Christ Presbyterian Church

Worship Service

September 17, 2023

Facebook Live: @christpc
Call and Listen: 351-888-7756
Sanctuary Parking Area: FM105.3
 Welcome to Sunday Worship Service
16th Sunday After Pentecost
September 17, 2023 10:00AM
* Please stand if you are able.

Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
GATHERING AROUND THE WORD

Call to Worship
One: Praise the Lord.
All: Let us praise God together.
One: For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love;
All: as far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our sins.
One: So let us rejoice in God’s gracious presence.
All: Let us praise the God of mercy together.

Prayer of Adoration
God of might and mercy, the heavens and the earth are full of your glory. Your love
transforms our lives. You enter our confusion and give insight. You bear our grief and bring
healing. You see our fatigue and renew strength. You sense our fear and spark courage.
You know death and raise up new life. So we come before you in worship, handing over to
you all that weighs us down. Renew us in this time of worship, we pray, so that we may
serve you with joy in Jesus’ name.

*Hymn
There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy

There's a wideness in God's mercy,

like the wideness of the sea.
There's a kindness in God's justice,
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth's sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven.
There is no place where earth's failings
have such kindly judgment given.
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 For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind.
And the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more faithful,
we would gladly trust God's Word,
and our lives reflect thanksgiving
for the goodness of our Lord.

Prayer of Confession
O God, our lives do not always reflect your transforming power. You are gracious, but
we cling to judgment. You are kind, but we can be cruel. You are forgiving, but we nurse
grudges and old wounds. Forgive us, O God. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, and make us
new through Christ, your Son and our Saviour.

Silent Confession
Assurance of Pardon
*Affirmation of Faith 1 Corinthians 13:4-13
I believe Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5 or
rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice
in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes
all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come
to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9
For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10 but when the complete
comes, the partial will come to an end. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to
childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And
now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Special Music
Be Not Afraid
Solo – Susan Taylor

PROCLAIMING THE WORD

Prayer of Illumination
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Reading from the Old Testament
Psalm 103:1-13
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your
diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known his
ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger
forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our
iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward
those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our
transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has
compassion for those who fear him.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

Reading from the New Testament

Romans 14:1-12
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must
not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who
eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It
is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to
make them stand. 5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days
to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe
it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to
God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 We do
not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we
die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For
to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the
living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise
your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to
God.” 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

One: This is the Word of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God!

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Family Choir
As the Deer
As the deer pants for the water,
so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.
Refrain
You alone are my strength, my shield;
to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire,
and I long to worship you.
I want you more than gold or silver;
only you can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy-giver,
and the apple of my eye.
refrain
Reading from the Gospel
Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me,
how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times,
but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the
reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could
not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his
possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying,
‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of
that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out,
came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the
throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him,
‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him
into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened,
they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt
because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I
had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would

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pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not
forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1989)

One: This is the Gospel of the Lord.

All: Thanks be to God!

Sermon Rev. William Cowfer

“Forgive to Live”

RESPONDING TO THE WORD

Hymn
Help Us Accept Each Other
Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us;
teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace.
Be present, Lord, among us and bring us to believe
we are ourselves accepted, and meant to love and live.
Teach us, O Lord, your lessons, as in our daily life
we struggle to be human and search for hope and faith.
Teach us to care for people, for all, not just for some,
to love them as we find them, or as they may become.
Let your acceptance change us, so that we may be moved
in living situations to do the truth in love;
to practice your acceptance until we know by heart
the table of forgiveness, and laughter's healing art.
Lord, for today's encounters with all who are in need,
who hunger for acceptance, for justice and for bread,
we need new eyes for seeing, new hands for holding on:
renew us with your Spirit; Lord, free us; make us one!

Invitation to Giving
Offertory

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*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.
Prayer of Dedication
Prayers of the People
The Lord’s Prayer
GOING OUT INTO THE WORLD

*Hymn
Called as Partners in Christ’s Service
Called as partners in Christ's service, called to ministries of grace,
we respond with deep commitment fresh new lines of faith to trace.
May we learn the art of sharing, side by side and friend with friend,
equal partners in our caring to fulfil God's chosen end.
Christ's example, Christ's inspiring, Christ's clear call to work and worth,
let us follow, never faltering, reconciling folk on earth.
Men and women, richer, poorer, all God's people, young and old,
blending human skills together gracious gifts from God unfold.
So God grant us for tomorrow ways to order human life
that surround each person's sorrow with a calm that conquers strife.
Make us partners in our living, our compassion to increase,
messengers of faith, thus giving hope and confidence and peace.
Benediction
Postlude

**Please join us for coffee fellowship today in Parlor after worship.**

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 ANNOUNCEMENTS
Wednesday Night Take-Out Dinner
Take-out meals will be available for delivery or pickup at 4:45 PM on Wednesdays. The cost per meal is $10.
This week’s menu is salad, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and chocolate mousse cake. If interested in
receiving a meal, please contact June Sanchez at 727-409-4199 or the church office at 727-584-8695. The
delivery area is limited.
CPC Night Out on The Town
Join us on Thursday September 21st at 5 PM for dinner at PJ's Oyster Bar 415 2nd St Indian Rocks Beach. If
interested, please contact the church office at 727-584-8695 or Chad Bender at 727-304-7577 by Monday
September 18th to make a reservation.
Neighborhood Ministries
* To help support our food ministries you can make financial contribution to the “Neighborhood Funds.”
The Neighborhood Food Program distributes bags of groceries on Wednesdays from 5PM to 6PM. These bags
provide additional food items to supplement caring for the families in need. Food items can continue to be
dropped off on Sunday mornings and placed in the wheeled grocery cart or at the church office.
Pak-a-Snack has resumed providing food bags to students at Anona Elementary.
Church Office Hours
Office volunteers are always available on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 to 11:30 AM. Pastor Bill’s
office hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM if you would like to reach him, please
call 727-434-2768 or the church office.
Ways to support your church in tithes and offerings
1. Online at www.largocpc.org
2. Through Vanco Mobile Faith Engagement App on Apple or Android devices
3. Mail a gift directly to the church or drop in office mail slot
4. Use the bill pay option through your bank
5. Scan the QR code to the right using your phone

CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Phone: 727-584-8695 • Fax: 727-585-1079 • 3115 Dryer Ave, Largo FL 33770
www.LargoCPC.org • email: Office.largocpc@gmail.com •
Office Hours: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday 9 AM – 11:30 AM or by appointment.
Pastor Cowfer will be in the office on Tuesdays and most Thursdays from 9:00 AM – 12:00PM,
if you would like to reach him, please call 727-434-2768 or the church office.

Pastor Rev. William Cowfer email: Cowferwj@gmail.com

Secretary Sarah Reeves email: Office.largocpc@gmail.com
Director of Music Steven Radeck email: StevenRadeck@gmail.com
Custodian June Sanchez email: JuBug616@aol.com
All songs used by permission CCLI #863215 and streaming CPSL 139714, Expiration date 7/31/2023
FYI - Video and audio equipment are used for the
8 livestreaming & recording of the worship service.