(Image: “Laborers in the Vineyard” 21st C, Mural, Orthodox Icon)
©Order of Worship for Sunday September 20, 2026
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
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: ………………………….…Elizabeth B.
God of miracles and of mercy,
all creation sings your praise.
Like the vineyard owner,
your grace is extravagant and unexpected.
Lead us to repentance
and the acceptance of your grace,
that we may witness to your love,
which embraces both those we call friend
and those we call stranger. Amen.
Opening Hymns: “O God of Every Nation” #435 UMH
1. O God of every nation, of every race and land,
redeem your whole creation with your almighty hand;
where hate and fear divide us, and bitter threats are hurled,
in love and mercy guide us, and heal our strife-torn world.
2. From search for wealth and power and scorn of truth and right, from trust in bombs that shower destruction through the night, from pride of race and station and blindness to your way,
deliver every nation, eternal God, we pray.
3. Lord, strengthen all who labor that all may find release
from fear of rattling saber, from dread of war’s increase;
when hope and z falter, Lord, let your voice be heard;
with faith that none can alter, your servants undergird.
4. Keep bright in us the vision of days when war shall cease,
when hatred and division give way to love and peace,
til dawns the morning glorious when truth and justice reign,
and Christ shall rule victorious o’er all the world’s domain.
“Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service” #581 UMH
1. Lord, whose love through humble service bore the weight of
human need, who upon the cross, forsaken,
offered mercy’s perfect deed: we, your servants, bring the
worship not of voice alone, but heart, consecrating
to your purpose every gift that you impart.
2. Still your children wander homeless; still the hungry
cry for bread; still the captives long for freedom;
still in grief we mourn our dead. As, O Lord, your deep
compassion healed the sick and freed the soul, use the love your
Spirit kindles still to save and make us whole.
3. As we worship, grant us vision, till your love’s
revealing light in its height and depth and greatness
dawns upon our quickened sight, making known the needs and
burdens your compassion bids us bear, stirring us to
tireless striving your abundant life to share.
4. Called by worship to your service, forth in your dear
name we go to the child, the youth, the aged,
love in living deeds to show; hope and health, good will and
comfort, counsel, aid, and peace we give, that your servants,
Lord, in freedom may your mercy know, and live.
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
Offertory:……………………………………………………Greg D.
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 20: 1-16…………Lusi R.
The parable of the vineyard workers
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Hymn of Preparation:“Come, Ye Sinner, Poor and Needy” #340 UMH
1. Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded,
sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, full
of pity, love, and power.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus; he will embrace me with his
arms; in the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten
thousand charms.
2. Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome, God’s free
bounty glorify; true belief and true repentance, every
grace that brings you nigh.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus; he will embrace me with his
arms; in the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten
thousand charms.
3. Come, ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the
fall; if you tarry till you’re better, you will never come
at all.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus; he will embrace me with his
arms; in the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten
thousand charms.
4. Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness
fondly dream; all the fitness he requireth is to feel
your need of him.
Refrain
I will arise and go to Jesus; he will embrace me with his
arms; in the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten
thousand charms.
Sermon:……………………………………………………Pastor Liz
Response to the Word:
Closing Hymn: “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee” #430 UMH
1. O Master, let me walk with thee in lowly paths
of service free; tell me thy secret; Help me bear
the strain of toil, the fret of care.
2. Help me the slow of heart to move by some
clear, winning word of love; teach me the wayward
feet to stay, and guide them in the homeward way.
3. Teach me thy patience; still with thee in closer,
Dearer company, in work that keeps faith sweet
And strong, in trust that triumphs over wrong;
4. In hope that sends a shining ray far down the
future’s broadening ways, in peace that only
thou canst give, with thee, O Master, let me live.
Dismissal with Blessing:……………………………Pastor Liz
Postlude:……………………………………………………Greg D.
For Online Giving, follow this link Avent Ferry Give . You can also mail checks to Avent Ferry UMC, 2700 Avent Ferry Road, Raleigh, NC 27606.
For additional AFUMC Announcements: See your AFUMC Announcements E-mail or Click Announcements Here
Follow us on Instagram @aventferryumc and Twitter #aventferryumc
Sunday September 20th Worship Service