St. Andrew’s Church

October 25, 2026

Lighting the Christ Candle

 Welcome and Announcements

CALL TO WORSHIP

The Lord has been our dwelling place in all generations.

From everlasting to everlasting, God is God; and so we come to worship.

God satisfies us every morning with steadfast love;

Let us rejoice and be glad all our days.

Tell of God’s glorious power and praise God’s holy name.

We will offer God the work of our hands and praise from the depths of our hearts.

HYMN  374 Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing

PRAYER OF ADORATION AND CONFESSION

God, our God, You are gracious and loving, holy and eternal; your love is steadfast, your presence ever near. Your wisdom is older than time and as fresh as the morning dew. Your name has come to us through the centuries, yet you can always do a new thing to draw us back to you.

Holy God: Creator, Christ and Spirit, Three and One we offer you our prayers and praise this day in humble expectation; refresh our understanding and nurture our readiness to serve you.

In recalling all that you have done and who you are, we recall who we have been and what we have done. Out of a desire to begin again with you and one another, we confess to you our sins:

Merciful God, you know our hearts, the times we truly loved one another and the times we merely tolerated each other. You know our minds, the times we focused on you and the times we pursued our own purposes. You know our bodies, the times we have served you and the times we have served only ourselves. Forgive us those times we went our own way, and renew our commitment to live lives marked by your grace.  In Jesus Name  AMEN

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Friends in Christ, we are forgiven people, set free from past failures, to make a fresh start this day and every day. The Holy Spirit empowers us to love God and to love others. Thanks be to God for such everlasting grace!

HYMN    9

PRAYER FOR UNDERSTANDING

Lord God, as we listen to the Scriptures this day, send your Holy Spirit so we encounter the words as your Living Word. Open our hearts to respond in love and service for Christ’s sake. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Psalm 1

Matthew 22:34-46

Jeremiah 31:31‑34

 SERMON          Reformed and Reforming

There is a beautiful quote out of the Franciscan tradition that says, “Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity; Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God.”

How much better it is to go through life being open to the presence of God who does in us something only God can do to release us from our captivity, deliver us from our bondage, and bring us back into relationship with Him.

The tendency for things to slip away from us has evidently always been a concern going back in time even to the days of the prophet Jeremiah. As in our day, people in Jeremiah’s day struggled to hold on to vital matters because of their having to be preoccupied with headaches and heartaches and burdens and responsibilities. For them, as for us today, life just constantly seemed to get in the way of essential concerns so that if they didn’t come up with a way to preserve them they couldn’t guarantee that those essential concerns wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle of their everyday affairs.

In this section of Jeremiah’s prophecy he is addressing the exiles in Babylon, the people who were taken out of Jerusalem when the city fell to the forces of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It is a part of a section that students of the Old Testament call “the Book of Consolation,” a series of short salvation messages, which taken together pointed the exiles beyond their resignation of ever getting out of Babylon and making it home to Zion and the Holy City. It came to them at a time when Jerusalem was but a faint memory and the notion of being God’s Chosen People was on the verge of slipping away. It was an encouraging word as to how God was about to do something that only God could do – an act of salvation that would draw His people back into relationship with Him.

“’The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant…’ declares the LORD. ‘This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel…’ declares the Lord.  ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”

God will do something only God can do that will draw His people back into relationship with Him.  A covenant that is written down on tablets of stone can be lost or broken or set aside to be ignored. But a covenant that is written down on the heart is one that will last forever.

This is the sort of God we have been called upon to worship and serve – a God who is merciful and kind, a God who is faithful and true, a God who never gives up on those He created to be in fellowship with Him, a God whose love is so steadfast and constant that it ultimately finds a way to bring His wayward people back to where He can be their God and they can be His people, even when they have forgotten what all of that means.

The theological word for this work that only God can do is “grace,”. But then in the life of every believer the time comes when it dawns upon us and God stamps something on our hearts that we never could have written by ourselves so that for the rest of our days upon this earth and all the way into eternity we are captivated by this love that simply will not let us go.

