First Sunday after Christmas 12/28/25
Christmas 1 12.28.2025 PDF ds1
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
DECEMBER 28, 2025
ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, FALLS CHURCH, VA
✠ ✠ ✠
PRELUDE Angels from the Realms of Glory
Setting: Tom Shewmaker
WELCOME
ENTRANCE HYMN (Stand) Angels from the Realms of Glory LSB 367
1 Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth. Refrain
Refrain
Come and worship, come and worship;
Worship Christ, the newborn King.
2 Shepherds in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing,
Yonder shines the Infant Light. Refrain
3 Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations,
Ye have seen His natal star. Refrain
4 Saints before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear. Refrain
5 All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To the_eternal Three in One. Refrain
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION LSB 151
In the name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Silence for reflection on God’s Word and for self-examination.
Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. 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 with our whole heart; we have
not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal
punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us,
renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to
the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
KYRIE LSB 152
In peace let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for
the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to
the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Amen.
THIS IS THE FEAST LSB 155
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of
God.
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Power, riches, wisdom, and strength, and honor, blessing, and glory are His.
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation:
Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia.
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
THE PRAYER OF THE DAY
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray. O God, our Maker and Redeemer,
You wonderfully created us and in the incarnation of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature. Grant that we may ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
✠ ✠ ✠
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
FIRST LESSON (Be seated) Isaiah 63:7-14
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old,
of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
his Holy Spirit,
who caused his glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,
who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
Like livestock that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALM 111 (Sung responsively)
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
SECOND LESSON Galatians 4:4-7
When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
ALLELUIA VERSE (Stand) LSB 156
Alleluia.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL Matthew 2:13-23
The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the 2nd chapter
Glory to You, O Lord.
When [the wise men] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen. Dear friends in Christ:
Today is the 4th day of Christmas and the church keeps celebrating. But many in our world are ready to get back to normal. Perhaps we are too. We’ve heard the carols and enjoyed the decorations and now we’re ready to pack them away for a year. We’ve enjoyed our holiday time off, but the kids are getting restless. The normal routine is sounding good in many ways.
But can we ever really go back to normal? After all, the baby has been born. And the baby changes everything.
Think back to the changes in your life when a baby was born. I remember my younger brothers being born and feeling as if my life had been turned upside down. I had to share my parents, my toys, my room, and the back seat of the car.
And then there’s the birth of my own children. Talk about adjustments! Less freedom, more mouths to feed, more equipment to buy and carry around, etc. etc. etc.! A baby changes everything.
Some of these changes are tough for us. But when we think about it, we quickly realize that the toughness is far outweighed by the good. A baby brings joy, enrichment, and blessing beyond measure.
The same is true when we add the baby Jesus into our family – when we allow him, as the song says, to “be born in us today.” The change that this brings might add some extra challenge and responsibility to our days, but these are overshadowed by the joy.
As we seek to capture, again today, what that baby born in Bethlehem means to us, we do well to examine some of the first thoughts of Matthew, that great biographer of the baby Jesus. Matthew does more than simply give the details of Jesus’ life. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he tells the story in a way which teaches us just how special this baby is.
In today’s reading we hear of the early moves that Jesus and his family make. Jesus doesn’t stay in Bethlehem but goes to Egypt; then comes “out of Egypt” to his childhood home of Nazareth.
These moves give us clues about Jesus’ identity. And Matthew points to these, as he often does, by showing how they fulfill Old Testament prophecies. In today’s reading there are three of them.
The first of these was given by the prophet Hosea. God had said through Hosea: “Out of Egypt I called my son” – referring to Israel, whom God had led out of slavery from that land.
And by making this connection, Matthew shows how Jesus is to be compared to Israel. He, too, is God’s Son.
In our Old Testament reading today, Isaiah the prophet says something similar. He quotes God calling Israel “his children,” and mentions how God had saved them from slavery by bringing them out of Egypt.
Jesus is God’s chosen, just as Israel was. And Jesus literally walks the path of Israel to show this connection.
And yet Jesus is greater than Israel too. Our Old Testament reading describes how Israel continued to disobey God. And this is something that Jesus never did. Jesus was not born into sin like the rest of us. We know this because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
As the text also makes clear, Jesus is like that greatest of the Israelites, Moses, whom God used to lead his people out of slavery. Like Moses, Jesus as a child escaped an attempt on his life by a cruel leader. Moses escaped the killing of all baby boys in Egypt by a Pharaoh who wanted no Hebrew challengers in his land, and Jesus escaped the slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem initiated by King Herod.
