St. Andrew s Lutheran Church San Mateo, CA Christmas Day - Dec. 25, 2016 Prelude Welcome - Blessed Christmas to you all. Welcome to St. Andrews Lutheran Church in San Mateo, CA and our on-line Christmas Day service for 2016. Please feel free to use your pause button during the offering to send your financial gift to St. Andrews and during Holy Communion. We are thankful for the volunteers who pre-recorded this service: our vocal choir, our youth and our readers. Special thanks goes to Steve Eulberg who recorded, edited and posted this service to our website: standrews.org
Gathering Hymn: Hark The Herald Angels Sing Red Hymnal #270
Prayer of the Day: Loving God, you have come to us, not with great signs and wonders, but in a babe who became a humble carpenter. You took on human form, not with trappings of power and might, but among folk who fasted, prayed, and gave thanks in the midst of their poverty. You made your witness, not with devices of intimidation and coercion, but through an instrument of suffering and scorn. For your foolishness is wiser than human thought, and your weakness is stronger than all human powers. Grant that we may hear and respond to your wisdom, O God. AMEN (Lavon Baylor, pg. 20 Flames of the Spirit ) Reading: Isaiah 62:2-12 6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it renowned throughout the earth. 8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink the wine for which you have labored; 9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it shall drink it in my holy courts. 10 Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. 11 The Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, "See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." 12 They shall be called, "The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord"; and you shall be called, "Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken." Psalm 97 Leader: The Lord is king Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad People: Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Leader: Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side. People: God s lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. Leader: The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.
People: The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory. Leader: All worshipers of images are put to shame, those who make their boast in worthless idols; all gods bow down before him. People: Zion hears and is glad, and the towns of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O God. Leader: For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. People: The Lord loves those who hate evil; he guards the lives of his faithful; he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. Leader: Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Titus 3:4-7 New Living Translation When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. Gospel: Luke 2:1-20 1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will
find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors" 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Celebrate Youth Sermon
Sermon Hymn: Joy to the World Red Hymnal #267
Prayers of the People- Leader: O God of wonder, this is the time when we remember your gentleness, hidden in a mother s hope and in the joy of birth. This is the time when we believe again, if only for a season, that love is stronger than fear, peace more enduring than enmity, and that the darkness will never put out the light. And so, in this the season of midwinter, we offer to you the joy, the hopes, the dreams of children. O God, we ask that you bring comfort to those who are homeless, ill, lonely and isolated. We come before you this day with thoughts of those people that we know need your care and healing. We now pause to speak these name aloud or in the silence of our hearts. (pause for individual prayer) We offer to you our gift of gratitude, and we make bold to believe that you have graced us with your presence, for we are gathered in the name of Love. AMEN. ( Flames of the Spirit, David Beebe, pg. 24) Offering Thank you for your generous contributions to the ministry of God through St. Andrews Lutheran in San Mateo, CA Offering Prayer - Thank you, God of love, for the promise of this season. We are grateful for the generosity aroused in us by Christ s coming into the world. May these gifts represent a new spirit of joyous sharing among us, for the sake of all your children everywhere. AMEN (Lavon Baylor, pg. 20 Flames of the Spirit ) Eucharistic Prayer - O God, you made a covenant with Abraham and you lived up to that agreement. You led your people Israel out of slavery in Egypt through the desert with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. You blessed your people with food and water and led them to the Promised Land. You gifted them with children and ways to sustain them and their families. You sent prophets to guide them. When they didn t listen to your prophets, you sent your Son to teach us, feed us, heal us and forgive us. This gift continues to be powerful down through all of our generations. Your healing power and might have brought us through times of grief and terror and your compassion has gifted us with joy and hope. Your generous love sustains us. AMEN (CWE 2016)
Words of Institution (Feel free to speak theses words along with Pastor Connie) In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my book, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me. Holy Communion - You are invited to use the traveling communion cups with wafers at this time. If you don t have these, please use your own bread, crackers, wine or juice. Blessing: May the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace. AMEN Post Communion Prayer: We give you thanks, O God, that you have come to us through Jesus Christ, both in the midst of time and history in the city of Bethlehem, and in the timeless presence of Christ s Spirit as we receive the gifts of bread and wine. Send us out into the world rejoicing, ready to share your love with the people we meet; through the grace of Jesus Christ. AMEN (Rebecca A. Ferguson, Ruth C. Duck, Flames of the Spirit, pg. 22) Benediction: Gabriel foretold it. The angels heralded it. The shepherds came to see for themselves. And it is true. God is with us through Jesus Christ, the babe of Bethlehem and our resurrected Lord. The world will never be the same; we ourselves will never be the same. Go then and tell the world Jesus Christ is born. ( Flames of the Spirit, Peggy McClanahan, pg. 23)
SENDING HYMN: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice Red Hymnal # 288 Leader: Go in Peace, to love and serve the Lord. People: Thanks be to God