Weedsport First Presbyterian Church
January 5, 2025
Rev. Brian Copeland
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Liturgist
PRELUDE
Opening Sentences (Responsive) Liturgist
Come, let us praise our God and Creator,
who has given us every spiritual blessing
in Christ.
Come, let us praise Christ our savior,
who has redeemed us
by the riches of God’s grace.
Come, let us praise the Spirit,
who marks us as beloved heirs of God.
Come with wisdom and understanding;
let us hope in Christ together
and praise God forever. Amen.
HYMN #274 Oh God of Earth and Space
Confession and Pardon (Responsive) Liturgist
Who is worthy to stand before God?
None but Christ alone.
The Son of God came in the flesh of a human body
to live among us.
It is Christ who redeems us,
gathering our tears and our fears,
redeeming each and every one.
With this confidence let us confess
our sin before God and one another.
Gather us,
your children who run and hide,
ashamed, afraid, apathetic.
We trade your goodness for ashes.
We trade your peace for control.
We trade your promise for certainty.
Gather us to you
and return us to your abundant mercy;
may it flow over us,
renewing our weary souls.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR PERSONAL CONFESSION
The light of all life
and the breath of all creation claims you,
calling you “good” from the very beginning, very good.
Believe the good news: in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
SPECIAL MUSIC
CHILDREN’S TIME (Children may leave to go to Sunday School after Children’s Time.)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (Unison)
O God,
through your mighty acts
we receive grace upon grace.
From your fullness,
feed us with your life-giving Word,
that our lives, like bread,
may feed a hungry world. Amen.
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 147:12-20 Liturgist
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
For the Lord strengthens the bars of your gates;
And blesses your children within you.
The Lord grants peace within your borders;
And fills you with the finest of wheat.
The Lord sends out the Lord’s command to the earth;
God’s word runs swiftly.
The Lord gives snow like wool;
And scatters frost like ashes.
The Lord hurls down hail like crumbs-
who can stand before God’s cold?
The Lord sends out God’s word, and melts them;
makes God’s wind blow, and the waters flow.
The Lord declares God’s word to Jacob,
God’s statutes and ordinances to Israel.
The Lord has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know God’s ordinances.
Praise the Lord!
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: John 1:(1-9) 10-18 Rev. Brian Copeland
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out,
"This was he of whom I said,
'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'")
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God.
It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon Rev. Brian Copeland
HYMN #326 Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
Affirmation of Faith (Unison)
The one sufficient revelation of God
is Jesus Christ,
the Word of God incarnate,
to whom the Holy Spirit
bears unique and authoritative witness
through the Holy Scriptures,
which are received and obeyed
as the word of God written.
Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.27
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
let us pray for the life of the world,
saying: O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are on the front and back tables. Offering plates are not passed.)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
God Most High, receive the gifts of our lives
as an offering of gratitude for your grace.
Overshadow us with your Holy Spirit
and let it be with us according to your word,
for nothing is impossible with you. Amen.
HOLY COMMUNION
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
HYMN (Insert) God Be With You Till We Meet Again
CHARGE AND BLESSING
POSTLUDE
Reminders:
Jan. 12 – Session and Committee Meetings following worship
Jan. 26 – Congregational meeting and Installation of Officers