Jesus was great like Moses, and yet greater than Moses too. Moses did not get to enter the promised land because he had doubted God and hesitated in his leadership. But Jesus never wavered in such ways. Jesus was able to return to the land of Israel and minister to the people, giving them more than even Moses could give.
When Jesus left Egypt, his father did not take him to Bethlehem or Jerusalem or any of the prominent places in Judea, but instead took him to Nazareth, an insignificant little town in the inferior – as the Jews saw it – territory of Galilee. That’s where Jesus would grow up. And forever after, he would carry the label “Jesus of Nazareth” – a label that seems very innocent to us, but which also indicated some derision because Nazareth was so tiny. This derision is seen in the words of Nathaniel, who upon hearing about Jesus said: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
The label may have been used for various reasons, but Matthew points out that it was prophetic as well. He says that Jesus was “called a Nazarene” to fulfill what the prophets said. Just so you know, there are no prophets who wrote this actual line, at least as recorded in our scriptures. But many of the prophets capture the phrase’s essence when they tell how the Messiah would suffer for his people.
Yes, even as a child, Jesus is identified as the perfect Son of God. He walks the path of Israel and does so as Israel never could. Israel struggled with God – as the name declares. But Jesus reflects God’s glory; and leads his people too.
About this second point, Matthew’s text has even more to reveal. The baby changes everything, remember, and Moses may have delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, but Jesus will deliver his people in an even greater way.
When we read this text, we tend to focus on the great tragedy it describes. We are troubled to hear about how a horrible tyrant named Herod, who had killed members of his own family to keep power for himself, here orders the senseless killing of infant boys – perhaps 20 or 30 we estimate – just in case those wise men who saw a star were actually on to something. To acknowledge the pain of this troubling act, the church recognizes the awful slaughter by dedicating the day of December 28 each year as the festival of the Holy Innocents. And this is a good day to recognize that there are many other innocents who are cruelly done away with in our day too, usually so that someone with more power can have what they want.
Even though today is the 28th of December, I’m having us focus on this event in a different way. Rather than noting the deaths, we’re highlighting the escape.
The escape tells us that baby Jesus will prevail over evil. He will survive the attack of Herod; and survive other attacks too.
Herod may send soldiers, but God sends an angel. That angel spoke to Joseph, once again in a dream, telling him to get out of town and save his child. Joseph obeyed this message, and Jesus survived.
Here we should note that while Jesus survived this horrific attack meant to kill him, God’s people did not always survive. Some of them died, in violent ways. Once again, Matthew highlights this by a word from the Scriptures. He says: “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted because they are no more.’”
By quoting this text, Matthew also makes one other comparison between Jesus and Israel. In Jeremiah’s immediate application of this prophecy, Rachel’s children – which refers to both Israel and Judah – would be conquered and devastated by foreign armies. God punished his ancient people because of their sin.
And this reminds us that although Jesus escaped his initial attack by King Herod, he would eventually be put to death by soldiers too. They would nail him to a cross, where he would die a horrible death.
When this happened, it appeared that the tyrants had finally gotten Jesus. But had they really?
Before his death, Jesus was able to teach about God in a way that no one had ever done before. And he was able to live a life of perfection – walking the path of service and love that Israel was supposed to walk but could not. Because of this, his death, like his life, meant more than Israel’s. His innocent death qualified as a sacrifice for human sin, paying its price.
Jesus’ death was not a defeat nor a sad tragedy. It was a gift to all humanity – freeing us from the curse of sin.
And so that we would know this with certainty, and believe in its power, Jesus was then resurrected from the dead, three days later. Unlike Israel, Jesus was a true innocent. And he survived.
Today’s reading from the beginning of Matthew foreshadows all of this. Jesus survives the sins of tyrants, whether it be Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas… or even us.
Yes, I know we don’t usually think of ourselves as tyrants. And in most ways, we’re not. But we do certainly want to rule, and make our own decisions, and do things our way. We often resent, too, the fact that God insists on ruling instead of allowing us.
