Epiphany
January 5, 2025 | 10:00am
Rev. Jeremy Campbell, Temporary Pastor | Larry J. Carey, Director of Music
Thought for Worship: As you begin this new year, in what ways will you choose a new path or travel “home by another way”? Say a prayer to God for the journey.
GATHERING
Welcome
Prelude We Three Kings of Orient Are | Hopkins/Kihlken
Call to Worship
Votum
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Amen
Opening Sentences
We come to this place—
each of us on our own path.
The path is winding,
and the path is not always clear,
and the path changes,
but we are here.
God is walking us home.
What a gift it is to not walk alone.
Let us worship Holy God.
Salutation
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Amen.
Prayer of the Day
O star-flinging God,
you lead us ever gently toward your promise.
In unlikely ways and through unlikely people,
you are always appearing in our midst,
bringing greater revelations.
Teach us this day to pay attention.
Grant us softness of heart,
so that we don’t miss your appearance.
Bring us into a deeper knowledge of you
as we worship and seek you
on this feast of Epiphany. Amen.
*Hymn of Praise Home By Another Way
Call to Confession
I imagine that, for the Magi, walking to Bethlehem was not easy.
I imagine that following a star for navigation was definitely not easy.
However, I imagine that the hardest part might have been not knowing where the
road would lead.
Friends, we are not always the best versions of ourselves when we are faced with
uncertainty or changing plans. Facing the unknown pulls on every ounce of our
anxiety and fear. It rings all our stress alarms and can erode our patience, our calm,
our sense of perspective.
Fortunately for us, we worship a God who is gracious beyond imagination and meets
us on every twist and turn of the road home. So let us pray together now, knowing
that even in our worst moments, we are held by God.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, God of changed plans,
The Magi heard in a dream that they were to take a new way home—
a different path, an untraveled road. And to our amazement, they did just that. The Magi packed their bags and went home by another way.
We wish that change could be easy for us, but more often than not, when whispers of change come, we tend to clench our fists and hold on tighter.
Forgive us for resisting change that might be holy.
Forgive us for ignoring that there is more than one road home.
Forgive us for failing to hear your invitation.
Guide our steps to unfamiliar places.
Gratefully we pray, Amen.
Words of Forgiveness
No matter which roads we take in this one wild and precious life,
God walks with us. God never leaves our side. When the road changes and we find
ourselves on a new path home, God is always there.
So hear and believe this good news:
No matter where we go, no matter what we do, we are claimed, loved, and held by God.
Thanks be to God for a love like that.
Amen.
The Law of God:
*Gloria Patri | #579
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.
*Commitment to Peace Keeping and Peace Seeking
One: May the peace of Christ be with you!
All: And also with you!
Share a sign of peace with one another. After sharing the peace, let us all sing together:
Together, by grace, we witness and work, remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong. Together we serve in Spirit and truth, remembering love is the strength of our song.
THE WORD OF GOD
Prayer for Illumination
Holy God, You speak to us in Scripture and in prayers, in sunrises and sunsets, in friends and in strangers, in dreams and in songs. You are speaking all the time, and how often do we miss it? Still our minds so that we can listen with a depth that we have not heard before.
Still our hearts so that we can receive with open arms what it is you are offering us today. We know you are speaking, so we are listening.
Gratefully we pray, Amen.
First Reading: Ephesians 3:1-12
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
*Hymn: Arise Your Light is Come
Second Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Sermon: “Home By Another Way” | Rev. Campbell
Silent Reflection
THE RESPONSE TO GOD
*Affirmation of Faith (Nicene Creed)
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son], who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Offering What Child is This? | arr. Linker
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen!
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
*Communion Hymn Still, Still, Still | arr. Ehret
Prayer of Great Thanksgiving
One: The Lord be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift them up to the Lord.
One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
All: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
One: Holy and right it is and our joyful duty to give thanks to you at all times and in all places, O Lord our Creator, almighty and everlasting God...
With your whole Church on earth and with all the company of heaven we worship and adore your glorious name.
*Sanctus Holy, Holy, Holy Lord #581
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of
your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of
the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
Remembering the Work of Christ
One: Most righteous God, we remember in this Supper the perfect sacrifice offered once on the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ for the sin of the whole world. Together we proclaim the mystery of faith:
Memorial Acclamation
All: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Invocation of the Spirit
One: So send your Holy Spirit upon us we pray… Even so, come Lord Jesus we pray.
All: Amen
Holy Communion
Words of Institution and Invitation
One: The body of Christ is broken for you.
One: The blood of Christ is shed for you.
Prayer after Communion
Brothers and sisters,
since the Lord has now fed us at his Table,
let us praise God’s holy name with heartfelt thanksgiving!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him,
who did not spare his own Son,
but gave him up for us all,
and will also give us all things with him.
Therefore shall my mouth and heart show forth the praise of the Lord, from this time forth forevermore. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession (ending with 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, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
SENDING
*Hymn ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime
Benediction
Congregational Response
Live into hope of captives freed,
Of sight regained, the end of greed.
The oppressed shall be the first to see
The year of God's own jubilee!
Live into hope the blind shall see
With insight and with clarity,
Removing shades of pride and fear-
A vision of our God brought near.
Live into hope of liberty,
The right to speak the right to be,
The right to have one's daily bread,
To hear God's word and thus be fed.
Live into hope of captives freed
From chains of fear or want or greed.
God now proclaims our full release
To faith and hope and joy and peace.
Postlude Angels from the Realms of Glory Smart/Marohnic
DEAR FRIENDS
Welcome to worship here at Peapack Reformed Church! If you are visiting with us, welcome! If you are a member, welcome back! Our mission is to be a congregation called by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world. This mission is the catalyst for all that we do, and is our aim for who we want to be.
If you are visiting with us via Facebook Live and would like more information about our church, send us a message on Facebook or email office@peapackreformed.org and we will be in touch with you. Even under these odd and anxious circumstances, we would love to be your church home. Our virtual doors are always open wide and our hearts are always ready to welcome new faces into our fellowship.
FOOD PANTRY NEWS
Many thanks for all those who have shared their abundance with neighbors in need.
Our church refrigerators have plenty of space to hold even more!
Please consider making a weekly donation of eggs or milk to the P-G Food Pantry.
Peapack Reformed Church is a congregation called by God, empowered by the Holy Spirit and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world.
CALLED • EMPOWERED • COMMITTED