September 13, 2026
Rev. Chad Brewer
Better Than We Deserve
WELCOME TO HANOVER VALLEY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Our purpose is to become an authentic community that knows Christ and makes His grace and truth known with such power and glory that lives are transformed by the gospel, multiplying worship and praise to God throughout Hanover and the world.
Welcome. We’re glad that you’re with us. We hope you’ll find joyful worship that engages both your heart and mind, as well as genuine friendship and a caring atmosphere. Please take advantage of any of the opportunities offered here. If we can serve you in any way today, simply speak to one of the ushers.
Children are encouraged to stay in the service, but if you prefer, quality childcare is provided throughout the service for children from infants to kindergarten aged. Please speak to one of our ushers for locations.
This bulletin will guide you through the service – just start on the next page and continue as the pastor leads. (Moments when you should stand are noted).
As a courtesy to you and those around you, we ask that you please mute cell phones during the worship time.
REFLECTIONS
- To all who are spiritually weary and seek rest;
- To all who mourn and long for comfort;
- To all who struggle and desire victory;
- To all who sin and need a Savior;
- To all who are strangers and want fellowship;
- To all who hunger and thirst after righteousness;
- And to all who will come, this church opens wide her doors and offers welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
SUNDAY WORSHIP
September 13th, 2026
Prelude
Call to Worship
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, 33 to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice. 34 Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens. 35 You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!
Psalm 68:32-35
Gathering Songs (Please Stand)
Here in This Place
Lay your burden down, every care you carry / And come to the table of grace, for there is mercy / We come just as we are, though we’re all unworthy / To enter Your presence, Oh Lord, for You are holy.
Chorus: We lift our heart, we lift our hands, / We fall on our knees and pray / To the King of Kings for the love You bring / Is here, in this place / We raise our voices, raise our song, / We offer You our praise, / You’re the King of Kings and the joy You bring / Is here, You are here in this place
Fill our lives with praise, show us Your forgiveness / And give us the faith to believe that You’ve redeemed us / You are Lord of all and we give You glory, / All honor and power and praise, for You are worthy
Jesus’ Precious Blood
What sacred fountain yonder springs up from the throne of God, / And all new covenant blessing brings? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood. / What mighty sum paid all my debt, when I a bondman stood, / And has my soul at freedom set? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
Chorus: What stream can sweep away my sins just like a flood, / Nor lets one guilty blemish stay? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
What voice is that which speaks for me in heaven’s court for good, / And from the curse has set me free? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
What theme, my soul shall best employ thy harp before thy God, / And make all heav’n to ring with joy? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
Tag: Nor lets one guilty blemish stay? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood.
Before the Throne of God Above
Before the throne of God above / I have a strong, and perfect plea, / A great High Priest whose name is Love, / Who ever lives and pleads for me. / My name is graven on His hands, / My name is written on His heart; / I know that while in Heav’n He stands, / No tongue can bid me thence depart, / No tongue can bid me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair, / And tells me of my guilt within, / Upward I look and see Him there / Who made an end of all my sin. / Because the sinless Savior died, / My sinful soul is counted free; / For God the Just is satisfied / To look on Him and pardon me, / To look on Him and pardon me.
Behold Him There! The risen Lamb, / My perfect, spotless righteousness; / The great unchangeable I AM, / The King of Glory and of grace! / One with Himself I cannot die, / My soul is purchased by His blood; / My life is hid with Christ on high, / With Christ, my Savior and my God, / With Christ, my Savior and my God.
