*OPENING SONG
“There’s a Song in the Air” UMH 249
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Liturgist: Children of God, we enter the new year as we ended the last: gathered together for worship!
People: We gather to seek, find, and follow the Light.
Liturgist: The prophet Isaiah calls to us from deep in the past: “Arise, shine; for your light has come.”
People: We gather to seek, find, and follow the Light.
Liturgist: The magi followed a star to find a small child who is the Light of the world.
People: We gather to seek, find, and follow the Light.
Liturgist: So, let us receive the call of Isaiah and follow the example of the magi as we begin this New Year turning our faces to God whose glory shows up among us as a vulnerable child, a poor carpenter, and a foot-washing servant who is the salvation of the world.
People: We gather to seek, find, and follow the Light today and every day. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, July 2024.
OPENING PRAYER (Together)
Dear God, reveal to us this day what our eyes look for but cannot see; what our ears hear and cannot understand. Shine your light on the pages of our lives. In the places where we share the dark, everyone looks bright, and everything looks right. We are not anxious to move out of our darkness where we are fooled. In the darkness, our motives are not clear, our ideas are not voiced, and our relationships are not questioned. But when your light shines, everything is like an open window. We see clearly. Help us to move on with you, Light of lights. We praise you and pray in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
Written by T. Anne Daniel, The Africana Worship Book, Year B (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007),
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
JOYS AND CONCERNS
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
A TIME FOR CHILDREN
SPECIAL MUSIC
FIRST SCRIPTURE Isaiah 60:1-6
*SECOND SCRIPTURE Matthew 2:1-12
MESSAGE “Does Jesus Live Here?”
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
*SONG OF RESPONSE
"We Three Kings" UMH 254
*OFFERING OF OURSELVES
*DOXOLOGY UMH 95
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
HOLY COMMUNION
GREAT THANKSGIVING UMH 15 THE LORD’S PRAYER
SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP
SENDING FORTH
*SONG OF DISMISSAL
“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” UMH 251
*BENEDICTION
*PEACE “Shalom to You” UMH 666