Sunday Service Archives - October 2026
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Sunday Service - October 25th 2026 - First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown
October 25, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Reformation Sunday
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "A Fortress of Grace"
Liturgist: Barb Luhmann
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-25-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?feature=share
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Matthew 22:34-40
Cover Art: http://SundaysAndSeasons.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Feel free to submit Joys and Concerns prior to the live stream at
https://www.cooppres.org/joysconcerns
We will make every effort to read them during the service.
Our Website: https://www.CoopPres.org
From Pastor Jess:
The image of a journey is very popular when it comes to the life of faith, for good reason. It IS a journey, as we all know, hopefully. But some-times, at certain points along the journey, we’re the kiddos in the back seat, bored or tired or hungry, whining, “Are we there yet?”
The journey image can sound quaint and peaceful, but the actual thing is neither. It can be too slow or too fast, rugged or smooth, boring or breathtaking, or a straight shot followed by harrowing hairpin turns.
And as I know you know, we don’t ever actually arrive. It’s like a spiral, where we pass by the same places again and again while also moving ahead.
It’s amazing to me how profoundly we long for arrival when the most basic truth of being is change and movement. Journeying.
The Israelites learned this in their many wanderings- through the wilderness, into exile and back, in their relationship with God. This Sunday, Reformation Sunday, we’ll hear Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 31:31-34) about God promising to write the law in their hearts instead of tablets of stone, so that there will be an inner knowing among the people. This is a reset, a new beginning along the journey between God and the people, after a long time of rebellion and betrayal. It is a re-formation of God’s people, and we will think about how we are always being re-formed by God and in God, along the way.
We will also welcome three new members during worship- Bill Cramer, Sarah Dunlap and Suzanne Stack. At this point in their faith journeys, they have recognized that you are a community to which they feel called to commit themselves.
Surround them in prayer and love, and wear red, yellow and orange on Sunday to honor the Holy Spirit who calls, gathers, enlightens, sends and re-forms us.
My Church Office Days for the week of 10/26 will be Tuesday and Thursday.
Rev. Jess Lambert
https://www.cooppres.org/pastor-message
This Weeks Service: https://www.cooppres.org/livestream
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Scenes From Service - October 25th 2026
From Cooperstown First Presbyterian Church
Reformation Sunday
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "A Fortress of Grace"
Liturgist: Barb Luhmann
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-25-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?feature=share
Sermon: "A Fortress of Grace" https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=qk2xZvX5Tz0jq5H6&t=1518
Joys and Concerns https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=YrfWv8Fc5_71fbpc&t=3378
Reception of New Members https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=B56yUJpiW38_PHGs&t=2799
Blessing https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=v3ADllp_iqzyYeY-&t=4024
Musical Performances:
“Draw the Circle Wide”
Words by Gordon Light (b.1944) Music by Mark A. Miller (b.1967)
Words © 2008 Common Cup Co. Music © 2008 Abingdon Press, admin. by The Copyright Co.
The Chancel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=kX1AuXpoiRQMSCAh&t=961
Offertory
Es woll’ uns Gott genädig sein P.118
(May God Bestow on Us His Grace)
Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)
Based on Psalm 67 and Martin Luther’s Chorale
From Kalmus Organ Series-Johann Pachelbel Selected Organ Works
Volume III Chorale Preludes, Part II, Edwin F. Kalmus Publisher of Music New York, NY
https://www.youtube.com/live/KHqM3uBmOu8?si=TFX04P41b3QXoWbU&t=3198
Cover Art: http://SundaysAndSeasons.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Preaching Sunday, November 1st 2026
All Saints’ Sunday - Communion
Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "The Flawed and the Loved"
Scriptures:
Revelation 7:9-17
Matthew 5:1-12
Hymns:
For All the Saints, #326
What Wondrous Love Is This, #215
Live into Hope, #772
Visit us online at: www.CoopPres.org
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Sunday Service - October 18th 2026 - First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown
October 18, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "Taxation Without Representation"
Liturgist: Deb Dalton
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October18-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?feature=share
Scriptures:
Isaiah 45:1-7
Matthew 22:15-22
Cover Art: http://SundaysAndSeasons.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Feel free to submit Joys and Concerns prior to the live stream at
https://www.cooppres.org/joysconcerns
We will make every effort to read them during the service.
