Front Royal Presbyterian Church
July 13, 2025, 10:30 am
Liturgist – Keith Patman
Minister - Rev. Jaci Smith Patman
Prelude Call to Glory Kenneth Baird
Doug Wilson, trumpet
Welcome and Announcements
Opening Prayer & Gathering #391 Take My Life, vs. 1
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Call to Worship
We come with willing hearts and eager minds.
Lead us in your truth, O God of our salvation!
We come in our weakness and wander.
Teach us your ways, O God of our salvation!
We come seeking the path of justice.
We are ready to follow, O God of our salvation!
Opening Hymn #485 To God Be the Glory
(Please remain standing through the Gloria Patri)
Call to Confession
Claiming us in love, God beckons us to grow in that love and to reflect that love to others. Yet sin obstructs our efforts and prevents us from living as God intends. In penitence and faith, let us seek God’s forgiveness.
Prayer of Confession
God of Mercy, we confess that we have failed to live as your beloved sons and daughters. We have set our minds on the things of this world, and we have neglected the calling to love indiscriminately. We have pursued selfish aims in our daily business; we have harbored uncharitable thoughts toward our enemies and our friends; we have avoided difficult responsibilities to our neighbors. Forgive us. Free us from our selfish ways, and strengthen us to be disciples of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news: Christ is merciful to all who turn to him in repentance. In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
In light of God’s gift of grace, please turn to your neighbor to extend the peace of Christ, saying, “May the Peace of Christ be with you,” and offer the traditional response:
“And also with you.”
Gloria Patria
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.
Sermon for Faith Builders Children are invited to go to Children’s Worship with our Children’s Worship Leader, Ms. Marisa. Children will return during the final hymn.
Cents-Ability
Prayers of the People & The Lord's Prayer
Call to Offering
Offertory Passacaglia ("Christe") from Messe du Deuxieme Ton
André Raison
Doxology
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
Prayer of Dedication
Hymn #324 Open My Eyes That I May See
Scripture Reading John 5:31-38
Special Music Voluntary No. 6 William Goodwin/arr. Doug Wilson
Sermon Being God’s Person in Messy Times: Again!?
Affirmation of Faith - (A Declaration of Faith, 7(3)*)
Throughout its history the church has struggled
to be faithful to God in political situations:
under persecution,
or as an established arm of the state,
or in separation from it.
God rules over both political and religious institutions.
We must confuse neither with the kingdom of God.
We must not equate the Christian faith
with any nation's way of life
or with opposition to the ideologies of other nations.
We hold Christians are to be law-abiding citizens
unless the state commands them to disobey God,
or claims authority that belongs only to God.
We must not allow governments
to impose Christian faith by legislation,
nor should we demand undue advantages for the church.
The church must be free to speak to civil authorities,
neither claiming expert knowledge it does not have,
nor remaining silent when God's Word is clear.
Closing Hymn #327 O Word of God Incarnate
Benediction
Postlude Chanson Festif Mark Hayes
Doug Wilson, trumpet & flugelhorn
*Excerpted from A Declaration of Faith, which originated in the PCUS (Southern Church) in 1977. In 1985, the PC(USA) (the reunified church) affirmed the lengthy Declaration as “a reliable aid for Christian study, liturgy, and inspiration.”
