PRELUDE/ENTRANCE/LIFE OF THE CHURCH
*OPENING SONG
"There’s a Song in the Air" UMH 249
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Liturgist: Come! Let us follow Jesus to the edge of the Jordan River to be baptized. People: We come to be cleansed and made whole.
Liturgist: Come! Let us witness John’s confusion and Jesus’ insistence that John baptize God Incarnate. People: We come to join Jesus in choosing life in the kingdom of God.
Liturgist: Come! Let us hear God declare the truth of Jesus’ identity and the truth of our identity as baptized people. People: We come to remember and embody who we are as beloved children of God.
Liturgist: Come! Let us worship God who leads us into the baptismal waters and salvation life. People: We come to worship God who empowers us through divine presence to live together as the family of God.
Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, July 2025.
Opening Prayer (Together)
Eternal God, at the baptism of Jesus, you revealed him to be your Son, and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. Keep all who are born of water and the Spirit faithful to their calling as your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website, https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/home. Re-posted on the re: Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2014/01/collect-baptism-of-our-lord.html.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
A TIME FOR CHILDREN
SPECIAL MUSIC
EPISTLE LESSON 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
*GOSPEL LESSON Luke 19:1-10
MESSAGE
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
SONG OF RESPONSE
"We Three Kings" UMH 254
*OFFERING OF OURSELVES
*DOXOLOGY UMH 95
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HOLY COMMUNION
GREAT THANKSGIVING UMH 15
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP
SENDING FORTH
*SONG OF DISMISSAL
“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” UMH 251
*BENEDICTION
*PEACE
“God Be with You till We Meet Again” UMH 672
Verse 1