February 2, 2025
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
* Denotes all are invited to stand. Bold text indicates portions of the service to be spoken or sung by the congregation.
Music for Gathering:
Brian Jay
Organist
Welcome:
Rev. Aaron J. White, Pastor
Grace and peace in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Amen!
The Lord is our light and our salvation!
Thanks be to God!
Minute for Mission:
Cleveland Evans
Topic: More Light Presbyterians
Call to Worship:
In you, O Lord, let us take refuge,
so we might never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, O Lord, let us find deliverance,
so we might experience your saving power.
In your presence, O God, let us place our trust,
so we might find confidence in you alone.
You are our rock and our refuge, our fortress and shield.
We turn to you again this day. Amen.
* Hymn 360 “Come, Worship God”
(Please see screens for lyrics.)
* Confession of Sin:
Michael Osborn, Worship Leader
Generous God, when we set our tables, we imagine who belongs. We are satisfied to welcome those who we call our own. Our boundaries are drawn for our own family, our own congregation, our own neighborhood. We limit the seating to those who make us comfortable, and lay out the welcome mat for those who we choose to welcome. But your kingdom has no boundary. Before our birth you have known, loved, and claimed each and every one. Soften our hearts to those we rage against. Restore us to your vision of who belongs at the table. Renew us with your abundant mercy and love, which know no end.
(Silence for personal confession)
Assurance of Pardon:
Jesus Christ satisfies each of our shortcomings. It is in God we are given the full vision of love, peace, and justice. This good news is for you: God claims you, Christ welcomes you, and the Spirit draws up your seat at the welcome table. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and restored.
Thanks be to our God now and forever.
Song of Praise:
“All Praise to Our Redeeming Lord”
(Please see screens for lyrics.)
* Passing the Peace:
May the peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Prayer for Illumination:
Michael Osborn, Worship Leader
First Reading:
Luke 4:21–30
21 Then [Jesus] said to them, “Today, in your hearing, this scripture passage is fulfilled.”
22 All who were present [with him in the Nazareth synagogue on that Sabbath day] spoke favorably of
him; they marveled at the eloquence of the words on Jesus’ lips. They said, “Surely this isn’t Mary and
Joseph’s son!”
23 Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly you’ll quote me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself,’ and say, ‘Do
here in your own country the things we heard you did in Capernaum.’
24 But the truth is, prophets never gain acceptance in their hometowns.
25 “The truth is, there were many women who were widowed in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the
heavens remained closed for three and a half years and a great famine spread over the land.
26 It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but to a woman who had been widowed in Zarephath, near Sidon,
27 Recall, too, that many had leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one was cured except Naaman
the Syrian.”
28 At these words, the whole audience in the synagogue was filled with indignation.
29 They rose up and dragged Jesus out of town, leading him to the brow of the hill on which the city was built, with the intention of hurling him over the edge.
30 But he moved straight through the crowd and walked away.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Anthem:
“Come Build A Church”
PCM Chancel Choir
Marilyn Puett – Interim Director
Second Scripture:
1 Corinthians 13
1 Even if I can speak in all the tongues of earth—and those of the angels too—but do not have love, I am just a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy such that I can comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge, or if I have faith great enough to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything I own to feed those poorer than I, then hand over my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, and it is not snobbish;
5 it is never rude or self-seeking; it is not prone to anger, nor does it brood over injuries.
6 Love doesn’t rejoice in what is wrong, but rejoices in the truth.
7 There is no limit to love’s forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.
8 Love never fails. Prophecies will cease; tongues will be silent; knowledge will pass away.
9 Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect.
10 When the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. But when I became an adult, I put childish ways aside.
12 Now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror; then we will see face to face. My knowledge is imperfect now; then I will know even as I am known.
13 There are, in the end, three things that last: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Time for Children:
Rev. Aaron J. White
Sermon:
Rev. Aaron J. White
* Hymn #440 “Jesus, Lover of My Soul”
(Please see screens for lyrics.)
Pastoral Prayer:
Congregation Response: Bless us with peace.
Invitation to Discipleship:
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 sins as we forgive those who sin 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. Amen.
* Hymn #691 “Lord, When I Came into this Life”
(Please see screens for lyrics.)
* News of the Kingdom:
* Charge & Blessing:
Friends, let us go wherever the Spirit sends us!
May the love of God help [us] to bear all things.
May the love of Christ enable [us] to believe all things.
May the love of the Holy Spirit inspire [us] to hope all things, so that [we] abide in faith, hope, and love this day and forever.
Alleluia!
Amen.
* Music for Departing
News Of The Kingdom
Confirmation Class
A new confirmation class is starting mid-February for students in grades 7-9. If you know a young person in these grades, even if they haven’t been attending Sunday school, they are welcome to join. Email Aaron.white@pcmomaha.org for more information or to register by Feb. 7th.
Giving Statements
2024 end of the year giving statements are ready and available for pickup in the Commons. Statements are also available for viewing and download in your One Church profile.