Welcome and Announcements 👋

Prelude  It Is Well               John Dixon 🎼

Call to Worship 🙌 

In the midst of fear and anger;

in the midst of illness and unrest, God calls us.

With everything else going on, who has time for a feast? 

In the midst of our anxiety, our worry;

in the midst of bill-paying and appointments, God invites us.

We are tempted to just grab a bite,

a sandwich between errands,

a snack we can eat while driving, or checking email,

or working on today's big project.

The feast is spread!

All are invited, all are welcome!

We are invited. We are welcome. We are worthy. 

How will we respond?

Prayer of Confession 🙏 

God of grace, you invite us to a banquet, and we don’t even respond.

You set us a place at the table, but we find excuses not to come.

You lovingly prepare for our arrival, yet we ignore your efforts.

Forgive us, God.

God of creation, you give us a world capable of abundance,

but we act as if it is a world of scarcity.

You give us the resources and the intelligence to provide for all,

yet we lack the will and the vision to feed all of your children.

Forgive us, God, for filling our plates while others go hungry.

God of love, you call us to be the body of Christ in the world,

but we horde the blessings of communion for ourselves.

Instead of loving our neighbors, we are consumed by the love of self.

Instead of loving you, we bow before idols of our own making.

Forgive us, God.

God of hope, we avert our eyes when we see hunger and need;

we close our ears to the cries of the poor and the oppressed;

we refuse to let our minds be opened to the realities of our world;

we refuse to let our hearts overflow with love and compassion.

Forgive us, God.

God of mercy, as you once again call us to your table, help us to respond in faith.

Forgive our failures and help us to learn from them.

Change our hearts and minds as we hear your good news proclaimed.

Help us to taste and see the goodness you have prepared for us,

and for the world. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon                        Remembering Our Baptism 💦

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.

Time with Young Believers 🧒🏼👦🏻

Please visit this link to view this morning's children's video from Pastor Carrie.🙂

Offering

It is with joy that our God offers the feast before us. He lavishes us with the gifts of creation, of friends and family, of health and the opportunity to live free in this great nation. Just as God pours out His blessings on us, we are invited to share those blessings with others. 

We are asked to be part of the story, to share the Good News, to heal the sick and comfort the broken hearted.

We are given the opportunity to feed the hungry and welcome the stranger home.

You are invited to join our story here at Front Royal Presbyterian Church. Here, in this community of faith, we believe that we are blessed to be a blessing to others and we affirm that in life and in death, in good times and in bad… the hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is all we need.

We invite you to join us in ministry during these difficult times. You may give online at tithe.ly.com or mail a check to the office.

Prayer of Dedication 🙏

Scripture                        Psalms 106:1-6 ✝️

Special Music    Just a Closer Walk with Thee         Anonymous 🎼

Prayers of the People 🙏 

Scripture                        Matthew 22:1-14 ✝️ 

Message

Affirmation of Faith

I believe in an innovative God,

who does not wait for us to find ourselves

but comes seeking the lost and calling us into a new way.

I believe in Jesus of Nazareth as God’s crucial initiative,

that when he calls us to follow, Christ also gives us the power

to become, both in creed and deed, the children of the living God.

I believe in the Spirit by whom Jesus still comes to us,

calling us to follow him into an obedience which is true liberty

and to a humble service which is the fruit of holy friendship.

I believe in the church as the fellowship of Christ’s people,

called to respect and support one another through joys and tribulations

as we travel the road towards the “promised land” of God’s future.

Because Christ has called me

in this I truly believe.

Amen.

Hymn Lord, I Want to Be a Christian 🎼

Benediction

The Lord Bless and Keep You 🎼

The Lord bless and keep you,

the Lord make His face to shine on you

and be gracious, gracious.

The Lord bless and keep you,

the Lord lift His countenance on you,

and give peace, give you peace.

Shalom. Shalom.

Postlude  Toccata in F Major             Dietrich Buxtehude 🎼