Christ Presbyterian Church

Worship Service

August 27, 2023

Facebook Live: @christpc
Call and Listen: 351-888-7756
Sanctuary Parking Area: FM105.3
 Welcome to Sunday Worship Service
13th Sunday After Pentecost
August 27, 2023 10:00AM
* Please stand if you are able.

Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Call to Worship
One: We give thanks to the Lord with all our hearts,
All: for God’s faithful love endures forever.
One: We sing praises to the Lord, with all our strength,
All: for God’s promises declare God’s goodness to all the earth.
One: We place our trust in in God with full confidence,
All: and so we come to worship with hearts full of 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
Let All Things Now Living
Let all things now living
a song of thanksgiving
to God our Creator triumphantly raise;
who fashioned and made us,
protected and stayed us,
by guiding us on to the end of our days.
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 God's banners are o'er us;
pure light goes before us,
a pillar of fire shining forth in the night:
till shadows have vanished,
all fearfulness banished,
as forward we travel from light into light.
By law God enforces,
the stars in their courses,
]the sun in its orbit obediently shine;
the hills and the mountains,
the rivers and fountains,
the depths of the ocean proclaim God divine.
We too should be voicing
our love and rejoicing;
with glad adoration, a song let us raise,
till all things now living
united in thanksgiving:
to God in the highest, hosanna and praise!

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
*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
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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
Hero
Solo – Susan Taylor

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

Prayer of Illumination
Reading from the Old Testament
Psalms 138
I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 2 I bow
down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your
faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. 3 On the day I
called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. 4 All the kings of the earth shall
praise you, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. 5 They shall sing of the ways
of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the
lowly; but the haughty he perceives from far away. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you
preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand
delivers me. 8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures
forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

Reading from the New Testament

Romans 12:1-10
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may
discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace
given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought
to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has
assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the
same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are
members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us:
prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the
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exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate,
in cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one
another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.
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!

Family Choir
I Love You, Lord
I love you, Lord and I lift my voice
to worship you. O my soul rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what you hear.
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear. x2

Reading from the Gospel

Matthew 16:13-20
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do
people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others
Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say
that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And
Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed
this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone
that he was the Messiah.
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!

Sermon Rev. William Cowfer

“Emmanuel, God With Us”

RESPONDING TO THE WORD

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Hymn
Joy to the World
Joy to the world, the Lord is come:
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns:

Let us our songs employ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders, of his love.

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.
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Prayer of Dedication
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer

GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD

*Hymn
O for a World
O for a world where everyone
respects each other's ways,
where love is lived and all is done
with justice and with praise.
O for a world where goods are shared
and misery relieved,
where truth is spoken, children spared,
equality achieved.
We welcome one world family
and struggle with each choice
that opens us to unity
and gives our vision voice.
The poor are rich; the weak are strong;
the foolish ones are wise.
Tell all who mourn: outcasts belong,
who perishes will rise.
O for a world preparing for
God's glorious reign of peace,
where time and tears will be no more,
and all but love will cease.
Benediction
Postlude

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 ANNOUNCEMENTS
CPC Night Out on The Town
Join us on Thursday September 21st at 5 PM for dinner at PJ's Oyster Bar 415- 2nd St Indian Rocks
Beach. If interested, please contact the church office at 727-584-8695 or Chad at 727-304-7577 by
Monday September 18th to make a reservation.
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.