FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF WEEDSPORT
August 30, 2026
Rev. Brian Copeland
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
CHIMES (Preparing ourselves for worship.)
PRELUDE
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Liturgist
OPENING SENTENCES (Responsive) Liturgist
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples,
and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
and let your glory be over all the earth.
HYMN #411 Arise, Your Light Is Come!
CONFESSION AND PARDON (Responsive) Liturgist
We seek the will of God, but still find ourselves conformed to this world, instead of being transformed into God’s image. Let us seek forgiveness for the ways we have turned away from justice and mercy.
Sometimes it sounds too hard: deny ourselves, take up our crosses, lose our lives?
Forgive us, Savior, but we’d rather you do it for us. Forgive us, Christ, but we are overwhelmed with what you ask of us. We long to see you come in glory, but fear the road we must take. Have mercy on our weakness. Be patient with our stumbling. Do not leave us behind, even when we are slow to follow, and lead us in your ways of peace.
SILENT PRAYERS OF CONFESSION MAY BE OFFERED
Christ does not abandon us, but died for us, was raised for us, and loves us still. This is the good news that prevails! In Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we are forgiven!
SPECIAL MUSIC
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (Unison) Liturgist
Faithful God, how blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Sanctify us by your Word and Spirit so that we may glorify you in the company of the faithful; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
FIRST SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c Liturgist
1 O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered,
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful,
and made them stronger than their foes,
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron whom he had chosen.
45cPraise the LORD!
SECOND SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 16:21-28 Rev. Brian Copeland
21From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
27“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SERMON Rev. Brian Copeland
HYMN: Jesus Calls Us O’er The Tumult (Insert)
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Unison) Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.32–33
The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ has set the pattern for the church’s mission. His human life involves the church in the common life of all people. His service to men and women commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. His suffering makes the church sensitive to all human suffering so that it sees the face of Christ in the faces of persons in every kind of need. His crucifixion discloses to the church God’s judgment on the inhumanity that marks human relations, and the awful consequences of the church’s own complicity in injustice. In the power of the risen Christ and the hope of his coming, the church sees the promise of God’s renewal of human life in society and of God’s victory over all wrong. The church follows this pattern in the form of its life and in the method of its action. So to live and serve is to confess Christ as Lord.
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION AND THE LORD’S PRAYER (Hymnal p. 16 Traditional)
With one mind in Christ, and one heart in the Spirit, let us pray to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
INVITATION TO THE OFFERING (Offering plates are not passed. Offering plates are on the front and side tables.)
DOXOLOGY (Hymn #592)
PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Unison)
Merciful and gracious God, you abound in steadfast love and faithfulness. With gratitude, we bring our gifts to you. Bless these gifts and bless our lives that together we may share your mercy and grace for the world you dearly love. Amen.
HYMN: Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Insert)
BLESSING AND CHARGE
POSTLUDE
*LARGE PRINT BULLETINS ARE AVAILABLE. Please ask the greeter.
Reminders:
Sept. 3 - Blood drive , sign up onlineSept. 18 – Doug’s to Go fundraiser at WFPC to benefit Weedsport Good Samaritan Fund
Sept. 25 – Sennett Federated Potter’s Pop-Up Kitchen
Oct. 3 & 4 – Honor Flight bottle and can drive
Oct. 16 – Sennett Federated Potter’s Pop-Up Kitchen
Oct. 18 – Joint worship with MFPC at MFPC at 11 a.m.
