Prelude - “Lord, Jesus We Enthrone You ” [by P. Kyle] - Sarah Park
Welcome - Liz Meeker
Welcome to Mantua Center Christian Church -- a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms.
- Whether online or in the house this morning, we want to welcome you to our service today. Please take a few moments and greet those seated near you.
- INVITATION FOR MISSION UPDATES:
Ministry Leaders and congregants are welcome to come forward to the mic, to give a mission update or share ways for people to get involved in missions and ministries.
Scripture - Psalm 138:1-3 - Liz Meeker
1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down towards your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
for you have exalted your name and your word
above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me,
you increased my strength of soul.
*Response - Weave #495
Weave, weave, weave us together, Weave us together, in unity and love.
Weave, weave, weave us together, weave us together, together in love.
*Call to Worship - Liz Meeker
One: It is the beginning of a new school year, and God is a God of new beginnings and new creations.
All: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, new life, blessed it and called it good.
One: God called Abraham and Sarah to a new land.
All: And it was good.
One: God called Moses and created the people Israel.
All: And it was good.
One: God was with the people Israel.
All: God is with us now.
One: God gave Abraham, Sarah and Moses the courage to step out in faith.
All: God gives us courage to step out in faith.
One: God is with us wherever go.
All: Come let us worship God with us.
One: Let’s worship our God of new beginnings.
*Opening Hymn - “For the Beauty of the Earth” #56, v.1, 3-4
1 For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
3 For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
4 For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth, and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.
Invitation to Generosity - Liz Meeker
Invitation
Offertory - “Sing Then Over Again to Me” [by P. P. Bliss] - Sarah Park
Response - “Give Thanks” #528
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One,
give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ his Son. Give Thanks!
Offering Prayer - Liz Meeker
Children’s Moment - Kathleen Lewarchick
Pastoral Prayer & The Lord’s Prayer - Liz Meeker
Holy Communion
Meditation - Katie Baird
Hymn - “Fill My Cup, Lord” #351, v.1-2
1 Like the woman at the well I was seeking for things that could not satisfy;
and then I heard my Savior speaking; “Draw from my well that never shall run dry”
Refrain: Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord! Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of Heaven, feed me ‘til I want no more - fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!
2. There are millions in this world who are craving the pleasure earthly things afford;
but none can match the wondrous treasure that I find in Jesus Christ my Lord. [Refrain]
Prayer - Ally Bozeka
Words of Institution - Ally Bozeka
Music - “Saviour! Thy Dying Love ” [by R. Lowry] - Sarah Park
Special Music
“Abide With Me” [by William Henry Monk] - Jon Bozeka
Scripture - Exodus: 1:1-2:10
1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.
15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
The Birth of Moses
2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.
7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”
8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”
Sermon
“The Present Tense” - Ryan Lind
*Closing Hymn - “We are Walking” #442
(3x - Walking, Singing, Dancing)
We are walking* in the light of God
we are walking in the light of God
We are walking in the light of God
we are walking in the light of God
We are walking, Ooo
we are walking in the light of God
We are walking, Ooo
we are walking in the light of God
*/singing/dancing/
Benediction - Liz Meeker
Postlude - “When We Walk With the Lord ” [by W. H. Doane] - Sarah Park