Opening Scripture

Psalm 119:9-16

On Sunday, October 11, long-time and beloved member of our church family Bonnie Jellema died after a long period of declining health. As we will do at our in-person services, please begin with a moment of silence, using the prayer below to commit Bonnie to the Lord’s care.

Loving God, your beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them.
Give us grace, we pray, that we may entrust Bonnie to your never-failing care and love,
and bring us all to your heavenly kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

We invite you to read Psalm 119:9-16 in your home. We have come to fix our eyes on God, to meditate on his ways, and to delight in the goodness of the Lord.

Song

Greeting & Call to Worship

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Our help is in the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

God is King: let the earth be glad!
Christ is victor: his rule has begun!
The Spirit is at work: creation is renewed!
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Amen.

Song

Confession and Assurance

Call to Confession: Psalm 51:7

Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God.
And yet, so often, we seek our rest anywhere and everywhere but in God.
And so we say with the psalmist:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

We invite you to go slowly through this prayer of confession, pausing briefly after each line of the non-bold section to silently confess your sin before God, before joining together with all in your home to pray the section in bold that follows.

Prayer of Confession

Almighty and most merciful Father,
we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against your holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
and we have done those things which we ought not to have done;
and apart from your grace, there is no health in us. 
O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Spare all who confess their faults.
Restore all those who are penitent,
according to your promises declared in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,
that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life,
to the glory of your holy name. Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon: Psalm 103:8, 11-14

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

The Peace

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Psalm 99

1 The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble!
    He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name.
    Holy is he!
4 Mighty King, lover of justice,
    you have established equity;
you have executed justice
    and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Extol the Lord our God;
    worship at his footstool.
    Holy is he!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
    They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his decrees,
    and the statutes that he gave them.
8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
    you were a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Extol the Lord our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy.

Time with Children: The Biggest Story

Prayer of Illumination

Almighty God,
in you are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your Word;
and give us grace that we may clearly understand
and freely choose the way of your wisdom;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Scripture Reading

Genesis 3:1-24

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you among all animals
    and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

17 And to the man he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
    and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,
’cursed is the ground because of you;
    in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”

20 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

Chaos, Judgment, & Mercy

Song

Prayers of the People

Today’s prayer was written by 14th Street member Mary Jellema. It was inspired by Psalm 146, which begins with a call to praise God. Let’s do that as we pray together.

Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, O my soul. 
I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

And we do praise you, Lord. 
We join the chorus of praise that circles the globe this very day. 
In Eastern Europe the Michmerhuizens and the Altenas praise you. 
So do the Cadys in Asia and the Canches and Lorri Scholten in Mexico. 
Praise the Lord.

But then the psalmist cautions us as the psalm continues:

Do not put your trust in princes, in people who cannot save. 
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Lord, you remind us that no matter how important a person may be—
a governor, a mayor, a man with millions, a legislator or judge, even a president—
they cannot save us.
Can our health or wealth or possessions or achievements save us?  Afraid not. 
We know that our lives will end, as well as all the plans we make. 
So, Lord, who can we trust?

The psalmist continues:

Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
the Lord, who remains faithful forever.

Lord, let us then remember that you are a God of the past—
you helped and guided Jacob as well as our parents and grandparents. 
And you are a God of the future: Continue to assure us that as our Creator God,
our hope for your presence now and for the future is solid and trustworthy.

As the psalmist continues, we see a vision of God's kingdom coming
and how all people can flourish if we follow the gospel way,
to show grace and compassion to those in distress.

The Lord upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
The Lord gives sight to the blind, 
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

Oh, Lord, these problems can be found in in the daily newspaper or nightly news today. 
We still have the oppressed, lots of people who need food, people unjustly incarcerated,
but also people in prisons of addiction, bad choices, anger, hatred, and violence. 
We still have the blind of eye and the blind of heart. 
We have people in pits of sadness, loneliness, and anxiety that overwhelm them. 
We have aliens, strangers, and refugees, as well as families grieving the many pandemic deaths.

But you love the righteous and have shown your mercy in the person of Jesus Christ,
who taught us the kingdom way and revealed it in his life and deeds. 
In gratitude for the Spirit's guidance, Lord,
we thank you for the global outreach of such helping agencies as
World Renew, Resonate, Bread for the World, Bethany Refugee Services, and the Luke Society. 
Also, we thank you for such local groups as the Holland Rescue Mission, Community Action House,
the Salvation Army, the CROP Walk, for service projects by our young people
and for the work of the elders and deacons.

Finally, gracious Lord, help each one of us to live gospel lives,
to love you, and to care for all those you place in our path. 
With the psalmist then, we take inspiration to seek your will, knowing that:

The Lord reigns forever, our God, O Zion, for all generations. 
Praise the Lord!         
Amen.

Offering

In addition to our various funds (General, Building, Mission, Benevolence, Christian Education), online giving is also now available for today’s special offerings (Center for Women in Transition & Community Action House Thanksgiving Food Boxes) through the Give button below.

Doxology

We invite you to sing the Doxology with just the voices in your home. “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord” (Psalm 100:1).

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.

Text Words: Thomas Ken, 1709, P.D. Tune: (OLD HUNDREDTH): Louis Bourgeois, 1551, P.D. 

God’s Parting Words

May God go before you to lead you.
May God go behind you to guard you.
May God go beneath you to support you.
May God go beside you to befriend you.
Do not be afraid.
Let the blessing of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—
come upon you today and settle in around you.
Do not be afraid.
Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.