SermonStudio

First Lesson: Isaiah 63:7-9
Theme: Saving Presence

Call To Worship
Leader: Wherever we roam in car or within the heart, God is present.
People: God, our God, is with us.
Leader: God lifts us up throughout the night and in the day.
People: God, our God, is with us.
Leader: Whatever our troubles or undertakings, God is near.
All: God's nearness is a saving presence. Praise be to God.

Collect

Saving God, Protector, with grateful hearts we see the bearing of your freeing presence upon our actions, decisions, and attitudes of relationship. Through Christ. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

The wait is over. Already we say, "Next year." Has "after Christmas" become more than a sigh of relief? What remains after the last angelic note? Guide us, God, as we carry the quiet certainty and the truth of your enduring presence within our actions. Let your truth persist in the corners of the school lunchroom, at intersections of families meeting, in the nooks of our aspirations, and within the silence of solitary times. Amen.

06A Hymns1
"Angels From The Realms Of Glory" Tune: REGENT SQUARE
"Who Would Think That What Was Needed" Tune: SCARLET RIBBONS
"Go Tell It On The Mountain" Tune: GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN



First Sunday After Christmas (Holy Family)

Second Lesson: Hebrews 2:10-18
Theme: Proclaimed Brother, Proclaimed Sister

Call To Worship

Jesus did not ask, "Will you be my brother?" or "Do you want to be my sister?" He announced, "I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters." Come, let us worship as the family of God because you and I are the brothers and sisters of Jesus.

Collect

You, O Compassionate God, endowed Jesus with empathy and compassion so that he might walk with us, understand us by sharing in our suffering and identify with our situations. So not only do we sense that we are his brothers and sisters, but that Jesus is our brother. Accept our gratitude for your having sent one who cares so much. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Let the sense of brothers and sisters in the faith become contagious, O God, so we might repair and strengthen the relationships with our siblings by birth, marriage, and adoption. Further our wanting to stand in support of our family members by trying to see things from their perspective so we also might practice mercy and faithfulness. Because of Jesus. Amen.

06A Hymns1
"On This Day Earth Shall Ring" Tune: PERSONENT HODIE
"Jesus, Our Brother, Strong And Good" Tune: ORIENTIS PARTIBUS
"Good Christian [Friends][Men], Rejoice" Tune: IN DULCI JUBILO



First Sunday After Christmas (Holy Family)

Gospel: Matthew 2:13-23
Theme: Protector

Call To Worship

It was not long before the sweet, idyllic night of the nativity took flight. God stayed in touch with Joseph. Joseph, the alert, steady protector, kept his family on a run of flight, escape, and return. Let us learn from God's choice of Joseph.

Collect

Help us, Protecting God, to be like Joseph, who took seriously his parental care of the little boy who was also God's Son. Help us to balance the ideal with the real, the resourceful with the practical. Always, lead us to stay in touch with you even as you reach out for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Prayer Of Confession

Even on our long flights away from danger and into safe territory, you remain with us, O God. Do you have a plan for our lives as resolutely to be fulfilled and carried out by us as Joseph cared for the holy infant? Guide us toward stretching our capacity single-mindedly and faithfully to tend our responsibilities. In Jesus' name. Amen.

06A Hymns1
"Go Tell It On The Mountain" Tune: GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN
"Sing A Different Song" Tune: DIFFERENT SONG
"There's A Song In The Air" Tune: CHRISTMAS SONG

____________

1. To echo the season, on the two Sundays of Christmas sing the refrain to "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" as a benediction response.