Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

    Oct 04, 2020

    Sunday Worship 10/4/2020

    Passage: Acts 11:1-18

    Speaker: Rev. Jennifer Eschliman, Pastor

    World Communion Sunday
    World Communion Sunday
    October 4, 2020 - 10 am
     
     
    Prelude  “O God Beyond All Praising”
    arr. Charles Callahan
     
    Welcome
         
    Call to Worship
    Around the world, people gather to break bread and pour wine.
    Come join our brothers and sisters at the table -
    people from every nation, race and language.
    May God bind us together in heart and mind.
    Come encounter the grace of Christ,
    whose body was broken to make the world’s brokenness whole.
    May God bind us together in the pursuit of justice.
    Come hear Christ’s call to go out into the streets and lanes
    and compel people to join the feast, for there is still more room at the table.
    May God bind us together in ministry and mission.
    Come with your doubts, your hopes, your inadequacies and your strengths,
    for this is a table where all are invited and all are welcome.
         
    Opening Prayer (unison)
     
    Almighty God, your table is the place where everyone finds a welcome, where children and seasoned citizens sit side by side, and where our differences are met by a love that is big enough to hold us all. As we come to your table today, may we bring our hunger, and find food. May we bring our brokenness, and find healing. May we bring our very selves, and find acceptance. Renew us with your presence, and unite us, so that we may go forth to extend your invitation to all who have yet to experience your grace. We ask this in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
     
    Proclamation and Response
     
    Scripture Reading: Acts 11:1-18
    Now the apostles and the believers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, 3 saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” 4 Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying, 5 “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. There was something like a large sheet coming down from heaven, being lowered by its four corners; and it came close to me. 6 As I looked at it closely I saw four-footed animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7 I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8 But I replied, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time the voice answered from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call profane.’ 10 This happened three times; then everything was pulled up again to heaven. 11 At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; 14 he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ 15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. 16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17 If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” 18 When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”
     
    Leader: This is the Word of God.
    All: Thanks be to God!                                                                          
     
    Message Room at the Table
    Pastor Jen Eschliman
     
    Prayers of the People
         
    Offering Ourselves and Our Gifts to God
         
    Song of Invitation “Come to the Table” 
    Ben Glover | Ben McDonald | Dave Frey
     
    Thanksgiving                                              
     
    Holy Communion
     
    Sending Forth
     
    Announcements
     
    Benediction
     
    Postlude “Passacaglia”
    Gordon Young
     
     
    The scripture reading is from the Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
     
    Song Credit:
    “Come to the Table”                                      
    Ben Glover | Ben McDonald | Dave Frey
     
    © 9t One Songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing); Ariose Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing);
    Pencil Prophet Publishing (Admin. by CURB | Word Music Publishing); Run Run Milo (Admin. by CURB | Word Music Publishing);
    Curb Dayspring Music (Admin. by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.)
    CCLI License # 1011499