[VIDEO] Second Sunday of Christmas Worship Service

We will gather together for worship service on Zoom using the following information:
MEETING ID: 5977365682
MEETING PASSWORD: 204934

=============================================================================

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church         

Second Sunday of Christmas  Coronavirus  

01-03-2021     10:00AM Worship

 

ENTRANCE SONG: “What Child Is This”

A TIME OF CONFESSION:

L   Good news of great joy, light and life, grace and peace [+] be with each and with all!

     Jesus our Lord came into an indifferent and hostile world to dwell among us and to bring us new life.

     Let us confess our own sinfulness, our own failures to receive this great and precious gift of God’s grace.

C Holy God, you have given us everything; but we have failed to respond with gratitude.

In Jesus Christ, you have given us your true Word; but we answer with empty promises and lies.

In Jesus Christ, you have given us your shining light; but we try to hide ourselves from your glory.

In Jesus Christ, you have given us your lasting life; but we prefer the things and ways of this world.

Without you, our hearts are not at peace, our lives are not joyful, and the shadows surround us. 

Oh, how we pray for mercy! Oh, how we pray for forgiveness! Oh, how we pray for new life! 

In Jesus Christ, give us faith and power to become what you created us to be –

beloved children of God, full of grace and truth.  Amen.

L   In the Word who has come to dwell with us, in that one life that was the Light for all people, God has given

     us grace upon grace, forgiveness that is stronger than our sins, love that can heal every broken heart.

     Believe this good news: In Jesus Christ [+] you are forgiven. You have been called by God, claimed in Christ,

     set free through the Spirit.  Amen.  

THE PRAYER OF THE DAY  (together):

Please let us pray with grateful and willing hearts. 

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 everything that cannot bear this light.

Let Jesus be a lamp to our feet and a word of freedom and mercy.

And Let the light of our faith shine forth in all we think, say, or do.  Amen.

FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31:7-14 [Out of exile into dancing, joy, and abundant food!]

31:7 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.

SONG SELECTION

SECOND READINGEphesians 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:   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!”

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 Gwen or Pastor Neil  

SONG SELECTION

OFFERING PRAYER:

     Good news! Great Joy! 

     Amazing God, light has dawned on us and we want to share it… there is joy to tell and we can’t help but

     bear 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 Dennis Fortune

THE PRAYERS…  We pray that the joy and light of JESUS CHRIST will touch all lives!

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION:   “Jesus, the Light of the World”

THE BENEDICTION