Worship for August 17, 2025

Thank you for joining us for this live stream (or recording, as the case may be) of Sunday worship. May it bless you! You may need to click “Play” to launch the stream, which will be live around 9:50 AM.

Welcome to the live stream of worship from Church of the Holy Cross for Sunday, August 17, 2025. You will find the service outline below, and you may download and print the PDF to follow more easily. 

Service of Worship August 17, 2025
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. Eric S. Anderson, Pastor

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Prelude: Praise God       Kayleen Yuda

Lighting of the Candles

Ringing of the Bell

Welcome                            Rev. Eric S. Anderson

* Call to Worship: (based on Psalm 82)     Nalyn Ang

Leader:   Imagine the LORD in the midst of a council in heaven.
People:  We listen to hear God’s voice in the midst of holy beings.

Leader:   “How long will people judge unjustly and show favor to the wicked?” God asks.
People:  “Give justice to the weak and the orphan, maintain the right of the lowly and destitute.”

Leader:   The world is filled with people who hide justice from the poor.
People:  Rise up, O God! Judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.

All:           Let us worship God!

* Hymn #417: This Is a Day of New Beginnings (v. 1-4)

* Invocation (based on Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19)         Nalyn Ang

Lend us your ear, O God, our shepherd and protector. Stir up the might through which you save us. You have brought us to this place over the seas and over the years, and here we have found our home. Protect us from the forces that threaten us including illness, malice, and the whims of disaster; preserve our lives, so that we continuously celebrate your name. Let your face shine on us so that we may be saved. Amen.

Please be seated

WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD

Anthem: Bring Me a Rose, Apostle   Eric Anderson

Time with the Children           Eric Anderson

Scripture: Jeremiah 23:23-29             Nalyn Ang
 Am I a God nearby, says the Lord, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them? says the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? says the Lord. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long? Will the hearts of the prophets ever turn back—those who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? They plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, just as their ancestors forgot my name for Baal. Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? says the Lord. Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?

Hebrews 11:29-12:2
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.

And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.

Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Sermon: What is the Power of Faith?          Rev. Eric S. Anderson

WE RESPOND IN WORD AND DEED

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

* Hymn #433: In the Bulb There Is a Flower (v. 1-3)

Call to Offering                Nalyn Ang

Faith’s gift to us is not riches, however helpful it might be to have them. Faith’s gift to us is the heart to share them with those who suffer, and to build up the human community so that it more closely resembles Christ’s vision of peace and aloha. Whether you share your gift here in the church today, through a gift online, or via an envelope in the mail, let the offering now be received.

Offertory: Devotion       Kayleen Yuda

* Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost – Amen

* Offertory Prayer         Nalyn Ang

God of all our ancestors, the ancestors of our parentage and the ancestors of our faith, accept these gifts, we pray. In giving we honor those who came before us, we honor those around us who will live better because of them, and we honor you, our Savior and our God. Amen.

* Hymn #299: For All the Saints (v. 1-5)

Please be seated

Announcements             Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Benediction                      Rev. Eric S. Anderson

Postlude: Double Chorus                     Kayleen Yuda

PERMISSIONS

Praise God
Hugh S. Livingston, Jr.
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

This Is a Day of New Beginnings
Text by Brian Wren, 1978
© 1987 by Hope Publishing Company
Tune BEGINNINGS by Carlton R. Young, 1987
© 1987 by Hope Publishing Company
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Bring Me A Rose, Apostle
Eric Anderson
Streamed by permission of composer

In the Bulb There Is a Flower
Text by Natalie Sleeth, 1985
© 1985 by Hope Publishing Company
Tune PROMISE by Natalie Sleeth, 1985
© 1985 by Hope Publishing Company
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

Devotion
David Paxton
Tune: © 1982 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

For All the Saints
Text by William W. How, 1864
Tune SINE NOMINE by Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906
Public Domain

Double Chorus
Roger C Wilson
Tune: © 1950 Lorenz Publishing Company,
a division of The Lorenz Corporation
(Admin. by Music Services)
Streamed by permission ONELICENSE A-735890

IMPORTANT DATES

Sunday, August 24 – Annual Hilo Style Picnic after Worship Service

Mondays, 11:30 a.m. -Pickleball lessons; contact Connie 808-936-7534 or
Ruth at rnduponte07@gmail.com to sign up.

Wednesdays, 5 PM – Bible Study in Pastor’s Study and via Zoom (The meeting link and Bible references will be in the Weekly Chime). Special Bible Study sessions will be held from Sept 17 – Oct 15 as part of our Open & Affirming (ONA) discussion (contact Rev Dr Jonathan Roach.)

Other Faith Groups that meet at Church of the Holy Cross
The United Church of Christ, Pohnpei – Sanctuary, 12 noon
            Rev. Bensis Henry
Congregational Christian Church of American Samoa – Sanctuary, 2:00 p.m.
            Rev. Sitau Ofoia, Jr.
The Bedesta Church – Sanctuary, 4 p.m.   
Rev.  Edmes Edwin

Pastor          Rev. Eric S. Anderson
Moderator             Stefan Tanouye
Vice Moderator Lorraine Davis
Lay Reader          Nalyn Ang 
Chapel Decorations   Moira Tanaka
Organist / Pianist     Kayleen Yuda   
Hand Bell Director        Anna Kennedy   
Projected Imagery        Sue Smith
Live Stream Director         Ruth Niino-DuPonte. Bob Smith 
Videographers    Eric Tanouye, Bob Smith, Woody Kita,
            Mace Peng, Cindy Debus
Sound Engineer Ben Yamaki
Sunday School Teacher          Gloria Kobayashi
Sunday School Aide      Johanna Narruhn
Church Office Manager Pearl Momi Lyman

We welcome you to worship this day. Church of the Holy Cross seeks to help its members, friends, and visitors follow the guidance of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, encouraging all people to love one another according to the teachings of Jesus. We live and teach the faith, speak good news, minister to people near and far, and work with other households of faith and helping agencies to improve our community and our world. To support our ministries, please visit our Donate Page.