Westminster Presbyterian is Located in Uptown Phoenix, Just Minutes From Downtown.
4735 N. 19th Ave. Phoenix, AZ, 602-274-2122
Order of Service for Sunday, September 20, 2026, 11:00 AM
Westminster Presbyterian Church
4735 N 19th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85015
(602) 274-2122
Rev. Dan Albertson- Pastor
Cell (602) 430-0147
pastorwestminsterpresphx@gmail.com
Order of Service for 17th Sunday after Pentecost, September 20, 2026, 11:00 AM
PRELUDE: “Fairest Lord Jesus” (played by Kathleen Jones)
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS.
Next week:
Monday, September 21 Prayer group (L) at 3:00 pm
Wednesday, September 23 Deacon’s meeting 11:30 am (L)
Thursday, September 24 Choir Practice at 7:00 pm
Sunday, September 27 Bible Study in the Lounge at 9:30am (Led by Debby Holmes)
Sunday, September 27 Worship in the Sanctuary 11am, followed by coffee hour (FH)
MORNING PRAYER
Gracious and generous God, We come before You with thankful hearts. Thank You for Your provision, Your mercy, and Your unfailing love. Help us to trust You, receive Your grace, and rejoice in Your goodness. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Call to worship
Leader: Come, let us worship the God who provides for His people.
People: We come with grateful hearts.
Leader: Come, let us worship the God whose grace is abundant.
People: We come trusting in His goodness.
Leader: Come, let us rejoice in God's generosity.
All: We worship and praise the Lord!
*HYMN: “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” (Presbyterian Hymnal #220,221).
CALL TO CONFESSION
We often compare ourselves with others and forget the blessings God has already given us. Let us come before God honestly, asking for hearts that are grateful, generous, and content. Let us pray.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (Unison)
Merciful God, forgive us when we compare ourselves with others. Forgive us when we focus on what we lack instead of giving thanks for what You have given us. Teach us to trust Your provision, receive Your grace, and rejoice in the blessings of others. Make our hearts grateful and generous. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Silent Prayer)
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Hear the good news: God's grace is not earned by comparison or competition. Through Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, welcomed, and made new. Receive God's grace with gratitude and live in the freedom of His love. Thanks be to God!
*RESPONSE HYMN: “This Little Light Of Mine”
*Sharing the Peace of Christ.
Leader: May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
All: And also, with you
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
Gracious God, open our minds to understand Your Word and our hearts to receive it. Teach us to trust Your provision, appreciate Your grace, and live with grateful hearts. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING: Exodus 16:2–15(NIV)
2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
Leader: This is the word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God
GOSPEL READING: Matthew 20:1–16 (NIV)
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Pastor: This is the Gospel of our Lord
All: Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON: "Grace Is Not Measured by Comparison" - Pastor Dan Albertson
Three points:
1. God Knows What We Need
2. God’s Grace Is Not a Competition
3. Gratitude Changes How We See Others
HYMN: “Revive Us Again” verse 4 and chorus-lead by Pastor Dan
CHOIR ANTHEM: “Guide My Wayfaring Feet” (arr. Ruth Schram)
OFFERTORY
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS (Unison)
Gracious and generous God, everything we have comes from You. Receive these gifts and use them to serve others, share the Gospel, and glorify Your name. Teach us to give with grateful and generous hearts. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
JOYS & CONCERNS - A TIME OF PRAYER.
Pastor: Lord in your Mercy
All: Hear our prayer
Answers to Prayer and Prayer Requests Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
The Lord’s Prayer
Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
*HYMN: “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Presbyterian Hymnal #276)
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE: “Great is the Lord” (Kathleen Jones)
Church leaders are available to join you in personal prayer in front of the sanctuary immediately after the postlude.
Prayer Requests
Do you have a prayer request?
If you have a prayer request, please fill out the prayer request form below or halfway down the Contact page.
We will forward prayer requests to our prayer chain when we receive them from the church answering machine, from one of our deacons, from email, or from the Contact page form.