Online Worship for September 27, 2020

Welcome to Church of the Holy Cross’s live streaming worship service for September 27th, 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, September 27, 2020
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Welcome                                                                                 Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Prelude: Jesus Calls Us – Tune Galilee arr. Smith                    Kayleen Yuda

Call to Worship: based on Philippians 2:1-13         Bob Smith

Leader:        Is there any encouragement in Christ? Is there consolation from love?
People:       We have known compassion and sympathy in the sharing of the Spirit.
Leader:        Then let us make our joy complete. Let us have the same love in heart and mind.
People:       In humility we lay aside ambition and conceit, regarding others as better than ourselves.
Leader:        Look not to your interests but to the interests of others,
People:       For this was and is the mind of Jesus Christ.
Leader:        In humility Christ served, to death and beyond death.
People:       In humility we will worship the Humble One in glory.

Invocation (unison): Based on Psalm 25:1-9           Bob Smith

To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls. We trust in you. Do not make us ashamed, and do not let others shame us. If any be ashamed let it be those who live by treachery and deceit. Help us know your ways, O God, and keep to your paths. Lead us in truth, and forgive the sins of our youth or of our maturity. We praise you for your goodness all the day. Accept our humble worship we pray. Amen.

Hymn Duet #504 You Walk Along Our Shoreline — Sylvia G. Dunstan
                                                                                                Eric Anderson
                                                                                                Doug Albertson
                                                                             Movement led by Genie Phillips

Scripture:                                                                                Bob Smith
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.

Matthew 21:23-32
When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”  Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Story/Sermon: Who is First?                                             Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Pastoral Prayer:                                                                  Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Please join me in the Lord’s Prayer
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: Close as a Quiet Prayer – Sally DeFord  
Joanne Pocsidio

Call to Offering:                                                                      Bob Smith
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:
You have shared with us, O God. You have shared your life, your universe, your precious Earth, your creatures and your people. We now share with you. Some of what we share you created yourself, and we have just returned it. Some of what we share we hold because of our labor, but the thing we hold means little. Some of what we share we have because we have created something new, and this things we offer matters much. Accept each gift, we pray, with affection for the giver. Accept each gift, we pray, accompanied by our love. Amen.

Anthem: Community of Christ – Shirley Erena Murray            Eric Anderson
                                                                                                Doug Albertson
                                                                           Movement led by Genie Phillips

Announcements:                                                                 Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction:                                                                            Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: March in D – Handel, arr. Blake                                Kayleen Yuda

Permissions:
“You Walk Along Our Shoreline”
Contributors: Sylvia G. Dunstan
Tune: Irish melody; Text: Sylvia G. Dunstan, 1955–1993 © 1991 GIA Publications, Inc.
Streamed with permission. ONELICENSE #A-735890

“Community of Christ”
Contributors: Shirley Erena Murray
Text: © 1992, Hope Publishing Company
Streamed with permission. ONELICENSE #A-735890

“Close as a Quiet Prayer”
by Sally DeFord
Streamed with permission of the author

                                                            Dates to Remember
Today, September 27—Nominations Committee Meeting after worship in the lounge

Wednesday, September 30 – Foodland’s Give Aloha program ends. During September, make a donation to Church of the Holy Cross at any Foodland or Sack N Save checkout, and Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will make a donation to Church of the Holy Cross too!

                                      How to Donate:

1. Shop at Foodland or Sack N Save!
2. Show your Maika’i card to the cashier at checkout.
3. Tell the cashier our code and the amount of your donation (up to $249).
4. Review your receipt to confirm the following appears:
   • Our organization name
   • Your donation amount  
   • Your Maika’i number

The code for Church of the Holy Cross is: 77840
Thank you for your support!

Minister: Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator: Bob Smith
Lay Reader: Bob Smith
Chapel Decorations: In memory of Anita Mathews
Choir Accompanist: Kanako Okita
Choir Director: Doug Albertson
Organist: Kayleen Yuda
Hand Bell Director: Anna Kennedy
Childcare Coordinator: Evonne Shioshita
Movement Leader: Genie Phillips
Projected Imagery: Sue Smith
Web Master: Ruth Niino-DuPonte  

This week at the Church of the Holy Cross

• The Gathering Place –Mondays: Pickleball at 12:00 p.m. in the Building of Faith.
• Bible Study with Pastor Eric: Tuesdays, 3:00 pm via Zoom
• On Line Song — Wednesdays, 11:00 a.m. online
• Community Concert — 2^nd & 4^th Fridays, 6:00 p.m. online