Song

Opening Scripture

Psalm 104:1-2, 30-35

Bless the LORD, O my soul.
    O LORD my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
    wrapped in light as with a garment.
You stretch out the heavens like a tent.

When you send forth your spirit, all things are created;
    and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works.
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!

Greeting

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Our help is in the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Amen.

Song

Beautiful Savior! King of creation!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Truly I’d love thee, truly I’d serve thee,
Light of my soul, my joy, my crown.

Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
robed in flowers of blooming spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer;
he makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
bright the sparkling stars on high;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels in the sky.

Beautiful Savior! Lord of the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine!

Text: Gesangbuch, Münster, 1677; tr. Joseph A. Seiss, 1873, P.D Music: Schleissche Volkslieder, 1842, P.D.

Confession and Assurance

Call to Confession: 1 John 2:1-2

The apostle John wrote: 

My little children,
I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.
But if anyone does sin,
we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous;
and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

In the strength of this assurance, let us confess our sins to God. 

Prayer of Confession

Merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you
with our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
help us amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Romans 8:34; 2 Corinthians 5:17

Hear the good news!
Who is in a position to condemn us?
Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us,
Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. 

Believe the good news!
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old has gone; the new has come.
There is no condemnation; we are forgiven.

The Peace

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Scriptural Promises

Baptism begins, always, with God: with God’s invitation, God’s promises, God’s work. As you read the liturgy below, remember your own baptism, and remember all that God has done to flower what he began in you in your baptism. He formed you; he knows you; he will carry his work in you to completion.

“But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.”
—Isaiah 43:1-2

Words of Institution & Teaching

Here’s what Jesus says, an invitation and a promise for all:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, 
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Baptism is the sign and seal of God’s promises to his covenant people.
In baptism God promises by grace alone:
to forgive our sins;
to adopt us into the Body of Christ, his Church;
to send the Holy Spirit daily to renew and cleanse us;
and to resurrect us to eternal life.

God does these things for us in Christ, and they are made visible to us in the water of baptism. 

If you would like, you may wish to pour a bowl of water before or during the following lines, to help remember your baptism.

Water cleanses; purifies; refreshes; sustains: Jesus Christ is living water.

In baptism Christ also calls us to a new obedience:
to love and trust God completely;
to forsake the evil of the world;
and to live a new and holy life.

And in baptism, the Spirit assures us:
when we fall into sin, we do not despair of God’s mercy, nor continue in sin,
for baptism is the sign and seal of God’s eternal covenant of grace with us.

Profession of Faith

We bring George for baptism wrapped in the faith of his parents, our local church, and the universal church to which we belong, trusting that God will do for George what he has promised.

The Parents’ Faith

Andrew & Lynnae, having heard God’s great love and gracious promises to us in Christ, do you desire that George be baptized? We do.

I ask you, then, before God and Christ’s church, to reject evil, to profess your faith in Christ, and to confess with all of us the faith of the church.

Do you renounce sin and the power of evil in your life and in the world? We renounce them.

Who is your Lord and Savior? Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.

Do you promise to instruct George in the truth of God’s word,
in the way of salvation through Jesus Christ;
to pray for him, to teach him to pray;
and to train him in Christ’s way by your example,
through worship, and in the nurture of the church? We do, God helping us.

The Congregation’s Commitment

14th Street Church,
since George belongs to God, He belongs also to you.
Do you promise to love, encourage, and support George
by teaching him the gospel of God’s love,
by being an example of Christian faith and character, and
by giving the strong support of God’s family
in fellowship, prayer, and service?
We do, God helping us.

The Church’s Faith

Together we profess our common faith, with the church around the world and through the ages, using the words of the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
begotten from the Father before all ages, God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made;
of the same essence as the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven;
he became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary,
and was made human.
He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried.
The third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures.
He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again with glory
to judge the living and the dead.
His kingdom will never end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.
He proceeds from the Father and the Son,
and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified.
He spoke through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look forward to the resurrection of the dead,
and to life in the world to come.
Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, O God, maker and ruler of all things.
Your voice thundered over the waters at creation.
You water the mountains and send springs into the valleys
to refresh and satisfy us and all living things.
Through the waters of the flood you carried those in the ark to safety.
Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery to freedom.
In the wilderness you nourished them with water from the rock,
and you brought them across the river Jordan to the promised land.
By the baptism of his death and resurrection, your Son, Jesus,
has carried us to safety and freedom.
The floods shall not overwhelm us, the deep shall not swallow us up,
for Christ has brought us over to the land of promise.
Pour out your Holy Spirit,
wash away sin through the cross of Christ,
clothe the baptized with Christ,
and claim your daughters and sons,
no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female,
but one with all the baptized in Christ Jesus,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

Baptism

At this point in the liturgy, George will be baptized and marked with the sign of the cross, sealed by the Spirit as Christ’s own forever. This video will be shared with the congregation in an email sent in the next few days.

Prayer

During the service, George’s Elder and Deacon will pray the prayer below for him. Please pray it for him in your own homes.

Gracious God and heavenly Father,
we thank you that you make us new persons in Jesus Christ
through grace alone, and that George has taken refuge 
under the shelter of Your wings.
May you be glorified in him.

