The Order of Worship – February 8, 2026

This is the 39th Day of 2026.
There are 317 more days remaining in 2025.

Filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are a people of prayer
committed to love one another
and equipped to share Christ’s love throughout the world.

Prelude:

Welcome & Announcements:
This month’s mission focus is the Arms of Mercy
Bible Study is all new at afaithtalk.com on Tuesday!
Call to Worship: Gather Us In…2236 Verse 1 & 2 (D)

Responsive Reading:  Psalm 112:1-10
Light shines in the darkness

¹ Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD, 
who greatly delight in his commandments.
² Their descendants will be mighty in the land; 
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
³ Wealth and riches are in their houses, 
and their righteousness endures forever.
⁴ They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; 
they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
⁵ It is well with those who deal generously and lend, 
who conduct their affairs with justice.
⁶ For the righteous will never be moved; 
they will be remembered forever.
⁷ They are not afraid of evil tidings; 
their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
⁸ Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; 
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
⁹ They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; 
their righteousness endures forever;
their horn is exalted in honor.
¹⁰ The wicked see it and are angry; 
they gnash their teeth and melt away; 
the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.
Praise the Lord!

Opening Hymn: Ask Ye What Great Things I Know…163 (F)
Verse 1

Ask ye what great thing I know,
that delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win?
Whose the name I glory in?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Verse 2

Who defeats my fiercest foes?
Who consoles my saddest woes?
Who revives my fainting heart,
healing all it’s hidden smart?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Verse 3

Who is life in life to me?
Who the death of death will be?
Who will place me on his right,
with the countless hosts of light?
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Verse 4

This is that great thing I know,
this delights and stirs me so:
faith in him who died to save,
him who triumphed o’er the grave:
Jesus Christ, the crucified.

Affirmation of Faith:
The Apostle’s Creed..No. 881

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Gloria Patri…Page 70

Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

Praise Song: Swing Low Sweet Chariot…No. 703 (F)
Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home;
 swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.

Verse 1

I looked over Jordan and what did I see,
coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home;
 swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.

Verse 2

If you get there before I do, coming for to carry me home;
tell all my friends I’m coming too, coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home;
 swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home.

Verse 3

I’m sometimes up, I’m sometimes down,
coming for to carry me home;
but still my soul feels heavenly bound,
coming for to carry me home.

Refrain

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home;
swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. 

Pastoral Prayer
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The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.

Anthem: Higher Ground (G)

Offertory

Doxology:

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen

Children’s Moment
Children’s Song (Ain’t No Rock (Em))
Verse 1

Ain’t no rock gonna cry in my place 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 
Ain’t no  rock gonna cry in my place 
As long as I’m a live I’ll glorify His holy name 

Chorus

Praise His holy name 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 
Praise His holy name 
As long as I’m alive 
I’ll glorify His holy name

Verse 2

Ain’t no bird gonna flap his feathers 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 
Ain’t no bird gonna flap his feathers 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 

Verse 3

Ain’t no  tree gonna wave its branches 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 
Ain’t no tree gonna wave its branches 
As long as I’m alive I’ll glorify His holy name 

Prayer for Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-20
The teaching of Christ: salt and light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

¹⁹ Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
God’s wisdom revealed through the Spirit

¹ When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. ² For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. ³ And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

⁴ My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

⁶ Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.

⁷ But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” ¹⁰ these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ¹¹ For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God.

¹² Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. ¹³ And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

¹⁴ Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

¹⁵ Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny. ¹⁶ “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God 

Sermon Text: Isaiah 58:1-12
The fast that God chooses

¹ Shout out; do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins.

² Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they want God on their side. ³ “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” 
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers. ⁴ You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.
⁵ Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
⁶ Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
⁸ Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am.”  If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, ¹⁰ if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God

Sermon:  “Repairer of the Breach”

Closing Hymn: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us…#381 (D)
Verse 1

Savior, like a shepherd lead us,
much we need thy tender care;
in thy pleasant pastures feed us,
for our use thy folds prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Thou has bought us, thine we are.
Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus!
Thou has bought us, thine we are.

Verse 4

Early, let us seek thy favor,
Early let us to thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior,
with thy love our bosoms fill.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Thou hast loved us, love us still.

Filled Up and Poured Out

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