- We are a community seeking to have open minds, open hearts, and open arms, building community in a fragmented world.
- We want to welcome everyone who is in the house today and everyone online. We are grateful for all the many ways you can join us for worship on this Lord’s Day.
- Announcements will be on one sheet at the back of the sanctuary.
- Today, after Children’s Moment the kids can go outside with Ally
- Let’s prepare our hearts and minds for worship with our Opening Scripture Reading...
Gathering Music - Nearer, My God, to Thee [by Robert Lau] - Jan Green
Opening Scripture - John 1:14-18
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
Let’s sing together Weave
*Response - Weave
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 Ruth Anne Ruehr
ONE: People of God, open your eyes!
ALL: Surely the Lord is in this place!
ONE: Children of God, open your ears!
ALL: Surely the Lord is in the words, the music, the silence!
ONE: For this is none other than the house of God,
ALL: a meeting place for God and all God’s people.
Let’s worship the Lord!
*Opening Hymn - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty #25
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, who rules all creation.
O my soul, worship the wellspring of health and salvation.
All ye who hear,
now to God's temple draw near.
Join me in glad adoration.
Offering of Praise Ruth Anne Ruehr
Children’s Moment Ally Bozeka
Pastoral Prayer Rev. Chad Delaney
Communion
Meditation Pete Pruszynski
Communion Hymn - In this Very Room #295, v.3
In this very room, there's quite enough love for all the world
And in this very room, there's quite enough joy for all the world
And there's quite enough hope
And quite enough power
To chase away any gloom
For Jesus, Lord Jesus
Is in this very room
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer - Pete Pruszynski
Words of Institution - Rev. Chad Delaney
Distribution
Scripture Reading - Genesis 27:1-4, 15-23; 28:10-17 (New Living Translation)
One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, “My son.” “Yes, Father?” Esau replied. 2 “I am an old man now,” Isaac said, “and I don’t know when I may die. 3 Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die.”
15 Rebekah took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. 16 She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. 17 Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread.
18 So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said.
“Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?”
19 Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.” 20 Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
“The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you and make sure that you really are Esau.” 22 So Jacob went closer to his father, and Isaac touched him. “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s,” Isaac said. 23 But he did not recognize Jacob, because Jacob’s hands felt hairy just like Esau’s. So Isaac prepared to bless Jacob. 24 “But are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “Yes, I am,” Jacob replied.
Gen 28:10-18
10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 11 At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. 12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it.
Sermon - Who’s Climbing Jacob’s Ladder? Rev. Chad Delaney
Closing Hymn - Surely the Presence of the Lord #263
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
I can feel His mighty power and His grace.
I can hear the brush of angels wings.
I see glory on each face.
Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
*Benediction Rev. Chad Delaney
As we go from here, hear again the promises of God,
made long ago to our ancestor Jacob,
and still true for us today:
I am the Lord your God,
the God of Abraham and Isaac.
Know that I am with you,
and will keep you wherever you go.
I will not leave you
until I have done everything that I have promised.
Let’s go from here
in the assurance that our faithful God goes with us
Departing Music - To God Be the Glory [by Garrett Parker] Jan Green