The Order of Worship – February 2, 2025

This is the 33rd Day of 2024.
There are 332 days remaining in 2024.

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.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Prelude:

Welcome & Announcements:
This month’s mission focus is Hurricane Victimes in North Carolina
Bible Study is at afaithtalk.com
Five Loaves 4:30-6:00 tonight.
Call to Worship: The Way of the Cross Leads Home

Responsive Reading:  Psalm 71:1-6

You have been my strength 

¹ In you, O LORD, I take refuge; 
let me never be put to shame.

² In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; 
incline your ear to me and save me.

³ Be to me a rock of refuge, a strong fortress, to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴ Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, 
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.

⁵ For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, 
O LORD, from my youth.

⁶ Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb. 
My praise is continually of you.
Praise the Lord

Opening Hymn: A Mighty Fortress is Our God…#110 (C)

Verse 1

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Verse 2

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

Verse 3

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

Verse 4

That word above all early powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours, thru him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever. 

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: Word of God Speak (C)

I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say
Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak

I’m finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice
Word of God speak

Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak

I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay

Pastoral Prayer
Contact us here to add your concern to our prayer list.

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: Wonderful Words of Life

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 & Song
Children’s Song: This Little Light of Mine

Verse 1

This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine

Verse 2

Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel? No!
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine

Verse 3 

Don’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m gonna let it shine
Don’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m gonna let it shine
Don’t let Satan blow it out.
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine 

Verse 4

Let it shine till Jesus comes
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine till Jesus comes
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine,
Let it shine,
Let it shine

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: Luke 4:21-30
The prophet Jesus not accepted

²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?”

²³ He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’”

²⁴ And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. ²⁵ But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; ²⁶ yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

²⁷ There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

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

New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Without love, a noisy gong

¹ If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

³ If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ⁸ Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.

⁹ For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; ¹⁰ but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.

¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

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

Old Testament Reading & Sermon Text:  Jeremiah 1:4-10

A prophet to the nations

⁴ Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” ⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”

⁹ Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” 

Leader: This is The Word of God for the people of God

People: Thanks be to God.

Sermon:  “God’s Words • From the Prophet’s Mouth To Our Ears”

Holy Communion
Invitation

Leader: Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

Confession and Pardon

People: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

All pray in silence

Leader: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

All: Glory to God. Amen.

The Peace

Leader: Let us offer one another signs of reconciliation and love.

The Great Thanksgiving

Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Leader: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. On the night in which he gave himself up for us he took the bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
All: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever.
People: Amen.
Service of the Bread and Cup 

Closing Hymn: Take My Life and Let It Be…No. 399 (F)

Verse 1

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.

Verse 3

Take my will, and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.

Filled Up and Poured Out

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