Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Call to Worship – Choir – Joy to the World
(Lyrics provided for reflection)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
Hymn of Invocation – Angels from the Realms of Glory (LSB 367)
Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth. Refrain
Refrain: Come and worship, come and worship;
Worship Christ, the newborn King.
Shepherds in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing,
Yonder shines the Infant Light. Refrain
Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations,
Ye have seen His natal star. Refrain
Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear. Refrain
All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To the_eternal Three in One. Refrain
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Psalm 43:4; 124:8
P: I will go to the altar of God,
C: to God my exceeding joy.
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C: who made heaven and earth.
Confession and Absolution
P: Recalling our sin and God’s mercy, let us examine our lives and consciences.
Silence for self-examination
C: I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault; wherefore I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life. Amen.
P: The almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all your sins. In the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I, a called and ordained servant of the Word, forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of the Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
+ Word +
Salutation
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
Prayer of the Day
P: Let us pray. Almighty God, grant that the birth of Your only-begotten Son in the flesh may set us free from the bondage of sin; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Isaiah 52:7–10
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Second Reading – Hebrews 1:1–6
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – John 1:1-14
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the first chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Hymn of the Day – O Come, All Ye Faithful (LSB 379)
O come, all ye faithful,
Joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the king of angels: Refrain
Refrain: O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!
Highest, most holy,
Light of Light eternal,
Born of a virgin, a mortal He comes;
Son of the Father
Now in flesh appearing! Refrain
Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
In the highest: Refrain
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory giv’n!
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing! Refrain
Sermon
Nicene Creed
C: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
P: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
For the faith to greet the news of the Word made flesh with joy and peace, for the obedience of faith to walk in the light of His ways, for the strength to be steadfast in this faith, and for speedy feet to proclaim this message to the world, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For voices to proclaim faithfully the Word of God, for listening ears that we grow in knowledge and faith by the preaching of the Word, for those who deliver to us the Means of Grace in which we behold God’s glory and receive it with joy and thanksgiving, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For the Church, here and throughout the world, for every place where the Word has planted hope and displayed God’s saving glory to the nations, and for the homes in which we teach this Word to our children and live it out in holy lives, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For peace in the world, for an end to violence, for the restoration of hope and lives still suffering from the effects of the pandemic, for justice, for the will to protect life from its beginning to its natural end, and for those in need, let us pray of the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For grace to believe the Word we hear, for repentant hearts to receive worthily the grace of Christ’s body and blood in this Holy Communion, for our strong unity in doctrine, and for our harmony in our life together as the Body of Christ, the Church, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For those who suffer any need of body or soul, for the sick, for the aged, for the grieving, and for those in their last days, that the Lord be their healing, strength, comfort, and peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: For the saints who endured in the holy confession of Your name, for the martyrs whose sacrifice inspires us still, and for all the saints who rest from their labors, that we join them on that promised day when Christ shall join the faithful as one in the marriage supper of the Lamb in His kingdom without end, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
P: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, O Lord.
Silence for meditation
P: For all things needful to this body and life and for all things profitable to our salvation, let us pray in the name of Christ, the Word made flesh, in whom we behold the glory of the eternal Trinity, now and to the end of the ages.
C: Amen.