Our Website: https://www.CoopPres.org
From Pastor Jess:
The World Comes Into the Poem
by Gregory Orr (b.1947)
The world comes into the poem,
The poem comes into the world
Reciprocity—it all comes down
To that.
As with lovers:
When it’s right you can’t say
Who is kissing whom.
“Reciprocity- it all comes down to that.” In the Gospel this Sunday, from Matthew 22, a trap is set for Jesus by the Herodians and Pharisees, two groups who typically disagreed about almost everything. But on this occasion, they found common ground. Is paying taxes to Caesar okay for religious people? It’s an argument that lives on generation after generation as we continually grapple with the implications and definition of the “separation of Church and State.”
The fury that, in part, sparked the Revolutionary War was fueled by the fact that the colonies were being forced to pay taxes to the King of England but had no representative of their choosing in the English Parliament to speak and advocate on their behalf. When you are forced to pay tribute, you expect something in return, something that serves your best interests, perhaps.
What is owed, and to whom? Who owns what? What are my rights? Who is deserving and who isn't? These are questions, among many others, that belong to the realm of the world's economy, but not God’s. God’s economy is one of grace. It is an outpouring. Our participation in it begins as recipients, plain and simple, nothing more. From there it grows into something like reciprocity. But even what we are able to give is not ours. That’s where we get tripped up, in our possessiveness.
We’ll explore what it means to receive, and to give, on Sunday. I look forward to being with you after an adventurous weekend away.
My Office Days for the week of 10/19 are Monday and Wednesday.
Rev. Jess Lambert
https://www.cooppres.org/pastor-message
This Weeks Service: https://www.cooppres.org/livestream
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Scenes From Service - October 18th 2026
From Cooperstown First Presbyterian Church
Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "Taxation Without Representation"
Liturgist: Deb Dalton
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October18-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?feature=share
Sermon: "Taxation Without Representation" https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=plM8m3AK3nefP5VH&t=1470
Joys and Concerns https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=RJYxfGN539YWSNDU&t=2940
Communion https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=BzCYMCfl8zdrulco&t=3583
Blessing https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=aZjt4U8FBuNfNZIM&t=4315
Musical Performances:
“Draw Near” Text Bangor Antiphoner, c.690, Translated by John M. Neale (1818-1866)
Music by Theron Kirk (1919-1999)
Copyright © 1995 A.M.S.I. All rights reserved.
The Chancel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=EkvQdJCntspCARAs&t=971
Offertory
“Saraband” Herbert Sumsion (1899-1995)
From “Six Pieces by Contemporary British Composers”
© Oxford University Press 1975
https://www.youtube.com/live/UBPMbyzfGKE?si=QmC51ll8HSA2E-2p&t=2774
Cover Art: http://SundaysAndSeasons.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Preaching Sunday, October 25th 2026
Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "A Fortress of Grace"
Scriptures:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Matthew 22:34-40
Hymns:
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty! #1
O God, Who Gives Us Life, #53
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, #275
Earth and All Stars! #26
Visit us online at: www.CoopPres.org
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Sunday Service - October 11th 2026 - First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown
October 11, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
World Communion Sunday - Feast of St. Francis
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: “In It But Not Of It”
Liturgist: Robin Lettis
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-11-2026-Rev-Faith-Gay.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?feature=share
Scriptures:
Exodus 32: 1-14
Matthew 22: 1-14
Cover Art: Photo by Abby Rodd http://aroddphotography.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Feel free to submit Joys and Concerns prior to the live stream at
https://www.cooppres.org/joysconcerns
We will make every effort to read them during the service.
Our Website: https://www.CoopPres.org
From Pastor Faith:
Most of us agree that a common goal of God’s true community is justice for all.
