Sunday’s Liturgy
February 16, 2025
Listen throughout the week, so you’re ready to sing along on Sunday!
[ Gathering ]
Call to Worship
Psalm 95:1-8a
[One:] Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
[All:] For the LORD is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.
Confession of Sin
Almighty God, you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
And yet we are prone to rest apart from you.
We seek our security in the approval of others,
expecting of receive from them the justification
that can only be given by you.
We build our identities in the work of our hands,
believing the lie that we are only worth
as much as we can accomplish or produce,
choosing to live on as slaves
when you have called us sons and daughters.
We confess, merciful God:
We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.
Remind us of who you made us to be,
even as you are making us anew.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us,
that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear, O child, the good news of the Father’s great love:
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
(1 John 3:1-3)
Though we have sought rest in desert places,
our God has come to find us in the wilderness.
In love, he has adopted us as own,
calling us in Christ his sons and daughters,
and as he called us, so we are.
And as we hope in Christ our Savior,
resting in the work that he has finished,
we are being made to be like him,
holy and righteous as he is,
and the fullness of all that we shall be,
is yet to be revealed when he appears.
So rest now in the love of your Father,
who has called you his child.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Greetings of Peace
[CityKids are dismissed.]
[ Word ]
Prayer for Illumination
Reading of Scripture
Luke 4:1-15
And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
This is the Word of the Lord;
Thanks be to God.
Sermon
Concluding Prayer
[ Table ]
Invitation to Communion
Prayer of Consecration
Distribution of Elements
[We gather in small groups around tables throughout the room and pray together as we receive the bread and cup.]
[ Sending ]