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https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82730716739?pwd=javTba0kt5Zak5jN1rOo5Q9MaQIzSU.1

 

Meeting ID: 827 3071 6739

Passcode: 514679

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January 11, 2026

Baptism of the Lord

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                                                                                                GATHERING IN GOD’S NAME

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SILENT PREPERATION: Years ago, an artist painted a striking picture, showing a solitary figure rowing a boat at night across an endless sea of water.  Off in the distance is a solitary star, shining in the night sky.  The impression you get as you look at the picture is this: “If that boatman ever loses sight of that star, he is lost.”  What that painting says about that star we can say about Jesus; “If we ever lose sight of Jesus, we are lost.”  Indeed, without Jesus, the world is lost.  Without Jesus there is no hope.  Without Jesus, the human race is lost.

          Adapted from Illustrated Homiletics by Mark Link, S.J.

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

ORGAN PRELUDE    "Engelberg"  (tune for "We Know that Christ is Raised")                                      

CHIMES

*CALL TO WORSHIP  (Please join responsively)

Leader:   A voice of power and majesty calls out to us: “I am your God; I have called you in righteousness.”

People:  We are amazed that God knows us and calls us.  By God’s breath and Spirit, we receive life.

Leader:   God takes us by the hand and leads us.  In covenant with God, we extend light to the world.

People:  Eyes are opened and prisoners are freed.  Justice and peace prevail, by God’s strength.

Leader:   Worship with joy, and give glory to God’s name.  Listen for the new thing God declares.

People:   We remember that we have been baptized.  May we live as those with whom God is pleased.

* HYMN                           “As with Gladness Men of Old”                                 #63 (Blue)

                                                Congregational Bells

PRAYER OF INVOCATION  (Unison)

Come, Holy Spirit, to dwell within – and among – us.  Kindle in us the fire of your love.  Through your power, make us more than dimly burning wicks, that we might share enough light to make a difference in your world.  Be present with us as we remember our Baptisms, and show us once again the new possibilities you have in mind for us – the new possibilities for which Christ lived, died, and rose again. We pray in his name, and for his sake. Amen.

CALL TO CONFESSION

Prayer of Confession (Unison)

God of glory, we confess that our lives have not always glorified you. 

God of justice, we admit our complicity with systems of injustice.  God of light, we are aware of the shadows we create – that keep others from seeing you.  All-inclusive God, we repent of our narrow vision, and our tendency to exclude. Help us turn, both away from those things that distract us, and toward full commitment to the way of Jesus Christ....

SILENT PRAYER OF CONFESSION

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

 

                                                                                    PROCLAIMING GOD’S WORD

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

FIRST SCRIPTURE READING        Isaiah 42:1-9  OT p. 743

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.  He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.  He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching.  Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk in it:  I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.  I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.  See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

 

                                                         The Word of the Lord        Thanks be to God!

CANTICLE                   "Mary, Did You Know?  by Lowry and Greene

​SECOND SCRIPTURE READING       Matthew 3:11-17  NT p. 3

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing‑fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing‑floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased.”

 

                                                         The Word of the Lord         Thanks be to God!

ANTHEM        "When Jesus Came to Jordan"  by Mehrtens and Green                    

TIME FOR YOUNG DISCIPLES

SERMON                                   “Immerse Yourself”

                                           Rev. Dr. David Lovelace

 

                                                                       RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD

 

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH  (Unison)         Adapted from the Second Helvetic Confession (1561)

Now to be baptized in the name of Christ is to be enrolled, entered, and received into the covenant and family, and so into the inheritance of the sons of God; yes, and in this life, to be cleansed also from the filthiness of sins, and to be granted the manifold grace of God, in order to lead a new and innocent life.  Baptism, therefore, calls to mind and renews the great favor God has shown to humanity.  For we are all born in the pollution of sin, and are the children of wrath.  But God, who is rich in mercy, freely cleanses us from our sins by the blood of his Son, and – in him – adopts us to be his children, and – by a holy covenant – joins us with himself, and enriches us with various gifts, that we might live a new life. Thanks be to God!  Amen.

*HYMN                                  “Baptized in Water”                                        #492 (Blue)

A PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR AND THE LORD'S PRAYER   Adapted from a prayer by Jill Duffield, former editor of The Presbyterian Outlook

OFFERING INVITATION

OFFERTORY                                         

*DOXOLOGY                                                                                                                 #592 (Blue)

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)

We pray, O God, that our offerings might delight you.  We bring them to encourage all who work for justice and peace on your behalf, that they

may not grow faint, or be crushed by opposition.  May these gifts help the oppressed find healing, the discouraged receive hope, and those who are bound discover freedom – both through – and beyond – our efforts.  Amen.

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                                                                           GOING IN GOD’S NAME

 

*HYMN                                       “We Know That Christ Is Raised”                                                                                     #495 (Blue)

*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION                 

*BENEDICTION RESPONSE         "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime"  French Carol                          

*POSTLUDE         "Rejoice Greatly, O My Soul"  J.S. Bach