Stjohnslutheranc30@gmail.com www.stjohnsallegany.com January 4, 2026 11 A.M.

Welcome!

Introduction

Within the gospel reading’s profound words lies the simple message that God is revealed in a human person. Though we may try to understand how the Word existed with God from the beginning of time, the wonder we celebrate at Christmas is that the Word continues to dwell among us. Christ comes among us in the gathered assembly, the scriptures, the waters of new birth, and the bread and the wine. Through these ordinary gifts we receive the fullness of God’s grace and truth.

(please stand for our opening song)

We Sing: Angels from the Realms of Glory ELW 275

Confession and Forgiveness

P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty Savior, Prince of Peace.

C: Amen.

P: Trusting in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Reconciling God,

C: we yearn for your presence to transform our grief, pain, and despair. We confess that we have not always prepared room in our hearts for your love; we have not always recognized your presence among us; we have not always embraced your message of peace. We cry out, weary with the burden of violence, oppression, and fear. We confess our failure to make room for those seeking refuge; our participation in violent systems that harm your innocent ones; our reluctance to embody your good news. Be born in us today and teach us to sing the joyful song of your salvation. Amen.

P: God’s grace upon grace flows over you. ☩ Christ’s presence redeems the whole creation. Your sins are forgiven. Let the earth rejoice and be glad! C: Amen.

Prayer of the Day

O God our redeemer, you created light that we might live, and you illumine our world with your beloved Son. By your Spirit comfort us in all darkness, and turn us toward the light of Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

(Please be seated for the readings)

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14

God promises to bring Israel back to its land from the most remote parts of exile. In Zion Israel will rejoice over God’s gift of food and livestock. Young women will express their joy in dancing; God will give gladness instead of sorrow.

R: ⁷ Thus says the LORD: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O LORD, your people, the remnant of Israel.” ⁸ See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor together; a great company, they shall return here. ⁹ With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back; I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path where they shall not stumble, for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd does a flock.” ¹¹ For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. ¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. ¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow.

¹⁴ I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the LORD.

…This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

Psalmody: Psalm 147:12-20

Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. (Ps. 147:12)

Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion,
who has strengthened the bars of your gates and has blessed your children within you.
God has established peace on your borders and satisfies you with the finest wheat.
God sends out a command to the earth, a word that runs very swiftly.
God gives snow like wool, scattering frost like ashes.
God scatters hail like bread crumbs. Who can stand against God’s cold?
The LORD sends forth the word and melts them; the wind blows, and the waters flow.
God declares the word to Jacob, statutes and judgments to Israel.
The LORD has not done so to any other nation; they do not know God’s judgments. Hallelujah!

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

In Jesus, all of God’s plans and purposes have been made know as heaven and earth are united in Christ. Through Jesus, we have been chosen as God’s children and have been promised eternal salvation.

R:³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. ⁵ He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, ^[1] to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight ⁹ he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, ^[2] as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, ¹² so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. ¹³ In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴ this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

…This is the Word of the Lord

C: Thanks be to God

Gospel: John 1:[1-9] 10-18

C: <sung> Alleluia!

John begins his gospel with this prologue: a hymn to the Word through whom all things were created. This Word became flesh and brought grace and truth to the world.

D: [¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) ¹⁶ From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

…This is the Gospel of the Lord

C: Praise to you, oh Christ

We Sing: Love Has Come ELW 292

with Pastor Jerry leFeber

(please stand for the Apostles’ Creed)

Apostles’ Creed

C: 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. On 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

(please be seated)

Prayers of Intercession

Empowered by the news of Christ’s birth, let us pray boldly for the church, creation, and all who are in need.

A brief silence.

O God, you reveal yourself wherever two or three are gathered in your name. Be with us now, not only in the infant Jesus and resurrected Christ, but in the beloved people of this assembly. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

You reveal yourself in the waters of the womb; in brooks, ponds, and oceans; and in the waters of baptism. Grant us wisdom to tenderly care for the earth as a garden watered by your grace. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

You reveal yourself in blessed diversity. Help us to look for you in people near and far, in bodies of all kinds, and in kindred young and old. Let us seek you in many places, praising you in many tongues. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

You reveal yourself in new life. Support those beginning a new job, a new relationship, or a new living situation, especially those displaced because of tragedy or loss. Be with all others who need your life-giving touch this day (especially). Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

You reveal yourself in holy communion. Sustain all who provide food and fellowship in this congregation and in the wider community. Make our tables signs of your welcoming presence among us. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

You promise to turn mourning into joy and to comfort those who weep. We remember those who have died and look to being united with them in your glory. Hear us, O God. Your mercy is great.

With the joy of Christ’s birth in our hearts, we commend our prayers to you, O God, trusting in your boundless mercy and eternal love; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

(stand)

The Sharing of the Peace:

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C: And also with you.

P: We Greet one another with the Peace of Christ

Hymn: God, Whose Almighty Word LBW 400

Offering Prayer

P: God of glory, great are your wonders among us and many are the blessings you bestow. Use us and these your gifts for the needs of the world, that all the ends of the earth may rejoice in your saving grace, through Christ our Savior

C: Amen.

Communion

P: Good and loving God, we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, who came among the poor to bring the riches of your grace. As you have blessed us with your gifts, let them be blessing for others. With the trees of the field, with all earth and heaven, we shout for joy at the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

C: Amen.

P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you.

P: Rejoice before your Lord. C: We lift them to the Lord.

P: Let us give thanks to our God. C: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

P: It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ. In the wonder and mystery of the Word made flesh you have opened the eyes of faith to a new and radiant vision of your glory, that, beholding the God made visible, we may be drawn to love the God whom we cannot see. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of Power 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.

P: In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and 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.

P: 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 blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.

P: For as often as we eat of this bread and drink from this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

C: Christ has died: Christ is risen: Christ will come again.

P: We pray as Jesus taught us:

C: 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.

Invitation to Communion

P: God is now in flesh appearing. Come to the feast of joy!

(sit)

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Prayer after Communion

P: Incarnate God, you are among us at this table. May we treasure this gift and ponder in our hearts the mystery of your presence. Move us to discover the wonders of your love in the everyday moments of our lives, through Christ born in us.

C: Amen.

Blessing

P: The triune God, glorious Mystery, holy Incarnate One, abiding Comforter, ☩ bless you with endless grace, peace, and joy.

C: Amen.

Announcements

Birthdays

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Anniversary none

Weekly Calendar

Wednesday – 10am – Bible Study at Immanuel

6 pm – Prayer Group

Thursday – 9 am – Quilting

We Sing: Let All Together Praise Our God _{ELW 287}

Dismissal

P: Glory to God in the highest!

C: And peace to God’s people on earth!

P: Go in joy. Embody God’s redeeming grace.

C: Thanks be to God.

Introduction

Confession and Forgiveness

Prayer of the Day

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14

Psalmody: Psalm 147:12-20

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14

Gospel: John 1:[1-9] 10-18

We Sing: Love Has Come ELW 292

Apostles’ Creed

Prayers of Intercession

Hymn: God, Whose Almighty Word LBW 400

Communion

Invitation to Communion

Prayer after Communion

Blessing

We Sing: Let All Together Praise Our God ELW 287

Dismissal

We Sing: Let All Together Praise Our God _{ELW 287}