Online Worship for August 16, 2020

Welcome to Church of the Holy Cross’s live streaming worship service for August 16th, 2020. Feel free to follow the service text by scrolling down, or you may download and print the service in PDF format below.

Online Worship, August 16, 2020
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Welcome                                                                                 Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Prelude: La Tromba – Couperin                                               Kayleen Yuda

Call to Worship: based on Psalm 133                                      Ming Peng

Leader: How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
All: We know how precious it is when we are united. We know how precious it is when we are divided.

Leader: Imagine goodness pouring over you like rain. Imagine goodness soaking into your collar.
All: The blessings of God fall upon us like the dew of Hermon falls on Mount Zion. Come! Let us praise our God!

Please join me in the Invocation based on Psalm 67                Ming Peng

Be gracious to us, O God. Bless us and let your face shine upon us, so that your way may be known on Earth and your saving power among all the nations. We praise you and we pray all people praise you. We are glad in you and we pray that all people might be glad in you. Let the people praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Bless us in this time of worship, and continue to bless us forevermore. Amen.

Hymn Duet #472 Precious Lord, Take My Hand: by Thomas A. Dorsey
                                                                                                Eric Anderson
                                                                                                Doug Albertson
                                                                               Movement led by Genie Phillips

Scripture: Psalm 133                                                               Ming Peng
How very good and pleasant it is
    when kindred live together in unity!
 It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down over the collar of his robes.
 It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
    life forevermore.

Genesis 45:1-15
Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. I will provide for you there—since there are five more years of famine to come—so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you. ¹ You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Story/Sermon: Weeping                                                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Pastoral Prayer                                                                   Rev. Eric S. Anderson   

                                                       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 and ever. Amen

Instrumental Anthem: Violin Sonata No. 8, 3^rd movement–Beethoven      
                                                                                                Kanako Okita, pianist
                                                                                                Alden Young, violinist

Call to Offering:                                                                      Ming Peng
Once more we invite you to an offering. You cannot place your gifts in a calabash or a plate. Instead, they must make their way through the mail in an envelope sent to 440 West Lanikaula Street, Hilo, Hawai’i, 96720, or as information on the Internet submitted at holycrosshilo.com/donate. However you send them, let them be gifts of the heart that extend your love and compassion to your neighbors and your friends, and also to the stranger on the far side of the world. Let us pray together:

Please join me in the Offertory Prayer:                                      Ming Peng

Gracious God, these gifts came to us from you. With them you have blessed us. We give them now into your keeping and into your grace. We pray that with them you might bless the world. Amen.

Anthem: What a Covenant—Elisha A. Hoffman                       Eric Anderson
                                                                                                Doug Albertson
                                                                                Movement led by Genie Phillips

Announcements:                                                                 Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction:                                                                         Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: Postlude in D–Rinck                                                Kayleen Yuda

Permissions:
Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Type: Words and Music© 1938, 1966 Hal Leonard Corporation (select catalogs)
Contributors: Thomas Dorsey, George Allen
Streamed with permission
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