Order of Worship: Sunday, December 27, 2020
We have provided the written copy of the sermon (by clicking the sermon title) for those who would like to follow along during the service. To read past sermons, click here.
Chiming of the Hour
Pouring of the Water
Welcome and Announcements
Prelude: "O Little Town of Bethlehem", David Cherwien
Call to Worship:
There is good news of great joy for all!
Our Savior is born: the Messiah, the Lord.
We have seen the saving love of the Lord,
The glory of God’s people and a light to all.
Let us worship Emmanuel, God with us.
Let us worship together.
Opening Hymn 143: "Angels, from the Realms of Glory"
Angels, from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all the earth;
you, who sang creation’s story, now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn king!
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 newborn king!
Prayer of the Day:
Almighty God,
you wonderfully created,
and yet more wonderfully restored,
the dignity of human nature.
In your mercy,
let us share the divine life of Jesus Christ
who came to share our humanity,
and who now lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession:
God of grace and truth,
in Jesus Christ you came among us
as light shining in darkness.
We confess that we have not welcomed the light,
or trusted good news to be good.
We have closed our eyes to glory in our midst,
expecting little and hoping for less.
Forgive our doubt and renew our hope.
Deepen our trust that you are the Light for all,
so we may receive the fullness of your grace
and live in the truth of Christ the Lord.
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hymn of Praise: "Angels We Have Heard on High"
Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains,
and the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Prayer for Illumination:
Gracious God,
by the gift of your Holy Spirit
show us the Word made flesh,
good news of great joy for all,
so that we may sing with the angels:
glory in the highest and peace on earth;
through Jesus Christ of Lord. Amen.
Affirmation of Faith:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of the People:
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer:
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, forever.
Amen.
Offering
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Offertory Music: "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", Carl Schalk
Closing Hymn 119: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king.
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise; join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”
Benediction
Postlude: "Ding Dong! Merrily on High", Charles Callahan
