ST. JOHN’S UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

“Bringing People to Christ and Christ to People”

September 13, 2026 10:00 a.m.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

PRELUDE (Please prepare your hearts and minds for worship.)


LIGHTING OF THE ALTAR CANDLES

WELCOME – A hearing assistance system and large print materials are available. Please see an usher.

*CALL TO WORSHIP (*Please rise in body or spirit.) Leader: No one is an island. We are all joined in Christ Jesus.

People: Who else is like you, loving God? Who is like you: beautiful in holiness, awesome in all the things you do for us.

Leader: No one lives by themselves, no one dies by themselves. Whether we live or die we are the Lord’s.

People: The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

Bruce Prewer, from Bruce Prewer’s Homepage

HYMN O How I Love Jesus

UMH 170

SCRIPTURE READING Romans 14:1-12

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.

6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he

might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” 12So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

The Word of God for the People of God.

Thanks be to God.

MESSAGE FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS WORSHIP WITH TITHES AND OFFERINGS

*DOXOLOGY

UMH 95

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.

*BLESSING THE OFFERING

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH UMH 888

*GLORIA PATRI UMH 71

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

SHARING OUR JOYS AND CONCERNS PASTORAL PRAYER/LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

HYMN Grace Alone FWS 2162


SCRIPTURE Matthew

18:21-35

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus

answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his

servants. 24As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient

with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back

everything.’ 27The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back

what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You

wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35“This is how my heavenly Father will

treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or

sister from your heart.”

MESSAGE “The Math of Forgiveness”


*HYMN Make Me a Channel of Your Peace

FWS 2171 ANNOUNCEMENTS

*BENEDICTION

*CHORAL BENEDICTION In His Time (vs 2) FWS 2203


EXTINGUISHING OF ALTAR CANDLES POSTLUDE


St. John’s United Methodist Church 312 East Main Street P. O. Box 236 Fruitland, Maryland 21826

410-742-5592

stjohnsfruitland@gmail.com www.stjohnsfruitland.org

Pastor Shannon Harris Cell: 410-777-0162

E-mail: pastorslharris@gmail.com


Announcements


MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR W. PAUL NELSON –

Today at 11:30 a.m. with a Fellowship Dinner to follow.

MONTHLY FELLOWSHIP DINNER – Sept. 15 at 5:00

p.m. at Denny’s in Fruitland. Please let Jean Powell

know if you will attend.

CHURCH CONFERENCE – Oct. 14 at 6:00 p.m. at

Bethesda UMC

FRUITLAND BAPTIST FOOD BANK – Monthly

requests include spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, soups, pancake mix, instant potatoes, fruit cups, and toilet paper.


SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST FAMILY SUPPORT

Requests include: corn flour, vegetable oil, sugar, spaghetti noodles and sauce, rice, beans, and feminine hygiene products.

PRAYER CHAIN – Call or text Pat Kern at 443-783-6423.

SOCIAL HOUR – See Buddy Pennewell or Cathy Grim to help.


Music Director: Mike Nelson Videographer: Roger Vandegrift Liturgist: Buddy Pennewell


Connect with us on the web: www.stjohnsfruitland.org