Service Outline for Sunday, January 5, 2025

Welcome to worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church!

PRELUDE                                   “The Desert Shall Rejoice”            L. Smith

PRELUDE    Huron Carol   Marilyn Ham

 

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, the Word made flesh,

our life and our salvation.

Amen.

Trusting the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

God of life,

you promise good news of great joy for all people,

and call us to be messengers of your peace.

We confess that too often we hoard our joy,

our resources, and our security.

We nurture conflict and build barriers.

We neglect the needs of our neighbors

and ignore the groaning of creation.

Have mercy on us.

Where we are self-centered, open our hearts.

Where we are reluctant, give us courage.

Where we are cynical, restore our trust.

Renew us with your grace

and give us again the hope of eternal life in you.

Amen.

Hear the good news:

We are children of God and heirs of God’s promises

through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

In + Jesus we are forgiven and redeemed.

Sing with joy, for all the ends of the earth

shall know the salvation of God.

Amen.

HYMN                                                   The First Noel                                                        #300

GREETING

The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

*HYMN OF PRAISE                    Angels We Have Heard on High                                       #289

PRAYER OF THE DAY, Children's message

FIRST READING: First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14

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.” 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. 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 where they shall not stumble, for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. 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 does a flock.” ¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 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. 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. ¹⁴ I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Psalm: 147:12-20

 ¹² Worship the Lord, ^| O Jerusalem; praise your ^| God, O Zion,
 ¹³ who has strengthened the bars ^| of your gates
        and has blessed your children within you.
 ¹⁴ God has established peace ^| on your borders
  and satisfies you with the ^| finest wheat.
 ¹⁵ God sends out a command ^| to the earth, a word that runs ^| very swiftly. 
 ¹⁶ God gives ^| snow like wool, scattering ^| frost like ashes.
 ¹⁷ God scatters ^| hail like bread crumbs. Who can stand against God’s

  cold?
 ¹⁸ The Lord sends forth the ^| word and melts them;
        the wind blows, and the ^| waters flow.
 ¹⁹ God declares the ^| word to Jacob, statutes and judgments to Israel.
 ²⁰ The Lord has not done so to any ^| other nation;
         they do not know God’s judgments. ^| Hallelujah! 

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

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, ⁴ just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵ He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight ⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 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, ¹² so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 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; ¹⁴ this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

 GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

*GOSPEL: John 1:[1-9] 10-18

The Holy Gospel according to Saint John, the first Chapter. Glory to you, O Lord.

[¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.  ⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.] ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 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. 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.’ ”) ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

HYMN                                                         Love Has Come                                       #292

APOSTLES CREED

 

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, 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, PEACE, OFFERING,

COMMUNION PRAYER

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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen

 

DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

HYMN                         O Little Town of Bethlehem                                 #279

PRAYER

BLESSING

HYMN                       What Child is This                              #296

  

DISMISSAL

POSTLUDE                                    “Hark! The Heral Angels Sing”               arr.J. Eifurt

 Liturgy and hymns printed and streamed with permission through OneLicense. A-710659