Order of Service / Chirstmas 1 / December 28, 2025

*Gathering Hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful (#60 VU | vs. 1-3)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Lighting the Christ Candle

Call to Worship

One: This is the season of Christmas. With the birth of Jesus, this is the time of hopes fulfilled and love made real.

  All: We rejoice in the gift of Christ, God’s love among us.

One: This Sunday marks the end of one year. This is a time of recollecting past accomplishments and failures, a time of remembering former events, good and difficult.

  All: We give thanks for God’s faithfulness through all that has been.

One: This week anticipates the beginning of a new year. This is a time of seeking new perspective and being open to new opportunities.

All: We step forward in hope, trusting God who makes all things new.

*Adopted from Bill Steadman. Gathering ACE 2025-2026. Page 36.

Opening Prayer

*Opening Hymn Go, Tell It on the Mountain (#43 VU)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

Holy One, we come before you with open hearts as one year ends and another begins, seeking to listen for your call. We confess that we are not always open to your guidance. Looking back, we recognize the times we missed your way and failed to respond to the needs of others. Turn us again toward your path of faithfulness and hope as we prepare our hearts for the year ahead. In silence now, we offer our personal prayers of confession, as we prepare our hearts for the journey of the new year. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: God kindles within us a spirit of hope, even when life is bleak and appears hopeless to us.

All: No matter where we are or what we have done or how we feel, God is there with us and for us, giving us reason to face another day with faith and with hope. Thanks be to God.

*Adopted from Bill Steadman. Gathering ACE 2025-2026. Page 36.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Isaiah 63:7-9 God’s presence has saved us.

Psalm 148 (VU p. 871) Let all creation praise God.

Matthew 2:13-23 The escape to Egypt.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (#58 VU)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#55 VU | v. 4, In the Bleak Midwinter)

What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

if I were a wise man, I would do my part;

yet what I can I give him -- give my heart.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)
Servanthood is hard, O God, yet you call us to serve. Following through on a commitment is challenging, O Christ, yet you call us to reach out to others in love. Giving to others beyond our own needs and wants is demanding, O Spirit, yet you give us the direction and the purpose. Bless what we offer here as signs of our servanthood, of our commitment, and of our self-giving in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*Gord Dunbar. Gathering ACE 2025/2026. Page 37.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn One More Step Along the World I Go (#639 VU | vs. 1,4,5)

*Commissioning

One: We contemplate and consider the needs of the world, and seek to meet the challenges that we encounter.

  All: As we enter the new year, God will be with us in our times of challenge.

One: We contemplate and consider opportunities for service, and seek ways to make real the hope that we share.

All: As we enter the new year, God will be with us in our times of hope.

One: We understand and accept the reality of grief and disappointment and seek ways to support each other through the journey of life.

All: As we enter the new year, God will be with us in our times of sorrow.

One: We anticipate and discover joys yet to be revealed and seek to live with enthusiasm each new day.

All: As we enter the new year, God will be with us in our times of joy.

One: We share the confidence that God is with us each and every day.

All: Thanks be to God, now and always.

*Bill Steadman. Gathering ACE 2025/2026. Page 37.

*Commissioning Song I Am Walking a Path of Peace (#221 MV)

I am walking a path with light, I am walking a path with light

I am walking a path with light, lead me home, lead me home.

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