Crandall United Methodist Church

Worship Guide

January 19, 2025

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World

ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE

Greetings:

Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

People: And also with you!

Special Music:  “Goodness of God” Stefanie

Centering Words:

God’s steadfast love endures forever.

*Call to Worship:

Leader:    God’s faithful love welcomes us here.

People:   Thank God for this glorious gift!

Leader:    God’s faithful love redeems our lives.

People:   Thank God for our many blessings!

Leader:    God’s faithful love is ours to share.

People:   We will offer this gift to God’s world.

Leader:    Let us pray.

ALL: Faithful God, we come to you from many walks of life. Some of us come after wandering off. Others come sensing that you are as close as their very breath. From our many journeys, welcome us with your love. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, that we might sense your presence in our lives. In joyous gratitude, we pray. Amen.

Hymn: “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love;

hearts unfold like flowers before thee,

opening to the sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;

drive the dark of doubt away;

giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All thy works with joy surround thee,

earth and heaven reflect thy rays,

stars and angels sing around thee, center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain,

flowery meadow, flashing sea,

singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest,

wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our brother,

all who live in love are thine;

teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus,

which the morning stars began;

love divine is reigning o'er us, binding all within its span.

Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,

joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD

Words of Assurance

You are no longer abandoned, deserted, or defeated. In God’s steadfast love, and through the Spirit’s powerful presence, you are claimed as God’s delight.

You are gifted to serve God’s world with love.

Amen

*Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5

¹      For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out like the dawn,

and her salvation like a burning torch.

²      The nations shall see your vindication,

and all the kings your glory;

and you shall be called by a new name

that the mouth of the Lord will give.

³      You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,

and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

⁴      You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

and your land Married;

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

⁵      For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your builder marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

Leader:    This is the Word of God for the people of God

People:   Thanks be to God.

WORD AND RESPONSE

Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”

Children’s Message: “Compassion”

Hymn: “The Lily of the Valley”

I have found a friend in Jesus, he's everything to me,

he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;

the Lily of the Valley, in him alone I see

all I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.

In sorrow he's my comfort, in trouble he's my stay,

he tells me every care on him to roll.

He's the Lily of the Valley, the bright and Morning Star,

he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. 

He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;

in temptation he's my strong and mighty tower;

I have all for him forsaken, and all my idols torn

from my heart, and now he keeps me by his power.

Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempts me sore,

through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal

He's the Lily of the Valley, the bright and Morning Star,

he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,

while I live by faith and do his blessed will;

a wall of fire about me,

I've nothing now to fear,

with his manna he my hungry soul shall fill

then sweeping up to glory, to see his blessed face,

where rivers of delight shall ever roll.

He's the Lily of the Valley, the bright and Morning Star,

he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

Sermon: “What Concern is That?”  John 2:1-11

¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶ Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹ When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

RESPONSE TO THE WORD 

Prayers of the People: Joys and concerns

Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer     

THE SACRAMENTS OF HOLY COMMUNION

Invitation, Prayer of Confession and Pardon:

 Christ our Lord invites to his table

       all who love him,

who earnestly repent of their sin

and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God

and one another.

Merciful God,

we confess that we have not loved you

with our whole hearts.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against your love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the

cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Hear the good news:

Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

that proves God's love toward us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Glory to God. Amen

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you

And also with you. 

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or you had formed the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, you alone are God.

You created light out of darkness and brought forth life on the earth.

You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed,

your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets.

In the fullness of time you gave your only Son Jesus Christ to be our Savior, and at his birth the angels sang glory to you in the highest and peace to you people on earth.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son

Jesus Christ in whom you have revealed yourself, our light and our salvation.

You sent a star to guide wise men to where the Christ was born; and in your signs and witnesses, in every age and through all the world, you have led your people from far places to his light.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. 

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."

And so,

in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith 

Christ has died;

Christ is risen;

Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever.   Amen

And now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

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.

Amen

Sharing of the Cup and Loaf

Moment of Prayer and Meditation

Prayer of Thanks 

Eternal God, we give you thanks

for this holy mystery

in which you have given yourself to us. 

Grant that we may go into the world

in the strength of your Spirit,

to give ourselves to others,

in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Amen

SENDING FORTH

Hymn: “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations”         

We’ve a story to tell to the nations,

that shall turn their hearts to the right,

a story of truth and mercy,

a story of peace and light,

a story of peace and light.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright;

and Christ’s great kingdom

shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a song to be sung to the nations,

that shall lift their hearts to the Lord,

a song that shall conquer evil

and shatter the spear and sword,

and shatter the spear and sword.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright;

and Christ’s great kingdom

shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a message to give to the nations,

that the Lord who reigneth above

hath sent us his Son to save us,

and show us that God is love,

and show us that God is love.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright;

and Christ’s great kingdom

shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

We’ve a Savior to show to the nations,

who the path of sorrow has trod,

that all of the world’s great peoples

might come to the truth of God,

might come to the truth of God.

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,

and the dawning to noonday bright;

and Christ’s great kingdom

shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.

Benediction

Hymn: “Until Jesus Comes” 

Until Jesus comes,

Until Jesus comes,

I’ll be watching and waiting

Until Jesus comes.

Until Jesus comes,

Until Jesus comes,

I’ll be watching and waiting

Until Jesus comes.