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©Order of Worship for Sunday September 15, 2024

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Confirmation Sunday


For the Avent Ferry UMC Worship Video Click Here (Link opens in a new window)


The worship video will be available live at 11:00 am

Prelude:..“Be Not Afraid, I Go Before You Always”…Greg D.
Words and Music: Bob Duford © 1978
 
Coming of the Light:………………………………………..
 
Greetings:…………………………………………….……Pastor Steven
 
Opening Prayer: ……………………………..…..……………Lorri B.
We thank you, for you are our God, and God of our fathers and mothers forever.  You are the Refuge of our life, the Shield of our help.  From generation to generation may we thank you and count your praises–evening, morning, and noon–for our lives which are committed into your hand, for our souls which are entrusted to you, for your miracles which are with us every day, for your wonders and goodness at all times.  O Good One, your compassion does not fail.  O Merciful One, your lovingkindness never ceases. Forever we hope in you.  Amen.
 
Opening Hymns:“I Will Call upon the Lord” #2002 TFWS
Words and Music: Michael O’Shields
© 1994 Universal-MCA Publishing
 
I will call upon the Lord
who is worthy to be praised.
So shall I be saved from my
enemies.  I will call upon the Lord.
 
I will call upon the Lord
who is worthy to be praised.
So shall I be saved from my
enemies.  I will call upon the Lord.
 
The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock;
and let the God of my salvation be
exalted.  The Lord liveth, and blessed
be the Rock; and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.

The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock;
and let the God of my salvation be
exalted.  The Lord liveth, and blessed
be the Rock; and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.
 
I will call upon the Lord
who is worthy to be praised.
So shall I be saved from my
enemies.  I will call upon the Lord.
 
The Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock;
and let the God of my salvation be
exalted.  The Lord liveth, and blessed
be the Rock; and let the God of my
salvation be exalted.
 
“Halle, Halle, Halleluja” #2026 TFWS
Words and Music: Trad. Caribbean; arr. By Hal H.
Hopson, adapt. Arr. © 1988 Hope Publishing Co.
 
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halleluja! Halleluja!
 
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halle, Halle, Halleluja!
Halleluja! Halleluja!
 
 
Passing of the Peace:…………………………………Pastor Steven
Let us offer signs of reconciliation and peace to one another.
 
Gloria Patri:………“Glory Be to the Father” #71 UMH
Words: Lesser Doxology, 3rd-4th century
Music: Henry W. Greatorex, 1851
 
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

Announcements:……………………………………………….Lorri B.
 
Giving of our tithes and offerings …………………
You can do this with no fee through your bank’s online bill pay option. It is easy to set up for automatic monthly giving. Or, you can use this link: Online Giving
 
Offertory: ………….…“One Day at a Time”……….………Lusi R.
 
Offertory Response:  “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” (The Doxology) #95 UMH
 Words by Thomas Ken, 1674
Music attributed to Louis Bourgeois, 1551
 
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
 
Prayer After Receiving:………………………………Pastor Steven
 
Confirmation Liturgy
 
Introduction
Brothers and sisters in Christ:
Through the Sacrament of Baptism
We are initiated into Christ’s holy church.
We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation
And given new birth through water and the Spirit.
All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price.
 
Through confirmation,
and through the reaffirmation of our faith,
we renew the covenant declared at our baptism,
acknowledge what God is doing for us,
and affirm our commitment to Christ’s holy church.
 
Presentation of Candidates
I present  Name(s)  for confirmation.
 
Profession of Faith
On behalf of the whole church, I ask you:
Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world,
and repent of your sin?
I do.
Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you
to resist evil, injustice and oppression
in whatever forms they present themselves?
I do.
Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,
put your whole trust in his grace,
and promise to serve him as your Lord,
in union with the church which Christ has opened
to people of all ages, nations, and races?
I do.
According to the grace given to you,
will you remain faithful members of Christ’s holy church
and serve as Christ’s representatives in the world?
I will.
The pastor addresses the congregation:
Do you, as Christ’s body, the church,
reaffirm both your rejection of sin
and your commitment to Christ?
We do.
 
Let us  join together in professing the Christian faith
As contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
 
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
 
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
(who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and will come again to judge the living and the dead.)
 
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
(the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
he forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.)
 
Name, The Holy Spirit work within you,
that having been born through water and the Spirit,
you may live as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Remember your baptism and be thankful.
Amen.
 
Reception into the United Methodist Church
 
As members of Christ’s universal church,
will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church,
and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?
I will.
 
Reception into the Local Congregation
As members of this congregation,
will you faithfully participate in its ministries
by your prayers, your presence,
your gifts, and your service?
I will.
 
Commendation and Welcome
Members of the household of God,
I commend… to your love and care.
Do all in your power to increase their faith,
confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.

We give thanks for all that God has already given you
and we welcome you in Christian love.
As members together with you
in the body of Christ
and in this congregation
of the United Methodist Church,
we renew our covenant
faithfully to participate
in the ministries of the church
by our prayers, our presence,
our gifts, and our service,
that in everything God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
 
The God of all grace,
who has called us to eternal glory in Christ,
establish you and strengthen you
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
that you may live in grace and peace.
Amen.
 
Prayers of the People:………………………………..Pastor Steven
 
Gospel Lesson……Mark 8:27-38…………Lorri B.
Peter’s confession of faith
Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.
He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?  Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Hymn of Preparation: “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee”  #430 UMH
Words: Washington Gladden, 1879 Music: H. Percy Smith, 1874
 
1. O Master, let me walk with thee in lowly paths
of service free; tell me thy secret; Help me bear
the strain of toil, the fret of care.
 
2. Help me the slow of heart to move by some
clear, winning word of love; teach me the wayward
feet to stay, and guide them in the homeward way.
 
3. Teach me thy patience; still with thee in closer,
dearer company, in work that keeps faith sweet
and strong, in trust that triumphs over wrong;
 
4. In hope that sends a shining ray far down the
future’s broadening ways, in peace that only
thou canst give, with thee, O Master, let me live.
 
Sermon:……..Where Is Your Confession?………Pastor Steven
 
Closing Hymn: “Go, My Children, with My Blessing”
Words: Jaroslav J. Vajda, 1983, Music: Trad. Welsh melody
 
1. Go, my children, with my blessing, never alone;
Waking, sleeping, I am with you, you are my own;
In my love’s baptismal river I have made you mine forever,
Go, my children, with my blessing, you are my own.
 
2. Go, my children, fed and nourished, closer to me;
Grow in love and love by serving, joyful and free.
Here my Spirit’s power filled you, here with tender
comfort stilled you;
Go, my children, fed and nourished, joyful and free.
 
Dismissal with Blessing:…………………………….Pastor Steven
 
Postlude:………………………………………………………..Greg 


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Sunday September 15th, Worship Service