Click play below to join in our our live stream...
If you experience any issue with livestream on the day, please email livestream@stcolumbas.org.uk (please note that this address will only be monitored on Sundays).
Our live streaming system is designed to be as reliable as possible and work across a wide range of devices. However, live streaming relies on a lot of things outside of our control. Although we’ll do our best to help you get this working, we cannot accept liability if this service is unavailable.
ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET,
SUNDAY 4TH JANUARY 2026 11.00 A.M.,
MORNING WORSHIP
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 324 Angels from the realms of glory (Iris)
Angels from the realms of glory,
wing your flight o’er all the earth;
ye who sang creation’s story
now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship
Christ, the new-born King.
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
Shepherds in the fields abiding,
watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing,
yonder shines the infant Light:
Wise men, leave your contemplations;
brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations;
ye have seen his natal star:
Though an infant now we view him,
he will share his Father’s throne,
gather all the nations to him;
every knee shall then bow down:
All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
evermore your voices raising
to the eternal Three in One:
Prayers of Approach and Confession
Sacrament of Baptism: Fraser Kenneth Foers Macfarlane &
Finlay David Foers Macfarlane
Blessing {Sung by congregation} CH4 796
The Lord bless you, and keep you:
The Lord make his face
to shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace. Amen
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 for ever, Amen.
Hymn 316 Love came down at Christmas (Gartan)
1 Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.
2 Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
worship we our Jesus:
but wherewith for sacred sign?
3 Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.
Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14
For thus says the Lord:
Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
“Save, O Lord, your people,
the remnant of Israel.”
8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
those with child and those in labor together;
a great company, they shall return here.
9 With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations[a] I will lead them back;
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path where they shall not stumble,
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him
and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.”
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.
13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.[b]
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.
Anthem: What cheer? Walton (1902-1983)
What cheer? Good cheer!
Be merry and glad this good New Year!
Lift up your hearts, and be glad
In Christ’s birth, the angel bade,
Say each to other, if any be sad,
What cheer? What cheer? What cheer?
Now the King of heav’n his birth hath take,
Joy and mirth we ought to make;
Say each to other, for his sake
What cheer? What cheer? What cheer?
I tell you all with heart so free,
Right welcome, welcome ye be to me;
Be glad and merry, for charity:
What cheer? Good cheer!
Be merry and glad this good New Year!
Gospel Reading: John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who[f] is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
Hymn 317 Before the world began one Word was there (Incarnation)
1 Before the world began
one Word was there;
grounded in God he was,
rooted in care;
by him all things were made,
in him was love displayed,
through him God spoke and said
‘I am for you’.
2 Life found in him its source,
death found its end;
light found in him its course,
darkness its friend;
for neither death nor doubt
nor darkness can put out
the glow of God, the shout
‘I am for you’.
3 The Word was in the world
which from him came;
unrecognised he was,
unknown by name;
one with all humankind,
with the unloved aligned,
convincing sight and mind
‘I am for you’.
4 All who received the Word,
by God were blessed,
sisters and brothers they
of earth’s fond guest.
So did the Word of grace
proclaim in time and space,
and with a human face,
‘I am for you’.
Sermon
Anthem: The Crown of Roses, Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
When Jesus Christ was yet a child
He had a garden small and wild,
Wherein he cherished roses fair,
And wove them into garlands there.
Now once, as summertime drew nigh,
There came a troop of children by,
And seeing roses on the tree
With shouts they plucked them merrily.
‘Do you bind roses in your hair?’
They cried, in scorn, to Jesus there.
The boy said humbly: ‘Take, I pray,
All but the naked thorns away.’
Then of the thorns they made a crown,
And with rough fingers pressed it down,
Till on his forehead fair and young
Red drops of blood, like roses, sprung.
Dedication of our Offerings
{If able, please stand as the offering is brought forward and the congregation sings}
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. (CH4 807, Old 100th)
Prayer of Dedication:
Minister: Father, Son, and Spirit Holy,
we give you thanks and praise:
Congregation: We dedicate to you
our thoughts, our words,
our gifts, our deeds,
the working of our hands,
the thinking of our minds,
the loving of our hearts. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Intimations
Hymn 326 As with gladness men of old (Dix)
As with gladness men of old
did the guiding star behold,
as with joy they hailed its light,
leading onwards, beaming bright;
so, most gracious Lord, may we
evermore be led to thee.
As with joyful steps they sped,
Saviour, to thy lowly bed,
there to bend the knee before
thee, whom heaven and earth adore;
so may we with willing feet
ever seek thy mercy-seat.
As they offered gifts most rare
at thy homely cradle bare;
so may we with holy joy,
pure, and free from sin’s alloy,
all our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to thee, our heavenly King.
Holy Jesus, every day
keep us in the narrow way;
and, when earthly things are past,
bring our ransomed souls at last
where they need no star to guide,
where no clouds thy glory hide.
In the heavenly country bright,
need they no created light;
thou its light, its joy, its crown,
thou its sun which goes not down;
there for ever may we sing
alleluias to our King.
Organ Postlude: Praeludium in C (Buxtehude)
Retiring Offering for the continuing life and ministry of St Columba’s. It is possible to donate via the website. We are most grateful for all that we receive.
