First Service
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS
It’s Still Christmas
December 28, 2025
AS WE GATHER
The stores are processing gift returns, but we dare not return our greatest Christmas gift—our Lord Jesus! God is gracious and forgiving, remembering His promises. He leads us, as we hear He did for the Israelites in the Old Testament Reading. We need no one else, as we are God’s dear children, which Paul reminds us in the Epistle. It is not that we do not have enemies—even Joseph had to figure out what to do—but we have Jesus with us. It is still Christmas.
+ PREPARATION +
HYMN Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men TLH 105 vs. 1 - 3
Praise God the Lord, ye sons of men, Before His highest throne;
Today He opens heaven again And gives us His own Son.
He leaves His heavenly Father's throne, Is born an infant small,
And in a manger, poor and lone, Lies in a humble stall.
He veils in flesh His power divine A servant's form to take;
In want and lowliness must pine Who heaven and earth did make.
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 63:14
Pastor: O Lord God, we confess that although we usually prepare for, as Paul put it, “the fullness of time,” that is not true in our personal lives.
People: Forgive our impatience for taking matters into our own hands, forgive our not trusting that You are in control of all things, and forgive our failing to acknowledge You above all else.
Pastor: We confess, O Lord, that unlike obedient Joseph, we have not always listened to Your commands and instructions.
People: Forgive our desire to be in control, forgive our avoiding difficult decisions, and forgive our thinking that we are able to arrange all things for our own benefit.
Pastor: We confess, O Lord, that we have kept our faith to ourselves.
People: Forgive us for not giving Your leading us “a glorious name,” forgive our failure to ask You for guidance each day, and forgive our seeking to be like everyone else, rather than trusting You.
Pastor: Forgiveness has been won for you! The babe born in Bethlehem is the only-begotten Son of God and your elder Brother. The Spirit urges you to cry, “Abba! Father!” As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
SONG OF PRAISE Now Sing We, Now Rejoice TLH 92
Now sing we, now rejoice, Now raise to heaven our voice;
He from whom joy streameth Poor in a manger lies;
Not so brightly beameth The sun in yonder skies.
Thou my Savior art! Thou my Savior art!
Come from on high to me; I cannot rise to Thee
Cheer my wearied spirit, O pure and holy Child;
Through Thy grace and merit, Blest Jesus, Lord most mild,
Draw me unto Thee! Draw me unto Thee!
Now through His Son doth shine The Father's grace divine.
Death o'er us had reigned Through sin and vanity;
He for us obtained Eternal joy on high.
May we praise Him there! May we praise Him there!
Oh, where shall joy be found? Where but on heavenly ground?
Where the angels singing With all His saints unite,
Sweetest praises bringing In heavenly joy and light.
Oh, that we were there! Oh, that we were there!
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: 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.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 63:7–14 (Although the Israelites have rebelled, God will help them.)
7 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. 8 For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely.” And he became their Savior. 9 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. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. 11 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, 12 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, 13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. 14 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.
EPISTLE Galatians 4:4–7 (All God’s promises are sure because we are God’s children.)
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 2:13–23 (The holy family is protected from Herod.)
13 Now when they 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.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 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.”
16 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. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “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.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 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.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 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. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
HYMN From Heaven Above TLH 85 vs 1- 4, 13 & 15
"From heaven above to earth I come
To bear good news to every home;
Glad tidings of great joy I bring, Whereof I now will say and sing:
"To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This little child, of lowly birth, Shall be the joy of all the earth.
"This is the Christ, our God and Lord,
Who in all need shall aid afford;
He will Himself your Savior be From all your sins to set you free.
"He will on you the gifts bestow Prepared by God for all below,
That in His kingdom, bright and fair,
You may with us His glory share.
Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be A quiet chamber kept for Thee.
Glory to God in highest heaven, Who unto us His Son hath given!
While angels sing with pious mirth A glad new year to all the earth.
SERMON
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made: who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
Pastor: Let us go to our heavenly Father in prayer.
For the church, that the news of Christ’s birth among us would bring joy to many people, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For those who have rebelled against all that our caring God has lavished upon them and that He would open their hearts and minds, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For those who have not heard about Jesus’ birth, about our Savior’s willingness to be a servant of the Most High, or about their own salvation, that God would surround them with people of faith and the Gospel Good News, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For all who tend fields, raise animals, distribute food, or work in supermarkets and roadside stands, that they recognize that they work to alleviate hunger and do what pleases our heavenly Father, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For the leaders of the nations, those who bear arms, and all who run toward harm to help those who need aid and rescue, that they stop at nothing to establish and maintain peace, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: For those near and dear to us, [especially . . .], that God would alleviate suffering and pain, sadness and grief in their lives, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Pastor: Into Your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy for the sake of our elder Brother and Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
People: Amen.