The Bulletin is at: 12-31-2017 – Bulletin
The Service in PDF format is at: 12-31-2017 AM – New New Year’s Eve
or the service is as follows:
New Year Eve’s Worship
First Sunday after Christmas
December 31, 2017
AS WE GATHER…Hindsight may be 20/20, but it’s often difficult to recognize what is right in front of us. How, then, do we recognize what God is doing in our midst? Within the temple courts, Simeon beholds the long-awaited Messiah and rejoices that righteousness has come to him. Not only has this gift come to Simeon, but it has also come to us! Jesus is here with us today to refresh and strengthen us for the New Year!
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.
C: and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Silence for reflection
P: Before we join in our Christmas celebration, we clear the way by confessing our sins and hearing once again God’s gracious words of forgiveness.
C: We admit that we are sinners. Lord we sin in our thoughts, words and actions, by things we have done and left undone. We especially recognize our fear of the future. By doing so, we forget to trust in You for what is to come. Forgive us when we forget Your promises for our future. Make clear to the eyes of our hearts that our future is in Your loving hands.
SONG OF CONFESSION (twice through) “White As Snow”
White as snow, white as snow,
Though my sins were as scarlet
Lord, I know, Lord I know
That I’m clean and forgiven,
Through the power of your blood,
Through the wonder of your love,
Through faith in you, I know that I can be
White as snow.
P: God knows our fears, our failures to trust him for the future, and in Christ assures us of his forgiveness. I therefore in Christ’s stead announce the free and full forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen!
OPENING SONG OF PRAISE: “Joy to the World”
Joy to the world! The Lord is come, Let earth receive her king.
Let ev’ry heart prepare him room,
And heav’n and nature sing…
Joy to the world! The Savior reigns; Let all their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy…
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of his righteousness, and wonders of his love…
P: O God, our Maker and Redeemer, You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen!
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Epistle Lesson: Galatians 4:4-7
God sent forth His Son to redeem us.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Jesus is presented to the Lord at the temple.
And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant[a] depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.[b] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
SERMON HYMN (twice through) “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High”
Lord, I lift your name on high,
Lord, I love to sing your praises,
I’m so glad you’re in my life,
I’m so glad you came to save us.
You came from heaven to earth to show the way,
From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay,
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky,
Lord, I lift your name on high.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
And born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again,
He ascended into heaven,
And is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy Christian Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body
And the life everlasting. Amen.
OFFERINGS GATHERED
We give our offerings as a sign of our lives given the to the Lord in humble service.
OFFERTORY
after each petition the response is
P: Lord in your mercy,
C: Hear our prayer.
LORD’S PRAYER
BENEDICTION
CLOSING SONG “This Little Gospel Light of Mine”
- This little gospel light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…
Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.
- Don’t you dare to blow it out…
Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.
- Hide it under a bushel, No! I’m gonna let it shine…
Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.
- All around the neighborhood, I’m gonna let it shine…
Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.
- It will point the way to heav’n, I’m gonna let it shine…
Let it shine, all the time, let it shine.
P: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!
C: Thanks be to God!
POST-SERVICE MUSIC