First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport
June 29, 2025
Third Sunday After Pentecost
Rev. Brian Copeland
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Liturgist
PRELUDE
OPENING SENTENCES (Responsive) Liturgist
In the calm waters of the ponds and the bouncing waters of the rivers,
you make a path, O God of wonders.
In the playful waters of the streams that shape every rock and the furious waters
of the whirlwinds coming down,
you make a path, O God of wonders.
We come to praise God, knowing that in the quiet and in the chaos of our lives,
you will make a path.
Let us worship God!
HYMN #481 Praise the Lord, God’s Glories Show
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Responsive) Liturgist
Seeking to follow God,
shepherd of our flock,
and knowing how we have strayed,
we humbly confess the ways
in which we have sinned,
that we might find grace.
God of mercy,
we confess that we too often give in
to the yearnings of the flesh.
We have impure thoughts.
We idolize those who misuse power.
We harbor jealousies and are quick to anger.
We neglect to care for others
and gratify our own desires.
Forgive us, O God,
and cleanse us of our sin.
Lead us to ways of love, joy, and peace.
Send your Spirit to engender patience, kindness, and generosity,
and lead us to be gentle
in our care for all of your people.
SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION MAY BE OFFERED
Sisters and brothers, we are all called to freedom.
Amidst thunderous storms and rocky waters, God reaches out to us in love.
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
SPECIAL MUSIC
CHILDREN’S TIME
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (Unison) Liturgist
Faithful God, how blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Sanctify us by your Word and Spirit so that we may glorify you in the company of the faithful; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Liturgist
1For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
13For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
16Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.17For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. 19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 9:51-62 Rev. Brian Copeland
51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him;53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village.
57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 59To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." 61Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." 62Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON Rev. REV. Brian Copeland
HYMN #408 Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life, verses 1, 3, & 6
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Unison) Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.32–33
The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ has set the pattern for the church’s mission.
His human life involves the church in the common life of all people.
His service to men and women commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the church sensitive to all human suffering
so that it sees the face of Christ in the faces of persons in every kind of need.
His crucifixion discloses to the church God’s judgment on the inhumanity
that marks human relations, and the awful consequences
of the church’s own complicity in injustice.
In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, the church sees the promise of God’s renewal of human life in society and of God’s victory over all wrong.
The church follows this pattern in the form of its life and in the method of its action.
So to live and serve is to confess Christ as Lord.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Holy God, One-in-Three and Three-in-One, hear us as we pray for your blessing,
saying: Holy, triune God, have mercy on us.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are not passed. Offering plates are on the front and back tables.)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
Generous God, we give you thanks for all your blessings to us.
Use these gifts we offer as a sign of your great love for the world,
so that all may know and share the abundance of your grace;
in your holy name we pray. Amen.
HYMN: Jesus Calls Us 
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE
*LARGE PRINT BULLETINS ARE AVAILABLE. PLEASE ASK THE GREETER.
Reminders:
June 29 – 200th Anniversary Committee stained glass window presentation following worship
June 30 – Doug’s to Go fundraiser to benefit Weedsport Fire Dept. Aux.
July 3 – Blood Drive
July 7-11 – VBS at Sennett Federated Church. Volunteers needed.
July 31 – Doug’s to Go to benefit WFPC