Unlike the Sinai covenant, the New Covenant involves God writing His law on human hearts. It promises intimate knowledge of God and complete forgiveness of sins. This covenant becomes foundational for later Christian theology

Martin Luther  a German theologian and religious reformer  was the catalyst of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Martin slapped his hand on the table and with his head shaking muttered  “They just don’t get it “ Luther challenged Catholic practices, widely seen as corrupt due to practices such as the sale of indulgences. This led to the rise of Protestantism and major political, social, and cultural changes across Europe beginning in 1517

Through his words and actions, Luther precipitated a movement that reformulated certain basic tenets of Christian belief and resulted in the division of Western Christendom between Roman Catholicism and the new Protestant traditions, mainly Lutheranism, Calvinism , Anglicanism, the Anabaptists, and the anti-Trinitarians. He is one of the most influential figures in the history of Christianity. Reformation Day, the anniversary of the day Luther is said to have posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany (October 31, 1517), is celebrated by many Protestants as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Certain key tenets of Luther’s theology have shaped Protestant Christianity since the 16th century. They include his insistence on the Bible, the Word of God, as the only source of religious authority, a dogma known as sola Scriptura; his emphasis on the centrality of grace, appropriated by faith, as the sole means of human salvation; and his understanding of the church as a community of the faithful—a priesthood of all believers—rather than as a hierarchical structure with a prominent division between clergy and laity.

Have you ever read in the little green PCC publication Living Faith the definition of the Presbyterian Church denomination.

The church is Christ together with his people called both to worship and serve him in all of life The  church is in constant need of reforem because of the failure and sin  which mark it’s life in every age. The church is present  when the Word is truly preached , the sacraments are rightly administered and as it orders its life  according to the word of God (pages 16-17)

How is the Spirit calling us, shaping us, re-forming us to be a church for these new times? People of God, we are the church of the Reformation, and the church of the Reformation is always being called forward, always being summoned by the God who made us and is our refuge.

That is a truth worth proclaiming this Reformation Sunday – a truth that sets us free. Because of the undeniable truth that the God of Jacob, the God of Jeremiah, the God of Luther and all the reformers, the God of all who live with uncertainty, is our refuge, we are set free to keep on being the church.

To keep loving and serving God’s people the best way we can. To care for ourselves when we need to. To come together as the people of God in new and creative ways. Indeed, to sing a new church into being AMEN

HYMN      479  The churches one foundation

INVITATION TO THE OFFERING

As members of Christ’s body, the Church, we draw on the gifts of As many other followers of Jesus, offered to him over centuries of service. Our gifts join theirs so that God will be praised and Jesus’ love spread in this generation and those still to come.

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Generous God, you are both faithful and fruitful as you embrace each new generation. Bless our gifts and make them fruitful beyond our imagining. Keep us faithful in this generation so that the inheritance we have received in Christ will continue in generations yet to come. Amen.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

Faithful God,  we do not have enough words to thank you for all you have given us and the love you share with us in Christ Jesus.

In the silence of this time, help us review the week just past, remembering the ways we encountered you – in the beauty of creation, the support of friends, the wisdom of books, the joy of music, the energy of exercise, through study and prayer.

God of comfort and challenge, we are grateful for your presence in these uncertain times at home, at work and at school.  We give thanks for your attention to the small details and the large responsibilities we face. Make us attentive to the needs of those around us. In silence we name before you those finding these days especially difficult.

God of persistence and inspiration we remember before you the many who struggle to recognize your presence or fail to hear your voice amid all the competing voices in our world. We pray for those feeling depressed or anxious, those facing grief and loneliness, and those who are worried about their health or their future.

God of justice and leadership, We pray for our country and nations of the world facing immense challenges. Guide decision makers in these complex times and keep the hearts of those with resources open to those who do not have enough. We pray for places where justice is lacking,

where violence threatens, or leaders are untrustworthy.

God of the Church, we pray for your church: where the church is divided, heal it; where we are in error, correct us; where we are tired, give us hope and expectation; where we are serving your purposes, nurture and protect us.

We pray that the Church may always be renewed by God’s Word, rooted in God’s grace, and led by the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus Christ with humility, courage, and love, serving the world for the glory o

God of grace and guidance, You call us to be your hands and feet, your voice and comfort in the world, following the example of Jesus. Equip us to respond to the needs around us in his name, and make us bold to get started right here and right now.For we dare to pray the words Jesus taught us:

The Lord’s Prayer

HYMN      315   A mighty fortress is our God (Martin Luther)

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION

Go with love for God filling your hearts, to show love to each neighbour or stranger you meet in the week ahead. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Amen.

Blessing Song