Greeting from Pastor Nick, live at 9:30 AM:

With the words of this Psalm, God calls you to worship him.

Psalm 68:24-26 (NIV)

Your procession, God, has come into view,  

the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

In front are the singers, after them the musicians;

with them are the young women playing the timbrels.

Praise God in the great congregation;

praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.

Pray this prayer:

Almighty God,

whose people are knit together in one holy church,

the body of Christ, our Lord:

Grant us grace to follow those who have gone before us

in lives of faith and commitment

and to know the inexpressible joys

you have prepared for those who love you,

through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

Praise God with the words of this song: 

Read these words as God calls you to confess your sins:

Mark 12:28-34

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Pray this prayer of confession:

Forgive us for failing to love each other, O Lord,

when we have instead acted in pride and jealousy. 

Forgive us for pretending to love each other,

when we have instead not really cared about our neighbors.

Make us united with other members of this church,

scattered in their homes this morning.

Fill us with genuine love and mutual trust. Amen.

Notice how Jesus loves the man in this story and how the man turns in love to the people around him. Let God remind you in this story that Jesus creates a community of love in his church:

Luke 19:1-10 (NIV)

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Give thanks to God with this song, and then listen as God teaches you from Ephesians 4:1-6: