December 29, 2024 Service

1st Sunday after Christmas
A Festival of Lessons & Carols
December 29, 2024
Welcome to EPC!
May the love and warmth of God’s grace be with you as you worship.
A Festival of Lessons & Carols
Chimes
Welcome & Announcements
Prelude Good Christian Friends, Rejoice arr. Robert Lau
The Call to Worship
Praise God from the heights! The Holy One is transcendent, radiant, and glorious.
Salvation, redemption, and liberation come from above and dwell among us.
Praise God from the earth! Emmanuel is humble, gracious, and near.
Past, present, and future rests in the work of our hands in God’s hands.
Praise the name of God! I AM hears our cry, responds to our need,
and still speaks to our spirits.
Blessing, honor, and power belong to our God. Praise God!
*Carol O Come All Ye Faithful Adeste Fideles
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant;
O come ye; O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold him, born the King of angels!
Refrain: O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! [Refrain]
Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Holy God, you hold wisdom and knowledge beyond our ability to imagine or comprehend. Yet, you reveal yourself and the wonders of your creation to us. Regrettably, we allow the busyness of our lives, the distraction of our days, and the influences of the world to pull us from your revelation, presence, and hopes for us. Hold us accountable to your covenant so that as you are with us, we will be with you. Make us a righteous branch in the vineyard. In the name of Jesus and hope of restoration, we pray. Amen. ( ~ a time of silent prayer)
Assurance of Grace
Beloved, trust that the grace of God has appeared, bringing new life to all. Receive the gifts of grace and mercy from the Compassionate One who recognizes your repentance, comes to you in your weakness, offers strength for transformation, provides encouragement for repair, and grants forgiveness for sin. Thanks be to God. Begin again. Amen.
Congregational Response What Star is This? (v. 4) Puer Nobis Nascitur
To God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Spirit, Three in one,
May every tongue and nation raise an endless song of thankful praise.
*Passing the Peace of Christ (please share the peace as you feel comfortable)
Peace be with you.
And also with you.
First Lesson Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19 NRSV
Adam and Eve disobey God
8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” 4 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures;upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head,and you will strike his heel.” 17 And to the man[a] he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
*Carol O Little Town of Bethlehem St. Louis
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us; abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Second Lesson Genesis 22:15-18 NRSV
God’s promise to Abraham
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will make yo