First Presbyterian Church-Edenton
November 2, 2025 - 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Rev. Clayton Brooks-video
The Gathering
Tolling of the Hour
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to worship at First Presbyterian Church.
This is the day the Lord has made—let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Whether you come every week or are joining us for the first time,
we gather as one family in Christ, welcomed by God’s grace and peace.
Together, let us open our hearts to the Spirit and worship God with joy.
Announcements
Visitors, please fill out the connection card in the bulletin so we can send you a note.
* Indicates, please stand.
(Listen quietly as we enter into worship with the opening prayer and a prelude)
Opening Prayer
God of new beginnings,
You stir in us the same Spirit that once moved among the rubble of Jerusalem and on the mountains of Galilee.
When we are tempted to count what’s lost, turn our eyes toward what might yet be built.
When fear of scarcity tightens our grip, teach us again to give with joy.
By your grace, make our worship a cornerstone for the future you are already shaping among us. Amen.
Prelude
(Please stand in body or spirit for the responsive call to worship)
*Call to Worship
When the exiles returned, they found ruins, stones scattered, memories fading, songs forgotten.
Yet still they sang. Still they laid a foundation for what might yet be.
We come as builders of hope, trusting that God is not finished with us.
Christ sends us into the world saying, “Go, make disciples.” He entrusts us with the holy work of planting seeds of faith.
Let us worship the God who believes the future is worth investing in: with our hands, our hearts, and our lives.
(Please remain standing for our opening hymn number 301, Let us Build a House)
*Hymn Let Us Build a House GTG#301
(Please be seated)
Call to Confession and Silent Prayers of Confession
When the exiles returned home, they saw more rubble than refuge. And yet they began again, stone by stone,
trusting that God could make beauty from the ruins.
So too, we come with dreams unfinished, with walls half-built,
with faith that falters and hope that flickers trusting that God is still shaping something holy in us.
Let us bring our hearts before the Master Builder, the One who makes all things new, as we offer our prayer of confession together. Let us come honestly before God, first in silence, and then together using the prayer printed in your bulletin.
Prayer of Confession
God of steadfast love, we confess that we often invest our energy in what fades,
our hope in what fails, our security in what cannot last.
You call us to rebuild the ruins in our hearts, our church, our world. But we hesitate, counting costs instead of grace. Forgive us, O God. Rebuild us by your mercy. Teach us again to trust your promise that what is begun in faith will be completed in love. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the good news:
The God who called exiles home is the same God who calls us back to grace.
What is broken can be rebuilt, what is lost can be restored, and what feels too small can still be used by God.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, renewed to build lives of hope, and to invest in the future God is already shaping among us.
Passing of the Peace
Since God has forgiven us in Christ, let us forgive one another. The passing of the peace is a sign of that forgiveness and blessing to each other. Come let us offer a sign of peace to one another.
Then, let us stand together as we sing our congregational response. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, And also with you.
Congregational Response In My Life GTG#468 v.1,4
In my life, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In my life, Lord, be glorified today.
In your world, Lord, be glorified; be glorified.
In your world, Lord, be glorified today.
The Word
(You may be seated and join me as I pray)
Prayer of Illumination
God of Word and Spirit, as your people once gathered around Ezra’s scroll
and the risen Christ opened Scripture to his friends, open our hearts now.
Let these ancient words awaken living faith, so that hearing, we may believe;
believing, we may act; and acting, we may bear your light for generations to come. Amen.
Scripture Matthew 28
Word in Music
Scripture Ezra 3
Sermon "To Invest in the Future" Rev. Clayton Brooks
*Hymn Lord Speak to Me that I May Speak GTG #722
(Let us remain standing as we affirm our faith using the words printed in the bulletin. Together we boldy proclaim.)
Affirmation of Faith Apostles Creed
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
(Please be seated.)
Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer
When the people of Israel gathered to rebuild the temple,
they paused often to sing and to weep-
for what was lost and for what might yet be.
Our prayers are like that, too, a blend of gratitude and grief, trust and trembling,
believing that God can hold it all.
So let us come before the One
who holds the past, the present, and the future in loving hands,
and offer the prayers of God’s people.
God of all generations:
You have been our dwelling place in every age.
You call us to build not monuments to the past,
but places where your Spirit can dwell today.
We thank you for those who came before us-
for their faithfulness, their generosity, their quiet courage.
May we honor their legacy not by preserving what was,
but by giving ourselves to what can still be.
We pray for your church everywhere-
for congregations who are rebuilding, reimagining,
and rediscovering their purpose.
Give us hearts that trust your future more than we fear change.
We lift before you those who carry heavy burdens-
for the weary, the grieving, the anxious,
for those facing uncertainty or illness,
and for those who feel far from home.
Surround them with your peace that passes understanding.
We pray for this community,
for children learning faith by watching our lives,
for neighbors who hunger in body or spirit,
for leaders discerning what is right and just.
May we be generous not only in our giving,
but in our compassion, our time, and our presence.
Build in us, O God,
a foundation of hope that endures beyond what we can see-
a faith that invests in your promises,
a love that outlives us.
And now, gathered as one body,
let us pray as Christ taught us for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven,
saying together: Our Father, who art in heaven…
The Sending
Offering
When the people laid the foundation of the temple,
they gave what they had- some with tears, some with joy, all with hope.
Our giving today is part of that same story.
Let us bring our gifts to God, trusting that from these offerings, a new day will rise. Let us give of our tithes and offerings.
*Doxology
Prayer of Dedication
God of abundance, accept these gifts as symbols of our trust in you.
Use them to rebuild what is broken, to plant what is yet to grow, and to bless those who will come after us.
May our generosity today become the foundation of tomorrow’s faith. In Christ’s name, Amen.
*Hymn God Be With You Till We Meet Again GTG #541
(Let us say together God’s invitation to a life of Christian discipleship)
*Charge and Blessing
Go now into the world as builders of God’s kingdom, not fearing the rubble, but trusting the cornerstone.
We will give, build, and believe in the future God is shaping among us.
Go, carrying the hope of those who came before you and the dreams of those yet to come.
We will plant, nurture, and trust that God will bring the growth.
And as you go, may the grace of Christ lay your foundation,
the love of God strengthen your walls, and the companionship of the Holy Spirit dwell richly in your midst, today and always.
Amen.
(Please be seated. Respectful clapping is an appropriate way to end this service of worship)
Postlude