July 23rd 2023 – ” We can’t run away”

2023-07-23 "We can't run away from ourselves (but we can run to God)" 11 AM

Dear friends, 

This Sunday the Rev. Linda Faith Chalk will be leading us in worship. 

Our gospel lesson continues in the Gospel of Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43, “The Parable of the Weeds.”  Jesus is speaking to the large crowds once again in parables, but this time, not about seeds being scattered onto different soils, but of the seeds themselves.  In this parable, the two seeds planted in the world represent either the sons and daughters of the kingdom, or the sons and daughters of the evil one, yet both are growing alongside one another.  One commentator notes, “Is this world getting better or is it getting worse?  Both!  This world is getting better and it is getting worse at the same time!  The good seed is growing and producing an abundant harvest.  And the weeds are growing too.  With every week that passes they are larger and more deeply rooted than before.”  God is continuing to build His church today until the Second Coming of Christ, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  


Order of Service

Welcome

Call to Worship

Hymn 321: “Praise to the Lord, the almighty” (vs 2 & 4 en français)

Prayer of Adoration

Prayer of Confession

Declaration of Grace

The Lord’s Prayer

Children’s Time

Hymn 654: “O God of Bethel, by whose hand”

Responsive Reading: Psalm 139: 1-12, 23-24

Gloria Patri 

Genesis 28: 10-19 (en français – English on the screen)

Romans 8: 12-25

Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

Sermon: “We can’t run away from ourselves (but we can run to God)”

Confession of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed

Hymn 769: “Lord of light, whose name and splendour”

Offering and Offertory

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Hymn 411: “Stand up and bless the Lord”

Benediction

Go now in peace

Postlude