Firelands Presbyterian Church

www.firelandschurch.org
January 2, 2022
2626 East Harbor Road Port Clinton, OH 43452
419-734-6211 https://www.facebook.com/firelandschurch
Pastor David Aber aberdavidrobert@gmail.com
 Welcome to Firelands Church, a community of believers gathered by the Holy Spirit and committed to serving God and growing
together in Jesus Christ.
We invite all of our worshippers to stay for fellowship following the service
so that we might become better acquainted.

THE ORDER OF THE LITURGY

*Those who are able are invited to stand.

GATHERING

Prelude Farther Along The Happy Dulcimer Group

Give Me the Roses

Welcome and Announcements

*Call to Worship
You are above us, O God.
You are within.
You are in all things
Yet contained in no thing.
Teach us to seek you in all that has life.
That we may see you as the Light of Life.
Teach us to search for you in our own depths
That we may find you in every living soul.

*Invocation
On this Sunday nearest the day your church celebrates Epiphany, help us to be as persistent in our dedication as the wise men
of old who sought out the Christ child. As we bow in reverence before you, please receive our expressions of gratitude for
Christ, for life, for family, for friends and for the privilege of worshiping you. Through Christ the Savior. Amen.

*Hymn We Three Kings of Orient Are Hymnal #151

Call to Confession
The psalmist reminds us, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God will not always
accuse, nor will God be angry forever.” With this knowledge, we may confess our sins before God and one another with
confidence.

Prayer of Confession
That you have made me in the image of your own mystery, thanks be to you, O God.
That in the soul of every human being there are depths beyond naming, and heights greater than knowing, thanks be to you.
Grant me the grace of inner sight this day that I may see you as the Self within all selves. Grant me the grace of love this day
that amidst the pain and disfigurement of life, I may find the treasure that is unlocked by love; that amidst the pain and
disfigurement of my own life, I may know the richness that lies buried in the human soul.

Silent Confession

Words of Assurance
Friends, “God 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 he removes
our transgressions from us.” In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Amen.

*Response: Gloria Patri Hymnal #581

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.

WORD

Prayer for Illumination

Like an infant’s open-eyed wonder and the insights of a wise grandparent;
Like a young person’s vision for justice, and the vitality that shines in a child’s face;
Like tears that flow in a friend bereaved, and laughter in a lover’s eyes,
You have given us ways of seeing, O God, you have endowed us with sight like your own.
Let these be alive in us this day; let these be alive in us as we approach your Word.
Amen.
Psalm 147: 12 - 20
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For God strengthens the bars of your gates; God blesses your children within you.
14 God makes peace in your borders; God fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 God sends out commands to the earth; God’s word runs swiftly.
16 God gives snow like wool, and scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
17 God hurls down crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before God’s cold?
18 God sends out God’s word, and melts them; God makes the wind blow and the waters flow. 19 God declares God’s word to
Jacob, God’s statutes and rules to Israel.
20 God has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know God’s rules.
Praise the Lord!

Second Reading Ephesians 1: 3 - 14

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, 4 even as God chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before
God. In love 5 God predestined us for adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of God’s
will, 6 to the praise of God’s glorious grace, with which God has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which God lavished upon us, in all wisdom and
insight 9 making known to us the mystery of God’s will, according to God’s purpose, which God set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for
the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of God who works all things according to the counsel of God’s will, 12 so that
we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of God’s glory.

Gospel Reading John 1: 10 - 18

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his
own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the human will, but of God. 14 And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, because
he was before me.'") 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made
him known.
The Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Musical Interlude Carolina Waltz The Happy Dulcimer Group

*Affirmation of Faith: The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he
ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the
body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Prayers of the Church

The Lord’s Prayer (debts and debtors), pg 35

*Hymn As with Gladness Men of Old Hymnal #150

COMMUNION

INVITATION
Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God. They will come from east and west, and from north and south, and sit
together in the kingdom of God.
WORDS OF THE INSTITUTION
Hear the words of the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are delivered by the Apostle Paul: I
received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and
after giving thanks to God,
he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way he took the cup, saying: “This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me.” Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, until he
comes.