Therefore, on this fourth day of the Christmas Season, we continue to ask that God be born in us again. We need Christ’s message calling us to repentance. And we need the forgiveness that only he can offer.
We need regular reminders of these things too, lest we lose our hope and resort to the tactics of the tyrants. Herod could see only an affront to his authority, and sometimes that’s the way we operate too.
In conclusion, let us remember the baby’s message of salvation so that we also welcome his rule. When we welcome the baby, our life changes in many ways, but we know these changes are always for our good.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
HYMN OF THE DAY (Stand) Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising LSB 375
1 Come, your hearts and voices raising,
Christ the Lord with gladness praising;
Loudly sing His love amazing,
Worthy folk of Christendom.
2 Christ, from heav’n to us descending
And in love our race befriending;
In our need His help extending,
Saved us from the wily foe.
3 Jacob’s star in all its splendor
Beams with comfort sweet and tender,
Forcing Satan to surrender,
Breaking all the pow’rs of hell.
4 From the bondage that oppressed us,
From sin’s fetters that possessed us,
From the grief that sore distressed us,
We, the captives, now are free.
5 Oh, the joy beyond expressing
When by faith we grasp this blessing,
And to You we come confessing
That Your love has set us free.
6 Gracious Child, we pray, O hear us,
From Your lowly manger cheer us,
Gently lead us and be near us
Till we join Your choir above.
APOSTLES’ CREED Hymnal, back cover
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life ✠ everlasting. Amen.
OFFERING
Offerings support the church’s mission work – both here and through our many partners. Offerings may be placed in the box at the sanctuary entrance or sent to the church through our website or the mail. Fellowship Cards help us welcome new people and track participation. Please fill one out and place it in the offering box following the service.
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Lord, we are the people of Your promise, to whom You have revealed Your Son as Savior and Redeemer. Bless Your Church with true faith in these promises and bring to fruition its proclamation in every place and time. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God, You give us the gift of knowing and serving others. Renew our fellowship as the Body of Christ, grant all things beneficial for husbands and wives, and provide for those who yearn to know the comfort of family and friends. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth! Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have perfected Your praise. Silence the enemy and the avenger. Turn the hearts of all who, like Herod, would despise children or destroy the unborn for selfish gain. Show Your forgiveness to those who are penitent. Give Your comfort to all who mourn the loss of infants, and fix our eyes on Christ, who for a time was spared but has shed His blood for our salvation. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Merciful God, You appoint leaders and give to them the responsibility of authority. Protect our nation and its leaders, granting them wisdom in their pursuit of justice. Bring Your gift of peace to the whole world and give relief to those who suffer oppression. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Almighty Lord, You are the Great Physician. Grant healing in accordance with Your will to the sick and all those who suffer, especially those on our prayer list and those we name in our hearts at this time…. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Gracious God, in Holy Communion You unite us in the body and blood of Your Son. Enable us to receive this Sacrament with faith, and strengthen our faith through it. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, all that we have comes from You. Give us grateful hearts, that we may receive Your gifts with joy and use them wisely for Your glory. May our worship this day be pleasing in Your sight. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Hear us, O Lord, for we are the people of Your promise and the children whom You have redeemed. And we ask these things through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen.
OFFERTORY (Stand) Let the Vineyards Be Fruitful LSB 955
Let the vineyards be fruitful, Lord,
And fill to the brim our cup of blessing.
Gather a harvest from the seeds that were sown,
That we may be fed with the bread of life.
Gather the hopes and the dreams of all;
Unite them with the prayers we offer now.
Grace our table with Your presence, and give us
A foretaste of the feast to come.
✠ ✠ ✠
THE LITURGY OF HOLY COMMUNION
PREFACE (Stand) LSB 160
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who, out of love for His fallen creation, humbled Himself by taking on the form of a servant, becoming obedient unto death, even death upon a cross. Risen from the dead, He has freed us from eternal death and given us life everlasting. Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying:
SANCTUS LSB 161
Holy, holy, holy Lord God of pow’r and might:
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
Hosanna. Hosanna.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING LSB 161
Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have had mercy on those whom You created and sent Your only-begotten Son into our flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. With repentant joy we receive the salvation accomplished for us by the all-availing sacrifice of His body and His blood on the cross.
