A Service for the Beginning of the Year
for January 4, 2026
We Gather
Remembering Who We Are
At the beginning of a new year,
we arrive carrying expectations—
about what we should do,
what we should change,
what we should become.
Before any of that,
we pause.
Before plans are made,
before promises are spoken,
before effort is measured,
we remember this:
We are named.
We are claimed.
We belong to God.
(Silence is kept.)
Opening Prayer
Turning Toward God
Faithful God,
you call us by name
before we answer.
You claim us as your own
before we are ready.
As we gather,
turn your face toward us.
Let your blessing rest upon us.
Quiet what is anxious.
Soften what is guarded.
Strengthen what is weary.
Root us again
in who we are
and whose we are.
Amen.
Confession and Assurance
Releasing False Names
When we forget who we are,
we live as though we must earn what you have already given.
Let us tell the truth together.
God of mercy,
we confess that we often live under names you have not given us.
We call ourselves failures or successes,
burdens or problem-solvers,
strong or invisible.
We strive to prove our worth
and measure one another by fear and expectation.
Forgive us for living
as though we belong to our worries
more than we belong to you.
(Silence is kept.)
Assurance of Grace
Receiving Our True Name
Hear the good news.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you.
The Lord’s face is turned toward you.
The Lord looks on you with kindness
and gives you peace.
In Jesus Christ,
we are forgiven,
named,
and claimed.
Thanks be to God.
Passing of the Peace
Recognizing One Another
Because we are claimed by God,
we receive one another not as strangers,
but as siblings.
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
(Share Christ’s peace in ways fitting to your community.)
Scripture
God Names, Blesses, and Claims
God speaks blessing before we speak promises.
(Silence.)
In all creation, we are small—and yet crowned with dignity.
God does not call us slaves,
but children and heirs.
(Silence.)
Before Jesus teaches or heals,
before he is followed or resisted,
he is named.
(Silence is kept.)
Reflection
Hearing the Pattern
Across these readings, one truth rises again and again:
God names before we act.
God blesses before we achieve.
God claims before we belong anywhere else.
This is not only true of Jesus.
It is true of us.
We are invited now into shared reflection—
not to rush toward answers,
but to listen together.
Shared Reflection
Take time with these questions.
You may speak, listen, or remain silent.
Let one voice begin; others may follow.
Naming Our Starting Place
As this year begins, many pressures already shape our days—
expectations about success, faithfulness, survival, or change.
What pressures feel most present right now
in your life or in the life of this congregation?
Letting Scripture Interrupt Us
In these readings, blessing comes before effort,
and belonging comes before responsibility.
As you hear that,
what familiar ways of measuring yourself or others begin to loosen?
Where does this Word gently unsettle what feels “normal”?
Listening for What God Is Doing
Rather than asking what we should do next,
listen for what God is already doing.
Do you hear God naming?
Blessing?
Adopting?
Honoring?
Drawing near?
Which of these feels most needed right now?
Imagining a Different Way of Being
If we truly trusted that we are named and claimed by God,
how might that reshape our life together?
What could change in how we speak,
how we face disagreement,
how we care for the weary,
or how we make decisions?
You are not being asked to solve anything—
only to imagine faithfulness.
Taking One Faithful Step
We do not move forward by doing everything at once.
We move forward by trusting one small step.
Consider these possibilities.
Choose one—or name another that fits your life together.
One:
Begin gatherings or meetings by speaking God’s blessing aloud,
remembering that we belong to God before we belong to any task.
Two:
Name one person this week—not as a problem to manage,
but as someone beloved by God—
through gratitude, encouragement, or prayer.
Three:
Let one pressure, expectation, or program rest for a season—
not because it failed,
but because faith sometimes grows when striving stops.
(Silence may be kept.)
Affirmation of Faith —
Trusting the One Who Names Us
(from A Brief Statement of Faith, 1983)
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God’s image
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God;
we hide from our Creator.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy
to redeem creation.
In everlasting love,
the God of Abraham and Sarah
chose a covenant people
to bless all families of the earth.
In gratitude, we affirm our faith.
Prayers of the People
Living from Belonging
Trusting that we belong to God,
we lift our prayers.
For the church,
that it may live from blessing rather than fear—
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For those who feel unnamed or unseen,
that they may know they are claimed and loved—
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For a world restless with striving,
that grace may interrupt despair—
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
For all we carry silently before God,
spoken or unspoken—
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
As children of God, we pray together:
(The Lord’s Prayer is prayed in the words familiar to the community.)
Communion (Optional)
A Table of Belonging
At this table,
we are welcomed not because we are worthy,
but because we are hungry.
Here, Christ meets us—
not with demands,
but with grace.
(Communion may be celebrated according to the practice of the community.)
Sending
Living from Our True Name
As you go into this new year,
go knowing your name is known.
Go knowing your life is held.
Go not trying to earn God’s love,
but living from it.
We go as people named and claimed.
Thanks be to God.
Suggested Songs (Optional)
These songs echo the service’s theme of blessing, belonging, and identity.
Choose what fits your community and context.
Gathering
- Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
- Gather Us In
- Here I Am, Lord
After Confession / Assurance
- Amazing Grace
- There Is a Balm in Gilead
- Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling
Response / Reflection
- Blessed Assurance
- Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying
- Be Still, My Soul
Sending
- Go, My Children, with My Blessing
- The Church of Christ in Every Age
- Sent Forth by God’s Blessing
About This Resource
This worship service is offered for the shared life of Christian communities. It may be used as written or adapted freely to fit the context in which you gather.
The service is designed to be accessible to congregations without a pastor and can be led with minimal preparation. It is also intended to support pastors, elders, and lay leaders as a framework for preaching, teaching, and guiding worship. The goal is not to prescribe a single way of worshiping, but to offer a faithful structure that can be shaped by those who gather.
This site is intentionally designed to be read easily on smartphones and other personal devices. Resources are presented so that individuals and communities can participate fully in worship without relying on printed orders of worship. Whether gathered in a sanctuary, a fellowship hall, a living room, or another shared space, people should be able to access the service simply, clearly, and in real time.
At its heart, this service reflects a conviction that worship is a communal practice. Christian worship is not meant to be an experience created by a few and observed by many, but a shared act through which a community is formed together. God is glorified as people speak, listen, pray, and reflect side by side.
Communities are encouraged to consider their own circumstances and space. Worship may be most faithful when chairs are arranged in a circle or in the round, when people can see one another’s faces, or when leadership is shared across voices. Simple changes in posture or arrangement can help reinforce the truth that the Word of God addresses the whole community, and that the Spirit speaks through many.
We worship to give glory to God, and we worship to be formed together. We are shaped by God’s Word, and we are shaped by one another. This resource exists to support that shared work, trusting that God is already present among the people who gather.
This resource is shared in a spirit of openness and learning. It is offered with the hope that it will serve real communities in real circumstances—and that it will grow stronger through use. Feedback, adaptations, and suggestions are welcome. If something worked well, or if something proved difficult, those insights matter. This work is shaped best when it reflects the lived experience of those who gather for worship, and your voice can help make these resources more faithful, more usable, and more responsive to the needs of the church.
Rights and Use
© Church Commons 2025
Written by Rev. Matthew J. Skolnik. All rights reserved.
These materials may be used and adapted for worship and educational purposes within Christian communities. They may not be sold or redistributed for commercial purposes without permission.
Resource Details
Date: January 4, 2026
Scripture: Numbers 6:22–27; Psalm 8; Galatians 4:4–7; Luke 2:15–21
Theme: Named and Claimed
Lectionary: RCL Year A