people who pray and, out of our praying, do the work of bringing peace, love, and hope to all we encounter. Amen.
 
*Opening Hymn “Lord Listen to Your Children Praying” #2193
 
*Opening Prayer with sung response (#2193 - "Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying")
Loving God, who watches over us like a parent, delighting in our happiness and weeping over all the ways we harm one another, guide us. Nurture us. Empower us to be your peacemakers and mercy-bringers in this world.
“Lord, listen to your children praying” 
Merciful God, our world is full of war, violence, injustice, and oppression. We are surrounded on all sides by misinformation, half-truths, and lies. Give us courage to tell the truth of your love, to protect the innocent, and to resist evil in every way it presents itself.
“Lord, send your Spirit in this place;” 
Gracious God, our neighborhoods are full of people who are struggling. Struggling to make ends meet, struggling to find stability, struggling to find community. Empower us to notice, to reach out, and to love our neighbors as you have called us to love.
“Lord, listen to your children praying” 
God of Hope, our lives are filled with so many reasons for despair. Loneliness abounds, uncertainty overwhelms, and suffering feels constant. Fill us with the warmth of your love and inspire us to extend a hand, a hug, a smile, a gesture of connection in a disconnected world.
“Send us love, send us power, send us grace.” 
In the name of the Triune God who gives, receives, and extends Love to all…Amen.
 
Confession of Faith: Apostles’ Creed #881
Gloria Patri
 
Children's Chat

 Music Ministry and Offertory -  Improvisation on "Burleigh"-Jon Spong

Doxology and Prayer of Gratitude

Scripture - 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33
Sermon Series “Worship with Rejoicing”
Sermon: “It’s Complicated”
 
Joys/Concerns 

Hymn "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" #474

Pastoral Prayer/Lord's Prayer
 
Closing Hymn “God Be with You till We Meet Again” #672
 
Action Steps & Benediction 

 Postlude - March on "Joyful Song"-Jon Spong

The flowers on the altar today are given to the glory of God and in honor and memory of Rev. Lou Edwards Pierce and Mrs. Denothras Pickens Pierce by Dr. Armendia P. Dixon and the Pierce Pickens Family.
Thank you for sharing in this worship service. Please continue to stay in touch through our website (stoneumc.org) and/or by following us on Facebook (Stone UMC). If you have joys or concerns that you would like lifted up in prayer, please fill out the Prayer Card in the pew, on the website, share them by contacting us at 814-724-6736 or churchoffice@stoneumc.org