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TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
January 18, 2026
GATHERING AND PREPARING TO WORSHIP GOD
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Leader: Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed!
PRELUDE: “Cathedral Fanfare” Gordon Young
Readying Our Hearts (A time of silent prayer and reflection in preparation for worshiping God together.)
Scriptures for Reflection and Memorization: Romans 12:1
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.”
CALL TO WORSHIP (selections from Psalm 118)
Leader: Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.
People: Let those who fear the LORD say: “His love endures forever.”
Leader: The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.
People: The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
Leader: The LORD is God, and He has made His light shine upon us.
People: With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession.
Leader: Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.
People: O Lord, You are our God, and we will give You thanks; You are our God, and we will worship You and exalt Your Holy Name.
PRAYER OF ADORATION/INVOCATION
*GATHERING SONG: #244 “O Love, How Deep, How Broad” (vv. 1-3)
O Love, how deep, how broad, how high, how passing thought and fantasy;
That God, the Son of God, should take our mortal form for mortals’ sake.
For us baptized, for us He bore His holy fast and hungered sore;
For us temptations sharp He knew; for us the tempter overthrew.
For us He prayed; for us He taught; for us His daily works He wrought;
By words and signs and actions, thus still seeking not Himself, but us.
SCRIPTURE READING: Romans 6:8-14 (Pew Bible p. 1754)
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Leader: This is the word of the LORD.
People: Thanks be to God.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION: (Unison prayer after a time of silent personal confession.)
Merciful Father, because of Your great compassion for us, You sent Your Son to die upon a cross – to pay the penalty of our sins and to redeem us from death to life in You. We call out to You, the One who knows the sins of our hearts – those things we thought, said, did, and even failed to do, that brought sorrow to Your heart and hurt to the lives of others. And, with penitent hearts we ask You to forgive our sins that we might experience release from the burden of our guilt, and that we might walk rightly with You in the power of Your Spirit, to the praise of Your glory.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON (adapted from Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:13-14, Romans 5:1)
Leader: God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, I declare to you in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven of the guilt of your sins.
*All: (Gloria Patri)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.
ENCOUNTERING GOD THROUGH GOD’S WORD
SCRIPTURE READING: John 4:4-10, 19-26 (Pew Bible pp. 1651-1652)
Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” . . .
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you — I am he.”
Leader: This is the word of the LORD.
People: Thanks be to God.
ANTHEM: “Let the Song of Praise Be Heard” Mary McDonald
Choir
SCRIPTURE READING: Romans 12:1-2 (Sermon focus, verse 1; Pew Bible p. 1763)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Leader: This is the word of the LORD.
People: Thanks be to God.
SERMON: “Worship that Pleases God: Being a Sacrifice”
RESPONDING TO GOD’S WORD THROUGH AFFIRMATION,
OFFERING, AND PRAYER
*SONG OF REFLECTION AND RESPONSE: #455 “Take Thou Our Minds, Dear Lord”
Take Thou our minds, dear Lord, we humbly pray;
Give us the mind of Christ each passing day;
Teach us to know the truth that sets us free;
Grant us in all our thoughts to honor Thee.
Take Thou our hearts, O Christ, they are thine own;
Come Thou within our souls and claim Thy throne;
Help us to shed abroad Thy deathless love;
Use us to make the earth like heaven above.
Take Thou our wills, Most High! Hold Thou full sway;
Have in our inmost souls Thy perfect way;
Guard Thou each sacred hour from selfish ease;
Guide Thou our ordered lives as Thou dost please.
Take Thou ourselves, O Lord, heart, mind, and will;
Through our surrendered souls Thy plans fulfill.
We yield ourselves to Thee – time, talents, all;
We hear, and henceforth heed, Thy sovereign call.
THE CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER AND OFFERING
Invitation
Affirmation of Faith: The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Words of Institution
Partaking of the Elements and the Giving of Our Offering
“Take My Life” Scott Underwood
Acoustic Worship Team
Holiness, holiness is what I long for.
Holiness is what I need.
Holiness, holiness is what You want from me.
Faithfulness, faithfulness is what I long for.
Faithfulness is what I need.
Faithfulness, faithfulness is what You want from me.
Chorus
So take my heart and form it;
Take my mind transform it;
Take my will conform it;
To Yours, to Yours, oh Lord.
Righteousness, righteousness is what I long for.
Righteousness is what I need.
Righteousness, righteousness is what You want from me. (Chorus)
(For those joining us in the Sanctuary this morning, you are invited, as you come forward to receive the Communion Elements, and as you feel so led, to place your offering in one of the plates up front. For those unable to be with us physically, you are encouraged to partake of the elements in your home at this time. Also, as you are able, we invite you to set aside your offering as an act of personal dedication at this time, either to be mailed in, dropped off at the church, or brought in when you are able to join us in worship. Let this time be one of receiving from and offering yourself to our Lord — to the praise of His glory.)
Prayer of Commitment
*Sung Response (Doxology)
Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS
PASTORAL PRAYER OF INTERCESSION/SUPPLICATION
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 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.
BRINGING OUR WORSHIP INTO OUR WORLD
MINUTE FOR MINISTRY: Stewardship (Blessed to Be a Blessing: Part 1) Andy Miller
*SENDING SONG: “The Power of Your Love” Geoff Bullock
Acoustic Worship Team
Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I found in You.
And Lord I’ve come to know
The weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love.
Chorus:
Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side.
And as I wait
I’ll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love.
Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me.
Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
In the power of Your love. (Chorus)
*BENEDICTION (from 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)
May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. Amen.
Postlude: “God of Grace and God of Glory” arr. Anna Laura Page
ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Note: Church’s email address – office@trinitychurchtroy.org. Website address – www.trinitychurchtroy.org.)
- If you would like to help support the work of Hope 7 in our local community, we encourage you to drop off non-perishable food items, toiletries and other hygiene items either at Trinity Church, or at Hope 7 directly (M-F 9:30-11:45), or call Sue Laz (518-892-4042) to arrange for a pick-up.
- We are receiving new or gently used clothes for the Capital City Rescue Mission (CCRM). There is a box in the narthex for donations. You may bring your items to the church or call Sue Laz to arrange for a pick-up.
- Church “business-style” cards are available in the narthex. You are encouraged to take some to hand out as you invite others to join us in worship.
- Sunday morning prayer, 8:30-9:00am in the Prayer Room/Library. Join us as we pray for Sunday’s worship as well as other needs, concerns, praises and thanksgivings.
- Adult Sunday morning Bible Study meets before worship (9:15-10:00am). We are in the midst of a study on the Spiritual Disciplines, but feel free to jump in and join us where we are.
- Wednesday evening Bible Study will meet this Wednesday, January 21st as we continue our study of Romans, with our focus on Romans 12:2. You can find the Zoom link at the church’s website under “Digital meetings” or as included here — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84268790436.
- To encourage us in the study of God’s Word, the Inward Ministry Committee is providing a selection of Bible study booklets for personal Bible study. These can be found in the literature rack in the narthex.
- The Annual Congregational Meeting of the Trinity Presbyterian Church of Troy, NY will be held on Sunday January 25th following the worship service. The purpose of the meeting being to:
- Review committee reports for 2025;
- Approve Pastor John’s Terms of Call for 2026;
- Review the 2026 General Fund budget;
- Elect members to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2026;
- Act on any other business or information brought before the congregation.
- We will begin with a potluck luncheon and then move into the business of the annual meeting. You are encouraged to attend as we celebrate God’s faithfulness over the past year and look ahead to how God will use Trinity Church to be a blessing in the new year.