May 24, 2020 PRAYER LIST

Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayers.

From Bonnie Haskins: Dear Laurie, I just spoke with Gene and he is so “up” from the parade. He wanted me to thank you for getting members of St. Andrew involved. It is the happiest I have heard him in a long, long time. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for when Gene is happy then I am also.Thank all of you who showed up!

Mary Alice Golden, Bill Golden’s mother, has COVID19. She lives in CO.

Alan Josephson’s daughter, Alena, recovering from childbirth, and her fiancé and their son, Hayden who is in the NICU.

The Session as it deliberates a return to in-person worship.Laurie Palmer has prayers of thanksgiving for the life of her Uncle Roger, who died on May 28 at the age of 93. Meghan Petrofksy’s father, George GerminderTom and Shirley ClarkJeannie and Frank WeaverLorina Scheffler, Sharon Roger’s sister Wendy Cloutier, Dave and Mary Wharton’s daughter Bonnie MacGregor, Otto Szorenyl, friends of Bob and Lori Winter Bonnie and Gene Haskins Ed and Cookie Jackfert, Janice and Jody JackfertLinda McDonnell Eliza Meyer Joe, Laurie Palmer's friend The Smith family Bobby O'Neal, Dianne Wheeler's father Ken and Kay Spence, neighbors of Tim and Kay Reinhold Greg Scott and Marcello Tulipano Joan Wilson, Nancy Scott's auntTom Stoffel, Hank and Deb Belusa's brother-in-law, continues to heal after a heart transplant; and his wife, Ingrid, has recovered from COVID-19. 

Let’s pray for each other using our membership/visitor roll:Sunday: Mideum ChungMonday: Julia TretyakovaTuesday: Mary WhittenWednesday: Chuck and Sharon RogersThursday: Paula SalterFriday: Greg Scott and Marcello TulipanoSaturday: Nancy Scott

AnnouncementsThe office will be closed tomorrow for Memorial Day.Tuesday, May 26, 7:00 PM: Prayer MinistryWednesday, May 27, 11:00 AM: Bible study and discussion on John 3Wednesday, May 27, 6:00 PM: Session

If you have not yet filled out the congregational survey: Please use the link in your May 23rd email to take a simple congregational survey, “Returning to Church.” The Session will meet on May 27 and look at the results, and then communicate with you.

Kids, your art matters! Help your St Andrew family raise money for Beth-El Farmworker Ministry. Donate your favorite creation to be sold at our upcoming zoom charity art auction. Contact Stacey Quick for more details. We can’t wait to see your work!!  staceylquick@gmail.com

Next Sunday is the celebration of Pentecost, the birth of the Church. Wear red, the liturgical color of the day! Have a candle in your space.

As a congregation, let’s send cards and notes to Gene Haskins, and Ed and Cookie Jackfert, who are living at Discovery Village: 17470 Brookside Trace Ct, Tampa, 33647

We Worship GodOpening Prayer Rev. Laurie Palmer“Peeking into Mystery” by Walter Brueggemann Creator God, You have entrusted to us knowledge of good and evil. You have permitted us knowledge of the world in which we live, and that knowledge has yielded immense gains for us—gains of control, of productivity, of explanation, of connections of causes and effects. Only rarely—like now!—do we collide with Your hiddenness that summons us and embarrasses us. We peek into Your awesome hidden presence; we find our certitudes quite disrupted. Thus we pause at the edge of Your holiness, finding that Your unfathomable presence is an odd mix of mercy and judgment, of generosity and accountability, of forgiveness and starchy realism.We dwell at the edge of Your mystery for an instant…not longer. Then we return to our proper work of knowledge, research, explanation, and management.By that instant, however, we are changed…sobered, summoned, emancipated, filled with wonder before Your holiness.It is for that holiness that outflanks us that we give You thanks. Amen.

Music “My Jesus, I Love Thee” Julia Tretyakova

Call to Confession Rev. Dr. Heather HartsellConfession of Sin Rev. Dr. Heather HartsellWe confess, O God, to being self-concerned during this time of isolation. Our perceived control has slipped from our hands. We sway between being ok to joy to anger to helplessness to contentment. We want to make plans, as we always do. We confess we have looked to our own power to sustain us as we walk through this season. We are sorry for not turning to You more during this global illness, looking to Christ the perfecter of our faith. Hear our prayers, O Lord….

~Silence for personal confession~“I will call to mind Your deeds; I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all You work, and muse on Your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy.” We lift our confession in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Psalm 77:11-13

Assurance of Pardon Rev. Dr. Heather HartsellIsaiah 43:18-21 “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild

animals will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I will give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, the people whom I formed for Myself so that they might declare My praise.” Our sin is forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sharing Faith with Young Disciples Paula Salter

Call to Offering, and a Thank You Hank BelusaThank you for your continued support for the ministry of St. Andrew Presbyterian Church. We are still supporting ministries that serve the community in a variety of ways.

Prayer of Thanksgiving Hank BelusaFor the ways You care for us, thank You. We give ourselves to You in gratitude for Your wondrous gifts. We are especially thankful for Your Word, for it is there where we meet You. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Scripture Lesson, Psalm 77I cry aloud to You, O God, aloud to You, that You may hear me.2 In the day of my trouble I seek You; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.3 I think of You, and I sigh; I meditate, and my spirit faints.4 You keep my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.5 I consider the days of old, and remember the years of long ago.6 I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit: 7 “Will You spurn forever, will You never again be favorable?8 Has Your steadfast love ceased forever? Are Your promises at an end for all time? 9 Have You forgotten to be gracious? Have You in anger shut up Your compassion?”10 And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”11 I will call to mind Your deeds; I will remember Your wonders of old.12 I will meditate on all Your work, and think about Your mighty deeds.13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?14 You are the God who works wonders;    You have displayed Your might among the peoples.15 With Your strong arm You redeemed your people,    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.16 When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid;    the very deep trembled.17 The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered, Your arrows flashed on every side. 18 The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightnings lit up the world; the earth trembled and shook.

19 Your way was through the sea, Your path, through the mighty waters;    yet Your footprints were unseen.20 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God!

Sermon “Through it” Rev. Laurie Palmer

Prayers of the People and The Lord’s Prayer Rev. Laurie Palmer“From Self to Thou,” by Walter BrueggemannYou, holy, faithful, merciful God, have called us into being, given us names, faces, and vocations, and we live them out in freedom. In our freedom, we notice only sometimes, that we cannot cope with all that comes at us, we cannot finally outflank the forces that address us, and we cannot by ourselves deal with the grief, trouble, and anger that well up in us. After our imagined autonomy, we gladly turn back to You.After we have said “I” for a very long time, we fall back to “Thou”;We utter the “Thou” who inhabits our memories, memories of rescue, healing, and forgiveness; we utter the “Thou” who occupies our best hopes, as we hope for peace, wellbeing, and justice in the world. We move back into faithful dialogue with You: we say “Thou” as we thank and praise You; we say “I” as we act out our freedom and accept our responsibility.Just now, in the face of the virus, we find our best “I” without force, and so we say “Thou”: Thou in power, Thou in mercy, Thou in faithfulness; finally Thou!We remember all Your wonders, and then, in gladness, we remember who we are as Yours; we recover our gratitude, our hope, our resolve, and our confidence.

Hear our prayers lifted in our hearts for those we know and love who are in need of Your precious care…….

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.

Music “It Is Well With My Soul” Mideum Chung

Benediction