CENTERING PRAYER Faithful God, source of every blessing: teach us to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who persecute us, to turn the other cheek, to share our possessions, to give to those who are in need, and to do to others as we would have them do to us, so that we may join that company of blessed saints who feast with you in heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
CALL TO WORSHIP (Psalm 146)
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.
Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Come! Let us worship our God together!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
O God, you have been faithful, yet we have not loved you with our whole hearts. You showed us how to love our fellow human beings, yet we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Turn us back to you, O God, that we may follow your commandments; through Christ our Lord we pray. (Silent Confession)
SCRIPTURE READING Mark 12:28-34
† AFFIRMATION OF FAITH - Heidelberg Confession of Faith Question One
Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
For the sermon First Things First: One, click here
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