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“REFLECTIONS”
THIRD AVENUE UNITED CHURCH
WELCOMES YOU WORSHIP!
Order of Worship
January 11, 2026
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS
ORDAINED MINISTER: Rev. Jo-Ann Hills
ORGANIST / PIANIST: Ilene Wettergreen
HANDBELL DIRECTOR: Kathleen Link
OFFICE COORDINATOR: Jodi Hargreaves
SCRIPTURES READER:
PIANO/ORGAN PRELUDE
ACKNOWLEDGING TERRITORY:
We acknowledge that we are gathered on treaty 6 area and the homeland of the Metis. For thousands of years, the First Peoples of this place have cared for the land even as the land cared for them. Guided by the wisdom of their traditions and their ancestors, they have been taught that the circle of life is embraced and embracing. Let us carry on this wisdom. Let us live into right relations with love and respect. Adapted and used with permission from Gathering: ACE 2022-2023; Jamie Miller
WELCOME, TIME OF CELEBRATION OF BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
CHRIST CANDLE LIGHTING:
It is tradition in the sacrament of baptism to give each recipient a baptismal candle. We do this because Jesus represents light to the world. On this Sunday when we listen to the account of Jesus' baptism we begin our service by lighting the Christ Candle. Jesus Christ light of the world.
All sing: VU 87 “I am the Light of the World” Refrain: I am the light of the world!
You people come and follow me!'
If you follow and love you'll learn the mystery
of what you were meant to do and be.
1. When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and the shepherds have found their way home,
the work of Christmas is begun: Refrain
2. To find the lost and lonely one,
to heal the broken soul with love,
to feed the hungry children with warmth and good food,
to feel the earth below, the sky above! Refrain
3. To free the prisoner from all chains,
to make the powerful care,
to rebuild the nations with strength of good will,
to see God's children everywhere! Refrain
4. To bring hope to every task you do,
to dance at a baby's new birth,
o make music in an old person's heart,
and sing to the colours of the earth! Refrain
1. CALL TO WORSHIP:
God calls you to ministry in the world. We are truly thankful.
God calls you beloved, God's own children. We are truly thankful.
God calls you to worship here with your siblings in faith. We are truly thankful.
In gratitude, let us worship. Used with permission from Gathering: ACE 2025-2026;Robin Wardlaw
2. OPENING PRAYER: You Who Call Us, we come before you in answer to your call in our life. You created the heavens and the earth and placed us here for life and hope. We know your dream for a world that is righteous and just, a world you promise will come to pass. Breathe your Spirit upon us again and again, and bring to life you passion for your bold vision. Make us lights to those who sit in darkness! In the name of Jesus, who descended into the waters of baptism to show us the way to righteousness and of the Soaring Sirit, who alights upon those who arise from these life-giving waters. Amen. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission
3. LEARNING TIME:
4. HYMN: VU 644 “I was There to Hear Your Borning Cry”
1. I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
2. I was there when you were but a child,
with a faith to suit you well;
in a blaze of light you wandered off
to find where demons dwell.
3. When you heard the wonder of the word,
I was there to cheer you on;
you were raised to praise the living Lord,
to whom you now belong.
4. If you find someone to share your time
and you join your hearts as one,
I'll be there to make your verses rhyme
from dusk till rising sun.
5. In the middle ages of your life,
not too old, no longer young.
I'll be there to guide you through the night,
complete what I've begun.
6. When the evening gently closes in
and you shut your weary eyes,
I'll be there as I have always been
with just one more surprise.
7. I was there to hear your borning cry,
I'll be there when you are old.
I rejoiced the day you were baptized,
to see your life unfold.
5. PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION: Now is the time for us to attend to you, O Holy One. We ask that you open our hearts and spirits to receive your word today. As water flows from one place to another, let our outside thoughts flow away from us. Help us remember, perhaps not the words, but the intention behind our own baptisms, and baptisms we have witnessed, as we revisit Jesus' baptism today. Amen. Used with permission from Gathering: ACE 2025-2026;Lorna Corzine
6. PRAYER OF CONFESSION: Creator Spirit, Ancient of Days, open us to your presence. Name the night and the day within each of us, and reassure us that they are both blessed.
Take us through the waters before us to places of hope and safety.
Let us come with you on the way to a different world, one of generosity, grace, and goodness. Open us in this time of prayer, song, and praise to your word of life. Notice when we open ourselves to you. We are not perfect, and some days we struggle to be good or kind. We lose the commitment to your purposes. We go our own way. Forgive us, even when we are slow to forgive others. Remind us of our baptism, and lead us back to the banquet of love. We pray in the name of the Beloved Child. Amen.
Used with permission from Gathering: ACE 2025-2026; Robin Wardlaw
7. WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Isaiah assures us that our weakness and limitation do not stand in the way of God's plans for the world or God's pleasure in us. We are God's beloved children, God's partners in the work of the world-renewing. We are God's chosen in whom the Creator delights.
From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2026.
Copyright @2025 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission
8. PASSING OF THE PEACE:
Jesus is the first one who passed through the waters of Christian baptism, Our Eldest Sibling in the new family of God, Womb of Life, through whom all find new life. Let us welcome everyone who joins us in or family time today. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission
9. INVITATION TO OFFERING:
Isaiah calls those who partner with God a light to the nations. WE are to establish justice in the earth and bring those who sit in darkness into the light. What important world-shaping work! May we give of our lives and gifts for this work! From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
10. OFFERTORY VU 540 “Grant Us, God, the Grace”
Grant us, God, the grace of giving,
with a spirit large and free,
that ourselves and all our living
we may offer faithfully.
11. OFFERING PRAYER: God of Bold Visions for our World, you love all peoples and nations, seeking a world where everyone flourishes in just and righteous lives. Use us and our gifts for the newness you declare possible. Make this newness spring forth in the through us. Amen. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
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12. PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD'S PRAYER:
THE LORD'S PRAYER
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 those who 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.
13. HYMN 606 VU “In Christ There is no East or West”
1. In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one great family of love
throughout the whole wide earth.
2. In him shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find;
is service is the golden cord
close binding humankind.
3. Join hands, then, people of the faith,
whate'er your race may be;
all children of the living God
are surely kin to me.
4. In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north;
all Christ-like souls are one
n him throughout the whole wide earth.
14. BLESSING:
A surprised John asked Jesus, and do you come to me? Jesus came to him with a surprising request. Jesus comes to each of us, inviting us to bold and hopeful action. So, when God calls, when Jesus arrives, we will answer the call and step forward. We will bring hope to those suffering injustice, and light to those in darkness. Through the power of the Spirit, we go to live our lives to the fullest. Amen. From the Abingdon Worship Annual 2025.
Copyright @2024 by Abingdon Press. Used by permission.
15. THREE FOLD AMEN
SCRIPTURE LESSONS:
Isaiah 42: 1 - 9
The LORD's Servant
Responsive Reading: Psalm 29 VU page 756 REFRAIN: Glory, glory, glory to our God”
Acts 10: 34 - 43
The Gospel of Matthew 3: 13 - 17 The Baptism of Jesus
WISHING YOU A HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR 2026
Next Sunday: Second Sunday after the Epiphany January 18, 2026: Isaiah 49: 1 - 7;
Psalm 40: 1 - 12; 1 Corinthians 1: 1 - 9; John 1:29-42.
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