Second Sunday of Christmastide

Sermon Text: Genesis 4:25-5:32

PASTOR ANDREW ISKER

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January 5, 2025

THE LORD CALLS US INTO HIS PRESENCE
Call to Worship

The people shall stand.

Psalm 147:1-6

1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.

O Come All Ye Faithful – Cantus 243

MINISTER: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
PEOPLE: Amen!

For to us a child is born
To us a son is given;

And the government shall be upon his shoulder,
And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

COLLECT FOR PURITY

MINSTER: Almighty God, 

PEOPLE: Unto whom all hearts are open, All desires known, And from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, That we may perfectly love You And worthily magnify Your Glorious Name, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE LORD CLEANSES US FROM OUR SIN
Confession of Sin

The people shall kneel.

MINSTER: Most merciful God, 

PEOPLE: We have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone what ought to be done, And we have done what ought not to be done. And there is no health in us. But You, O Lord, have mercy on us, miserable sinners. Spare those, O God, who confess their faults.

Restore those who are penitent, According to Your promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, most merciful Father, for His sake, That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of Your holy Name. Amen.

[Silent prayer, followed by Amen]

Absolution

The people shall stand.

MINISTER: Lift up your hearts!
PEOPLE: We lift them up unto the Lord!

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!
It is proper and right so to do!

Gloria Patri – Cantus 436

THE LORD CONSECRATES US BY HIS WORD
Collect for Peace

MINSTER: Blessed Father

PEOPLE: You have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The people shall sit.

NEW TESTAMENT – Ephesians 1:3-14
(3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, (5) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, (6) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

(7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (8) which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (9) having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, (10) that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth–in Him.

(11) In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (12) that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. (13) In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

MINISTER: The Word of the Lord!
PEOPLE: Thanks be to God!

PSALM – Psalm 147:12-20

12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders, And fills you with the finest wheat.
15 He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
17 He casts out His hail like morsels; Who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends out His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any nation; And as for His judgments, they have not known them. Praise the Lord!

PEOPLE: Amen!

GOSPEL – John 1:1-18

(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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
(4) In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
(5) And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
(6) There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
(7) This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
(8) He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
(9) That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
(10) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
(11) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
(12) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
(13) who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(14) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
(15) John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ “
(16) And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
(17) For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
(18) No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

The victory of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Praise be to you, O Christ!

The people shall stand.

Confession of Faith - Apostles Creed

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator 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 Hades;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into 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 life everlasting.

Amen.

The people shall sit

Sermon

“THE SEED”
Genesis 4:25-5:32

The people shall stand.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent – Cantus 241

The people shall sit. 

Collection of God's Tithes and our Offerings

The Doxology – Cantus 437

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Supplication

The people shall stand. 

MINISTER: Lord in your mercy…
PEOPLE: Hear our prayer!

The Lord’s Prayer – Cantus 411

The people shall sit. 

THE LORD COMMUNES WITH US
Communion

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming – Cantus 242

THE LORD COMMISSIONS US

Of the Father’s Love Begotten – Cantus 246

COMMISSION - Matthew 28:18-20
BENEDICTION - Numbers 6:24-26

Song of Simeon – Cantus 428