Sunday Prayers January 10 - Epiphany 1

Approaching God

Welcome & Announcements

Prelude

Call to Worship

Pastor:                  Come, let us seek the peace of Christ and love of God.

People:                 May the Lord give us strength in this place of praise and prayer.

Pastor:                  Let us worship and glorify our Everlasting King. Amen.

Hymn:

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Guide:                  Almighty Creator, we gather in Your Holy House to praise Your Greatness and honor Your Name. Your works and mighty acts have blessed our people for generations. Your ways and sacred words have inspired our spirits across the centuries.

People:  Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that we are unworthy of Your blessing. You are righteous, but we are sinful. You are powerful and truthful; we are weak and deceitful. Our lives are imperfect because we allow pride, greed, and anger to contaminate our souls. Forgive us for being shallow and selfish, as well as faithless and false. Hear us now as we confess our sins to You alone.

- SILENCE -

Guide:                  Loving Lord, may You make smooth our rough ways and level out our unbalanced lives. Allow Christ to make our ways straight and lead us on the right path. With His mercy, we are restored to You forever. With His grace, we are completely forgiven. We eternally thank You for Jesus, in whose Name we make our confessions and continue to pray saying, “Our Father…THE LORD’S PRAYER” (debts/debtors).

Promise of the Gospel

Guide:                  Long ago, many disciples rejected Jesus because of what He said and did. The Christian life is never easy and we are expected to have higher and holier standards than the rest of the world. When we fail to live up to Christ’s teaching, we need to seek His forgiveness. When we confess our faults and sincerely ask for His pardon, Jesus immediately forgives us. So let us rejoice and be glad, for we have been shown great mercy and are restored to God’s favor and love. Amen.

Gloria Patri (sung in unison): 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.

Anthem

Family Sermon (parents and all children, including Elementary school students come forward)

Praise Song

Encountering God

Prayers for Health and Healing

Pastor:                 Hear, O LORD, and answer us, for we are poor in spirit and in need of Your care. Guard our lives and protect us from illness, for we are devoted to You. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, for we call to You alone for health and healing. Grant joy to us, Your servants, as we lift up our prayers and bring to You our burdens.

People:                 O Lord, You are compassionate and good, abounding in love to all who call on You. Hear our prayers, and listen to our personal concerns. Heal us and each of our loved ones from all that harms us in body, mind, heart, and spirit.

Silent Prayers for ourselves and others. A candle is lit

Pastor:                 In the day of our trouble we will call to You, O Heavenly Lord, for You will compassionately answer us. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.                        (Healing Prayer based on words & phrases from Psalm 86)

Singing of ‘Sanctuary’

Prayer for Illumination

Reader:                 Holy Spirit, encourage us through the reading of these sacred scriptures and open our hearts to receive God’s word. Encourage us with this teaching and enable us to embrace all that God fulfills in the life of Christ. In Jesus’ Name, we read and pray. Amen.

Scripture Readings

The Message

Serving God

Offering & Offertory

Dedication (unison – led by pastor):       Lord Jesus, You have given us faith, hope, and everlasting love, so we can never repay You for the eternal debts that we owe. In faith, we gather this offering and bring to You our gifts. With hope, we ask for Your blessing on these tokens. Through love, we seek Your favor and pray for guidance to use this offering for the preaching of the gospel, the sharing of the scriptures, and the praising of our God. In Your Holy Name, we give and pray. Amen. 

Hymn

Benediction (unison):  May Christ help us to live faithful lives which are worthy of His Name; may the Father encourage  us to share our faith through charitable acts; and may the Holy Spirit fill us with compassion and love, to make the world a better place, both now and evermore. Amen.

Doxology & Postlude