SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
January 23, 2022 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart
Liturgist: Louise Ochart
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 Soliloquy Healey Willan
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP
ONE: We proclaim the message of the cross:
MANY: this is the wisdom and power of God.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Birthing God, You gave us new life when we were born of water and Spirit. Help us live into that new life, refreshed and renewed for your work. 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 139:1-6, 13-18, 23-24
To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
For it was you who formed my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN “Listen to the Wind”
ANTHEM Come, Children of Zion Lloyd Larson
SECOND LESSON John 3:1-21
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’
ONE: The Word of the Lord
MANY: Thanks be to God
SERMON “Questions” The Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Heidelberg Catechism
Q1: What is your only comfort, in life and in death?
A1: That I belong body and soul, in life and in death not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by the Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him. Amen.
RECEIVING OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY “Be Thou My Vision” Mary Byrne/ Gungor
*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.
INSTALLATION OF RULING ELDER
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 485 “To God Be The Glory”
- To God be the glory; great things he hath done!
So loved he the world that he gave us his Son;
who yielded his life an atonement for sin,
and opened the lifegate that all may come in.
Refrain: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the earth hear his voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord; let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father through Jesus the Son,
and give him the glory: great things he has done!
- Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done,
and great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
but purer and higher and greater will be
our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. (Refrain)
*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
*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 Promenade Gordon Young