BEHOLD
Call to Worship: Psalm 118:14-17
Welcome to worship with us on this final day of the Christmas season, and the first day of the year. We are glad you have joined us to do precisely what we have read in those verses - to declare the wondrous deeds of the Lord. A new year can bring excitement, anxiety, fear, or worry. But as followers of Christ, we can rest in the reality that there is no portion of the year ahead that God does not know deeply, intimately, and completely. And if you are here this morning as a follower of Christ, there is nowhere you will go this year that Christ will not go with you. We will spend some time praying together using Psalm 16 - I will read a portion of the passage, and then give you a prompt for prayer, and leave some time for you to pray silently in your own heart. Let’s continue in worship through prayer…
Psalm 16:
Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.”As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
in whom is all my delight.
Take a moment to reflect, remember, and name evidences of God’s care and kindness to you in 2022.
The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names on my lips.
Will you take a moment to name and confess to God the places of fear, anxiety, worry, or uncertainty about the year ahead.
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Will you take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to press these truths deeply into your heart in the year ahead.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
KING OF KINGS
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL
Reading: Luke 2:41-52
Sermon: John 20:1-18
My only hope, your only hope in 2023 is not resolutions, but resting in the unchangeable character of God. All things are passing away - including you and me - but God’s Word never passes away - God never changes. So would you stand and sing these next two songs as prayers looking ahead to this year, and fixing our eyes on the Risen, Author, and Perfector of our faith…
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
You will recognize the melody of this next song, but the words may be new. Let’s sing together…
ALL GLORY BE TO CHRIST
Benediction: John 20:30-31