79TH VERGARA CLAN REUNION LITURGY

Prelude

Call to Worship – Psalm 95:1-7, TPT

1Come on, everyone! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s shout our loudest praises to our God who saved us!
2Everyone come meet his face with a thankful heart.
Don’t hold back your praises;
make him great by your shouts of joy!
3For the Lord is the greatest of all,
King-God over all other gods!
4In one hand he holds the mysteries of the earth,
and in the other he holds the highest mountain peaks.
5He’s the owner of every ocean,
the engineer and sculptor of earth itself!
6Come and kneel before this Creator-God;
come and bow before the mighty God, our majesNc maker!
7For we are those he cares for, and he is the God we worship.

Welcoming God’s Presence (Opening Prayer) – based on Psalm 27:4-5

Almighty God, we welcome you today, in this place and in our hearts. Fill this sanctuary with
your glory so we may gaze upon your beauty and majesty, and be transformed once again closer
to the likeness of your beloved Son, Jesus. Speak to each and every one of us now; reveal the
tenderness of your heart through your Spirit as you allow us to stand before your holy presence.
In Jesus’ name.

Prayer of Confession – Psalm 51:1-3, 7-12

1Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
7Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvaNon and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Moments of Silent ReflecMon

Assurance of Pardon – 1 John 1:9, NIV

The word of the Lord declares – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Come, let us receive the forgiveness that the
Lord offers. He is able to make us clean. He is able to make us whole. Let us rejoice and be glad
for the new life that Christ offers to all!

GreeMngs and Passing of Peace

Singing Songs of Praise

• Blessed Be The Name
• Shout to the Lord

Reading from the Old Testament – Isaiah 61:6-11, NIV

6And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of naNons,
and in their riches you will boast.
7Instead of your shame
you will receive a double porNon,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double porNon in your land,
and everlasNng joy will be yours.
8“For I, the Lord, love jusNce;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasNng covenant with them.
9Their descendants will be known among the naNons
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
10I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvaNon
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all naNons.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord
Response: Thanks be to God!

Reading from the New Testament – Hebrews 11:1-2, The Message

1-2The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundaNon
under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of
faith is what disNnguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Reader: The Lord has already blessed us upon the reading of His Words.
Response: Praise be to God!

Anthem (if possible) – FIND US FAITHFUL

MeditaMon – FAITH IN JESUS: OUR FIRM FOUNDATION by Pastor Jeff Gatdula

Offertory Music –

Giving of Our Offerings

Remembering Our Dearly Departed (Memorial)

Closing Hymn – LIVING FOR JESUS

Closing Prayer, in Unison (based on Ephesians 3:16-19)

Heavenly Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, we declare
that your glorious riches will strengthen our inner being with the power that comes from your
Holy Spirit. We ask that Christ shall conNnue to dwell in our hearts through our every expression
of faith day by day, moment by moment. We pray that as we conNnue to follow You, our lives
will conNnue to be rooted and established deep within your love so that we may have all the
power and authority to understand and experience the love of Jesus Christ, and be able to leave
a legacy that is not only admirable here on earth, but worthy of your commendaNon even in
eternity. We rely on your amazing grace to accomplish all these, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BenedicMon – Jude 24-25 (to be led by one of the Family Elders)

24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling or falling into sin, and to present you
unblemished, blameless and faultless, in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and
unspeakable delight, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,
majesty, dominion, and power, before all Nme and now and forever. Amen.

Response: Lutkin’s BenedicMon