Order of Worship

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS DAY

BOLD indicates congregational SPEAKING participation

GATHERING AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

Prelude

 "Go, Tell It on the Mountain"

UMH #251

Welcome and Sharing of Announcements

A Time to Make Connections

Meditation Time

Introit

"Let All the Earth Be Joyful"

arr. Hal H. Hopson

Adult Choir

(in-person service only)

"In the Bleak Midwinter"

by Rossetti and Holst

Ken Muzykewicz, saxophone, and Matt Cron, organ (2020 recording)

(online service only)

Call to Worship

Liturgist:   Children of God, Jesus Christ is born!

People: God has come to make a home among us!

Liturgist:  Yet the story is not over. After birth comes the ordinary and mundane growing, maturing, and discovering, even for the Christ Child.

People: In the ordinary and mundane, God has come to make a home among us.

Liturgist: And sometimes, in the midst of the everyday, something surprising happens, and we discover anew just what God is up to in our midst.

People: In the surprising and spectacular, God has come to make a home among us. 

Liturgist: Children of God, let us worship the God who dwells with us in all things and all seasons.

People: We come to make our home with God who makes a home among us. Amen. 

   (Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries) 

Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, how fortunate we are that you have come to make a home among us! Help us to discover new and unexpected happenings in our homes with you in our midst. We are thankful for our homes, dear Lord, and we know that your eternal home begins right now in our hearts. Amen

Opening Hymn

“There’s a Song in the Air”  

UMH #249

Children's Time

Beverly Welsh

Joys and Concerns

Lord's Prayer

Prayer Response

"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

UMH #230 (verse 4)

ATTENTION TO THE WORD OF GOD

*Scripture Readings

Joshua 24:15 (NIV), Mark 10:29 (NIV), John 14:1-2 (NIV)

15 “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” 

29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”

1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 

2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”

Liturgist: The word of God for the people of God.

People: Thanks be to God.  

Message

Home Is Where the Heart Is

Beverly Welsh  

Offertory Hymn

"Happy the Home When God Is There"

UMH #445

*Doxology

UMH #94

We Respond

*Offertory Prayer

Lord of Light and Love, we offer these gifts with hearts transformed by the miracle of your son’s birth. As the shepherds returned with joy and praise, may these offerings spread your joy and love. Use them to bless those in need, to bring hope and peace, and to further your kingdom here on earth. In this season of Christmas may we continue to glorify and praise you in all we do. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. (Luke 2:15-21)

Luke 2:15-21   - Discipleship Ministries

*Closing Hymn

  “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” 

UMH #89

*The Blessing and Sending Forth 

Beloved, may God bless you with transformation, because together we have encountered the incarnate Christ who makes a home among us and sends us home never to be the same again. Amen. 

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries

Benediction Response

  “Star of Bethlehem” 

   by Haber & Barab  

Adult Choir

(in-person service only)

Postlude

 "Fanfare on Adeste fideles"   

arr. Paul Fey