FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WEEDSPORT
August 17, 2025
Tenth Sunday After Pentecost
Rev. Brian Copeland
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Liturgist
PRELUDE Liturgist
OPENING SENTENCES (Responsive) Liturgist
In a world where lies surround us,
your word is like fire, God nearby!
In a world full of false prophets and empty promises,
your word is like fire, God nearby!
In a world where words don’t have meaning,
your word is like fire, God nearby!
We are here, ready for our faith to be kindled by your word.
We are here to worship the God who is nearby!
HYMN #
PRAYER OF THE DAY Liturgist
God of the ages, when we face raging fires and imprisoning chains,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
When we encounter the edge of violence,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
When we are persecuted and tormented by the evils of this world,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
When we have to go about in disguise because we can’t be ourselves,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
When we wander in deserts and mountains and hide in caves and holes in the ground,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
Even when we know we may not see the fruit of our labor, even if we can’t reach the promised land,
give us the faith of our ancestors.
We give thanks that perseverance will one day bear fruit, that we don’t run this race alone,
and that our ancestors go with us
now and always. Amen.
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Responsive) Liturgist
Gathered before the throne of God’s infinite mercy, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, confessing our need for grace.
Loving Creator,
with a gardener’s tender touch,
you planted your people to bear good fruit,
but we bear wild grapes.
With a welder’s fierce fire,
you fashioned your people to glorify you,
but we are riddled with impurities.
In your generous mercy, O God,
regard the vine you planted:
save and restore us.
Reform the vessel you crafted:
cleanse and refine us.
Give us life, O God,
that with our whole being,
we may worship you rightly.
SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION MAY BE OFFERED
Jesus endured the cross and disregarded its shame for the sake of the joy that was set before him. That joy is our salvation. His joy is our freedom. Believe the good news:
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.
SPECIAL MUSIC
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: Hebrews 11:29-12:2 Liturgist
29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace.
32And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: Luke 12:49-56 Rev. Brian Copeland
49"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I) have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
54He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON Rev. Brian Copeland
HYMN #
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
Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, we pray for the fulfillment of God’s promise,
saying: In faith, O God, we seek your grace.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are not passed. Offering plates are on the front and back tables.)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
We give you thanks and praise, O God, for you have chosen the poverty of the world
to make your people rich in faith. Help us to put our faith into practice through the offering of our lives— giving food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, and shelter to the poor; all for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, your Word made flesh. Amen.
HYMN #
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE
Reminders:
August 31 – Our Marcellus friends will join us at WFPC for worship
Sept. 4 – Blood drive, hosted by WFPC at UMC
