Communion/ Reaffirmation

Prelude

 

Greetings

- Hymns today are in the Red  Hymnal         

 

Open Scripture         Zechariah 9:9-12   

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.   

 

Call to Worship                     Psalm 95:1-3, 6

O 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!

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

O come, let us worship and bow down

let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

This is the One who says to weary hearts: "Come to me.”

We come, Lord - burdened, grateful, and longing for rest. Let us worship God

 

Hymn of Welcome

 

Psalm 145:8-14

 

Opening Prayer

 

Call to Confession    

 

Prayer of Confession (unison)                                         

Gracious and loving God, forgive us when we turn a deaf ear to your call in Jesus Christ, and to the cries of those who need your love and our help. Forgive us when we treat discipleship as a burden rather than the gift it is. Forgive us when we give our allegiance to powers and nations before we give it to you. O Lord, forgive our sin. Help us to love you with all that we are, that we may love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Grant us the strength of your Holy Spirit to equip us for our calling as followers of Jesus Christ, in whom we place our trust. Amen.

 

Assurance of Pardon                       

 

Gloria Patri               Glory Be to the Father

 

Call for the Offering   

 

Doxology                  

 

Prayer of Dedication (unison)

Accept these gifts we bring, O Lord. Give us the wisdom, courage, and love we need to use them in ways that please you, spread the gospel, and care for our neighbors with the love of Jesus. We thank you for your indescribable gift! Amen.

 

Reaffirmation of Membership - Debra Lugano     

 

Introduction

 

A Brief Word from Scripture                      Ephesians 4:15-16

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

 

Reaffirmations

Debra, do you trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and do you intend to be his disciple, obeying his word and showing his love?

I do.

 

Do you promise to participate faithfully in the life and work of this congregation - through your worship, your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?

I do.

 

Congregational Response

Do we, the members of Trinity Parish Presbyterian Church, receive this sister with joy, and promise to love, encourage, and support her in the life of faith we share together?

We do, and we give thanks to God.

 

Prayer

 

Welcome of the Congregation & Passing of the Peace

The peace of Christ be with you!

And also with you!

 

Prayer for Illumination

 

Second Reading                     Epistle, Romans 7:15-25a

Gospel Reading                     Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

 

Scripture Response

The Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.   

 

Sermon                      

Prisoners of Hope                              

Rev. Tony DeLucia

 

Liturgy of Communion                     

 

Invitation to the Table

 

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

 

It is right and good to give you thanks, Holy God, in every time and place. You formed us from the dust of the earth and breathed into us the breath of life. When we turned from you and grew weary under the weight of our own sin, you did not abandon us. Again and again you called us back - gathering us like a shepherd gathers scattered sheep, drawing us toward yourself.

When the fullness of time had come, you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, gentle and humble in heart, who took upon himself the very yoke we could not carry. He ate with the weary and the forgotten. He called the restless to himself. He walked all the way through death and out the other side, so that we might find rest in him forever.

 

And so, with your people in every time and place, we lift our voices:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest!

 

Holy are you, God of our footloose hearts, and blessed is Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord and Savior. Watching our restless striving for more and more, he modeled the life of self-denial and service; seeing us weighed down with the burdens of sin and death, he picked up his cross, carried it to Calvary, where he died to give us life.

 

As we remember his life and his rest in you, as we celebrate the good news of lightened burdens, we speak of that mystery we call faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

 

Prayer of Intercession

Lord Jesus Christ, you have invited the weary to your table, and here we are. As we receive these gifts of bread and cup, we pray for a world that is tired - tired of violence, tired of division, tired of carrying burdens too heavy to bear alone.

 

We pray for those who are sick in body - those waiting on diagnoses, those in hospitals and nursing homes, those whose pain is quiet and hidden. Come to them, Lord. Be their rest.

 

We pray for those whose minds are troubled - those wrestling with anxiety and grief, with depression and fear, with memories that will not let them sleep. Gentle Savior, take their yoke. Give them yours.

 

We pray for families that are strained - for marriages and relationships under pressure, for parents who are exhausted, for children who are lonely. Bind us together at this table.

 

We pray for our community, for our neighbors who do not know where to turn, for those who have wandered far from you and do not know they are invited back. Make your church a place of genuine rest for the weary.

 

We pray for those who lead - in our city, in our state, in our nation - that they would govern with wisdom, humility, and compassion for those who are most vulnerable. And we pray for your church around the world - for every congregation gathered at a table like this one today - that we would be made one in you.

 

Hear these prayers, Lord, and all the prayers too deep for words, spoken only in the quiet of our hearts right now...

(brief silence)

 

We trust them all to you, who are gentle and humble in heart, and in whose rest we find our home.

 

Holy God, Pour out your Spirit of rest and shalom upon this bread and this cup, that these gifts might nourish us. As we find our rest in you, may we become restless in service to your children; as we engage with you in solitude, may we build a community of justice and righteousness; as we listen to your silence, may we speak out for all whose voices are ignored by the world.

 

Then, when we gather with all who have found their rest with you at the Table of the Lamb, we will sing our praise for all eternity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God in Community, Holy in One.

 

The Lord’s Prayer

 

Words of Institution

 

Hymn of Response

 

Hymn of Sending 

 

Charge and Benediction                                                                  

 

Response to the Benediction #358, Blue Hymnal    Because He Lives, refrain

 

Postlude