Worship Service for June 23, 2024 at 11 AM

Welcome

Opening Song: How Great Is Our God

The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty,
Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice.
He wraps himself in light, and darkness tries to hide,
And trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice. 

Chorus:
How great is our God. Sing with me.
How great is our God. All will see,
How great, how great is our God. 

Age to age He stands, and time is in His hands,
Beginning and the end, beginning at the end.
The Godhead, three in one, Father, Spirit, Son,
The Lion and the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb. 

(Chorus)

Bridge:
Name above all names, Worthy of all praise,
My heart will sing, “How great is our God.”
Repeat

(Chorus)                                                                     © 2004 Alletrop Music

Invocation

  

Confession and Forgiveness:

P: Come into the presence of the Lord our God.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand; but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(A time of silence to reflect and personally confess our sins)

P: I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Let us confess our sin before the Lord. Let us confess together.
C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we are sinners.  We have sinned against you and our neighbors. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your punishment.  For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.  Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name.  Amen.

P: The Lord is gracious and merciful. He promises to forgive our sins. Therefore, upon this, your confession, as a called and ordained servant of the Lord, in the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

Song of Praise and Thanksgiving – This Is the Feast

Refrain:
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
Whose blood set us free to be people of God.
(Refrain)

Power, riches, wisdom, and strength,
And honor, blessing, and glory are His.    (Refrain)

Sing with all the people of God,
And join in the hymn of all creation;

“Blessing, honor, glory, and might,
Be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.”
(Refrain)

For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia!
(Refrain)           © 2008 Sharon Dennis, Doris Au MacDonald, and Lutheran Book of Worship 

Old Testament Reading – Proverbs 15:1-7

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading – Luke 16:19-31

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise be to You, O Christ.

Children’s Message 

Sermon Hymn – How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the works Thy hand has made.
I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder.
Your power throughout the universe displayed.

 

Chorus:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee.
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee.
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

And when I think that God His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die. I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

(Chorus)

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

                                                                         © 1949 and 1953 Manna Music, Inc.

Sermon – “Apologetics – Always Have an Answer”
Sermon Text – 1 Peter 3:8-16

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God. 

Prayers: Text in prayer requests to (813) 326-5255

Apostles’ Creed (stand)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,

And 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 into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God
the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.  Amen

Offering

Benediction Benediction – The online service ends. The closing hymn video is on the Livestream page bulletin at FaithWesleyChapel.com with lyrics below. See announcements below as well. 

Closing Song – Stand Up Stand Up For Jesus (stand)

Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross.
Lift high His royal banner; it must not suffer loss.
From vict’ry unto vict’ry His army He shall lead,
Till ev’ry foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed.                                         

Stand up, stand up for Jesus; the trumpet call obey;
Stand forth in mighty conflict in this His glorious day.
Let all His faithful serve Him against unnumbered foes;
Let courage rise with danger and strength to strength oppose.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus; stand in His strength alone.
The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the Gospel armor; each piece put on with prayer.
Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus; the strife will not be long;
This day the din of battle, the next the victor’s song.
The soldiers, overcoming, their crown of life shall see,
And with the King of Glory shall reign eternally.       © Public Domain