Second Sunday of Christmas Worship Bulletin
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Second Sunday of Christmas Coronavirus
01-02-2022 10:00AM Worship
OPENING SONG: “JOY TO THE WORLD!” Green #39
THE OPENING RITE AND PRAYER OF THE DAY:
L In the fullness of time (the Bible says)…
at just the right time (the Bible says)…
midway through the night… in deep silence…
in a quiet little and not-so-important town…
C God’s almighty WORD leaped down from heaven and was born in a cattle stall.
L You see, God wanted to say something really significant after all the years of human sin and searching.
And what was God seeking to say? Do you know?
What message did God want so dearly and clearly to deliver to us in that human person, in that little baby, in that word coming to live with us?
C It was this: “I LOVE YOU”.
The message was nothing greater or less than the saving grace and shining truth of God’s love.
L It seems so incredible, even all these centuries later.
The Almighty came in person, in humility, in humanity, in flesh and blood, to tell us and to show us:
C “I LOVE YOU”.
The WORD made flesh and blood. A God we can see and know as a friend and a savior.
L The world, it seems, did not really know him or listen to him (the Bible says)...
His own people did not always accept him or hear him (the Bible says)…
and still some refuse to hear the living Word of God, still reject such a precious gift of life.
C But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become CHILDREN OF GOD.
L Once more we celebrate the miracle of Jesus’ birth!
Once more we celebrate that God is born among us and for us and even inside us!
Once more we celebrate that life-giving message that was spoken to us, and we pray…
C Mighty God, you have filled us with the new light of the Word who became flesh and lived among us.
We pray to you, take away from us everything that cannot bear this light.
In this year of 2022, let Jesus be a lamp to our feet and a word of freedom and mercy in our journey.
And let the light of our faith shine forth in all we think or say or do.
This we pray with grateful and willing hearts. Amen.
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31:7-14 [Out of exile into dancing, joy, and abundant food!]
1:7 For thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.”
31:8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.
31:9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
31:10 Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”
31:11 For the LORD has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
31:12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again.
31:13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
31:14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.
SECOND READING: Ephesians 1:3-14 [Out of sin into inheritance as God’s own beloved children!]
1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
1:4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
1:5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,
1:6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
1:8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight
1:9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
1:11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
1:12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
1:13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
1:14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.
GOSPEL VERSE: “THE VIRGIN MARY HAD A BABY BOY” Brown #53
GOSPEL READING: John 1:1-18 [Out of life’s shadows into light and life through Jesus Christ!]
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
1:3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being
1:4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
1:6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
1:7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
1:8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
1:9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
1:10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.
1:11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
1:12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,
1:13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
1:14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
1:15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'”)
1:16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
1:17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
1:18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG SELECTION
THE OFFERING… People of God, Paul reminds us in Ephesians that God has blessed us in so many ways through the gift of Jesus Christ, and now we are called to rejoice in his grace, to walk in his light, and to serve in his love. It is our time right now and our task here and everywhere to bear witness, to offer healing, and to bring positive change to the world through our lives and our gifts.
OFFERING SONG:
JESUS… JESUS… OH, WHAT A WONDERFUIL CHILD!
JESUS… JESUS… SO HOLY, MEEK, AND MILD!
NEW LIFE, NEW HOPE, TO ALL HE BRINGS; LISTEN TO THE ANGELS SING,
“GLORY, GLORY, GLO-RY TO THE NEW BORN KING!”
OFFERING PRAYER:
Good news! Great Joy!
Amazing God, if light has dawned on us, we want to share it. And if there is joy to tell, we can’t help but proclaim it. O how we thank you for the gift of your amazing grace in Jesus Christ! As we celebrate his birth, guide us to be bearers of light, makers of peace, and heralds of good news to all the world.
Always, Amen.
MUSIC SELECTION: “HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING” Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… We pray that the joy and light of JESUS CHRIST will touch all lives!
SONG SELECTION
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor… God sends us TO SHINE with the Light of Jesus Christ in a shadowy world!
NEXT SUNDAY… The Baptism of Our Lord –
On this Sunday we remember Jesus’ baptism and “get wet” celebrating our own!
Have a small bowl of water ready next Sunday to splash yourself!