Bulletin – Sunday, January 25, 2026 – Third Sunday after Epiphany

Sunday, January 25, 2026
Third Sunday after Epiphany

We Gather as People of Faith

Welcome

Lighting the Christ Candle

One:   When our path is menaced by shadows.
All:      Circle us God, Keep light within, Keep darkness without

One:   When our path is flawed by conflict
All:      Circle us God, Keep love near, Keep hatred afar

One:   When our path is made heavy by worry
All:      Circle us God, Keep peace within, Keep fear without.

One:   May God’s light keep us all. Amen.

Announcements

Call to Worship

One:   All our senses know the wisdom of God. She embraces us with welcome arms as we enter the sanctuary of Creation. He calls our name with care, in the dark places of our soul.
All:      Let us listen and hear the calling of God for us to grow, let us smell the freshness of new life, let us touch and feel the comfort surrounding us, let us taste and know that God is with us and God is good.

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Will You Come and Follow Me” (Voices United #567, verses 1, 2, 4, 5)

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call you name?
Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will your love the “you” you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Christ, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Our journey as people of faith is illuminated by Jesus the Christ, we long to be whole and healed to live as one with each other and God. Our fears, and foibles, our challenges, and struggles become obstacles to knowing in faith where we are meant to go.

Words of Assurance

O Light of life, warm our hearts, and enlighten our minds. Reveal to us your ways that we may know the path to follow and the direction to go. To live with you close by our side that we may see and know your goodness and care all the days of our lives. Amen.

Sung Response – “Bathe Me in Your Light” (More Voices #82 verse 1)

Bathe me in your light, O God of All, Creator,
Let it shine upon my soul with healing and with grace.
Be to me a beacon bright through shadows of life wounding,
Showing me the way to live in faith, in your embrace.

Time for All Ages

We Hear God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Psalm 27 (sung) “The Lord is My Light”

The Lord is my light, my help, my salvation.
Why should I fear? With God I fear no one.
God protects me all my life.
With the Lord what should I dread?
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help.
The Lord is my salvation.

There is one thing I ask of the Lord that I long for:
All of my days with God to be dwelling,
Gazing with awe at the beauty of God,
And in wonder look on God’s house.
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help,
The Lord is my salvation.

I know I will live to see the Lord’s goodness;
Now in this life, I’m sure I will see it.
Trust in the Lord, be strong and be brave;
Wait in hope for God, our salvation.
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my help,
The Lord is my salvation.

Gospel Reading:     Matthew 4:12-23

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—¹⁶ the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

May God speak to us through these readings of scripture.
Thanks be to God!

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “As We Meet Beside the Lakeshore”

As we meet beside the lakeshore,
Christ, you beckon, “Come with me.
Cast your net in deeper water,
Venture toward a farther sea.”
Calm my fear and fire my courage
When I hear you call my name.
Guide me as I journey onward,
Growing as I own your claim.

Can I set to sea like Peter,
Trembling, lost, yet rock-to-be?
Can I keep the watch with Mary,
Faithful still while others flee?
What horizons lie before?
Steady me to trust your Spirit,
Wind who blows my boat from shore.

As I tremble by the lakeshore,
Christ, you counsel, “Do not fear,
You will catch not fish, but people;
Cast your net both far and near.”
Show me where the need is deepest
And where you would have me go.
Give me faith to risk and follow,
Leaving everything I know.

Sermon – “The Light of God with us: the Kingdom of Heaven among Us.”

Anthem – “Fish with Me”

Jesus saw them fishing by the shore of Galilee,
Casting out their nets into the sea.
Simon Peter, Andrew and the sons of Zebedee,
Waiting in their boats so patiently.
And Jesus said, “Oh, come and follow me.
Oh, leave behind your nets. I call you.
Oh, come and fish with me,
And your life will never be the same again.”

A rich you person came to Jesus looking for advice.
“How can I obtain eternal life?”
Jesus told him, “Honour the commandments of the Lord.
Then sell off all your riches for the poor.”
And Jesus said, “Oh, come and follow me.
Oh, leave behind your nets. I call you.
Oh, come and fish with me,
And your life will never be the same again.”

Those who save their lives will lose them.
Those who lose their lives will save them.
For what profit does it show if you gain the world but lose your soul,
Your soul?

“If you want to follow me deny your very self.
Take up your cross and walk the walk with me.
This might seem a hardship, an impossibility,
But nothing is impossible with God.”
And Jesus said, “Oh, come and follow me.
Oh, leave behind your nets. I call you.
Oh, come and fish with me,
And your life will never be the same again.
Oh, your life will never be the same again.
Your life will never be the same.”

We Respond to God’s Word

Invitation to Share

Offering Sung Response – “In Gratitude and Humble Trust” (Voices United #544)

In gratitude and humble trust
We bring our best today
To serve your cause and share your love
With all along life’s way.

O God, who gave yourself to us
In Jesus Christ, your Son,
Teach us to give ourselves each day
Until life’s work is done.

Offering Prayer

O God who whispers to us through all of creation and guides us on our path of life. We offer these gifts to you. Bless these offerings that they will be used to care for others as you so gently care for all of us. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Risen and living within and among us. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Invitation to the Passing of the Peace

I invite you now to pass the Peace of Christ to each other as you are comfortable.

The Prayer that Jesus Taught

One:   Please join me in praying the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: Our Creator who is like…
All:      Our Mother and 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.

We Go Into God’s World

Please join in the singing of the hymn – “Lead Me, Lord”

Lead me, Lord, I will follow.
Lead me, Lord, I will go.
You have called me, I will answer.
Lead me, Lord, I will go.

Commissioning

May you go now into the world. May you be a strong arm for the weak, may you always be a comfort to the crying, a smile to the lonely, a blessing to the grieving, and may you always be a haven for the anxious. Let these encounters be sacred places, where earth and heaven meet.

(adapted from A Mother’s Prayer, Celtic Daily Prayer Book Two)

Benediction

Blessed be the God who lifts us up. Blessed be the Creator of heaven and earth. Blessed be the risen and ascended One. Blessed be the Christ in Glory. Blessed be the Spirit of Truth and Love. Blessed be the Holy Spirit. Let us Be…Amen.

Sung Response – “Show Us Christ in One Another”

Show us Christ in one another.
Make us servants strong and true.
Give us all your love of justice,
So we do what you would do.
Let us call all people holy.
Let us pledge our lives anew.
Make us one with all the lowly.
Let us all be one in you.