First Sunday of Christmas, December 26, 2021
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Livestream at 8:25am
Bulletin for the service
Prayer of the Day
Shine into our hearts the light of your wisdom, O God, and open our minds to the knowledge of your word, that in all things we may think and act according to your good will and may live continually in the light of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Scripture
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
Sermon
“Amazed Temples”
Luke 2:41-52, Colossians 3:12-17
On the first Sunday of Christmas, we are in Jerusalem. Twelve-year-old Jesus is there to celebrate Passover with his parents. When the festival ends, he finds his way back to the temple. There he leaves the teachers amazed. Even then his mission is clear and focused. He must be about his Father’s business. Growing in wisdom he is on a path that leads right back to Jerusalem. There he will become the temple. Broken and fractured on the cross and seemingly lost for three days in a borrowed tomb he will rise again. He is our Passover Lamb who forgives sin once and for all. Now by the Spirit, you and I have become the dwelling place of God. Joined to the temple himself, we are chosen, holy, and beloved children. Our lives are marked by this same wisdom. All of this leaves us amazed. With Mary we treasure all these things in our hearts and whatever we do, we do in the name of Jesus.
Hymns
Let Our Gladness Have No End, LBW 57
Angels From the Realms of Glory, LBW 50
’Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, ELW 284
Good Christian Friends, Rejoice, LBW 55
LBW, Lutheran Book of Worship
In our prayers we remember ELCA World Hunger.