Sunday January 11, 2026 Worship Service
Livestream at 11:10 a.m.

Gathering in God’s Name

Prelude — Allegretto from Sonate No. 4 — Mendelssohn Bartholdy

Silent Meditation
As we begin a new year…
“I was regretting the past and fearing the future.  Suddenly my Lord was speaking:  “My name is I AM.”  He paused, I waited.  He continued, “When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard.  I am not there.  My name is not “I WAS.”  When you live in the future, with its problems and fears, it is hard.  I am not there.  My name is not “I WILL BE.”  When you live in this moment it is not hard, because I am here.  My name is “I AM.”  – author Helen Mallicoat (1913-2004)

Call to Worship
The voice of the Lord is powerful and full of majesty.
       May the Lord bless us with God’s Peace!
The voice of the Lord proclaimed Jesus as God’s beloved.
       In our own baptisms, we are claimed as God’s beloved.  Let us worship God.

Praise and Adoration

*Hymn #163 — Wild and Lone the Prophet’s Voice — ABERYSTWYTH
(*Please stand, if you are able)

Confession and Pardon

Call to Confession

Prayer of Confession
Merciful God, we confess that we are estranged from you and from one another. We treat others as strangers rather than as people created in your image and fellow children of God. We exploit the earth as though it were our possession rather than a gift entrusted to our care and a reflection of your image and glory. Forgive us our sins and transform us by your Spirit that we might live as people who have been baptized as your own children. Amen.

Silent Prayers of Confession and Petition

Kyrie Eleison #551 — Lord, Have Mercy — LAND OF REST                                                  

Assurance of Pardon

*Congregational Response (#581) — Glory Be to the Father — GLORIA PATRI (Greatorex)

*Welcome                            

Announcements

Fellowship of Prayer

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the People
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.

Proclamation of God’s Word

Scripture Lesson — Matthew 3: 13-17 — page 784 of the pew Bible

Sermon — “Because of Whose You Are” — Dr. Zieman

Prayer

Presentation of Tithes and Offerings

Offertory — Down Galilee’s Slow Roadways — Michael Burkhardt

The Sacrament of Holy Communion
The elders will serve you in the pews.  All baptized Christians are invited to partake. 
We ask that you hold on to the piece of bread or the cup until all have been served, so that we may partake as one body.   

Invitation to the Lord’s Table

*Affirmation of Faith — from A Brief Statement of Faith (1991)
We trust in God the Holy Spirit, everywhere the giver and renewer of life. The Spirit justifies us by grace through faith, sets us free to accept ourselves and to love God and neighbor, and binds us together with all believers in the one body of Christ, the Church. The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and life in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed, claims us in the waters of baptism, feeds us with the bread of life and the cup of salvation, and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.

*Sanctus (#562) — Holy, Holy, Holy SANCTUS (Schubert)

The Words of Institution

Serving the Bread — The pastors will walk down the aisles with gluten–free bread.

Anthem — The Glory of the Father — Egil Hovland

Serving the Cup                 

*Prayer of Thanksgiving (in unison)
God of all nations, we give you thanks for this feast of your goodness and grace.  As you have nourished us in Christ Jesus, send us forth to feed and serve others – sharing your peace with the whole community and showing your faithful love in the world; through Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life for all.  Amen.

*Hymn of Dedication #547 — Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing — SICILIAN MARINERS

*Charge and Benediction                              

Postlude — Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven    Kevin Hildebrand