First Presbyterian Church of Niles
Communion
All Saints’ Sunday
10:00 A.M. November 2, 2025
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(* = stand if you are able)
PRELUDE Prelude Chopin
REFLECTION TEXT Psalm 119: 137, 144
You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgments are right. Your decrees are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore Gabarain
CALL TO WORSHIP (Responsive)
The changing colors of leaves, the laughter of children playing dress-up, the flowers and trees that become food for foraging creatures:
Lord, your creation boasts of your goodness.
The Sunday school teachers who taught us your Word, the stranger who asked us if we were okay, the parent who showed us right and wrong, the neighbor who dropped by to say hello:
Lord, your creation boasts of your love.
Let us join together as a community and worship our Creator, the author
of everything that is beautiful.
OPENING PRAYER
*HYMN 386 Come, Worship God O QUANTA QUALIA
Come, worship God, who is worthy of honor;
enter God’s presence with thanks and a song!
You are the rock of your people’s salvation
to whom our jubilant praises belong.
Ruled by your might are the heights of the mountains;
held in your hands are the depths of the earth.
Yours is the sea, yours the land, for you made them,
God above all gods, who gave us our birth.
We are your people, the sheep of your pasture;
you are our Maker, and to you we pray.
Gladly we kneel in obedience before you;
great is the one whom we worship this day!
Now let us listen, for you speak among us;
open our hearts to receive what you say.
Peace be to all who remember your goodness,
trust in your word, and rejoice in your way!
CALL TO CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (In Unison)
Holy and gracious God, you are the author of every good thing. Forgive us for the ways we fall short of the beautiful story you invite us to step into. You ask us to look to the margins and care for the lost; we center ourselves. You ask us to give away; we grab for more. You ask us to love one another; we cannot see beyond our divisions. The world is full of ugliness, from the macro to the micro. Forgive us. Help us. We call on you, our beloved, our help, our God, our hope. Hear our silent confessions now.
MOMENT OF SILENT AND PERSONAL CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (Responsive)
Beloved, God hears us when we cry out…
…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.
The sharing of Christ’s peace.
RESPONSE 306 (Vs.1) Blest Be the Tie That Binds DENNIS
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love.
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING Psalm 32: 1-7
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING Luke 18: 9-14
MESSAGE Being Made Right With God Rev. Christopher Mergener
*HYMN When Jesus Passed through Jericho DOVE OF PEACE
When Jesus passed through Jericho, the people crowded round
To see the one who healed the sick, by whom the lost were found,
By whom the lost were found.
The friend of sinners Jesus was and is the same today.
He never sees a lonely face and looks the other way,
And looks the other way.
Instead, when bowed by guilt or grief we seek the Lord to see,
He sets before us bread and wine and says, “Come eat with me.”
And says, “Come eat with me.”
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (In Unison)
In a broken and fearful world the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing, to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and Savior, to unmask idolatries in church and culture, to hear the voices of peoples long silenced, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace. In gratitude to God, empowered by the Spirit, we strive to serve Christ in our daily tasks and to live holy and joyful lives, even as we watch for God’s new heaven and new earth, praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” With believers in every time and place, we rejoice that nothing in life or in death can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
REMEMBERING THE SAINTS WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US
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 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…
…Communion servers please come forward.
PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
CALL FOR THE OFFERING
Offertory The King of Love My Shepherd Is Gounod
*DOXOLOGY 607 Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow OLD 100TH
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Christ, all people here below;
Praise Holy Spirit ever more; praise Triune God, whom we adore. Amen
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
PREPARATION FOR PRAYERS Come and Find the Quiet Center BEACH SPRING
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see,
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE (Responsive)
Lord in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (In 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 313 (Vs. 1, 2, 4) Lord, Make Us More Holy LORD, MAKE US MORE HOLY
Lord, make us more holy; Lord, make us more holy;
Lord, make us more holy, until we meet again.
Holy, holy, holy, until we meet again.
Lord, make us more loving; Lord, make us more loving;
Lord, make us more loving, until we meet again:
Loving, loving, loving, until we meet again
Lord, make us more faithful; Lord, make us more faithful;
Lord, make us more faithful; until we meet again.
Faithful, faithful, faithful, until we meet again.
*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Ayre Clarke
All music is reproduced under permission from ccli.com License #11146543.
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