First Sunday after Christmas
December 29, 2024 | 10:00am
Rev. Jeremy Campbell, Temporary Pastor | Larry J. Carey, Director of Music
Thought for Worship: Who are the people and where are the places that feel like home for you? Where do you feel safe and can be authentically who you are? Hannah Garrity
GATHERING
Welcome
Prelude
Call to Worship
Votum
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Amen
Opening Sentences
Jesus said,
“This is my Father’s house.”
So come into this space
just as you are.
Come into this space
speaking your truth.
Come into this space
with your authentic self.
This is God’s home.
This is our home.
Let us worship God.
Salutation
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Amen.
*Hymn of Praise Chosen Home
Call to Confession
Research shows that on average, humans make about 35,000 choices in a day. In the prayer of confession, we acknowledge the moments when our choices do not reflect God’s love and we ask for grace. So let us pray together, trusting that God is with us in each of those 35,000 moments, cheering us on, and guiding us home. Let us pray:
Prayer of Confession
We could offer welcome,
but we often choose judgment.
We could choose action,
but we often choose silence.
We could choose advocacy,
but we often choose comfort.
We could choose truth,
but we often choose ignorance.
We could choose God,
but we often choose ourselves.
Forgive us, gracious God, for the moments when we chose poorly.
Open our hearts to choose you, to choose community, to choose love. Gratefully we pray, Amen.
Words of Forgiveness
Family of faith, no matter how we choose, we cannot lose God’s love. It is undeserved, overwhelming, ever-present, and always with us. So may we accept God’s grace, and use it as fuel for better days.
Hear and believe the good news of the Gospel:
No matter how many times we walk away, God always welcomes us home. We are loved. We are forgiven. We are invited. Thanks be to God, Amen.
The Law of God:
*Gloria Patri | #579
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.
*Commitment to Peace Keeping and Peace Seeking
One: May the peace of Christ be with you!
All: And also with you!
Share a sign of peace with one another. After sharing the peace, let us all sing together:
Together, by grace, we witness and work, remembering Jesus, in whom we grow strong. Together we serve in Spirit and truth, remembering love is the strength of our song.
THE WORD OF GOD
Prayer for Illumination
Author God,
Scripture tells us that when Jesus taught in the temple, all who heard were amazed.
We want to be amazed too.
We want to hear your word with new ears.
We want to be unraveled and transformed
by the truth tucked between those sentences.
We want to be opened up by the hope in these holy pages. We want to be amazed.
So as we read today, transport us to those early days in the temple. Open our hearts so we can hear your word like never before.
We are listening.
We are grateful.
Amen.
First Reading: Colossians 3:12-17
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
*Hymn: On this Day Earth Shall Ring
Second Reading: Luke 2:41-52
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Sermon: “Chosen Home” | Rev. Campbell
Silent Reflection
THE RESPONSE TO GOD
*Affirmation of Faith (Apostles’ Creed)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Offering There is a Promise, God has Said | Huffman
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen!
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession (ending with the Lord’s Prayer)
Holy God,
We come to you today full to the brim. We are carrying gratitude and hope, dreams and fear, scars and love, and in this moment of prayer, we give it all to you.
So as we remember Jesus in the temple, who felt at home there, we give you thanks for the places in our lives that have felt like home for us.
Thank you God for the summer camps and family vacations, for crowded tables and porch swings.
Thank you for churches that become as familiar as a grandparent’s house, and for friends’ homes that have become sanctuary
And as we remember Jesus in the temple, who took up space to be himself, we give you thanks for the places in our lives where we have been able to follow his lead.
Thank you for jobs that bring joy,
and for hobbies that keep passions awake.
Thank you for the people who have encouraged our gifts, and for those who have spoken our call out loud.
We have so much to be thankful for, and yet we also know that there is still need here. So as we lift our gratitude to you for places that feel like home and for calls that change our lives, we also remember those who feel homeless.
Draw near to your children who have been forced to choose a new home because they were not welcome in their own.
Surround their grief and their pain with your love,
and give us the eyes to see and arms to welcome them in here.
And when fear draws close, pressuring us to play it small and play it safe, give us the courage to be who you call us to be.
Help us to not only hear your call on our lives, but to live it— even if it surprises the ones who know us best.
Remind us that there is nothing wrong with taking up space, for you gave us that space in the first place.
God there is so much good here, and there is so much we have yet to learn.
Help us to be people that create chosen homes. Help us to be people that welcome others into those safe spaces. Help us to be people who follow our calls boldly and bravely, holding open the door for others to follow suit.
We come to you today full to the brim, O God, with prayers that are close to home. Hold them closely.
And now, with the confidence of teenage Jesus in the temple, we pray your prayer together, saying...
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 debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
SENDING
*Hymn As with Gladness Men of Old
Benediction
As you leave this service, your service begins:
Comfort the homesick.
Open your doors to others.
Seek sanctuary.
Be brave enough to go home by another way.
And remember that here in God’s house, all are welcomed—so come back soon.
In the name of our Foundation—God, Spirit, and Son— go in peace.
Congregational Response
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates, Behold, the King of glory waits;
The King of kings is drawing near; The Savior of the world is here!
Redeemer, come! I open wide My heart to Thee;
here, Lord, abide. Let me Thy inner presence feel; Thy grace and love in me reveal.
Postlude
DEAR FRIENDS
Welcome to worship here at Peapack Reformed Church! If you are visiting with us, welcome! If you are a member, welcome back! Our mission is to be a congregation called by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world. This mission is the catalyst for all that we do, and is our aim for who we want to be.
If you are visiting with us via Facebook Live and would like more information about our church, send us a message on Facebook or email office@peapackreformed.org and we will be in touch with you. Even under these odd and anxious circumstances, we would love to be your church home. Our virtual doors are always open wide and our hearts are always ready to welcome new faces into our fellowship.
FOOD PANTRY NEWS
Many thanks for all those who have shared their abundance with neighbors in need.
Our church refrigerators have plenty of space to hold even more!
Please consider making a weekly donation of eggs or milk to the P-G Food Pantry.
Peapack Reformed Church is a congregation called by God, empowered by the Holy Spirit and committed to being the very presence of Jesus Christ in the world.
CALLED • EMPOWERED • COMMITTED