Order of Worship First Sunday after Christmas
December 31, 2023
Welcome - Shelly Wilson
Prelude “Prelude for a New Day”
Composer/Arranger: Kevin Olson, Performed by Da-Sol, Grace, Yushan, and Reese, Piano Majors at Grand Valley State University
Lighting of the Candle of Peace
Call to Worship and Invocation
Call To Worship
One: How are we to live as God's beloved children?
ALL: We are to have attitudes and actions of compassion and justice.
One: How are we to live as neighbors with one another?
ALL: We are to put on the garments of love and peace.
One: Let us come before the Lord in gratitude, in celebration, and in peace.
Invocation
Eternal God, the dawn of a new year prompts us to reflect on our past and hope for our future. Help us live every day seeking your way and moving on your path. Receive our praise, dwell in our midst, and create in us a heart that yearns for you and your kin-dom. In the name of Emmanuel, we pray. Amen.
Opening Hymn - “Go Tell It on the Mountain” - CH#167
Poem - “Light” by Arupa Freeman
Be a light in the darkness
A menorah candle, a solstice moon, a star of Bethlehem,
To someone, and then to someone else as on we go,
Giving birth to Spirit.
Some say, the world is made of anger, hate, and pain,
I say it’s made of tulips, tangerines eglantines, and elephants. All animals, all plants, all people, all rocks, planets, oceans, continents, and galaxies.
Our enemies?
Bring them oil for their lanterns,
ask that moonbeams fall lightly on their shoulders.
Special Music “Nunc Dimittis in A” (by Charles Villiers Stanford) performed by the Choir of St. John’s Cambridge
Scripture Reading - Luke 2:22-40
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word,
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
Response - Thy Word - CH # 326
Sermon - “A Peaceful Departure” - Shelly Wilson
Hymn of Response - “Once in Royal David’s City” - CH#165
Prayers of the People “For All Who Give You a Face” - CH#157
For all who give you a face, Lord Jesus, by spreading your love in the world, we praise you. For all who give you hands, by doing their best toward all their siblings, we praise you. For all who give you a mouth, Lord Jesus, by defending the weak and the oppressed, we praise you. For all who give you eyes, by seeing every bit of love in the heart of humankind, we praise you. For all who give to your poverty the look of hope for your Realm, we praise you. For all who reveal you simply by what they are, Lord Jesus, because they reflect your beauty in their lives, we praise you. You who are the God of a thousand faces, yet whom nothing can reveal completely except the face of the child of Bethlehem, we pray to you: Continue in our lives the mystery of Christmas. Let your Child become flesh in us so that we may be for all our siblings the revelation of your love as was Jesus who taught his disciples to pray, saying,
Lord’s Prayer Our Creator, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kin-dom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kin-dom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Call to Offering
We have come to the time in our service for the giving and receiving of our financial support for the work of the Church. In addition to supporting our beloved local church’s ministries, we also have the opportunity to give to our denomination’s special offering—The Christmas Fund. Received each December, the Christmas Fund helps provide emergency financial assistance for retired clergy. Thank you for your support of our Church’s work for peace and justice in the world.
Your generous gifts, tithes and offerings can be received online by clicking on the button below. Donations are accepted via PayPal, but giving this way does not require you to have or set up a PayPal account.
Doxology - OLD HUNDREDTH - (NCH #778)
Dedication of our Offerings
Spirit of God, when we share from our souls, we open our hearts to your works in this world. When we tend to our neighbors who struggle in weariness, we care for the Christ in our midst. When we welcome the prophet who shares your love through their advocacy, we care for the Spirit moving throughout our world. When we share with a stranger, we experience Divine hope, peace, joy, and love, as our reward for giving. Bless all gifts as they build your Realm here on earth. Amen.
Closing Hymn - “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” - CH#164
Click here to play the hymn on YouTube
Benediction “A Blessing for the New Year” (by Kayleen Asbo) - Shelly
As the hours of darkness begin to slowly wane from the winter sky,
So too may the fearful places of your heart unclench their grasp on your life
As the presence of light begins to grow with greater sureness with each passing day
May your own courage blossom to open more brightly to truth and love.
Let this be the year that you turn off the television and silence the talk radio chatter
in order to pick up the writing pen, the paintbrush,
and watch the candle slowly burn.
May this be the year that you delight
in seeing how much joy you can extravagantly spread.
May you discover just how much beauty you can recklessly shower
upon this thirsty world.
May this be the year that you tune both the dusty piano in the corner
and the inner listening of your care-worn heart
So that both can play in harmony with the chorus of creation.
May you break the invisible yardstick of impossible expectations
and learn that just as you are,
you are enough.
May this be the year that you cease trying to march to an imagined ideal
and instead, wrap your arms around the messy wonder your life really is,
hold it close
and do the tango.
Let this be the year you befriend your soul in its radical particularity,
not forsaking it yet again for the bland demands and cravings of the masses.
Instead, may you elope with the wildness of your own true calling,
marry your soul to its deepest longings and invite the hungry world to the
wedding feast.
Shalom
Postlude - “Nunc Dimittis” by Geoffrey Burgon
performed by BBC Young Chorister of the Year Ischia and Royal Wedding Trumpeter David Blackadder.
Worship has ended, let the service begin!
Welcome to our church, whether we meet in person or online, it is a sacred space where, indeed, all are welcome. A special greeting if you are a visitor with us today.
Worship Leader: Rev. Shelly Wilson
Worship Production: Kelly Yamanishi and Carolyn Cheng
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