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Thank you musicians! Dave Stuntz on piano and directing; Dana McCarty and Jamie Turnage for vocals; Scott Laird, Annie Scott and Kate Wilkin, strings; and Kevin Goldfarb as the recording engineer.

Blacknall Worship from Home
January 3, 2021

INVOCATION

O Lord, you have searched us and known us. You know our comings and goings, our paths and all our ways. You know our thoughts and every word even before it is on our tongues. Lord, you hem us in, behind and before. We look back on 2020; and you were there. We look forward to 2021 and you go before us. Lord, as we enter this new year, we ask that you would tune our hearts to sing your grace. Amen. [cf. Psalm 139]

SONG | “God With Us”

You’ve come to bring peace,

To be Love, to be nearer to us,

You’ve come to bring life,

To be Light, to shine brighter in us.

Oh Emmanuel, God With Us.

Our Deliverer, You are Savior.

In Your presence we find our strength over everything,

Our Redemption, God With Us.

You are God With Us.

You’ve come to be Hope to this world,

For Your honor and name,

And You’ve come to take sin, to bear shame,

And to conquer the grave.

Oh Emmanuel, God With Us.

You are here, You are holy.

We are standing in Your glory. (repeat)

SCRIPTURE READING | ISAIAH 60:1-6

The Glory of Zion

1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you;

your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip.

5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy;

the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come.

6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah.

And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.

SONG | “MY SOUL IS FILLED WITH JOY”

My soul is filled with joy as I sing to God my Savior;
You have looked upon Your servant, You have visited Your people.

And holy is Your name through all generations!
Everlasting is Your mercy to the people You have chosen,
And holy is Your name!

I am lowly as a child, but I know from this day forward
That my name will be remembered, for all will call me blessed.

I proclaim the pow’r of God: You do marvels for Your servants;
Though You scatter the proud-hearted and destroy the might of princes.

Words from Luke 1, by David Haas. Irish tune “Wild Mountain Thyme.”

CALL TO CONFESSION

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” [Isaiah 9] Light casts out fear. It guides our way. Light also exposes and reveals that which we wish could be hidden. Beloved, let us walk in the light. Let us freely admit and name our sin and our need for a Savior. Let us kneel in confession before our God.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Lord, to us a child has been born. To us, a son has been given and you have made known to us his name and his titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And we can kneel before you and simply cry out, “Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.” We need you. We confess to you the ways in which we are willfully disobedient, when we know the right and choose not to do it; when we know what is wrong and indulge our wills anyway. And we confess to you the ways our lives are captive to sin. Even when we want to do what is right, we find ourselves doing more harm than good, injuring ourselves and others. Left to ourselves there is no health in us. And so we cry out to you, Lord Jesus. You are holy and everlasting is your mercy. In your mercy, cast out or sin and enter in; be born in us this day. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Beloved, indeed, everlasting is his mercy! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!

PASSING THE PEACE

May the peace of the Lord be with you.
Response: And also with you

AFFIRMATION OF FAITH | APOSTLES CREED

We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker 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, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. We 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.

With Leslie Petree

CHILDREN’S BLESSING

CHILDREN’S WORSHIP

If you would like to receive the Children’s Worship video email, please contact Beth Solie.

PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD | Pastor Allan Poole

Matthew 2:1-20

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

SONG OF RESPONSE | “Wise Men, They Came”

Wise men, they came to look for wisdom,

finding one wiser than they knew;

Rich men, they met with one yet richer –

King of the kings, they knelt to You:

Jesus, our wisdom from above,

wealth and redemption, life and love.

Magi, they stooped to see Your splendor,

led by a star to light supreme;

Promised Messiah, Lord eternal,

glory and peace are in Your name.

Joy of each day, our Song by night,

shine on our path Your holy light.

Guests of their God, they opened treasures,

incense and gold and solemn myrrh;

Welcoming one too young to question

how came these gifts, and what they were.

Gift beyond price of gold or gem,

make among us Your Bethlehem.

Words by Christopher Idle, 1981. Music By Georg Neumark, 1657.

PRESENTING OUR GIFTS | ONLINE GIVING

You are invited to respond to God’s Word by giving to the mission God has called us to at Blacknall.

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

(As you pray the following petitions, you are encouraged to pause and lift to the Lord particular concerns or people or events. Read prayer requests from Blacknall members and ministry partners here.)

Lord, we pray that our song this year might be “Give thanks to the Lord, bless his name. For the LORD is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” May gratitude and thanksgiving for your love and faithfulness overflow in our hearts in all circumstances.

Lord, we want to have eyes to see your goodness in the land of the living, not only when our lives are full but also when they are empty, when life is hard, when evil is loose among us. May we constantly see and give testimony to your goodness and grace.

Lord, we want to be the Body of Christ. We want to be the incarnation of your love and mercy and justice for one another and for our neighbors. Lord, help us to be your Body when we are not at our best, when we are irritated and irritable; when we are tired and angry; when we are anxious and afraid; when we fail to give the benefit of the doubt; when we are insecure and fail to remember that your steadfast love endures forever. In those times, help us to cling to you and to one another.

Lord, help us to be the Body of Christ, caring for the sick, visiting the lonely and the prisoner. Help us to be those who do not expect to be served but those who are quick to serve and yet who are still humble enough to receive the help and gifts of others. Lord, we pause now. Place on our hearts those we need to reach out to today...

Lord, in this new year, we pray that we would have hearts overflowing with thankfulness because we live each day in dependence on you. Save us from lives that are lived so small that we can pretend that we don’t need you. Help us to be your people and to live lives large enough not because we work so hard but simply because we follow you so that we need you every day. May thanksgiving and hope overflow in us until we see you face to face.

Until then we pray...

Our Father...

The Lord’s Prayer
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 and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.

BENEDICTION

SONG | “Salvation Belongs to Our God”

Salvation belongs to our God,

Who sits upon the throne,

And unto the Lamb....

Praise and Glory, Wisdom and Thanks,

Honor and Power and Strength

Be to our God forever and ever! (3x)

Amen!

And we the redeemed shall be strong

In purpose and unity,

Declaring aloud....