NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Prelude          Mary Heller

Welcome and Greeting

Preparation of Our Hearts

 Call to Worship     Isaiah 6:1-5

       6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and said,

        “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

        4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

Hymn     # 249     Holy, Holy, Holy          (Gray Psalter Hymnal)

Confession of Sin 

       5And I said, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Assurance of Pardon

       6Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.”

Psalter     Psalm 65     (NRSVUE)          Bert Chapman

1Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion, and to you shall vows be performed,

2O you who answer prayer! To you all flesh shall come.

3When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions.

4Happy are those whom you choose and bring near to live in your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.

5By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, O God of our salvation; you are the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.

6By your strength you established the mountains; you are girded with might.

7You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.

8Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs; you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

9You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it.

10You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.

11You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness.

12The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills gird themselves with joy;

13the meadows clothe themselves with flocks; the valleys deck themselves with grain; they shout and sing together for joy.

Prayer for Illumination                                        

Old Testament Reading     Malachi 3:1-4

       3 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

       For he is like a refiner’s fire and like washers’ soap; 3he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years.

Lector: This is the Word of the Lord.

Congregation: Thanks be to God for His Word.

Special Music     When Peace Like a River          Grieke Toebes, Donna Lofgren, Dave and Kris Stith

Children’s Sermon 

Hymn     Insert     Arise, My Soul, Arise

New Testament Reading     John 2:13-25

       13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, with the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Sermon          Pastor Andrew Winter