Service of Worship September 27, 2026 Hayloft Sanctuary - 9:00am

Welcome A description of this service at the bottom of this bulletin. We begin our prayers with praise because Jesus instructed that prayer begins with who God is, where He is, and with an active longing that our kingdoms become more like His.

Welcome We begin our prayers with praise because Jesus instructed that prayer begins with who God is, where He is, and with an active longing that our kingdoms become more like His. God Summons Us Prelude please use this prelude as a time to prepare your heart and mind for corporate worship

God Summons Us
Prelude Please use this prelude as a time to prepare your heart and mind for corporate worship
Call to Worship Leader: Answer us when we call, O God of my righteousness! ALL: You have given us relief when we were in distress. Leader: Be gracious to us and hear our prayer! ALL: the Lord hears when we call to him. Leader: We put our trust in the Lord. ALL: Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” Leader: for You have put joy in our heart ALL: for you alone, O Lord, make us dwell in safety. And so we worship you! Adapted from Psalm 4

Call to Worship
Leader: Answer us when we call, O God of my righteousness! ALL: You have given us relief when we were in distress. Leader: Be gracious to us and hear our prayer! ALL: the Lord hears when we call to him. Leader: We put our trust in the Lord. ALL: Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” Leader: for You have put joy in our heart ALL: for you alone, O Lord, make us dwell in safety. And so we worship you!
Adapted from Psalm 4

Praises of the People
Hymns and Choruses of Praise #230 - Alleluia! Sing to Jesus
Spoken and Silent Praises, Gratitudes, and Laments Our praise is to the God who is faithful in His lovingkindness.
#331 - Gloria Patri Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

Praises of the People
Hymns and Choruses of Praise
#230 - Alleluia! Sing to Jesus

God Sanctifies Us
Silent Personal Confession The proof of God’s amazing love is this: “While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Trusting in God’s faithfulness and compassion, let us confess our sin before God and one another. —based on Romans 5:8; Hebrews 4:16
Unison Confession Merciful God, we confess that we have often failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and have refused to hear the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray, and free us into joyful obedience; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Declaration of Forgiveness The grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, has led us into and through this moment. We are a forgiven and strengthened people because of the Father Heart of God, the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling, unfailing love of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Passing of the Peace The peace of the LORD be with you. And also with you.

Spoken and Silent Praises, Gratitudes, and Laments
Our praise is to the God who is faithful in His lovingkindness.
#331 - Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, Amen.

God Strengthens Us
The Prayers of the People
Hymn of Reflection #542 - God Is Our Strength and Refuge
Doxology #334 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

God Sanctifies Us
Silent Personal Confession The proof of God’s amazing love is this: “While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Trusting in God’s faithfulness and compassion, let us confess our sin before God and one another. —based on Romans 5:8; Hebrews 4:16
Unison Confession
Merciful God, we confess that we have often failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and have refused to hear the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray, and free us into joyful obedience; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Declaration of Forgiveness The grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, has led us into and through this moment. We are a forgiven and strengthened people because of the Father Heart of God, the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling, unfailing love of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Declaration of Forgiveness
The grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, has led us into and through this moment. We are a forgiven and strengthened people because of the Father Heart of God, the work of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling, unfailing love of the Holy Spirit. Amen

God Speaks to Us
The Prayer of Illumination
The Reading - Matthew 11:25-30

Passing of the Peace The peace of the LORD be with you. And also with you.

God Strengthens Us
The Prayers of the People
Hymn of Reflection #542 - God Is Our Strength and Refuge
Doxology #334 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to the Christ.

God Speaks to Us
The Prayer of Illumination

The Sermon – The Rest of God - Matthew 11:25-30 Matt Blazer
Sermon Notes: 1. Jesus offers rest
2. which saves
3. and forms
4. for the life of the world.

The Sacrament: The EUCHARIST The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise.
…Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with choirs of angels, with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and with all the faithful of every time and place, who forever sing to the glory of your name: 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!
…Great is the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
…And so, as He taught us, we are bold to pray: The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.
Words of Institution Communion
Let us pray: Gracious God, you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life, and renewed us for your service. Help us who have shared Christ’s body and received his cup, to be his faithful disciples, so that our daily living may be part of the life of your kingdom, and our love be your love, reaching out into the life of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This is the word of the Lord.
Praise be to the Christ.

Closing Hymn #453 - In the Cross of Christ I Glory
God Sends Us God the Father loves us, Jesus has reconciled us to Him, and we have the Holy Spirit.
Benediction
Postlude

The Sermon – The Rest of God - Matthew 11:25-30
Matt Blazer
Sermon Notes:
1. Jesus offers rest 2. which saves 3. and forms 4. for the life of the world.

Church and Ministry Information Are you a guest with us this morning? Welcome and thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself.

The Sacrament: The EUCHARIST The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give him thanks and praise. …Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with choirs of angels, with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and with all the faithful of every time and place, who forever sing to the glory of your name: 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! …Great is the mystery of faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. …And so, as He taught us, we are bold to pray:
The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen. Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.
Words of Institution
Communion

Hearing Assist Receivers Available Hearing assist receivers can be picked up from the sound crew before the service.
Prayer Opportunity If you desire to be prayed for, please see the pastor after the service.
Offering The Apostle Paul assumes that local gatherings of Christ followers support the work of the Gospel. He describes giving monetarily in almost every letter he writes in the New Testament. Christ followers give what they can for the work of the local church and for mission churches. Similarly here, we hope you are planning and then giving joyfully because you believe in the mission and vision of this local gathering. There is a box by the door to receive your offering.
This is a new, though also very old, kind of service of worship. It is contemplative, that is, it invites its participants to reflect upon their Lord, His power, righteousness and mercies, the church universal, and their own lives as members of His body. We use periods of silence for reflection and inner prayer—and also for extemporaneous, short, spoken praises, prayers or songs. It is traditional. It includes forms of worship, praise and prayer from the whole history of the Christian church, some from the earliest days, others that date from the Reformation, and still others that are more modern. Such a service depends a great deal on the active participation of those attending. No liturgy guarantees a spirit-filled experience of worship (nor does the absence of liturgy do so). This service asks for worshipers who are intentional and concentrated in their opening of themselves to the presence of Christ, in their sensitivity to what the Holy Spirit is saying, and in fervent sharing of responses, prayers and song. It also calls us to remember that above all, we come together to please God. God has the first and last word this morning because He has the first and last word in all of the universe. Such a service reminds us, too, of a mystery: that we inhabit not only a physical universe but a spiritual one, that all around us are angels and archangels and all the company of heaven with whom we join in our praises, and who are witnesses that what we do physically has eternal and supernatural consequences. We enter a sacred space and live a holy time as we draw near to God, and especially so when we share His feast, the Eucharist.

Let us pray:
Gracious God, you have made us one with all your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life, and renewed us for your service. Help us who have shared Christ’s body and received his cup, to be his faithful disciples, so that our daily living may be part of the life of your kingdom, and our love be your love, reaching out into the life of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing Hymn #453 - In the Cross of Christ I Glory
God Sends Us God the Father loves us, Jesus has reconciled us to Him, and we have the Holy Spirit.
Benediction
Postlude