We also agree that justice for all is never fully realized. Our human frailty - whether we are the President or a field hand - gets in the way. So does the pressure of constant competition in a “free” society, and the constraints on liberty in places where freedom barely exists.
We also agree - particularly in these times - that injustice runs rampant when bystanders turn a blind eye.
So….given the huge debate in our country about what it means to live as a Christian, we must ask once again: what is our Christian obligation to each other?
+++++
Four Biblical questions point us toward an answer.
The first question is in Genesis (of course). God searched for Adam in the Garden and asked: “Where are you?”
The second question was directed by God to Cain: “Where is your brother?” (And we know Cain’s response: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”)
The third question was directed to Jesus by a lawyer and religious scholar: “Who is my neighbor?”
And the fourth question is directed to us: If we are Christians - and therefore keepers of our brothers and sisters - is it enough to simply learn and pray about the troubles of others?
What does it mean - practically speaking - to accept the invitation to be part of the Christian community? What are the requirements and obligations of citizenship in Christ’s world?
I look forward to welcoming you this Sunday as we break open the Word and puzzle through these issues together.
Rev. Faith Gay
https://www.cooppres.org/pastor-message
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Scenes From Service - October 11th 2026
From Cooperstown First Presbyterian Church
Preaching: Rev. Faith Gay
Sermon: “In It But Not Of It”
Liturgist: Robin Lettis
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-11-2026-Rev-Faith-Gay.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?feature=share
Sermon “In It But Not Of It” https://www.youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?si=FL391AWhpAMPi1De&t=1470
Joys and Concerns https://www.youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?si=zWzVzd2U1CpmyQ3f&t=2758
Blessing https://www.youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?si=5tLTR4vG-zkA33vC&t=3205
Musical Performances:
“Shepherd Me, O God”
Marty Haugen (b.1950)
(Psalm 23)
Text and Music © 1996 GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
From “Glory to God” © 2013 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved.
The Chancel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?si=18kCinqKeOu-vKOe&t=845
Offertory
"Offertoire"
W. Henry Maxfield (1849-1936)
“The Anglican Organist” Volume 1
Copyright London The Vincent Music Company, Ltd.
Peter Deysenroth, organist
https://www.youtube.com/live/A7B5jgJgNXA?si=rsqOjoySu-YmocIR&t=2588
Cover Art: Photo by Abby Rodd http://aroddphotography.com
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Preaching Sunday, October 18th 2026
Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: "Taxation Without Representation"
Scriptures:
Isaiah 45:1-7
Matthew 22:15-22
Hymns:
I Sing the Mighty Power of God, #32
Thy Word Is a Lamp unto My Feet, #458
Lord, When I Came into This Life, #691
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing, #546
Visit us online at: www.CoopPres.org
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Sunday Service - October 4th 2026 - First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown
October 4, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
World Communion Sunday - Feast of St. Francis
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Sermon: “Even a Cup of Cold Water”
Liturgist: Emily Craig
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-4-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?feature=share
Scriptures:
Ezekiel 47:9, 12
Matthew 10:1-4, 40-42
World Communion Offering 2026 Micah 6:8 Love Kindness
Cover Art: World Council of Churches - Season of Creation 2026 https://seasonofcreation.org/
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Feel free to submit Joys and Concerns prior to the live stream at
https://www.cooppres.org/joysconcerns
We will make every effort to read them during the service.
Our Website: https://www.CoopPres.org
From Pastor Jess:
Below is a prayer for these times. I heard it, adapted it and added to it. It was prayed by my friend Christa, who serves as Bishop of the New Jersey Synod, ELCA. She and many other interfaith clergy and advocates gathered in peaceful protest, as they do every Sunday evening, at the for-profit detention center in Elizabeth, NJ, Delaney Hall. After this and other prayers, there was a weaving ritual. Those gathered wrote the names of detainees they know and love on ribbons, and all of the ribbons were woven together and hung on a barbed wire fence surrounding the facility. May we all strive to not just know the circumstances of others’ suffering, but the names as well as their stories.
