WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1420 West Moss Avenue Peoria, Illinois 61606

THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord

2 February 2020 Ten O’clock ______

GATHERING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST

THE PREPARATION Fantasia in G Johann Pachelbel

WELCOME AND CONCERNS OF THE CHURCH FAMILY

*CALL TO WORSHIP Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

One: When we love God by serving others, All: we fulfill the greatest of the commandments. One: When we share bread with the hungry poor, All: then light shall break forth like the morning. One: When we bring in those who are cast out, All: then righteousness shall go before us. One: When we are foolish to believe that love can save the perishing, All: then the message of the cross is being lived and proclaimed. One: When we stand on our heads to understand the wisdom of God. All: then the poor are raised up, the low ones lifted high. One: When we extend mercy. All: then we receive mercy. One: So, let the one who boasts, All: boast in the Lord! One: For God is the source of your life, in Christ Jesus. All: Let us rejoice and be glad!

*HYMN IN PROCESSION 429 Lord, You Give the Great Commission Abbot’s Leigh

*CALL TO CONFESSION Peggy Bragg, Liturgist

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION (praying together)

HOLY ONE, we come before You confessing that we have taken more than our share. We have wanted to have everything we need in life and have missed seeing the needs of our neighbors. We have worked hard to get where we are and have failed to see that You gave Your life for us, and that we ought to live our lives for others. Forgive us for putting ourselves first over the needs of others. Help us to seek to serve You in all that we do, by serving our neighbors. *TIME OF SILENCE AND PERSONAL CONFESSION

*KYRIE

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

*GLORIA IN EXCELSIS

HEARING THE WORD

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8 p. 866 NRSV

The Psalter (Hymnal 176) Psalm 24 Caithness

Epistle: I Corinthians 1:18-31 p. 166 NRSV

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12 p. 4 NRSV

SERMON Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

RESPONDING TO THE WORD

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (Reading together) from Philippians 2

CHRIST JESUS, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death -- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess to the glory of God: Jesus Christ is Lord!

*PASSING OF THE PEACE

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND GIFTS

THE OFFERTORY It Is A Precious Thing Johann Friedrich Peter Melissa Blain, soprano; David Kortemeier, baritone

It is a precious thing when the heart is fixed and trusteth in God. It is a precious thing when the heart is fixed, through the mercy of God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ. My heart is resting, O my Saviour, in they loving care, My trust is ever stayed on Thee, O hear my earnest prayer That ever faithful I may be, and ever do Thy will. O grant this in Thy mercy still, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

*DOXOLOGY Old Hundredth Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise him all creatures here below, Praise him above ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. *PRAYER OF DEDICATION (please be seated at the end of the prayer)

SEALING THE WORD

At the time of the DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS, worshipers may come forward, down the center aisle, to receive bread and then dip their bread in a . Those who are unable to come down the aisle, or who prefer to receive in the pew, will be served bread and an individual cup by an elder who will be walking around the sanctuary to serve those who remain seated. Christians of any age or church affiliation are welcome at Christ’s table, where Christ himself is the host.

*HYMN 309 Divinum Mysterium Of the Father’s Love Begotten

INVITATION One: The Lord be with you. All: And also with you. One: Lift up your hearts. All: We lift them to the Lord. One: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

COMMUNION PRAYER

SANCTUS

COMMUNION PRAYER and MEMORIAL ACCLAMATIONS

THE CONSECRATION

THE LORD’S PRAYER [praying together] 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 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.

These are holy things, to keep us holy. Gifts of God for the people of God. Let us keep the feast. Alleluia!

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC Cantate Domino Giuseppe Pitoni TheChoir

` Cantate Domino, canticum novum: laus eius in ecclesia sanctorum. Laetetur Israel in eo qui fecit eum et filiae Sion exultant in rege suo.

(translation) Sing a new song unto the Lord in the congregation of the holy church. Be joyful and glad in him, who made Israel and the children of Zion. Rejoice and be glad in your king.

POST-COMMUNION PRAYER

BEARING THE WORD INTO THE WORLD

*HYMN 67 In His Temple Now Behold Him Westminster Abbey

1. In His temple now behold Him, 2. In the arms of her who bore Him See the long expected Lord; Virgin pure, behold Him lie, Ancient prophets had foretold Him, While his aged saints adore Him God has now fulfilled His word. Ere in faith and hope they die. Now to praise Him, His redeemed Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Shall break forth with one accord. Lo, th’incarnate God most high.

3. Jesus, by thy presentation, 4. Prince and author of salvation Thou, who didst for us endure, Be Thy boundless love our theme! Make us see our great salvation, Jesus, praise to Thee be given Seal us with thy promise sure. By the world thou dids’t redeem. And present us in thy glory With the Father and the Spirit To thy Father, cleansed and pure. Lord of majesty supreme!

Verses 1 – 3: Henry J. Pye (1825-1903) Verse 4: William Cooke (1821-1894) Tune: Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

*CHARGE AND BENEDICTION

*CHORAL BENEDICTION Harold W. Friedell

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of the people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, As it was in the beginning, Is now, and ever shalt be, world without end. Amen.

*THE POSTLUDE

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LEADING IN WORSHIP TODAY

The Rev. Denise Clark-Jones, Pastor Peggy Bragg, Liturgist Thomas Clark-Jones, Organist-Choirmaster The Choir of Westminster Church

THE MUSIC FOR TODAY is a combination of texts appropriate to the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany and the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord (known as ). Candlemas is a fixed holiday, celebrated each year on February 2. Six weeks following the birth of a child, Jewish women went to the Temple in Jerusalem to observe a ceremony of Purification. After childbirth, a woman was considered ‘unclean’ in a religious sense until six weeks following, when the purification ceremony took place. This is also the time when parents presented their child in the Temple to dedicate him/her to the Lord. This custom of was firmly in place even in the Christian church well into the twentieth century. The Episcopal Prayer Book of 1928 contained a ritual for the “Churching of Women”, although it was a rarely performed liturgy. It was at the Presentation that the aged prophetess Anna, and the faithful Simeon played their part in the Jesus narrative. Anna sang a rapturous ‘Alleluia’ and Simeon, who had been promised that he would not die until he had seen the Christ, sang his canticle that we now know as the ‘Nunc Dimittis’ (Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace … for mine eyes have seen thy salvation … ). We of the Reformed tradition seldom even think of this holiday, and yet it was an important part of the life of the young Jesus. It also happens to fall on the day which marks the midpoint of Winter.

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OPEN HANDS, OPEN HEARTS, OPEN MINDS