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First Presbyterian Church of Weedsport
January 4, 2026
Second Sunday of Christmas
Rev. Brian Copeland
Opening Sentences (Responsive) Liturgist
Before the foundation of the world, God destined us for love.
Through Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, God adopted us into her own family.
From the farthest edges of the earth, God shepherds their family home.
HYMN #457 I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art
CONFESSION AND PARDON Liturgist
Who is worthy to stand before God? None but Christ alone.
The Son of God came in the flesh of a human body to live among us.
It is Christ who redeems us, gathering our tears and our fears, redeeming each and every one. With this confidence let us confess our sin before God and one another.Gather us, your children who run and hide, ashamed, afraid, apathetic.
We trade your goodness for ashes. We trade your peace for control.
We trade your promise for certainty. Gather us to you and return us to your abundant mercy; may it flow over us, renewing our weary souls.SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION MAY BE OFFERED
The light of all life and the breath of all creation claims you, calling you “good” from the very beginning, very good. Believe the good news: in Jesus Christ we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.SPECIAL MUSIC
CHILDREN’S TIME (Children may leave to go to Sunday School after Children’s Time.)
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (Unison) Liturgist
O God, through your mighty acts we receive grace upon grace. From your fullness,
feed us with your life-giving Word, that our lives, like bread, may feed a hungry world. Amen.FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Jeremiah 31:7-14 Liturgist
7 For thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: John 1:10-18 Rev. Brian Copeland
10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON Rev. Brian Copeland
HYMN #280 Amazing Grace
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Unison) Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.27
The one sufficient revelation of God is Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, to whom the Holy Spirit bears unique and authoritative witness through the Holy Scriptures, which are received and obeyed as the word of God written.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us pray for the life of the world, saying: O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are not passed. Offering plates are on the front and back tables.)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
God Most High, receive the gifts of our lives as an offering of gratitude for your grace.
Overshadow us with your Holy Spirit and let it be with us according to your word,
for nothing is impossible with you. Amen.
Luke 1:35–38; 1 Corinthians 1:4Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise.Blessed are you, O Lord our God: Like a shepherd, you gather us up; you fill us with the finest wheat and turn our sorrow into joy.
HYMN #40 Joy to the World!
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE
*LARGE PRINT BULLETINS ARE AVAILABLE. PLEASE ASK GREETER.
Reminders:
Worship will be held in the Fellowship Hall through March
Jan. 12 – Committee reports due
Jan. 25 – Congregational Meeting