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
THE BREAD Take and eat: this is the body of Christ which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of him.

THE CUP “This cup is the new covenant in the blood of Christ, which is shed for the remission of sins. Do this, as often as
you drink it, in remembrance of him.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Lord Jesus, in this blessed sacrament you give us life. You give us love. You give us yourself. You come to us, dwell in us, abide
with us. There is nothing more we can ask. Let us now give ourselves to you, body, mind and spirit. Accept us as are.
Consecrate us and bless us, so that we will be transformed to become the people who reveal your presence in our lives. May
our faithfulness be a sign of your saving love, and may we live to your glory as we await the arrival of your kingdom. Amen.

SENDING
*Hymn The First Nowell Hymnal #147(1,2,3,4)

*Charge
Go out into the world in peace; have courage; hold on to what is good; return no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted;
support the weak; help the suffering; honor all people; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
*Benediction
The World now is too dangerous and too beautiful for anything but love.
May your eyes be so blessed you see God in everyone.
Your ears, so you hear the cry of the poor.
May your hands be so blessed that everything you touch is a sacrament.
Your lips, so your speak nothing but the truth with love.
May your feet be so blessed you run to those who need you.
And may your heart be so opened, so set on fire, that your love,
your love, changes everything.

Bless the Lord The Lord’s name be praised.

*Benediction Response Go, My Children, With My Blessing Hymnal #547

Go, My Children, fed and nourished, closer to me.
Grow in love and love by serving, joyful and free.
Here my Spirit’s power filled you; here my tender comfort stilled you.
Go, my children, fed and nourished, joyful and free.

Postlude I've Got Peace Like a River The Happy Dulcimer Group

Worship Note: Many of the morning's prayers are from “Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter” by J. Philip Newell.

Ministers in This Sunday’s Service Ministers in Next Sunday’s Service

Preacher: Rev. David Aber Preacher: Rev. David Aber
Reader: Nila McCullough Reader: Dick Dietz
Musicians: Susan Larcey Musician: Susan Larcey
Happy Dulcimer Group Greeter: Gini Stevenson
Greeter: Gini Stevenson Fellowship host(s):
Fellowship host(s): Deacon of the Month: Dennis Walls
Deacon of the Month: Dennis Walls
 Prayer Concerns
Christopher Longaker, Chuck & Pam Coykendale, Eric Pott, John McLaughlin, Judy, Sally, Janet Miller, Timothy Work, Harold
Douglass, Dick Dietz and, the family & friends of Joan Segaard

If you have a name to add to the prayer list, please contact the office. Names remain on this list for up to one month unless they are
resubmitted.

THIS WEEK AT FIRELANDS

Today WORSHIP 10:30 AM followed by Fellowship
Monday Office open 10:30-2:30

Tuesday Dulcimer Group 2:00-4 PM

Wednesday Office open 10:30-2:30
Finance Committee
Thursday
Friday Office open 10:30-2:30
Saturday
Next Sunday Sunday School 9:30 AM
WORSHIP 10:30 AM Followed by Fellowship
The Church Office is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings 10:30-2:30 unless otherwise noted on the
calendar above and/or the calendar on the firelandschurch.orgwebsite.

Ernie McCullough’s Sunday School

Begins Again January 9, 9:30 AM

Thank You to the Happy Dulcimer Group for sharing your gifts this morning.
Theresa Dick Jim Dick
Sandra Morton Pat Rife
Norm Rife Julie Mulligan
Susan Rogers

Thank You
Dear Firelands friends, we have treasured our time with you! Your warmth and laughter touched our hearts as we
worshiped together, talked over coffee and goodies each Sunday, prayed and sang and discovered new ways to rejoice in the
Lord. Gwen and I take your affection, care, and love with us, and leave ours for you. Pastor David