On this Sunday in which we celebrate the Reign of Christ our Sovereign, we go to Jeremiah for God’s description of the Shepherd who will lead God’s people.
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Last Sunday of Ordinary Time
Celebration of the Reign of Christ
The Righteous Branch
Psalm 46; Jeremiah 23:1-5
Union Presbyterian Church
November 23, 2025
Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Liturgist: Barbara Ann Dailey Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube
Welcome
Announcements Barbara Ann Dailey
Prelude Chris Bartlette
“O Worship the King,” John Carter
©2003, Hope Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
* Call to Worship
Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice!
Christ will reign forever and ever.
The Lord is robed in majesty and girded in strength.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
God has established the world, and God’s realm will never be shaken.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
God will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord.
Christ will reign forever and ever.
* Hymn (to the tune of #8 PH)
“O Jesus, You Were Born to Be,” Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
©2008, Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Used with permission.
O Jesus, you were born to be
God's gift to save humanity;
And one great day we're moving toward,
All life will bow and call you Lord!
You taught the people every day
As Rabbi, Teacher of the Way;
O Master, may we learn from you
To love both God and neighbor, too.
You are the Bread that satisfies,
The Light that guides us through our lives,
The Gate that leads us safely home,
The Shepherd calling to your own.
O Jesus, you're the living Way,
The Resurrection, God's new Day.
You give us hope and make us new;
How wondrous is our life in you!
Call to New Life
Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Let us ask God for wholeness of heart and soul, mind and strength.
* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace (responsive)
Almighty and everlasting God: it is your will to restore all things in your beloved Son, our Lord and King. But the people of the earth are divided and fail to walk in your way. We have not loved you with our whole selves, nor have we loved our neighbors, either near or far. We ask you to cure the sickness at the heart of humanity that mocks your power and threatens our own existence.
~ silence ~
Grant, O Lord, that all your people may be freed and brought together under the gentle and loving rule of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
* Words of Assurance
Hear and believe the words of Jesus:
Your sins are forgiven.
Go in Peace.
Come and follow me.
Glory be to Jesus, whose love remakes us.
Glory be to God. Amen.
* Sharing of the Peace
In the name of the Prince of Peace,
we give glory to God’s name.
May the peace of God be with you.
And also with you.
Let us share a sign of God’s peace with one another.
Scripture Psalm 46 (NRSVUE)
A responsive reading from the psalter, Psalm 46.
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar; the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice; the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations;
I am exalted in the earth.”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube
Music: “Gather Us In,” Marty Haugen
©1982, GIA Publications, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Anthem Choir
“O King of Love,” Lloyd Larson
©2021, Beckenhorst Press, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
O King of love, how strong and true;
Eternal God, yet ever new!
Unbounded love, how deep, how great,
No power on earth can separate!
In nights of pain and helplessness
You heal, bring comfort, and You bless.
In days of joy and endless love
We see You in the skies above.
Redeeming love, You bore our shame;
On Calvary’s hill You took our blame.
Amazing love! How can it be
That You would die so willingly?
O Lord, You gave Your life for us,
Full sacrifice upon the cross!
You conquered death, we’ve been set free
To live with You eternally!
King of love beyond all measure,
O love beyond compare!
Lord, we lift to You our voices
In this house of praise and prayer.
May Your love forever flourish
In this family of grace.
May we run the race before us
As a sacrifice of praise.
King of love beyond all measure,
O love beyond compare!
Lord, receive our gifts of worship
In this house of praise and prayer.
O King of love, how strong and true;
Eternal God, yet ever new!
Unbounded love, how deep, how great,
No power on earth can separate!
O King of love, amazing love!
Receive the gifts of praise we raise to You!
Amen, amen!
Scripture Jeremiah 23:1-5
Restoration after Exile
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The Righteous Branch of David
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:
Thanks be to God!
Sermon “The Righteous Branch”
* Affirmation of Faith From the Heidelberg Catechism Q. 31
Q. Why is Jesus called “Christ,” meaning “anointed”?
A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father
and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be:
our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance;
our only high priest who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father;
and our eternal king who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us.
* Hymn # 171 PH
“The King of Love My Shepherd Is”
(Public Domain)
The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.
Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul He leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.
Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.
In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.
Thou spreadest a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth;
And O what transport of delight
From Thy pure chalice floweth!
And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.
Prayers of the People
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.
Prayer Response # 352 W & R (verse 2)
“Spirit Song,” John Wimber
©1979, Mercy/Vineyard Publishing
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
O come and sing this song with gladness
As your hearts are filled with joy.
Lift your hands in sweet surrender to his name.
O give him all your tears and sadness;
Give him all your years of pain,
And you’ll enter into life in Jesus’ name.
Call for Offering
* Doxology # 145 W & R (verse 1)
“Glory Be to God, Creator,” Richard K. Carlson
©1996, Hark! Productions
Used by Permission. CCLI License #CSPL068847
Glory Be to God, Creator,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit,
Known as three, yet God the One.
* Dedication of Offering
* Hymn #148 PH
“At the Name of Jesus”
(Public Domain)
At the name of Jesus
Every knee shall bow,
Every tongue confess Him
King of glory now;
’Tis the Father’s pleasure
We should call Him Lord,
Who from the beginning
Was the mighty Word.
Humbled for a season,
To receive a name
From the lips of sinners,
Unto whom He came,
Faithfully He bore it
Spotless to the last,
Brought it back victorious
When from death He passed;
Bore it up triumphant,
With its human light,
Through all ranks of creatures,
To the central height,
To the throne of Godhead,
To the Father’s breast;
Filled it with the glory
Of that perfect rest.
Christians, this Lord Jesus
Shall return again,
With His Father’s glory,
O'er the earth to reign;
For all wreaths of empire
Meet upon His brow,
And our hearts confess Him
King of glory now.
* Benediction
Postlude Chris Bartlette
“Crown Him with Many Crowns,” Lloyd Larson
©2006, Lorenz Publishing Company, All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.
License #A-728112. All rights reserved.
Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.
“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.
“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal
Words of Assurance taken from the Iona Abbey Worship Book, Wild Goose Publications, copyright 2017, The Iona Community.
All other prayers taken or adapted from the PCUSA Book of Common Worship, copyright 2018, Westminster John Knox Press.