Corporate Prayer of Confession
Most holy and merciful Father; we acknowledge and confess in Your Presence our sinful nature, prone to evil and slothful in good, and all our shortcomings and offenses against You. You alone know how often we have sinned: in wandering from Your ways; in wasting Your gifts; in forgetting Your love. O Lord, have pity upon us who are ashamed and sorry for all the ways we have displeased You. Teach us to hate our errors; cleanse us from our secret faults; and forgive our sins; for the sake of Your dear Son our Savior. And O most holy and loving Father, send Your purifying grace into our hearts, we pray; that we may hereafter live in Your light and walk in Your ways; according to the commandments of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Private Confession
Words of Encouragement
18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. Micah 7:18-20
Confession of Faith
Leader: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
Congregation: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
Song of Assurance (Please Stand)
Shout to the Lord
My Jesus, My Savior, Lord, there is none like You / All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love / My comfort, my shelter, Tower of refuge and strength / Let every breath, all that I am never cease to worship You
Chorus: Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing / Power and majesty, praise to the King / Mountains bow down and the seas will roar / At the sound of Your name / I sing for the joy at the work of Your hands / Forever I’ll love You, forever I’ll stand / Nothing compares to the promise I have in You
My Jesus, My Savior, Lord, there is none like You / All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love / My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength / Let every breath, all that I am never cease to worship You
Tag: Nothing compares to the promise I have, / Nothing compares to the promise I have in You
Announcements & Prayers of the People
Special Music & Offering
Scripture
- 2 Chronicles 14:1-6
- 2 Chronicles 15:16-18
- 2 Chronicles 16:13-14
Sermon
Better Than We Deserve
Song of Reflection (Please Stand)
How Great is Your Love
No eye has seen and no ear has heard / And no mind can ever conceive / The glorious things that You have prepared / For everyone who has believed / You brought us near and You called us Your own / And made us joint heirs with Your Son
Chorus: How high and how wide, how deep and how long / How sweet and how strong is Your love / How lavish Your grace, how faithful Your ways, / How great is Your love, O Lord
Objects of mercy that should have known wrath, / We’re filled with unspeakable joy. / Riches of wisdom, unsearchable wealth, / And the wonder of knowing Your voice. / You are our treasure and our great reward, / Our hope and our glorious King!
Benediction
Parting Song of Praise
How Great Is Your Love
Chorus: How high and how wide, how deep and how long / How sweet and how strong is Your love / How lavish Your grace, how faithful Your ways, / How great is Your love, O Lord
Worship Musicians
- Jessi Stauffer – piano, vocals
- Angela Brewer – vocals
SCRIPTURE
2 Chronicles 14:1-6
And Abijah rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. Asa his son succeeded him as king, and in his days the country was at peace for ten years. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and to obey his laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him. He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest.
2 Chronicles 15:16-18
16 King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 17 Although he did not remove the high places from Israel, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. 18 He brought into the temple of God the silver and gold and the articles that he and his father had dedicated.
2 Chronicles 16:13-14
13 Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his ancestors. 14 They buried him in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier covered with spices and various blended perfumes, and they made a huge fire in his honor.
NOTES
COMMUNITY & CHURCH LIFE
Parking on Sundays
We’re glad you’re here today! There is a map available on our website (www.hanovervalley.org), highlighting available local parking. There’s plenty and it’s all less than a block away. There is also a parking lot, especially for guests, next to our building outside the Railroad Street Entrance. All public, metered, on-street parking is free on Sundays.
Live Stream & Bulletin Instructions
You can access the livestream from the front page of hanovervalley.org or through youtube.com/user/HanoverValley. If you would like to access the weekly bulletin electronically, you can find the weekly bulletin on the church’s home page, in the middle just below the banner. It’s available as a mobile-friendly version you can view on your phone or as a full PDF that you can download.
Sunday Morning Childcare
We have childcare for children up to the age of four during our 10:00am worship service.
Children’s Sunday School
Sunday school starts on September 13th from 9-9:45am. We offer a class for students 3yo-1st grade taught by Becky Derreth and Sarah Schwarz and another class for students in 2nd-5th grade taught by Steve and Jill Kirkpatrick. These classes meet on the upper level of our building.
Adult Workshop
Join us on September 13th from 9-9:45 in the Dock Room as we resume adult workshop with a four week study of spiritual gifts. Adults and students in 6th-12th grades are encouraged to join us.
Ladies Bible Study
Ladies’ Bible Study is off for the summer and will start again on Sept. 12th with a new study on Proverbs. We will continue to meet every other Saturday morning at 10:00 in the dock room. Further information can be obtained from Polly Stanley (bpstanley13@gmail.com.) Please consider this a great opportunity to get to know and understand God’s word.
