Several days before the service prepare one of the following:

(1) To provide a new way for people to hear a Psalm text, arrange for a vocalist to practice chanting Psalm 148 in its entirety. The most basic way to chant is to pick a neutral tone as the home tone. At the end of mid-point phrases, sing up a step or half step on the next to last syllable or accented word. At the end of key phrases sing down a step on the next to last syllable or accented word. At the final line of text, sing a more embellished turn on the last few syllables.

For example, Psalm 148:14

OR (2) Prepare two pieces of poster board or large pieces of paper (or PowerPoint slides) with two phrases from Psalm 148: “Praise the Lord!” and “Praise him.” As a reader reads the Psalm text, point to the appropriate sign or show the matching slide so that the congregation speaks either “Praise the Lord” or “Praise him” when they are encountered in the text. The reading should flow as smoothly as possible without gaps of silence between the congregation and the reader.

Preparation for Worship: Instrumental Prelude
OR Congregational Hymn: “Joy to the World!” HS 258
OR “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” HS 260

Invocation

Call to Worship: Psalm 148
Use the chanted style or the congregational choral reading.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host!

*Congregational Hymn: “Great and Marvelous Are Thy Works” HS 48
OR “This Is God’s Wondrous World” R-1

Sharing

Prepare a large Christmas package wrapped in Christmas paper and tied up with ribbon. Have a couple of children come to the front and open the present. Inside is written a testimony (or representation) of a gift the leader received over the Christmas holiday (not a physical gift but more of a blessing gift). In small groups of three or four the congregation can tell about the best gift they received over Christmas. Encourage the conversations to be lively and joyous!

Prayer for Peace and Confessional Moment

As believers of Jesus Christ, we express heartfelt joy that we have celebrated again the impact that Jesus’ birth has had on our lives and the world. In our better moments we can envision a world where justice and peace are experienced by all. Sadly, even those of us who profess Christ are not always able to live as he taught and, instead of being peacemakers, are sometimes the source of conflict. We seek your forgiveness and pray that your Holy Spirit will help us claim the peace that Christ brings and be witnesses of Jesus Christ to a world that needs to hear the word of hope we can offer. Help us be ready to get up and go in response to your call. Amen.

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 2:13–23/3:13–23 IV

Sermon: Based on the text from Matthew

Music Ministry: “We Would See Jesus” solo    HS 218
     OR “He Leadeth Me” quartet or duet     HS 123
     OR “God Is Calling Us” two-part mixed choir or mixed duet The Lorenz Corporation (AM610)

Disciples’ Generous Response: Doctrine and Covenants 162:7c

“You have been given the principles of generosity, rightly interpreted for a new time. These principles call every disciple to tithe faithfully in accordance with means and capacity. Those values, deeply rooted in the Restoration faith, affirm that stewardship and discipleship cannot be divided and are dependent upon each other.”

Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries Mission Tithes. Generosity stories are provided to keep the church in touch with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ. Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information as part of your offertory ministry. Visit www.CofChrist.org/generositystories to print a copy, or contact your pastor, congregational financial officer, or worship coordinator for a copy.

Blessing and Receiving of Mission Tithes

*Congregational Hymn: “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” HS 249
OR “Send Me Forth, O Blessed Master” HS 424

*Benediction

*Sending Forth

Nephi wrote: “the Lord commanded my father, in a dream, that he should take his family and depart into the wilderness. And he was obedient to the word of the Lord” (I Nephi 1: 26, 27). As Lehi trusted the message to get up and go, may we, too, be ready to follow where God and the Holy Spirit lead us.

*Postlude

SERMON HELPS

Scripture: Matthew 2:13–23/3:13–23 IV

Exploring the Scriptures

The speaker will note immediately that this text is related to the evangelist’s witness that Christ’s coming constituted a fulfillment of scripture (Matthew 2:13–15). One hears the echo of the text of a Hebrew prophet: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1). In Matthew’s hands, this text looked backward into Israel’s past and now forward in describing Jesus’ advent as a new exodus. Paradoxically, this exodus now moves from Israel into Egypt in order that God’s salvation might be accomplished. Herod represents a new captivity similar to that of Pharaoh (Exodus 1:16).

Matthew (2:16–18) also draws on a second prophetic book, that of Jeremiah. By doing so, Matthew suggests a connection of the slaughter of innocent children (Jeremiah 31:15). That which fulfills scripture is not necessarily that which is willed by God. The text also has reference to Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah speaks of a hoped-for future, including the promise of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34). In Matthew’s hands this passage is set in a narrative regarding the new exodus that the Messiah will provide for a newly gathered people of God.

The third section of this lectionary text (Matthew 2:19–23) further points in the direction of the fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew indicates that Joseph settled in a town called Nazareth—an added testimony to the fulfillment of prophecy regarding the Messiah, Jesus (Isaiah 11:1).

Central Ideas

Christ’s coming constitutes the fulfillment of Hebrew scripture.
The slaughter of the children is an atrocity. This is an act of human will in defiance of God’s will. It is not God’s intent that little children or their parents should suffer in this manner.
God uses human history as a means of revealing the salvation of Israel and demonstrates divine solidarity with human suffering through the Messiah, Jesus.

Questions for the Speaker

How does this scripture passage fit into the larger narrative of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 1:1—4:11)?
How does the “fulfillment of scripture” help the reader/hearer to understand the coming of the Messiah?
What is the significance of Matthew’s appeal to the prophets (Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah)?
How might today’s scripture help you understand that atrocities like those described in this text are not God’s will?
What is the good news found in this scripture?

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