We pray for George.
Fill him with the power of your Holy Spirit.
Unfold to him the riches of your love.
Deepen his faith. 
Keep him from the power of evil.
Open the eyes of his heart.
And enable him to live a holy and blameless life until your kingdom comes.

Look with kindness on Andrew & Lynnae.
Let them always rejoice in the gift you have given them.
Grant them the presence of your Holy Spirit,
that they may bring up George to know you, love you, and serve you and his neighbor,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Welcome & Blessing

Brothers and sisters, would you welcome our new brother in Christ, saying these words: 

Joyfully we receive you into the body of Christ.
Join with us as we give witness in the world to the good news,
for we are all one in Christ Jesus.
Alleluia.

Song

Prayer of Illumination

God of mercy, you promised never to break your covenant with us.
Amid all the changing words of our generation,
speak your eternal Word that does not change.
Then may we respond to your gracious promises 
with faithful and obedient lives;
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

The Stories We Tell

Prayers of the People

The Prayers of the People this week was written by one of our Elders, Ben Shank. We invite you to pray it in your home.

Father God, we come to you in the midst of uncertainty, in a world that we don't really understand, looking at a future that we have almost no power to predict.  And we remember that in the darkness before all of the things we fear losing and all of the things that threaten them, it was your Spirit that hovered over the void.  You spoke and there was light.  You spoke and there was sky, atmosphere, a space to breath.  You spoke and there was solid ground to stand on.  When we feel the darkness all around us, when we have no space to breath and no ground to stand on, we come to you.  We come to you, our Father and Provider, knowing that you made all of this and you see us and love us.  But sometimes, we know that your provision is already at hand and we simply fail to understand the story that you are already speaking over and through us.  Change the stories that we live out of.  Change our hearts.

We bring to you the story of COVID-19, the story of pandemic from which we can only hide.  We bring you the loss of life, the loss of livelihoods, the isolation that we have entered.  We acknowledge that you have called us to be your body here on Earth and we pray for wisdom, courage and provision to carry out your will. We pray also that through our lives you will tell a different story.  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”  We pray for ourselves and for each other that we will live daily in your presence, that your guidance will be a tangible source of comfort and protection.

We lift up the young who are being formed.  May the stories of faith be folded into their understanding of this life that we are living together.  We ask that your Spirit will inhabit our schools as they reopen, to guide and protect teachers and learners alike.  Give us the gentleness that does not come easily in youth, humbly changing our behavior toward each other without pride or argument.  And may we discover places of safety and growth, not just muddling through but thriving, flourishing in the small spaces that this year will bring us.

We lift up those whose lives seem newly unformed, whether through loss of a job, or a change in family arrangements, or any of the ways that the earthly things we rely on for stability fail us.  Though we may do it through gritted teeth, we thank you for exposing the idols that we did not realize held our focus.  But while the earth for us feels formless we wait, knowing your Holy Spirit surrounds these shapeless waters.  And we tell the stories of Emanuel, God with us.  We remember how Jesus healed and even raised the dead.  And so our story through loss is also this: “My God is able to bring life to this career, this relationship that seems dead.”

We tell the story today of God who divided the seas and the sky, the day and the night, creating order from chaos.  But we must also confess the times when we want to take that role, creating new divisions to suit our own sense of order, pride or comfort.  We lift up to you the political division in our country.  We would love to pray, and we do pray, that you would make a path for national, state and local conversations that are shaped by love of neighbor.  Bring judgment on those who would use fear, intimidation and chaos for political or personal ends.  But we also lift up to you the stories we tell ourselves, the divisions we make beyond the boundaries you set for us.  Change our stories, Lord.  Let us see the people and the situations that affect us most through the lens of Christ.

We find ourselves again lifting up our brothers and sisters in California who are facing uncontained wildfires on top of oppressive heat.  The weather forecast for them looks dire, but we remember that it was you who withheld the rain from Ahab and you who restored it when Elijah called on your name.  We pray that your will be done and that the time of mercy will come swiftly.  In a completely non-metaphorical way, may your name be praised in the midst of the storm.  Lord, let it rain.

Unlike the stories of this world, our creation story ends this way: On the seventh day, God rested.  More could have been added to the world, and indeed we celebrate your historical and ongoing work among us, but on that day you were satisfied and called it good.  You proclaimed a weekly Sabbath rest for us and our livestock and everyone in our towns, even during the busy season.  And on the way to the cross you called the tired and the burdened to find rest in you.  We long to be a people of holy works, bringing light and life, order and creativity into this world in Jesus' name.  But first, lest we find ourselves stepping slowly into the role you set aside for yourself, may we be a people of holy rest, defaulting to worship and communion in lives that move into action out of the peace to which you have called us.  We ask this in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Offering

In addition to our various funds (General, Building, Mission, Benevolence, Christian Education), online giving is also now available for today’s special offerings (3Sixty & Barnabas Ministries ) through the Give button below.

Song

We invite you to sing the Doxology with just the voices in your home. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Psalm 100:1).

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. 

Words: Thomas Ken, 1709, P.D.; Music: Louis Bourgeois, 1551, P.D.

God’s Parting Words

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you
and be gracious unto you;
the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you
and give you peace. Amen.

Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.