Christ Presbyterian Church

Worship Service

August 20, 2023

Facebook Live: @christpc
Call and Listen: 351-888-7756
Sanctuary Parking Area: FM105.3
 Welcome to Sunday Worship Service
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
August 20, 2023 10:00AM
* Please stand if you are able.

Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Call to Worship
One: Let all the people praise God;
All: Let all the peoples praise the Lord!
One: Let all the nations be glad and sing with joy,
All: Let all the nations be glad and sing with joy,
One: Let all the people praise God, for how we have been blessed;
All: Come let us worship and offer all honour and praise.

Prayer of Adoration
Welcoming God, you make all things new. You invite all people to receive your blessing.
Justice and right relations have their source in you. We are filled with joy to be counted
among your children. As we gather, make us one in witness and worship. Together, we
lift our voices to proclaim your all-encompassing love. May our praise join with the
praise of all your people, and reach the ends of the earth, for you are our Maker and the
hope of the world you love. Amen.

*Hymn
God, You Spin the Whirling Planets
God, you spin the whirling planets,
fill the seas and spread the plain,
mold the mountains, fashion blossoms,
call forth sunshine wind and rain.

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 We, created in your image,
would a true reflection be
of your justice, grace, and mercy
and the truth that makes us free.
You have called us to be faithful
in our life and ministry.
We respond in grateful worship
joined in one community.
When we blur your gracious image,
focus us and make us whole.
Healed and strengthened as your people,
we move onward toward your goal.
God, your will is still creating,
calling us to life made new.
Now reveal to us fresh vistas
where there's work to dare and do.
Keep us clear of all distortion.
Polish us with loving care.
Thus, new creatures in your image,
we'll proclaim Christ everywhere.

Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, we confess that we have not lived as you have taught us. Forgive us
those times we have not welcomed others into our community; and those times we
have avoided others because something about them made us uncomfortable. Forgive
us when we have judged people unfairly. Reveal to us our own prejudices, and show
us how to see your goodness and grace in those who seem different from us.

Silent Confession
Assurance of Pardon

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*Affirmation of Faith 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
I believe Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or rude.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in
wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an
end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know
only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete comes, the partial will
come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned
like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a
mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know
fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;
and the greatest of these is love.

Special Music
If You Search with All Your Heart
Solo – Susan Taylor

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

Prayer of Illumination
Reading from the Old Testament
Psalms 67
May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, 2 that your way
may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations. 3 Let the peoples praise you,
O God; let all the peoples praise you. 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge
the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. 5 Let the peoples praise you, O
God; let all the peoples praise you. 6 The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has
blessed us. 7 May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

Reading from the New Testament

Romans 11:33-36
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his
judgements and how inscrutable his ways! 34 ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or
who has been his counsellor?’ 35 ‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

One: This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God!
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Family Choir
O How He Loves You and Me
O how he loves you and me;
O how he loves you and me.
He gave his life, what more could he give?
O how he loves you,
O how he loves me,
O how he loves you and me!
Jesus to Calvary did go,
his love for people to show.
What he did there brought hope from despair.
O how he loves you,
O how he loves me,
O how he loves you and me!

Reading from the Gospel

Matthew 15:10-28
Jesus called the crowd to him and said to them, ‘Listen and understand: 11 it is not what goes into
the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.’ 12 Then the
disciples approached and said to him, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees took offence when they
heard what you said?’ 13 He answered, ‘Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will
be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides
another, both will fall into a pit.’ 15 But Peter said to him, ‘Explain this parable to us.’ 16 Then he
said, ‘Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the
mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? 18 But what comes out of the mouth
proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. 19 For out of the heart come evil intentions,
murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person, but
to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.’ 21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district
of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started
shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ 23 But
he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for
she keeps shouting after us.’ 24 He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.’ 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ 26 He answered, ‘It is not
fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ 27 She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs
eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ 28 Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is
your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

One: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God!
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Sermon Rev. William Cowfer
“My Father Said…”

RESPONDING TO THE WORD

Hymn
When Peace Like a River
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll,
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain
It is well with my soul;
it is well; it is well with my soul.

He lives: O the bliss of this glorious thought.

My sin, not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
refrain

Invitation to Giving
Offertory
*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
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer

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 GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD

*Hymn
God of the Ages, Whose Almighty Hand
God of the ages, whose almighty hand
leads forth in beauty all the starry band
of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
our grateful songs before thy throne arise.
Thy love divine hath led us in the past.
In this free land by thee our lot is cast.
be thou our ruler, guardian, guide, and stay:
thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way.
Refresh thy people on their toilsome way.
Lead us from night to never-ending day.
Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, laud, and praise be ever thine.

Benediction
Postlude

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 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Neighborhood Ministries
*Currently the “Neighborhood Funds” are running low any financial contributions to
support the food ministries will be welcomed.*
The Neighborhood Food Program distributes bags of groceries on Wednesdays from 5PM to
6PM. These bags provide additional food items to supplement caring for the families in need.
Food items can continue to be dropped off on Sunday mornings and placed in the wheeled
grocery cart or at the church office.
Pak-a-Snack has ended but will continue once the school year resumes in the fall.
Church Office Hours
Office volunteers are always available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 to
11:30 AM. Pastor Bill’s office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 AM – 12:00
PM if you would like to reach him, please call 727-434-2768 or the church office.
Ways to support your church in tithes and offerings
1. Online at www.largocpc.org
2. Through Vanco Mobile Faith Engagement App on Apple or
Android devices
3. Mail a gift directly to the church or drop in office mail slot
4. Use the bill pay option through your bank
5. Scan the QR code to the right using your phone

CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Phone: 727-584-8695 • Fax: 727-585-1079 • 3115 Dryer Ave, Largo FL 33770
www.LargoCPC.org • email: Office.largocpc@gmail.com •
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9 AM – 11:30 AM or by appointment.
Pastor Cowfer will be in the office on Tuesdays and most Thursdays from 9:00 AM – 12:00PM,
if you would like to reach him, please call 727-434-2768 or the church office.

Pastor Rev. William Cowfer email: Cowferwj@gmail.com

Secretary Sarah Reeves email: Office.largocpc@gmail.com
Director of Music Steven Radeck email: StevenRadeck@gmail.com
Custodian June Sanchez email: JuBug616@aol.com
All songs used by permission CCLI #863215 and streaming CPSL 139714, Expiration date 7/31/2023
FYI - Video and audio equipment are used for the
8 livestreaming & recording of the worship service.