Christ Presbyterian Church

Worship Service

September 10, 2023

Facebook Live: @christpc
Call and Listen: 351-888-7756
Sanctuary Parking Area: FM105.3
 Welcome to Sunday Worship Service
15th Sunday After Pentecost
September 10, 2023 10:00AM
* Please stand if you are able.

Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Call to Worship
One: Sing to the Lord a new song.
All: We will worship God, our Maker!
One: Let us praise God with song and dance,
All: For God is gracious and loving!
One: Let us bring God glory and honour,
All: For God deserves our praise.

Prayer of Adoration
God of grace and glory, Your creative power is beyond imagining. Your love is wider
than the whole universe; your mercy reached beyond the highest heavens; your
wisdom lies deeper than the fathoms of the sea. Maker of all things, you became one
of us in Jesus Christ, walking the roads we take each day. Through your Spirit, you are
present with us in every time and place, to comfort and challenge us. We worship you,
Creator, Christ, and Spirit, and will live to bring you glory, now and always, Amen.

*Hymn
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not; thy compassions they fail not.
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

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 Refrain
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning, new mercies I see.
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
refrain

Prayer of Confession
God of majesty and mercy, although Christ offers us peace, we confess we are a people
sometimes divided. Have Mercy when we harbour fears or mistrust which set neighbour
against neighbour, nation against nation. Guide us back to your way of Peace if we
pursue profit and pleasures which harm creation and the wellbeing of others. Have
mercy upon us, O God. Set us free from any self-serving ways, so we may serve you in
your reconciling love in Jesus Christ. AMEN

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 come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I
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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
Blessings
Solo – Susan Taylor

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

Prayer of Illumination
Reading from the Old Testament
Psalm 34:11-19
Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the way of the Lord. 12 Which of you desires
life, and covets many days to enjoy good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from
speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. 15 The eyes of
the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is
against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous
cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to
the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord rescues them from them all.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

Reading from the New Testament

Romans 13:7-12
Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is
due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. 8 Owe no one anything,
except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The
commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal;
You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of
the law. 11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake
from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is
far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of
light.
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!
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Family Choir
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with you free Spirit.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me. x2
Reading from the Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20
‘If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of
you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not
listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by
the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the
church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a
Gentile and a tax-collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if
two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in
heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
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

“Seek Peace Persistently”

RESPONDING TO THE WORD

Hymn
Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the kingdom of God
and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Allelu, alleluia!
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 Ask, and it shall be given unto you;
seek and you shall find;
knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.
Allelu, alleluia!
You shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Allelu, alleluia!

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.
Prayer of Dedication
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD

*Hymn
We Shall Overcome
We shall overcome;
we shall overcome;
we shall overcome someday.
Refrain
O, deep in my heart
I do believe
we shall overcome someday!

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 We’ll walk hand in hand;
we’ll walk hand in hand;
we’ll walk hand in hand someday.
refrain
We shall live in peace;
we shall live in peace;
we shall live in peace someday.
refrain
God will see us through;
God will see us through;
God will see us through today.
refrain
Benediction
Postlude

**Please join us for coffee fellowship today in Parlor after worship.**

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 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wednesday Night Take-Out Dinner
Take-out meals will be available for delivery or pickup at 4:45 PM on Wednesdays. The cost per meal is $10.
This week’s menu is salad, ham, creamed potatoes, green beans, and lemon cake. If interested in receiving a
meal, please contact June Sanchez at 727-409-4199 or the church office at 727-584-8695. The delivery area is
limited.
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 Bender at 727-304-7577 by Monday
September 18th to make a reservation.
Neighborhood Ministries
* To help support our food ministries you can make financial contribution to the “Neighborhood Funds.”
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 will resume providing food bags to students at Anona Elementary starting soon.
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.