Tender and faithful God, sometimes the sorrow of the world feels too close to carry and too large to name. We see the grief in one another’s faces, the fear people bring quietly into church, the weariness hidden beneath ordinary conversations, and the ache of those who wonder whether anyone truly sees them.
Draw us nearer.
Give us the courage to notice the tears before we reach for words. Teach us to sit beside those who are frightened, grieving, displaced, lonely, angry, or simply worn thin by life. Keep us from offering easy hope when what your people need first is presence.
When we become distracted by our own plans, turn our faces again toward the people at the door. When we are tempted to protect what is familiar, remind us that Jesus is often waiting for us beyond the places where we feel secure. When our hearts grow tired, make them tender again.
Help your Church become a place where people can breathe, where the wounded are treated gently, where truth can be spoken without cruelty, where every human being is received with dignity, and where love is more than something we proclaim. And when we do not know what to say, teach us simply to remain.
Remain beside the grieving.
Remain beside the frightened.
Remain beside those whose lives have been pushed to the margins.
Remain until strangers become neighbors, until suffering has a name, until compassion becomes action, until hope begins to feel possible again.
Jesus, you wept with your friends before you called Lazarus from the tomb. Teach us that kind of love, a love willing to weep before it speaks of resurrection.
Make us gentle enough to touch the tears of this world, courageous enough to stand where love asks us to stand, and humble enough to trust that our future rests finally in your hands.
Hold us, God, and hold all those whose names and burdens we carry in our hearts this day.
Then send us out again, softer, braver, and more willing to love.
Through Jesus Christ our Beloved. Amen.
I will have partial Office Hours on Tuesday, 10/6, from 9-1, and then on Wednesday, 10/7 from 9-3.
I will be out of town from Thursday, 10/8- Monday, 10/12.
Faith will preach on 10/11.
Rev. Jess Lambert
https://www.cooppres.org/pastor-message
This Weeks Service: https://www.cooppres.org/livestream
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.
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Scenes From Service - October 4th 2026
From Cooperstown First Presbyterian Church
World Communion Sunday - Feast of St. Francis
Preaching: Rev. Jess Lambert
Liturgist: Emily Craig
Bulletin: https://www.cooppres.org/s/October-4-2026-J-Lambert.pdf
Full Service: https://youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?feature=share
Sermon “Even a Cup of Cold Water” https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=zeH8XO2r3fMZlVKy&t=1262
Joys and Concerns https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=lO8xXMba_BAjsrjO&t=2670
Communion https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=Am3x7zLT_VeOAPod&t=3110
Blessing for Richard and Anne Blabey https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=q5C1M398w5_mShNB&t=3865
Musical Performances:
“A Universal Blessing”
Alice Parker (1925-2023)
© Copyright 2013 by E.C. Schirmer Music Company, Inc.,
a division of ECS Publishing
All rights reserved.
The Chancel Choir
https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=xL5_ApIB8kWeMTTZ&t=858
Offertory
“Gigue from Sonata in D minor”
Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768)
Suzuki Violin School Copyright © 1971 by Zen-On Music Company, Ltd. All rights reserved.
Simon Craig, violin
https://www.youtube.com/live/dWdqz17_4lk?si=O9DizKVB42nAoiTZ&t=2282
Cover Art: World Council of Churches - Season of Creation 2026 https://seasonofcreation.org/
Please contribute to our ministry and good works in this community and around the world
https://www.CoopPres.org/donate
Preaching Sunday, October 11th 2026
Rev. Faith Gay
Sermon: "Poetic Navigation"
Scriptures:
Exodus 32: 1-14
Matthew 22: 1-14
Hymns:
Great Is Thy Faithfulness, #39
Arise Your Light Is Come, #744
What A Fellowship, What A Joy Divine, #837
Visit us online at: www.CoopPres.org
Permission to reprint, podcast, and/or stream the music in this service obtained from OneLicense.com with license #A-724436. All rights reserved.