SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
January 16, 2022 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart
Liturgist:
Please silence all cell phones.
Face masks are encouraged for all participants unless leading worship.
Bold face indicates congregational participation.
* Please stand, in body or spirit
GATHERING
WORDS OF WELCOME
PRELUDE Prelude in B BMV 560 – J.S. Bach
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP John 1:36, 39
ONE: Look, here is the Lamb of God!
MANY: Jesus calls us: Come and see.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Patient God, Your son, Jesus, expressed anger at abuses and injustice. Help us to show concern, not apathy, for injustice in our world, and teach us to make right all that may be wrong. Amen.
HYMN 419 “How Clear is Our Vocation Lord”
1 How clear is our vocation, Lord, When once we heed Your call:
To live according to Your word, And daily learn, refreshed, restored,
That You are Lord of all And will not let us fall.
2 But if, forgetful, we should find Your yoke is hard to bear,
If worldly pressures fray the mind And love itself cannot unwind
Its tangled skein of care: Our inward life repair.
3 We mark Your saints, how they became In hindrances more sure,
Whose joyful virtues put to shame The casual way we wear Your name,
And by our faults obscure Your power to cleanse and cure.
4 In what You give us, Lord, to do, Together or alone,
In old routines or ventures new, May we not cease to look to You–
The cross You hung upon– All You endeavored done.
CONFESSION
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
God of glory, you sent Jesus among us as the light of the world, to reveal your love for all people. We confess that our sin and pride hide the brightness of your light. We turn away from the poor; we ignore cries for justice; we do not strive for peace.
In your mercy, cleanse us of our sin, and pour out the gifts of your Spirit, that forgiven and renewed, we may show forth your glory shining in the face of Jesus Christ. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI 579
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.
PROCLAMATION
FIRST LESSON Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
the guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives sleep to his beloved.
Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the sons of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has
his quiver full of them.
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN
ANTHEM “God’s Holy House” Robert Lau
This is God’s holy house and in it let us sing
bringing praise to God on high, and to our heavenly King
May it always be to us a symbol of God’s love,
filled with comfort, peace and grace, sent from the Lord above.
Holy, holy, holy, lord above: bless us as we worship you, and bless this house of love
Hymns of praise let us sing within this sacred place.
May we know God’s love for us, the power of his grace.
Songs of joy will fill the air and loud hosannas ring;
we will sing to God on high, and Jesus Christ the King.
SECOND LESSON John 2:13-25
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
ONE: The Word of the Lord
MANY: Thanks be to God
SERMON “Human Institutions” Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Scots Confession: BOC 3.01
We confess and acknowledge one God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust. Who is eternal, infinite, immeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible; one in substance and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. By whom we confess and believe all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, to have been created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided by his inscrutable providence for such end as his eternal wisdom, goodness, and justice have appointed, and to the manifestation of his own glory.
RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
HYMN 442 “The Church’s One Foundation”
1 The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation By water and the word.
From heaven He came and sought her To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her And for her life He died.
2 Elect from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued.
3 Though with a scornful wonder This world sees her oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping; Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song.
4 Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation Of peace forevermore;
Till with the vision glorious Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious Shall be the church at rest.
5 Yet she on earth has union With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, May live eternally.
PARTING PRAYER Clement of Rome (First Century)
O God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Grant us, we pray, to be grounded and settled in your truth by the coming down of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. That which we know not, reveal; that which is wanting in us, fill up; that which we know, confirm; and keep us blameless in your service; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE “You Shall Go Out with Joy”
You shall go out with joy And be led forth with peace
The mountains and the hills Will break forth before you
There’ll be shouts of joy And all the trees of the field
Will clap, will clap their hands
And all the trees of the field Will clap their hands (clap clap)
The trees of the field Will clap their hands (clap clap)
The trees of the field Will clap their hands (clap clap)
While you go out with joy
POSTLUDE Chaconne in C – Buxtehude