Weekly Worship Material
This page is updated weekly and will have the weekly worship materials available for those who are unable to join us in person to follow along with the service.
Order of Service for January 4th, 2026
Second Sunday after Christmas
WE GATHER TO PRAISE GOD
PRELUDES
PRAYER OF APPROACH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE LAND
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP:
ONE:
Light has come,
not only in the sky,
but into our words.
We gather in the name we know,
and the name we cannot speak.
We pray to the God who is beyond us,
and the God who is between us,
and the God who is within us.
ALL:
Come, let us worship the Holy One,
whose name is love,
whose presence is mercy,
whose prayer is already breathing in us.
PASSING OF THE PEACE: The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you… And also with you.
*OPENING HYMN: VU #81 As with Gladness Men of Old
♫1 As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold,
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onward, beaming bright,
so, most gracious Lord, may we
evermore your splendour see.
2 As with joyful steps they sped,
to that lowly manger bed,
there to bend the knee before
Christ, whom heaven and earth adore;
so may we with eager pace
ever seek your throne of grace.
3 As they offered gifts most rare
at that manger crude and bare,
so may we with holy joy,
pure and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to you, our heavenly King.
4 Holy Jesus, every day
keep us in the narrow way;
and, when earthly things are past,
bring our ransomed souls at last
where they need no star to guide,
where no clouds your glory hide.
5 In the heavenly country bright
none shall need created light;
you its light, its joy, its crown,
you its sun which goes not down;
there for ever may we sing
hallelujah to our King.
~Children are welcomed to the front of the Sanctuary
for Children’s Time following the hymn~
CHILDREN’S TIME
LORD’S PRAYER: Sung VU #960
♫ 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 trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory,
forever and ever.
Amen.
MUSICAL OFFERING
PRAYER OF CONFESSION & ASSURANCE OF PARDON:
Holy One,
All:
we confess that we often pray as if you are far away,
as if heaven were sealed off and your presence delayed.
We confess that we have used your name carelessly,
or feared it too greatly,
or spoken it as if it belonged to us.
We have clung to images of you
that comfort us alone
and forgotten that you are found
between us,
among us,
calling us into one Our.
We have asked for daily bread
without noticing the hungry.
We have asked for forgiveness
without offering it.
Forgive us, O God.
Not because we have the right words,
but because you are already near.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Hear the good news.
The God whom we confess
is not distant.
The Holy One is not waiting
on a mountain we cannot climb.
In Jesus Christ,
God has come near,
has entered our prayer,
has made a home among us.
Our sins – those places where we miss the mark,
those things that show we are not perfect,
The things that humble us
Are forgiven in grace before they ever happen,
not as a future promise only,
but as a present reality.
You are loved beyond all telling of it – just as you are.
Rise, then,
not into fear,
but into hope.
For the One who hears in secret
is already with you,
and the kingdom is already breaking in.
Amen.
*HYMN: VU #96 Will You Come and See the Light
♫1 Will you come and see the light from the stable door?
It is shining newly bright, though it shone before.
It will be your guiding star, it will show you who you are;
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
2` Will you step into the light that can free the slave?
It will stand for what is right, it will heal and save.
By the pyramids of greed there’s a longing to be freed;
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
3 Will you tell about the light in the prison cell?
Though it’s shackled out of sight, it is shining well.
When the truth is cut and bruised, and the innocent abused,
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
4 Will you join the hope, alight in the young girl’s eyes,
of the mighty put to flight by a baby’s cries?
When the lowest and the least are the foremost at the feast,
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
5 Will you travel by the light of the babe new born?
In the candle lit at night there’s a gleam of dawn,
and the darkness all about is too dim to put it out:
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
PASTORAL PRAYER
OFFERING:
INVITATION TO INVEST IN GOD’S MISSION:
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY: VU #91 v5
♫ Then entered in those wise men three
full reverently upon their knee,
and offered there in his presence,
their gold and myrrh and frankincense.
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
born is the King of Israel.
PRAYER OF THANKS
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 6:5–14
Concerning Prayer
5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[b]
7 “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
10 May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.[c]
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,[d]
but rescue us from the evil one.[e]
14 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others,[f] neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE: “Howard be Thy Name”
*CLOSING HYMN: VU #87 I am the Light of the World
♫R “I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love you’ll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
1 When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and the shepherds have found their way home,
the work of Christmas is begun:
“I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love you’ll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
2 To find the lost and lonely one,
to heal the broken soul with love,
to feed the hungry children with warmth and good food,
to feel the earth below, the sky above!
“I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love you’ll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
3 To free the prisoner from all chains,
to make the powerful care,
to rebuild the nations with strength of good will,
to see God’s children everywhere!
“I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love you’ll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
4 To bring hope to every task you do,
to dance at a baby’s new birth,
to make music in an old person’s heart,
and sing to the colours of the earth!
“I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!”
If you follow and love you’ll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
*COMMISSIONING
*SUNG RESPONSE:
♫ Go now in peace. Never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others so all the world can see.
God will be there watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.
POSTLUDE