Bible Text: Matthew 13:24-43 | Preacher: Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan | Series: Online services | Please click onto worship service with visuals to access the service on our MHP YouTube Channel. We also have a link to the audio version of the pre-recorded service. If you’d like to follow the order of service, it is below.

For parents of younger children, there is a children’s message and the main message has questions for families to ponder together. They are down below in the order of worship. There is also an attachment called “Sunday Funnies” for the children along with kitchen science activities and a crossword puzzle. (Thank you to Dienna Goscha for the baking activity.)

 
MORNINGSIDE-HIGH PARK
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Warmly welcomes everyone to this
pre-recorded worship service!
July 19, 2020

WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE
Prelude, Welcome & Announcements 

Call to Worship (based on selected verses from Psalm 139)

Hymn of Praise – Come, thou almighty King
Come, thou almighty King; help us thy name to sing;
help us to praise.
Father, all glorious, e’er all victorious,
come and reign over us, Ancient of Days.

Come, thou incarnate Word; gird on thy mighty sword;
our prayer attend:
Come, and thy people bless, and give thy word success;
Spirit of holiness, on us descend.

Come, holy Comforter; thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour!
Thou who almighty art, now rule in every heart,
and ne’er from us depart, Spirit of power.

To the great One in Three eternal praises be hence evermore!
His sovereign majesty may we in glory see,
and to eternity love and adore.
     Words by anonymous
     Music by Felice de Giardini

Prayers of Confession & Lord’s Prayer (contemporary version)
Let us pray…
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.

Words of Assurance 

Hymn – For the fruits of all creation 
For the fruits of all creation, thanks be to God;
For the gifts to every nation, thanks be to God;
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping, silent growth while wile we are sleeping,
Future needs in earth’s safekeeping, thanks be to God.

In the just reward of labour, God’s will is done;
In the help we give our neighbour, God’s will is done;
In our world wide task of caring for the hungry and despairing,
In the harvests we are sharing, God’s will is done.

For the harvests of the Spirit, thanks be to God;
For the good we all inherit, thanks be to God;
For the wonders that astound us,
for the truths that still confound us,
Most of all, that love has found us, thanks be to God.
     Words by Fred Pratt Green
     Music by Welsh traditional

MHP CONNECT

Children’s Message

Hymn – In the fields of the Lord
In the fields of the Lord our work is rest.
He is moving in our hands and feet to bless.
In the fields of the Lord, in the fields of the Lord,
In the fields of the Lord our work is rest.

In the vineyards of the Lord our work is light.
He is tending ev’ry leaf and ev’ry vine.
In the vineyards of the Lord, in the vineyards of the Lord
In the vineyards of the Lord our work is light.

In the garden of the Lord our work is sound.
He is weaving ev’ry thorn into a crown.
In the garden of the Lord, in the garden of the Lord,
In the garden of the Lord, our work is sound.

At the harvest of the Lord the fields are white.
He will wipe away the tears from ev’ry eye.
At the harvest of the lord, at the harvest of the Lord,
At the harvest of the Lord the fields are white.
     Words and Music by Audrey Assad and Isaac Wardel
WE HEAR GOD’S WORD
Scripture Reading – Matthew 13:24-43 (NLT)
Parable of the Wheat and Weeds
24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.
27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’
28 “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.
“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.
29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”
Parable of the Yeast
Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”
34 Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35 This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet:
“I will speak to you in parables.
I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.”

Parable of the Wheat and Weeds Explained
36 Then, leaving the crowds outside, Jesus went into the house. His disciples said, “Please explain to us the story of the weeds in the field.”
37 Jesus replied, “The Son of Man is the farmer who plants the good seed. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the evil one. 39 The enemy who planted the weeds among the wheat is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the angels.
40 “Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will remove from his Kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s Kingdom. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!

The Invitation to Offering

Offertory – So will I
Words and Music by Joel Houston, Benjamin Hastings
and Michael Fatkin

Message
During the message, parents can ask their children to listen for what Mister Rogers says about people. You can pause the message or discuss afterwards times when we have been good and times when we have done something wrong or hurtful. Then, I encourage you to talk about a kind act your family can do to build community in your neighbourhood or at church. 
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD &
GO OUT INTO THE WORLD TO SERVE
Prayers of the People

Hymn – Come, ye thankful people, come 
Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin;
God, our Maker, doth provide, for our wants to be supplied.
Come, to God’s own temple, come: raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto God’s praise to yield;
Wheat and weeds together sown, unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come and shall take the harvest home;
From the field shall in that day all offences purge away,
Give the angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store in God’s storehouse evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come to thy final harvest home:
Gather thou thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin;
There, forever purified, in thy presence to abide.
Come, with all thine angels, come: raise the glorious harvest home.
     Words by Henry Alford
     Music by George Job Elvey

Benediction   

Choral Amen                       
Sing amen. Amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen. Amen, we praise your name, O God.
Sing amen. Amen, amen, amen, amen,
amen, we praise your name, O God.

Postlude