WESTPORT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE
REIGN OF CHRIST SUNDAY
November 23, 2025
PRELUDE: The Solid Rock arr. Lani Smith
CALL TO WORSHIP: (based on Luke 1:68-79)
One: We gather to worship God, who looks favorably on all of creation.
All: We sing blessings to God, who stands with us for justice and salvation.
One: We gather to worship God, who worked with many prophets in every time and place.
All: We sing blessings to God, who makes faithful promises, to us and our ancestors.
One: We gather to worship God, whose tenderness we see shimmering in the breaking of dawn.
All: We sing blessings to God, who guides our feet on paths of peace.
*OPENING HYMN (You may rise in Body or Spirit):
#362 Glory to God Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers
UNISON CONFESSION OF OUR NEED OF GOD:
All: God of justice and mercy, you call us to be shepherds
who gather and protect those more vulnerable than ourselves.
But our actions continue to leave others scattered on the edges of society.
In the name of our own safety, we shield ourselves from others and push them away.
We protest the actions of the rich, yet we have absorbed their desire for king-like power.
We remain tempted by the belief that goodness for some only comes at the expense of many.
Raise us up from our isolation and despair; bring us back into the fold;
help us shepherd in the genuine change that reflects your just promises.
ASSURANCE OF GOD’S GRACE: (based on Jeremiah 23:5-6)
One: God promised to deal wisely with a scattered people who made compromised choices while living under an empire’s occupation. God promised to save them by bringing justice and righteousness to the land. Hear the good news: Jesus’s death and resurrection confirm that God’s faithful promises extend to us. God forgives and calls us to keep striving to do justice.
All: Thanks be to God. Amen!
SUNG RESPONSE:
#591 Glory to God Halle, Halle, Hallelujah! (refrain, sing twice)
[Kids’ Time Front of Sanctuary]
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST:
One: The peace of Christ be with you.
All: And also with you.
One: Let’s share the peace of Christ with one another.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION:
One: Inspire our hearts, our minds, and our bodies, O God, to listen fully to your Word.
Guide us toward creatively courageous interpretations that transform us as we faithfully enact your calling to us.
All: Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: I Peter 3:15-18
One: 15 … Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an
accounting for the hope that is in you, 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect.
Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for
your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing
good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also
suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring
you to God.
One: May God bless the reading of Holy Scripture.
All: Thanks be to God.
CHORAL ANTHEM: E’en So Lord Jesus Quickly Come by Paul Manz
MESSAGE: Explaining Your Faith – Without Long Footnotes Bill Tammeus
*CONGREGATIONAL HYMN (You may rise in Body or Spirit):
#612 Glory to God We Praise You, O God
WELCOME: News In, Around, and Beyond the Community
SUNG PREPARATION FOR PRAYER:
#851 Glory to God Come, Bring Your Burdens to God (sing twice)
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE, BLESSINGS, AND THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Our Mother and 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 and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.
THE OFFERING OF OURSELVES/INVITATION TO GIVE: (Matthew 10:8)
One: “You received freely; freely, give”
In celebration of God’s freedom through Jesus Christ,
we now give our tithes and offerings to God.
OFFERTORY SOLO: Bless This House by M.H. Brahe
Nico Caruso, tenor
PRAYER OF DEDICATION:
One: Bless these gifts, God who fills our lives with joy and hope;
use them to fulfill your promises and bring your justice to all creation.
All: Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN (You may rise in Body or Spirit):
#462 Glory to God I Love to Tell the Story
*CHARGE AND BLESSING:
One: Friends, do justice, love radically, and humbly work for transformation,
acting confidently in the promises and blessings of God, who creates,
Christ, who saves, and the Holy Spirit, who empowers. Amen.
*POSTLUDE: Now Thank Thee All Our God arr. Lani Smith
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