Poolesville Presbyterian Church<br />06.29.2025; Season after Pentecost 8(13)<br /><br />Call To Worship:  (responsive, adapted from a prayer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer)<br />Leader: God of the day and of the night, in us there is darkness.<br />Response:  But with you there is light.<br />Leader:  We are sure we're alone.<br />Response:  But you will not leave us.<br />Leader:  We are weak.<br />Response:  But you will come to our help.<br />Leader:  We are restless.<br />Response:  But you are our peace.<br />Leader:  We are in haste.<br />Response:  But you are the God of infinite patience.<br />Leader:  We are confused and lost.<br />Response: But you are eternal wisdom and you direct our path; now and forever.<br />Leader:  Let us worship God!<br /><br />Hymn 350 Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning<br /><br />Prayer of Confession  (unison)<br />Gracious God, you call upon us to love our neighbors as ourselves.  You give us the freedom to act, and to be a witness to the world.  But we take the freedom you've given us and use it to shut ourselves away from others.  We use our liberty to resent, to be bitter, to envy, and to condemn.  Forgive us, Lord, for disdaining the gift you have given us.   In the name of Christ, please forgive us.  AMEN. <br /><br />Assurance of Pardon<br />Leader:  Friends, who is in a position to condemn?<br />Response:  Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us.<br />Leader: Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.  The old life has gone.  The new life has begun.  Know that you are forgiven, and be at peace.  AMEN<br /><br />Scripture Readings:<br /><br />First: Psalm 16<br /> <br />Second: Galatians 5:1, 13-25<br /><br />Hymn 829 My Faith Looks Up to Thee<br /><br />Third: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14<br /><br />Sermon: The Faithful God<br /><br />Affirmation of Faith  (adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.09-9.10)<br />Biblical visions and images of the rule of Christ, such as a heavenly city, a father's house, a new heaven and earth, a marriage feast, and an unending day culminate in the image of the kingdom.  The kingdom represents the triumph of God over all that resists God's will and disrupts creation.  Already God's reign is present as a ferment in the world, stirring our hope and preparing the world to receive its ultimate judgment and redemption.  With an urgency born of hope, we apply ourselves to present tasks and strive for a better world.  We do not identify limited progress with the kingdom of God on earth, nor do we despair in the face of disappointment and defeat.  In steadfast hope, we look beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God.<br /><br />Hymn 39 Great is Thy Faithfulness<br /><br />Charge and Benediction<br />