Welcome and Announcements
Organ Prelude
“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” (UMH 66) .…….. Choral Introduction
Gathering ……..…..……………………………….… Psalm 139:23-24 (GNT)
Leader: Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
Response: Test me, and discover my thoughts.
Find out if there is any evil in me
And guide me in the everlasting way.
“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” .……………………………… Hymn 127
Opening Prayer .… from the “West Point Cadets Prayer” by Clayton Wheat
O God, our Father, thou Searcher of men's hearts, help us to draw near to thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of thee be natural. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won. Endow us with courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when truth and right are in jeopardy. Guard us against flippancy and irreverence in the sacred things of life. Grant us new ties of friendship and new opportunities of service. All of which we ask in the name of the Great Friend and Master of men. Amen.
Greeting One Another
Children’s Message ……………………………………………..… Dave Cook
Choral Anthem
Concerns and Prayers – The Lord’s Prayer (Blue Hymnal Insert)
Offertory Sentence ...…………………………………… Genesis 28:22 (NIV)
Jacob declared, “Of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Offering – Offertory – Doxology (Blue Hymnal Insert)
Prayer of Dedication
God of Abraham and Isaac, we may not have seen a heavenly stairway reaching from earth to heaven, but we have seen your Son, Jesus, lifted up on the cross to die for our salvation. Redeemed by his blood, we are convinced that you will never leave us, but rather remain by our side throughout our lives. Just the same, we are easily tempted to believe that we will somehow be better givers if we meet our own needs and desires first. Change our hearts, O God, and help us to respond with a full measure of faith, even as we present our tithes and offerings. Amen.
“Nearer, My God to Thee”..………... …………………………. Hymn 528:1-3
Responsive Prayer for Illumination (Blue Hymnal Insert) ....…Anna Phillips
“Jacob’s Dream at Bethel” ............................………….… Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 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!”
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. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although the name of the nearby village was Luz.
Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.” (NLT)
“Halfway Up, Halfway Down: Don’t Get Stuck in the Middle”
“We are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” .…………………………….… Hymn 418
Dismissal with Blessing
“When You Pray” (Blue Hymnal Insert)
Going Forth – Organ Postlude
Have You Prayed for Your Pastors Today?