Image: “Holding Hands” Valente, Liz, Drawing, 2021, Vicosa Brazil
©Order of Worship for Sunday September 13, 2026
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Communion
For the Avent Ferry UMC Worship Video Click Here Link (Link opens in a new window)
Gathering Music:………………………………………….Greg D.
Greetings:……………………………………….…..…Lorri B.
Announcements:…………………………………………..Lorri B.
Prelude:………………………………………………………..Greg D.
Coming of the Light:………………………………………….
Call to Worship:…“Come and Fill Our Hearts”…..Elizabeth B.
#2157 TFWS
Come and fill our hearts with your peace. You alone, O Lord, are
holy. Come and fill our hearts with your peace, Alleluia!
Opening Prayer: …………………………..…….……….…Melrose D.
Lord Jesus Christ, you are the way of peace.
Come into the brokenness of our lives and our land
with your healing love.
Help us to be willing to bow before you in true repentance,
and to bow to one another in real forgiveness.
By the fire of your Holy Spirit, melt our hard hearts
and consume the pride and prejudice which separate us.
Fill us, O Lord, with your perfect love, which casts out our fear,
and bind us together in that unity
which you share with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening Hymn: “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy” #121 UMH
1. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like
the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in God’s justice,
which is more than liberty.
2. There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good!
There is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
3. For the love of God is broader
than the measure of our mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
4. If our love were but more simple,
we should rest upon God’s word;
and our lives would be illumined
by the presence of our Lord.
Passing of the Peace:………………………………..Pastor Liz
Let us offer signs of reconciliation and peace to one another.
Gloria Patri: Glory Be to the Father…………#71 UMH
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.
Offering of our Tithes and Offerings:………………….Pastor Liz
Online Giving Link (Link will open in a new window)
Offertory:……“What the World Needs Now”……….Rhonda B.
Words: Hal David Music: Burt Bacharach © 1965
Offertory Response:
“Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow” #95
The United Methodist Hymnal
Words by Thomas Ken, 1674 Music attributed to Louis Bourgeois, 1551
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise God, all creatures here below;
praise God above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Prayer After Receiving:……………………………….Pastor Liz
Prayers of the People:…………………………………Pastor Liz
Gospel Lesson:…..Matthew 18:21-35…………Melrose D.
A parable of forgiveness
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Hymn of Preparation: “Grace Alone” #2162 TFWS
1. Every promise we can make, every prayer and
step of faith, every difference we will make is
only by his grace. Every mountain we will climb,
every ray of hope we shine, every blessing left
behind is only by his grace.
Refrain
Grace alone which God supplies, strength unknown
he will provide. Christ in us our Cornerstone; we
will go forth in grace alone.
2. Every soul we long to reach, every heart we
hope to teach, everywhere we share his peace is
only by his grace. Every loving word we say, every
tear we wipe away, every sorrow turned to praise
is only by his grace.
Refrain
Grace alone which God supplies, strength unknown
he will provide. Christ in us our Cornerstone; we
will go forth in grace alone.
Sermon:…………………………………………………..Pastor Liz
Response to the Word:
Service of Holy Communion: Musical Response #3171a W&S
CONFESSION & PARDON
Pastor Liz: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All pray in silence.
Pastor Liz: Hear the good news:
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: Glory to God. Amen.
THE PEACE
Let us offer one another signs of reconciliation and love.
All, including the pastor, exchange signs and words of God’s peace by crossing hands, wave to one another due to social distancing guidelines.
Pastor Liz: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
Pastor Liz: Lift up your hearts. The pastor may lift hands and keep them raised.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
Pastor Liz: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Pastor Liz: And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Pastor Liz: In union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
All: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pastor Liz: All honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.
All: Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Communion Anthem:………..“Be Not Afraid”……….Rhonda B.
Bob Dufford Oregon Catholic Press (Sung during Communion)
Closing Hymn: “Go Forth for God” #670 UMH
1. Go forth for God, go to the world in peace;
be of good courage, armed with heavenly grace,
in God’s good Spirit daily to increase,
till in the kingdom we see face to face.
Go forth for God, go to the world in peace.
2. Go forth for God, go to the world in love;
strengthen the faint, give courage to the weak;
help the afflicted; richly from above
God’s love supplies the grace and power we seek.
Go forth for God, go to the world in love.
3. Go forth for God, go to the world in strength;
hold fast the good, be urgent for the right;
render to no one evil; Christ at length
shall overcome all darkness with his light.
Go forth for God, go to the world in strength.
4. Go forth for God, go to the world in joy,
to serve God’s people every day and hour,
and serving Christ, our every gift employ,
rejoicing in the Holy Spirit’s power.
Go forth for God, go to the world in joy.
Dismissal with Blessing:……………………………Pastor Liz
Postlude:…………………………………………………….Greg D.
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Sunday September 13th Worship Service