October 31 Worship Service Bulletin
First Presbyterian Church – St. Petersburg, Florida
Order of Worship - October 31, 2021 – 10 a.m.
23rd Sunday after Pentecost / Reformation Sunday - A Legacy of Faith
PRELUDE: “Fanfare on Ein’ feste Burg” (hymn 275, A Mighty Fortress), James Pethel (b. 1936) - Performed by Jack Rain, organ
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS - Rev. Ginny Simmons Ellis
CALL TO WORSHIP from the Iona Abbey Worship book - Ginny Ellis
In the peace and bustle of our life: the sounds of God’s creation.
Running wave and restless earth, flowing air and spinning stars: these declare the Son of Peace.
In the activity and stillness of an ancient church: the cries of a broken world.
Angry and hopeful cries, hungry unending cries, these proclaim the Cross of Christ.
In the silence and turmoil of our hearts: the voice of the Risen One.
Comfort to the Sufferer, challenge to the Follower, the Call of Christ to all.
We come to worship Jesus Christ today.
BAGPIPES PROCESS IN WITH BANNERS: “Ode to Joy” - Performed by St. Andrew’s Pipes and Drums
PROCESSIONAL HYMN #611: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” HYMN TO JOY
THE CHURCH ARISES - Rev. Megan McMillan
…As we prepare to journey from the earliest Christian church to the present day, I invite you to dedicate your mind, heart, and spirit for this service, joining with me in prayer:
UNISON: Lord, give us open ears to hear your voice in the voices of our ancestors; give us open minds to understand what they experienced and believed; give us open hearts to accept what you might be saying to us today. As we leaf through the history of your church, guide us into writing new chapters for ourselves and the church of the future! In your holy name we pray. Amen.
NICENE CREED
Let us responsively proclaim what our ancestors have so long believed, beginning in unison:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
THE CHURCH IS REFORMED
CALL TO RECONCILIATION
For the church this was not an easy time, and the Reformers like Martin Luther were not always the heroes we would have them be. So lest we get too puffed up celebrating our own family line, let’s stop now and confess our sins together, asking God for mercy and pardon.
UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Holy and gracious God, we confess today to the same sins that have always plagued your church: we are too stuck in our ways too resistant to your Spirit too attracted to power and privilege, too quick to build walls, too slow to build bridges. Send more reformation our way until we are formed perfectly by you. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
Friends, hear the good news! Sin has always been at work in the world, yet God’s grace meets it toe-to-toe. We believe that when the story is over, it is forgiveness that will have the last word. In Christ we are forgiven, now and as often as we come before him. Alleluia! Amen.
HYMN #275: “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” EIN’ FESTE BURG - Performed by FPC Praise Band
THE SCOTS CONFESSION - Gretchen Letterman
…the Scots Confession declares God’s everlasting power over the Kirk— the Scottish word for church—and indeed the whole world. This is what our ancestors proclaimed:
As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we firmly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk, that is to say, one company and multitude of people chosen by God, who rightly worship and embrace him by true faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only Head of the Kirk, even as it is the body and spouse of Christ Jesus. This Kirk is catholic, that is, universal, because it contains the chosen of all ages, of all realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion and society with God the Father, and with his Son, Christ Jesus, through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit. It is therefore called the communion, not of profane persons, but of saints, who, as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, have the fruit of inestimable benefits, one God, one Lord Jesus, one faith, and one baptism.
PRESENTATION OF OUR GIFTS- INVITATION AND PRAYER - Gretchen Letterman
OFFERTORY: “Amazing Grace” - Performed by St. Andrews Pipes and Drums
PRAISE SONG: “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)” - Performed by FPC Praise Band/Chancel Choir
DOXOLOGY OLD HUNDREDTH
THE WESTMINSTER STANDARDS: SHORTER WESTMINSTER CATECHISM - Ginny Ellis
…Using the words on our screen, let us ask ourselves the same questions our ancestors asked:
Q. What is the chief and highest end of humanity?
A. Humanity’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy God forever.
Q. What is justification?
A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein God pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in God’s sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.
Q. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole person after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD’S PRAYER - Ginny Ellis
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.
AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED…
The Christian Church is the congregation of the people in which Jesus Christ acts presently as the Lord in Word and Sacrament through the Holy Spirit.
As the Church of pardoned sinners, it has to testify in the midst of a sinful world, with its faith as with its obedience, with its message as with its order,
that it is solely his property, and that it lives and wants to live solely from his comfort and from his direction in the expectation of his appearance.
We reject the false doctrine, as though the church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions.
RECESSIONAL HYMN #321: “The Church’s One Foundation” AURELIA
BAGPIPE RECESSIONAL - ”Scotland the Brave” - Performed by St. Andrews Pipes and Drums
BENEDICTION: BRIEF STATEMENT OF FAITH - Megan McMillan
In a broken and fearful world, the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in Church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”
POSTLUDE: “Postludium” from Partita on “Ein’ feste Burg” (A Mighty Fortress), Charles Callahan (b. 1951) - performed by Jack Rain, organ
RECITAL OF BAGPIPES (outside)
Service curated by Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett and adapted by Rev. Ginny Ellis and Rev. Megan McMillan