* Denotes all are invited to stand.
Bold text indicates portions of the service to be spoken or sung by the congregation.
December 28, 2025
First Sunday of Christmas
Music for Gathering:
Brian Jay, Organist
Welcome & Announcements:
Rev. Cindy Harvey
Minute for Mission
Introit:
Brian Jay, Organist
Call to Worship:
In snow-capped churches, and on sand-strewn beaches,
God’s people gather in joy to celebrate a birth.
With hopes littering our hearts like wrapping paper under a tree,
We offer our thanks and praise for the gift of grace swaddled in love.
With eyes wide open like little children, with hearts full of wonder and laughter,
We join our lives with Mary and Joseph, with the shepherds who ran to tell the good news.
* Assurance of Pardon
Rev. Cindy Harvey
* Song of Praise #132, verse 3 “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”
* Passing of the Peace
Time for the Children
Kathy Sutula
A Service of Lessons and Carols:
Carols are sung seated.
The First Lesson | Genesis 3:8-13
Carol: Hymn #88 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”, Verse 1
The Second Lesson | Genesis 22:15-18
Carol: Hymn #347 “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”, Verse 1
The Third Lesson | Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
Carol: Hymn #129 “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”, All Verses
The Fourth Lesson | Micah 5:2-4
Carol: Hymn #121 | “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, Verse 1
The Fifth Lesson | Luke 1:26-38
Carol: Hymn #134 “Joy to the World”, All Verses
The Sixth Lesson | Matthew 1:18-25
Carol: Hymn #116 “The Snow Lay on the Ground”, All Verses
The Seventh Lesson | Luke 2:1-7
Carol: Hymn # 124 “Still, Still, Still”, All Verses
The Eighth Lesson | Luke 2:8-20
Carol Hymn # 127 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (Jesus the Light), Verse 1
The Ninth Lesson | Matthew 2:1-12
Carol: Hymn # 151 “We Three Kings of Orient Are”, Verse 1
The Tenth Lesson | John 1:1-18
Carol: Hymn #158 “Born in the Night, Mary’s Child”, All Verses
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer
Invitation to Discipleship
Hymn #133 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD
Invitation to the Lord’s Table
*Please see informational card within the hymnals or screens for the Lord’s Supper & the Lord’s Prayer.
Great Thanksgiving
The Lord’s Prayer
The Bread is Broken and the Cup is Filled
The Communion of the People
The Prayer After Communion
* Charge & Blessing
Let us go,
to join the angels in singing of God’s glory and grace.
Let us go to share the good news,
that Jesus, the brother of the vulnerable and forgotten is in our midst still.
Let us go to offer peace and goodwill to everyone,
joining the Spirit in telling of all we have seen and heard.
* Music for Departing
CITATIONS FOR LITURGICAL ELEMENTS USED IN WORSHIP:
Liturgical materials reprinted by permission from the Book of Common Worship, 2018 Westminster John Knox Press. All rights reserved.
The Call to Worship, Call to Confession, Prayer of Confession, Assurance of Pardon and Sending are adapted with permission from online resources by Rev. Thom Shuman,
https://lectionaryliturgies.blogspot.com/ . All rights reserved.
TODAY’S MUSIC: Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE # A-724264. All rights reserved.
The Service of Lessons and Carols was developed at Cambridge University in the wake of the First World War in order to make worship more meaningful in light of the great conflict. That service is still celebrated every Christmas to this day. The service we celebrate today is based on a service celebrated at San Francisco Theological Seminary, which is based on the Cambridge service.