Gathered in the name and the remembrance of Jesus, we beg You, O Lord, to forgive, renew, and strengthen us with Your Word and Spirit. Grant us faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood as He bids us do in His own testament. Gather us together, we pray, from the ends of the earth to celebrate with all the faithful the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom, which has no end. Graciously receive our prayers; deliver and preserve us. To You alone, O Father, be all glory, honor, and worship, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
THE WORDS OF OUR LORD
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My ✠ body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My ✠ blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
As often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
O Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, in giving us Your body and blood to eat and to drink, You lead us to remember and confess Your holy cross and passion, Your blessed death, Your rest in the tomb, Your resurrection from the dead, Your ascension into heaven, and Your coming for the final judgment. So remember us in Your kingdom and teach us to pray:
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 trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
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.
PAX DOMINI LSB 163
The peace of the Lord be with you always.
Amen.
AGNUS DEI LSB 163
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sin of the world; grant us peace.
DISTRIBUTION (Be seated)
Those wishing to commune at the foot of the steps should come forward first. Those wishing to commune at the altar rail should come forward after these, front rows first, from both sides of the aisle. After receiving, all should return to their seats. A common dismissal will be given at the end.
COMMUNION HYMN See amid the Winter’s Snow LSB 373
1 See amid the winter’s snow,
Born for us on earth below,
See, the gentle Lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years. Refrain
Refrain
Hail, O ever-blessèd morn!
Hail, redemption’s happy dawn!
Sing through all Jerusalem:
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
2 Lo, within a stable lies
He who built the starry skies,
He who, throned in height sublime,
Sits amid the cherubim. Refrain
3 Sacred Infant, all divine,
What a tender love was Thine,
Thus to come from highest bliss
Down to such a world as this! Refrain
4 Teach, O teach us, holy Child,
By Thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble Thee
In Thy sweet humility. Refrain
NUNC DIMITTIS (Stand) LSB 165
Lord, now You let Your servant go in peace; Your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation which You have prepared in the sight of ev’ry people:
A light to reveal You to the nations and the glory of Your people Israel.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
POST-COMMUNION COLLECT
BENEDICTION
SENDING HYMN Gentle Mary Laid Her Child LSB 374
1 Gentle Mary laid her child
Lowly in a manger;
There He lay, the Undefiled,
To the world a stranger.
Such a babe in such a place,
Can He be the Savior?
Ask the saved of all the race
Who have found His favor.
2 Angels sang about His birth,
Wise Men sought and found Him;
Heaven’s star shone brightly forth
Glory all around Him.
Shepherds saw the wondrous sight,
Heard the angels singing;
All the plains were lit that night,
All the hills were ringing.
3 Gentle Mary laid her child
Lowly in a manger;
He is still the Undefiled
But no more a stranger.
Son of God of humble birth,
Beautiful the story;
Praise His name in all the earth;
Hail the King of glory!
ANNOUNCEMENTS (Be seated)
DISMISSAL
POSTLUDE Gentle Mary Laid Her Child Setting: Donald Rotermund
Those serving:
8:00 a.m.:
Greeter: Steve Janssen
Comm. assist: Judy Koucky
Reader: Melissa Hecht
10:30 a.m.:
Greeter: Charles Fisher
Comm. assist: Dan Buuck
Reader: Charles Fisher
Acolyte: Joshua Wang
AV Assistants: Hannes Buuck, Andreas Buuck
Acknowledgements
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2025 Concordia Publishing House.
367 Angels from the Realms of Glory Text (sts. 1, ref, 2–4): James Montgomery, 1771–1854, alt.; (st. 5): Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857, Salisbury, alt. Tune: Henry T. Smart, 1813–79Text and tune: Public domain
389 Let All Together Praise Our God Text (sts. 1, 5–7): tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913–2001; (st. 2): tr. August Crull, 1845–1923, alt. Text and tune: Nicolaus Herman, c. 1480–1561 Text (sts. 1, 5–7): © 1969 Concordia Publishing House. sed by permission: LSB Hymn License no. 110005326 Text (st. 2) and tune: Public domain
392 God Loves Me Dearly Text: August Rische, 1819–1906; tr. Composite Tune: German Text and tune: Public domain
897 O Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly Text: Christian Keimann, 1607–62; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt. Tune: Andreas Hammerschmidt, c. 1611–1675 Text and tune: Public domain
