First Sunday of Christmas, Year A - Year A - Worship Service - 11:00 AM Service -- Pastor Naomi Carriker

We are a small church, but big on Grace. We gather each Sunday at 11:00 am for worship by singing hymns, hearing readings from the bible, praying together and a celebration of Holy Communion. Communion is the spiritual bread our bodies need to live. All are invited to join us at the Lord's table to be fed by his heavenly food, There are no strangers in God’s house, and if you choose to worship with us, we would be honored by your presence.

Introduction

As we celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, our gospel today confronts us with the death of innocent children at the hands of Herod. The birth of Christ does not remove the power of evil from our world, but its light gives us hope as we walk with all the “holy innocents” of past generations and today who have suffered unjustly. In our gathering around word and meal, God continues to redeem us, lift us up, and carry us as in days of old.

Prayer of the Day

O Lord God, you know that we cannot place our trust in our own powers. As you protected the infant Jesus, so defend us and all the needy from harm and adversity, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

First Reading: Isaiah 63:7-9 God does not delegate divine intervention to a messenger or angel. God’s own presence brings salvation. The prophet and all who read these words join in celebrating God’s gracious deeds. God trusts that God’s people will not act falsely.

Psalm: 148 The splendor of the Lord is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)

Second Reading:  

Hebrews 2:10-18 Through Jesus’ suffering and death, the trail to eternal salvation has been blazed for us. We do not fear death, because he has conquered the power of death. Thus Christ, our merciful and faithful high priest, has the final say over the destiny of our lives.

Gospel:  

Matthew 2:13-23 In a dream, Joseph is warned to flee to Egypt to protect the infant Jesus from the jealousy of Herod.

13  Now after [the magi] had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”

14  Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt

15  and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”  

16  When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.

17  Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:  

18  “A voice was heard in Ramah,   wailing and loud lamentation,  Rachel weeping for her children;   she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”  

19  When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said,

20  “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”

21  Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

22  But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee.

23  There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

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After the Sermon, Holy Communion will be offered. Come as you are, the gift of the Table of the Lord has been prepared as Jesus has requested and now we are invited to the meal. Come to the table like Peter, with m ore enthusiasm than resolve and like James and John, disappointed and the priorities of God’s reign. Come to the table like Martha, hosting and leading with confidence like Mary, full of love and grief. Come to the table like Judas, disillusioned and rebellious and like Mary Magdalene, faithful till the end. Come to the table, because it is God who invites us and it’s God’s will that those who want to should meet God here.

Blessing for the day (Our blessing is an adaptation of a Franciscan Prayer)

May God bless us with discomfort at a Easy answers, half truths and superficial leaderships so that we may live out God’s will deep in our heartland in our world.

May god bless with anger at injustice, oppression and exploration and the environments that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, hunger and war so that we may reach out with hands and hearts to help them, walk with them and turn their pain into hope and joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. To bring justice, peace, hope and love to all children, the poor and all others in any need.

God be your comfort, your strength;

God be your hope and support;

God be your light and your way; and the blessing of God Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life, remain with you now and forever.