August 18, 2024 Outdoor Worship

13th Sunday after Pentecost

We welcome you to EPC!
May the love and warmth of God’s grace be with you as you worship.


We Gather Before God


Chimes

Welcome & Announcements

Prelude               Morning Song           arr. Joseph M. Martin


*Call to Worship

How wonderful it is to be in a dwelling place for God!
The refreshing springs of God’s love cleans and restores us.
There is a place here for everyone. No one is turned away.
The least and the lost; the homeless and hopeless
are always welcome in God’s house.
Praise to God who invites and shelters us all.



*Opening Prayer

In the beauty of this place, we have come to pray, to worship, to receive healing and hope. We come from the struggles and triumphs of the week, needing to feel the soothing presence of God. Lord, be with us this day. Calm and soothe our souls. Cause us to rejoice that you have provided a special place where we may gather to talk of your presence and love; to sing your praises; and to be empowered to go forth to serve you. Amen.


*Hymn                Great God of Every Blessing                  Aurelia

1 Great God of every blessing, of faithful, loving care,
You are a fount of goodness, the daily bread we share.
How can we hope to thank you?  Our praise is but a start.
Sincerely and completely, I offer You my heart.

2 Your Word is our salvation, the source of endless grace,
In death and life extending Your covenant embrace.
In Christ we are one body.  Each member has a part.
Sincerely and completely, I offer You my heart.

3 Your Spirit is our teacher, the light that guides our search
Transforming broken people into the holy church.
For feeding us with mercy, for wisdom you impart,
Sincerely and completely, I offer You my heart.


Outdoor Worship Center Re-dedication (9 a.m.)



*Congregational Response      People Need the Lord    Nelson and McHugh

People need the Lord. People need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord. People need the Lord.
When will we realize people need the Lord.



*Passing the Peace of Christ

Peace be with you!
And also with you.



We Listen to God’s Word



Musical Offering           O Worship the King      arr. Marty Parks
Janis McCollim, flute


Scripture              Psalm 84               NRSVUE

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, indeed it faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
    to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
    my King and my God.
4 Happy are those who live in your house,
    ever singing your praise. Selah
5 Happy are those whose strength is in you,
    in whose heart are the highways to Zion.[a]
6 As they go through the valley of Baca,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
    the God of gods will be seen in Zion.
8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
    give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
    look on the face of your anointed.
10 For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
    than live in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the Lord withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
    happy is everyone who trusts in you.

The Word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon              How Lovely                          Pastor Suzanne Personette


We Respond to God’s Grace



*Hymn No. 428                We Give Thee but Thine Own        Schumann

1 We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.
2 May we Thy bounties thus
As stewards true receive,
And gladly, as Thou blessest us,
To Thee our firstfruits give.
3 To comfort and to bless,
To find a balm for woe,
To tend the lonely in distress,
Is angels’ work below.
4 The captive to release,
To God the lost to bring,
To teach the way of life and peace—-
It is a Christ-like thing.
5 And we believe Thy Word,
Though dim our faith may be;
Whate’er for Thine we do, O Lord,
We do it unto Thee.


Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God the Creator, who is always Creative and invites us to affirm and explore who we are, with all our differences; and who is the source of our faith. We believe in God the Savior revealed in the world as Jesus the Christ who died and is risen, the one Lord of the church. We believe in God the Reconciler, the Holy Spirit, who is always with us bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. We believe that our frailties can never overcome God’s will for wholeness; that our sin can never crush God’s power for new life even in the face of death. We believe, and in this belief, we need one another, as a choir