First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport
November 22, 2026
Rev. Brian Copeland
Reign of Christ
CHIMES (Preparing ourselves for worship.)
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Liturgist
PRELUDE
OPENING SENTENCES Liturgist
The gates of the Lord are open to all; Come before God with thanks!
The courtyard of the Lord welcomes all the earth; Bless God’s holy name.
The pastures of the Lord are places for all to dwell! Shout with praise, all the earth,
because God is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever. God’s faithfulness lasts from generation to generation.
HYMN (Insert) God, Reveal Your Presence
PRAYER OF THE DAY Liturgist
God of all people, you welcome us. In the faces of one another we see your face.
Help us to look each other in the eye. Lead us from our comfortable corners toward those who live different lives and those we have forgotten or overlooked. Bring us face-to-face
with service and humility, and call us into reconciliation with you, with creation, and with one another. Amen.
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Responsive) Liturgist
Christ rules over us all, seated at the right hand of God. This is the same Christ who came to be with us, to laugh with us, cry with us, break bread with us, and be one of us. Therefore, we approach the throne with boldness, knowing that Christ will hear our confession.
If we had known it was you, Lord, we would have done something different. If we had known if was you, Lord, we would have given you food. If we had known it was you, Lord, we would have taken you in. If we had known it was you, Lord, we would not have passed you by. But we did. Too often we make excuses for not taking care of each other. We have ignored your commandments to love and care. We do not deserve forgiveness, but we ask for it anyway, and ask you to help us change our ways.
SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION MAY BE OFFERED
God seeks the lost, brings back those who have strayed, binds up the injured, and strengthens the weak.
We are forgiven and restored. Thanks be to God!
SPECIAL MUSIC
CHILDREN’S TIME (If there are children present.) Children may go to Sunday School after Children’s Time.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (Unison) Liturgist
Sovereign God, let your Word rule in our hearts and your Spirit govern our lives
until at last we see the fulfillment of your realm of justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Liturgist
11For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
20Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, 22I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 25:31-46 Rev. Brian Copeland
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON Rev. Brian Copeland
HYMN #391 Take My Life vs. 1-4
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.54–55
Biblical visions and images of the rule of Christ, such as a heavenly city, the household of God, a new heaven and earth, a marriage feast, and an unending day
culminate in the image of the kingdom. The kingdom represents God’s triumph
over all that resists the divine will and disrupts God’s creation. Already God’s reign is present as a ferment in the world, stirring hope in all people and preparing the world
to receive its ultimate judgment and redemption. With an urgency born of this hope,
the church applies itself to present tasks and strives for a better world. It does not identify limited progress with the kingdom of God on earth, nor does it despair
in the face of disappointment and defeat. In steadfast hope, the church looks beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THE LORD’S PRAYER (Hymnal p. 16 Traditional)
Our shepherd satisfies our needs; in faith, let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are not passed. Offering plates are on the front and back tables.)
DOXOLOGY (Hymn #592)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
God of the harvest, you are continually planting the seeds of your love in our world and in our lives. As we bring our gifts to you, may they be seeds of your grace, peace, and hope, planted deeply in our community. Amen.
HYMN #155 Rejoince, the Lord is King
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE
*LARGE PRINT BULLETINS ARE AVAILABLE. Please ask the greeter.
Reminders:
Dec. 13 – Session and committee meetings
Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve worship, 7 p.m.
Go in peace to love the Lord your God with heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
