12th Sunday after Pentecost
August 31, 2025
Loving God and loving neighbor here in central Vermont
and to the ends of the earth—all to the glory of God.
Prelude
Deborah Shofstahl
Welcome and Announcements
Listen for upcoming events and ways you can get involved.
Pastor Josh
Lighting the Candles Jesus is the light of the world.
Acolytes
Statement of Faith—Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 26 Confess what you believe about the Christian faith.
Pastor Josh
L: Let us profess our faith, together.
C: I believe that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son. I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.
Greeting Your Neighbors Greet your neighbors in the name of the Lord.
Congregation
Call to Worship—Based on Psalm 92:1-2 Hear God call you to worship through his word.
Scott Puopolo
L: God calls us to worship and we respond. It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High,
C: to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.
Opening Prayer Invite God to work in you as you worship today.
Scott Puopolo
Worship Songs Join with the congregation in praise to God.
Deborah Shofstahl and Pastor Josh
#71—Come, Christians, Join to Sing
Verse 1
Come, Christians, join to sing
Alleluia, Amen!
Loud praise to Christ our King,
Alleluia, Amen!
Let all, with heart and voice,
before His throne rejoice;
praise is His gracious choice,
Alleluia, Amen!
Verse 2
Come, lift your hearts on high,
Alleluia, Amen!
Let praises fill the sky,
Alleluia, Amen!
He is our Guide and Friend,
to us He’ll condescend;
His love shall never end,
Alleluia, Amen!
Verse 3
Praise yet our Christ again,
Alleluia, Amen!
Life shall not end the strain,
Alleluia, Amen!
On heaven’s blissful shore
His goodness we’ll adore,
singing forevermore,
“Alleluia, Amen!”
Verse 1
Should nothing of our efforts stand
No legacy survive
Unless the Lord does raise the house
In vain its builders strive
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain
Tell me what is your life
A mist that vanishes at dawn
All glory be to Christ
Chorus
All glory be to Christ our king
All glory be to Christ
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ
Verse 2
His will be done His kingdom come
On earth as is above
Who is Himself our daily bread
Praise Him the Lord of love
Let living water satisfy
The thirsty without price
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
All glory be to Christ
Verse 3
When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall e’er his people be
All glory be to Christ
Speak O Lord
Verse 1
Speak O Lord as we come to You
To receive the food of Your holy word
Take Your truth plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith
Speak O Lord and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory
Verse 2
Teach us Lord full obedience
Holy reverence true humility
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity
Cause our faith to rise
Cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority
Words of power that can never fail
Let their truth prevail over unbelief
Verse 3
Speak O Lord and renew our minds
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us
Speak O Lord till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory
Scripture Meditation—Matthew 12:1-8 (p. 970 in Pew Bible) Hear a reading from the Gospel that relates to the sermon text.
Rebekah Suddens
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? 6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Confession and Assurance—Based on WSB 2.2.52
Let us come now and confess our sins together.
C: God of grace, we confess that we have elevated the things of this world above you. We have made idols of possessions and people and used your name for causes that are not consistent with you and your purposes. We have permitted our schedules to come first and have not taken the time to worship you. We have not always honored those who guided us in life. We have participated in systems that take life instead of give it. We have been unfaithful in our covenant relationships. We have yearned for, and sometimes taken, that which is not ours, and we have misrepresented others’ intentions.
L: Forgive us, O God, for the many ways we fall short of your glory. Help us to learn to live together according to your ways through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
L: We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. This is God’s gospel promise: to forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of Christ’s one sacrifice finished on the cross.
Congregational Prayer
Pastor Josh
The Lord’s Prayer In closing, pray the words that Jesus taught us to pray.
Congregation
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 trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Children Dismissed for Children’s Program
Megan Moore
Scripture Reading—Leviticus 23 (p. 119 in Pew Bible) Read this portion of God’s word.
Scott Puopolo
L: The grass withers and the flower fades.
C: But the word of our God will stand forever.
Sermon Hear God’s word proclaimed and explained.
Pastor Josh Moore
Song of Response—All Glory Be To Christ Respond to the preaching of the word with song.
Deborah Shofstahl and Pastor Josh
Verse 1
Should nothing of our efforts stand
No legacy survive
Unless the Lord does raise the house
In vain its builders strive
To you who boast tomorrow’s gain
Tell me what is your life
A mist that vanishes at dawn
All glory be to Christ
Chorus
All glory be to Christ our king
All glory be to Christ
His rule and reign we’ll ever sing
All glory be to Christ
Verse 2
His will be done His kingdom come
On earth as is above
Who is Himself our daily bread
Praise Him the Lord of love
Let living water satisfy
The thirsty without price
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet
All glory be to Christ
Verse 3
When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall e’er his people be
All glory be to Christ
Extinguishing the Candles You are the light of the world.
Acolytes
Benediction Receive a parting blessing.
Pastor Josh Moore
Postlude
Deborah Shofstahl