Christmas Day, December 25, in the Lord’s Year 2022

Service of Christ’s Nativity

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words. *we invite you to stand if able.

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In Jesus is life, the life that is the light of all people.

Jesus is the true light which enlightens everyone, and he has come into the world.

* Hymn 208   O Come, All You Faithful                                                 ADESTE FIDELES

* Invocation

* Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

* Declaration of Forgiveness:  If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

* New Life in Christ:  If you love God, keep his commandments. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

* Response – Hymn 207   Good Christian Men, Rejoice               IN DULCI JUBILO

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise.

* Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)                                              GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX)

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

* The Peace of Christ The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you.

Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer

Christmas Wreath:  The Advent Candles and the Nativity Candle

Hymn 205   Away in a Manger                                                                   CRADLE SONG

Gathering Prayer (Collect for Christmas Day): O God, you make us glad by the yearly festival of the birth of your only Son Jesus Christ: Grant that we, who joyfully receive him as our Redeemer, may with sure confidence behold him when he comes to be our Judge; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of Illumination: Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find wisdom, and in your will discover your peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Holy Scriptures

Isaiah 52:7-10

Hymn 199   See, amid the Winter’s Snow      SEE AMID THE WINTER’S SNOW

Psalm 98

Hebrews 1:1-12

Hymn 224   Christians, Awake, Salute the Happy Morn                             YORKSHIRE

John 1:1-14                 The Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Sermon – “Good News of Comfort and Joy”

The Apostles’ Creed – hymnal page 845

Offering the Prayers of the People, concluding with The 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; 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.

Offering Tithes and Gifts

Offertory (Hymn 729)                                                                        HERR JESU CHRIST

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay.

* Doxology (Hymn 731)                                                                           OLD HUNDREDTH

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

* Offertory Prayer

* Hymn 224   Go Tell It on the Mountain                                                     GO TELL IT

* Benediction

Postlude