Camping Trip: October 2 – October 4
Join us on a church camping trip at Caledonia State Park Group Camp Sites this fall! Come for a hike Saturday or stay for the whole weekend! There will be a Potluck Dinner Saturday Evening to share. Otherwise bring your tent, sleeping bags, and food for the weekend, and we will enjoy some time around the fire together! Cost is $5 per person to help cover the site reservation fees. Contact Noah or Coop if you have any questions or need to borrow some camping gear for the weekend.
Prayer Gathering
We are meeting on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month @ 5:30 pm at the church. We would love to have you join us! Please contact Gary Harrity for more information at (717) 630-1028.
Youth Group & Kids Group
Youth group (6-8pm) and kids Group (6-7:30pm) meet on Sunday evenings. Youth group is for students 6th-12th grade and kids group is for students in 1st-5th grade. There will be no Youth Group or Kids Group this week, as our volunteers are away.
Young Adult Group
On Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm we offer a small group for young adults between the ages of 18 and 30. See Noah Trask for meeting locations and more information.
Nurturing Faith – Moms & Little Ones
Looking for a place to connect with other moms while your little ones play? Join us for Nurturing Faith, located at the church, on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays from 10:00–11:00 AM, beginning September 15. Enjoy playtime, fellowship, coffee, and treats, with a special devotional and childcare provided on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Children ages 0–6 are welcome! Please contact Myfanwy Smith at steveandmyfanwy@gmail.com if interested.
Volunteers Needed!
We’re looking for caring volunteers to serve in the nursery once a month during the moms’ devotional time on the 3rd Tuesday. If you’d like to bless and encourage young moms by caring for their little ones, we’d love to have you join the team. Please contact Sarah Trask at office@hanovervalley.org if you’re interested in volunteering.
PRAYERS
Prayer Requests
- Please pray for Melissa Anderson Casper. She is in Lancaster General Hospital, suffering from an ulcer on her heel that is resistant to healing. Please pray that the doctors can find a way for the ulcer to heal completely.
- Please pray for Debbie Trask’s sister, Susan Baker, she was diagnosed with advanced colon and liver cancer. She has started chemotherapy.
- Please pray for Tom Simon and his family. Tom is still doing palliative chemo treatments and the cancer has significantly shrunk! His tests have been very positive. Pray that the treatments continue to go well and for the weariness that each session has on the family.
- Pray that Andrew Hauser will continue to remain clear of any rejection of his new organs and for safety as he travels to and from Pittsburgh for his tests.
- Pray that we would recognize God’s hand in our lives and the lives around us.
- Ann Kerrison, a friend of Debbie Stapf, was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Pray for Ann and her family as they navigate this challenging time, both physically and emotionally. Please pray for strength and healing while she is on chemo, which is making her very sick.
- Please pray that Debbie Stapf’s doctors can find the right medication to work for her as she continues to live with Parkinsons.
- Kyle Paicz’s grandmother, Dawn, is having open heart surgery to fix an aortic aneurysm on September 21. Please pray that God calms her nerves and has a safe surgery and for a quick recovery.
- Please pray for Kyle’s other grandmother, Joyce, who will be having neck surgery on the 1st of October, that the surgery and recovery will go smoothly and it greatly improves her mobility.
- Please keep Alec Speights, friend of the Schwarz family, in your prayers as he recovers from a serious brain injury. Pray for God’s healing, strength, and peace for Alec, as well as comfort and encouragement for his family during this difficult time.
- Keep Becky Derreth and her family in your prayers. Becky’s father recently suffered a stroke. Please pray for continued healing and recovery, that he would regain his strength and abilities, and that he would be able to return to his former level of independence.
- Please keep the Schwarz family in your prayers. Bruce’s dad passed away recently, and the entire family is walking through a difficult season of grief and loss.
We want to share your concerns and praises. If you have something to include here please contact Sarah Trask; Call or text 443-277-0110 or email office@hanovervalley.org. Nothing is included here without express permission.