The Bulletin is at: 12-29-2019 – Bulletin
The Service in PDF format is at: 12-29-2019 – Service
or the service is as follows:
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
December 29, 2019
AS WE GATHER: Stories of God’s dealings with His people can never be sanitized or idealized. The Lord finds His people to be stubborn, rebellious, and forgetful. In the history of Israel is the pattern for God’s mercy to the Church and the reason why, when we gather, we recount God’s mighty acts of deliverance. The Lord works to forgive us, restore us, and remind us of what He has done to save us. Now more than ever, we are gravely tempted to doubt, despair, and be disillusioned. We see a world filled with even greater tragedy and sorrow than Herod visited upon the firstborn sons of Bethlehem. But even in death, they testify to the Lord’s gracious will and His power to rescue, redeem, and comfort His people with His grace in Christ, our Savior.
CHORAL OPENING: “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” Arr. By: Jay Althouse
God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day,
To save us all from Satan’s pow’r when we were gone astray.
O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
O, tidings of comfort and joy.
From God, our heav’nly Father, a blessed angel came,
and unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born the son of God by name.
O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
O, tidings of comfort and joy.
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
God rest you merry, gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day.
God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day,
to save us all from Satan’s pow’r when we were gone astray.
O, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
o, tidings of comfort and joy, joy, joy.
L: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
RESPONSES Galatians 4:4–5
L: When the fullness of time had come,
C: God sent forth His Son,
L: born of woman, born under the law,
C: to redeem those who were under the law.
RECOGNIZING OUR NEED…
L: Holy and gracious God,
C: I confess that I have sinned against You this day. Some of my sin I know—the thoughts and words and deeds of which I am ashamed—but some is known only to You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I ask for Your forgiveness. Deliver me in Your mercy and restore me by Your grace that I amend my sinful life. Bring me to everlasting life. Amen.
L: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
L: May He who began this good work within you bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of the Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
PRAYER OF THE DAY
L: Let us pray. 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 Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Freedom in the Son.
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.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord
C: Thanks be to God.
Herod murders the babies of Bethlehem.
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”
And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Pastor: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
C: 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 into hell.
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
The offerings gathered are a sign of our whole lives offered to God in humble gratitude for his greatest of all offerings, his Son offered for our salvation.
L: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
L: Bring to remembrance, O Lord, all of Your saving acts but most especially the gift of Your only-begotten Son, that we be brought to repentance and faith by the proclamation of Christ and trust in Him for the forgiveness of our sins and for everlasting life. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
L: O Lord, bestow Your blessing upon our own land and all the nations, that they pursue the causes of peace and justice, punish the evildoer, and honor those who do good, especially for the sake of those least able to defend themselves. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
L: O Lord, You are the strength of the weak, the peace of the troubled, the comfort of the grieving, and the hope of the dying. Hear us on behalf of the sick and those in any need, [especially . . .], that You deliver them according to Your gracious will and sustain them to the day of the resurrection, when all pain and suffering shall cease. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
L: Build within us, O Lord, generous hearts, that we act on behalf of the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the unemployed, the aged, and the infirm, that the riches with which You have supplied us be used to their aid and for the work of Your kingdom. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
L: Into Your hands, Lord, we commend ourselves and all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT
WORDS OF INSTITUTION
THE LORD’S PRAYER
C: 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 trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever
and ever. Amen.
DISTRIBTION
Come, Let us Eat LBW 214
Come, let us eat, for now the feast is spread
Come, let us eat, for now the feast is spread
Our Lord’s body let us take together
Our Lord’s body let us take together
Come, let us drink, for now the wine is poured
Come, let us drink, for now the wine is poured
Jesus’ blood poured, let us drink together
Jesus’ blood poured, let us drink together
In his presence now we meet and rest
In his presence now we meet and rest
In the presence of our Lord we gather
In his presence now we meet and rest
Rise and share God’s peace with everyone
Rise and share God’s peace with everyone
At the table we are one together
At the table we are one together
Angels from the Realms of Glory LBW 50
1 Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Once you sang creation’s story;
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
2 Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant Light.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
3 Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations,
You have seen his natal star.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
4 All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To the eternal Three in One.
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
L: The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
C: Amen.
CLOSING SONG: “Go Tell It on the Mountain” LBW 70
Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born!
While shepherds kept their watching O’vr silent folks by night,
Behold, throughout the heavens There shone a holy light.
Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born!
The shepherds feared and trembled When, Lo, above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus That hailed our Savior’s birth.
Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born!
Down in a lonely manger The humble Christ was born;
And God sent us salvation That blessed Christmas morn.
Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain That Jesus Christ is born!
DISMISSAL
P: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!
C: Thanks be to God!