First Presbyterian Church of Niles
Morning Worship
With Communion
10:00 A.M. August 2, 2026
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PRELUDE
REFLECTION TEXT Isaiah 55-1
Eat and drink what satisfies says the Lord. Hear, everyone who thirsts; come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP God, We Praise You Arr. Sadowski
CALL TO WORSHIP (Responsive)
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all, and God’s compassion is over all that God has
made. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, God, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is just in all God’s ways, and kind in all God’s doings. The Lord is near to all who call on the Lord, to all who call on the Lord in truth.
OPENING PRAYER
*HYMN 4 Holy God, We Praise Your Name GROSSER GOTT, WIR LOBEN DICH
Holy God, we praise your name; Lord of all, we bow before you.
All on earth your scepter claim; all in heaven above adore you.
Infinite your vast domain, everlasting is your reign.
All apostles join the strain as your sacred name they hallow;
Prophets swell the glad refrain, and the blessed martyrs follow,
And from morn to set of sun, through the church the song goes on.
Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit: three we name you,
While in essence only one; undivided God we claim you,
And adoring, bend the knee while we own the mystery.
CALL TO CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)
Holy God, you have revealed yourself to us in Jesus Christ. Everything we need to know about you has been shown. Your goodness, mercy, healing and renewal are on full display. But sometimes we do not see what is right before us. Sometimes we miss the miracle. We misunderstand you, and so we misunderstand the world. Forgive us, we pray. Restore to us the ability to see you as you reveal yourself. Renew within us the capacity to perceive your way in the world, for this life, and in the life that is to come. We pray it in Jesus’ name, and for his sake.
MOMENT OF SILENT AND PERSONAL CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Responsive)
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, and everything has become new. Believe the promise of the Gospel, in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God!
PASSING THE PEACE
As God has forgiven us in Christ let us also forgive one another.
The peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Please share the sign of peace with one another.
The sharing of Christ’s peace.
RESPONSE Peace is Flowing Like a River TRADITIONAL
Peace is flowing like a river, flowing out to you and me.
Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
His love is flowing like a river, flowing out to you and me.
Flowing out into the desert, setting all the captives free.
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
FIRST SCRIPTURE Psalm 145: 8-9, 14-21
SPECIAL MUSIC Thy Word Arr. Hayes
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING Matthew 14: 13-21
MESSAGE God Will Always Provide! Rev. Christopher Mergener
*HYMN 312 Take Us As We Are, O God ENDLESS FEAST
Take us as we are, O God, and claim us as your own.
As once you chose to tell your love in human flesh and bone,
So let our lives be used to make your saving purpose known.
Bless us for your service, Lord; no power we devise
Will ever give us strength enough or make us truly wise,
Yet by your promise we can know the peace your grace supplies.
Break us open to disclose how brokenness can heal,
Wherever broken loaves suffice to give a crowd a meal
And graves break open to release new life from death’s dread seal.
Give us to the world you love as light and salt and yeast,
That we may nourish in your name the last, the lost the least,
Until at length you call us all to your unending feast.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (from A Declaration of Faith, 1977)
Jesus Christ stands at the center of the biblical record. The Bible is the account of God’s word and action in history, together with his people’s response in faith. It tells how the Lord has moved with Israel and the church towards the kingdom of God, his just and loving rule over all. It is the story of the one God, who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That story is still unfolding and in faith we make it our own. It forms our memory and our hope. It tells us who we are and what we are to do. To retell it is to declare what we believe.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE
GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING (Responsive)
The Holy One be with you.
And also with you.
Open your hearts.
We open our hearts to you, O God.
Let us give thanks to God, an Abiding Presence.
To the One who companions us through all things, we give thanks and praise.
Faithful One, we come to your table hungry…
…In awe and gratitude, we join together in praise of you, Source of Abundance:
Holy, Holy, Holy One
God of justice and love
Heaven and earth are full of your wonder
Blessed is your presence among us
Since the beginning…
…Through the grace of your sustenance, may Christ be with us.
You may now take the elements.
PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
CALL FOR THE OFFERING
Offertory My Jesus, I Love Thee Arr. Tournquist
*DOXOLOGY Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, you heavenly host; Praise Creator, Christ, and Spirit One.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
PREPARATION FOR PRAYERS Here, Savior, in this Quiet Place LAND OF REST
Here, Savior, in this quiet place, where anyone may kneel,
I also come to ask for grace believing you can heal.
You never said, “You ask to much,” to any troubled soul.
I long to feel your healing touch- will you not make me whole?
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Responsive)
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (Unison)
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
*HYMN Let There Be Peace On Earth LET THERE BE PEACE
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me;
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.
With God our creator, children all are we.
Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me; let this be the moment now.
With every step I take, let this be my solemn vow:
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE
All music is reproduced under permission from ccli.com License #11146543.
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