Equal ExchangeEqual Exchange

In the Narthex on August 10

Many Equal Exchange products are grown in remote tropical forests that provide habitat to endangered species. Partnering farmers who use regenerative and organic practices helps preserve these important ecosystems that the farmers also call home.

Every time we serve Equal Exchange coffee at St Mark or sell Equal Exchange products we are making a strong statement about our values. We are proclaiming that our congregation believes that it’s vital to keep small farmers on the land providing food for their families and having some economic control over their lives; that it’s important to work with indigenous producers and women; that sustainable agricultural methods are a vital way to address climate change.

Cash, Credit, Debit, Digital Wallet Payments Accepted

worship prayers for July 27

 CENTERING PRAYER

Holy God, you love us faithfully as our generous parent, our patient teacher, our constant friend. We live by the hope of your promises, seek to follow your way, and rely on the gift of your Spirit, by whose power we breathe, and move, and pray. Amen.

 

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Show us your steadfast love,

O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

The Lord will speak peace to the faithful,

to those who turn to God in their hearts.

Surely salvation is at hand for those who fear the Lord,

and God’s glory will dwell in our land.

Let us worship our God together!

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

Ever-faithful God, how often we turn away from you, yet you remain constant to us. We run from you, but you call us back. In our words and our deeds we dishonor you, yet you still profess your love for us. We cut ourselves off from you and from others, but you will not let us go. Forgive our faithless and fickle ways and increase our gratitude, that we might grow in faithfulness to you, for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whose name we continue to pray. (Silent Confession)

 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – The Apostles’ Creed

 

 

OFFERING

 

Invitation to the Offering

 

As we wait for the coming of God’s good reign,

we answer the invitation to take part in God’s work,

bringing our tithes and offerings

with joyful gratitude.

 

Prayer after Offering

 

Let us pray…

 

Lord, you are the giver of every good gift.                           

Accept these offerings we pray,

that through them may we do justice,

and love kindness,

and walk humbly with you,

our Sovereign and our God. Amen.

 

Scripture July 27

  

Colossians 2:6-15 (16-19)

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[d] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[e]

Freedom From Human Rules

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

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Food Pantry Needs

 

Worship prayers July 20

 CENTERING PRAYER

 

Holy God, you call us to live out your justice and righteousness. Help us to walk in your footsteps, so that we never lose our way. Enable us to live and love in the way you taught us, so we can act in grace, even with those who we consider our enemies. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

 

 

CALL TO WORSHIP

 

Love the Lord your God,                              

with all your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your strength, and with all your mind!

Love your neighbor as yourself,

with all your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your strength, and with all your mind!

Do this and you will live!

Let us worship God!

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

Holy God, we are your children, descendants of the God most high, yet, we do not honor you and our actions belittle the love you have for us. We do not defend the weak or uphold the poor. We do not commit to efforts to rescue the weak and the needy; we sometimes deliver them into solitude and neglect. Rise up to judge us, O God. We prefer your merciful justice to living with guilt and fear. Straighten our path and bring us back to you. (Silent Confession)

 

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH – Colossians 1:15-20

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers-all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

 

 

OFFERING

 

Invitation to the Offering

 

As a redeemed people, we live for giving thanks! Everything we do and everything we have comes from God. Let us continue our thanksgiving with grateful hearts by returning to God a portion of what God provides.

 

Prayer after Offering

 

Let us pray…Thank you God: you are our soil, our food, our water, our sun, everything we need to grow. We offer these gifts to you asking for your direction, as we work each day so that your kingdom light becomes more and more of a reality in this world. Amen.

 

Scripture for July 20

 Colossians 1:15-28

The Supremacy of the Son of God

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Paul’s Labor for the Church

24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

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Recycle Lids

 Let's Recycle Together in 2025 … plastic caps and lids STILL needed!

Plastic in our world is not going away anytime soon, so let’s keep it out of the landfill and turn it into a new picnic table for Mound Ridge!

We need:

· caps/lids of all types from food grade containers and household items up to 8” in diameter

· look for the recycle symbol with number 2, 4, or 5

Please drop off your caps and lids in the collection bin near the Youth table in the Narthex

Worship Prayers July 13

 CENTERING PRAYER

Merciful God, I really do want you to be the one in whom I live and move and have my being. I really do want to listen to your voice above all of the other voices in my life. But I get bogged down in the daily routine. Help me to remember who I am in Christ. Help me to remember who you are. Help me make the church what the church is supposed to be. Amen.

CALL TO WORSHIP

Children of God, are you listening? Have you noticed? God has planted seeds of hope among us.

We have heard of this hope!

 

Are you listening? Have you noticed? God nurtures hope among us, helping us bear the fruit of faithfulness in this world.

We seek this hope as we learn to live in faith.

 

Are you listening? Have you noticed? The hope of God’s good news forms you to love one another with the love of Christ.

We cling to this hope as we grow in love of God, self, neighbor, and all creation.

 

Children of God, come! Come, let us worship God who graciously offers us the gift of hope.

Come, let us worship God who empowers us to put our hope into faithful and loving actions!

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Gracious and Merciful God, your love is steadfast, and your mercy endures forever. Forgive us for not loving as you love. Forgive us for the ways and words we’ve used to oppress your people and help us to forgive those who’ve oppressed us. Forgive us for the deeds that we’ve done that have burdened instead of uplifted the hearts and minds of those we’ve encountered. Forgive us for silence during times of injustice and free us to rise and advocate for those who live under the leadership of unjust rulers, who live in a state of turmoil and depression. Help us to reconcile and make peace with one another. Help us to bear one another’s burdens and to be agents of your liberating love so that all of your people will be able to live justly. We confess our sins before you silently now, knowing that you are willing to able to cleanse and revive us through Christ’s resurrecting power. (Silent Confession)

 

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (FROM THE BELHAR CONFESSION)

We believe that God has entrusted the church with the message of reconciliation in and through Jesus Christ; that the church is called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, that the church is called blessed because it is a peacemaker, that the church is witness both by word and by deed to the new heaven and the new earth in which righteousness dwells.

OFFERING

Invitation to the Offering

Paul reminds us that generosity is a fruit of the Spirit. Let us generously share of the gifts we have been given. Let us present our offerings to God.

Prayer after Offering

Let us pray...

Most generous God, you have blessed us with gifts to serve and share. May the offerings we present today be used to further your Kingdom and build your beloved community. Amen.