Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday, January 4, 2026 – Epiphany Sunday
Today we welcome Danah-Lee Krieger as our guest speaker.
We also welcome Schroeder Nordholt as our guest music director.
Prelude
Words of Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Christ Candle
As we light this Christ Candle and begin the season of Epiphany, we celebrate Christ revealed as the light that guides us and calls us. We light this Christ candle as a reminder that faith is more than a feeling or words that we toss around. Often, faith looks like taking risks and trusting God enough to take the next step before we have all the answers. God doesn’t call us forward to abandon us, but God calls us forward to meet us.
Introit
Call to Worship
Leader: Come, people of God. Christ is revealed among us.
People: We come to worship the Light.
Leader: Come with your certainty and your questions.
People: We come to seek God’s presence.
Leader: Come, because faith is not passive. Faith moves.
People: We come to trust, to risk, to follow.
Leader: Come, let us worship our God.
All: We come to worship, to listen and to take risks. Amen.
Hymn Arise, Your Light Is Come VU 79
- Arise, your light is come!
The Spirit’s call obey;
show forth the glory of your God,
which shines on you today.
- Arise, your light is come!
Fling wide the prison door;
proclaim the captive’s liberty,
good tidings to the poor.
- Arise, your light is come!
All you in sorrow born,
bind up the broken-hearted ones
and comfort those who mourn.
- Arise, your light is come!
The mountains burst in song!
Rise up like eagles on the wing;
God’s power will make us strong.
Prayer of Approach
Holy and Loving God, In this season of Epiphany, we come to worship You. You are the One who reveals light in the darkness and hope in the unknown. We bring our gratitude, our questions, our weariness and our longing. We bring all of it to You. Kindle in us an active faith. A faith that trusts You enough to take the next step. Even when the way forward feels risky and unclear. Meet us here in Word and Spirit. Open our eyes to see Christ among us and open our hearts to follow where Your love leads. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Scripture Reader Margo Aubert
Mark 4:35-41
Mark 6:45-50
Hymn And on This Path MV 8
- And on this path,
the gates of holiness are open wide, (3x)
Open wide! Open wide!
Open wide, the gates are open wide!
- So enter in,
the gates of holiness are open wide, (3x)
Open wide! Open wide!
Open wide, the gates are open wide!
Homily Faith Spells R-I-S-K
Special Music
The Offering
We give thanks for everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us. You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our different ministries. For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.
Offering Song: God is So Good
God is so good.
God is so good.
God is so good.
He’s so good to me (2x)
Offering Prayer
Generous God, We offer these gifts as an act of trust and gratitude. Use what we bring to share Your light, to serve others and to carry hope into the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Hymn The Lord’s My Shepherd VU 747
- The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want;
he makes me down to lie
in pastures green; he leadeth me,
the quiet waters by.
- My soul he doth restore again;
and me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness,
even for his own name’s sake.
- Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
yet will I fear no ill;
for thou art with me; and thy rod
and staff me comfort still.
- My table thou has furnishèd
In presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.
- Goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me,
and in God’s house for evermore
my dwelling-place shall be.
Pastoral Prayer
Holy and loving God, God of light, God of mercy, God who sees us, As we begin this new year and this season of Epiphany, we come before You just as we are. Some of us arrive hopeful and energized, ready for fresh starts and new possibilities. Others come exhausted, riddled with anxiety or unsure, carrying storms that did no disappear when the calendar changed. You are the God who reveals Yourself, not all at once, but moment by moment and step by step. You are the God who calls us forward, even when the path is unclear and the risk feels heavy. Today we pray for those who feel like they are rowing hard against the wind. For those facing illness or waiting for test results. For those whose finances are stretched thin and who lie awake wondering how they will make it through. For those living with grief, depression, addiction or relationships that feel fractured and fragile. God, when the boat feels small and the water feels rough and You so seem far away, remind us that Your eyes have never left us. That even when You are not in the boat, You are still watching, still caring and still very present. We pray for the courage to live by faith, not a faith that plays it safe, but a faith that risks love, truth, justice and compassion. Give us the strength for the living of these days. We lift up those in our community and beyond who are facing storms we cannot see. Hold them. Surround them. Carry them. And where we can be hands and feet of Your love, give us the boldness to act. As we move through 2026, may this be our epiphany. We are never unseen, never forgotten and never abandoned. We trust that the same God who calls us forward will also bring us safely to the other side. And now, with a bold faith, we join our voices to pray as Jesus taught us, saying: *
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn Blessed Assurance VU 337
- Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretastes of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of the spirit, washed in Christ’s blood.
Refrain: This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Saviour all the day long.
- Perfect submission, perfect delight!
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending, bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Refrain
- Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Saviour am happy and blessed;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with God’s goodness, lost in Christ’s love. Refrain
Benediction
Go now into this new year, not with certainty, but with faith. Not with all the answers, but with trust. May you have the courage to take risks, to step forward even when the path is unclear, and to believe that God’s light will meet you on the way. And when the waters are rough, and the boat feels unsteady and Jesus seems far away, may you remember this epiphany: You have never been unseen.
The God who called you is watching over you.
The God who sees you will carry you through.
Go in peace, go in courage and go in the light and love of Christ.
Amen.
Choral Amen I Am the Light of the World VU 87, chorus only (2x)
“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.
