CHIMING OF THE HOUR

 WELCOME

 CALL TO WORSHIP

 Praise be to God, who has brought us here this day.
Praise and thanks to God for all the blessings we have received.
What joy we have in God’s presence!
What peace is brought to us in God’s house!
This is truly the day that the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad in it! AMEN.

 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC    Holy, Holy, Holy

 PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 God of mercy, in our impatience for answers, we sometimes turn to idols of our own making and forget our covenant with you. Passionate for what is right, we wrong those with whom we differ. Pleased at the invitation to your banquet, we fail to arrive with humility and thanksgiving. Forgive us when our faith is weak and our zeal too strong. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

 TIME WITH THE CHILDREN

 SPECIAL MUSIC    Air from Overture in D          Bach

 SCRIPTURE LESSONS    

 Exodus  32:1-14

 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” ² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. ⁸ They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ ⁹ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” ¹¹ But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. ¹³ Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

 Psalm 106:1-6

   Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures forever.

² Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord
    or fully declare his praise?
³ Blessed are those who act justly,
    who always do what is right.

⁴ Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,
    come to my aid when you save them,
⁵ that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
    that I may share in the joy of your nation
    and join your inheritance in giving praise.

⁶ We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;
    we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

SERMON   “On the Question of ‘Why?’”

 PASTORAL PRAYER and THE LORD’S PRAYER

 INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC   I Give My Life to Thee

 AFFRIMATION OF FAITH                                                                                The Apostles’ Creed

 I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and life everlasting. AMEN.

 BENEDICTION

 RESPONSE TO THE BENEDICTION   Go, My Children. with My Blessing