WORSHIP RESOURCES
First Sunday after Christmas
Luke 2:41-52
Listen and Ask Questions
Additional Scriptures
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Psalm 148; Colossians 3:12-17; Doctrine and Covenants 162:7c-d
Preparations
Invite two readers, any age, to be prepared to read Psalm 148, alternating verses between them. This will be used in the section labeled “Looking Back.”
If using printed worship bulletins, place a square self-stick note inside each one. Alternatively, hand them out during the service. Have pencils/pens on hand. Place a poster board or flip chart where people can access it.
Prepare five note cards or pieces of paper with the following statements, one per card or page. Do not include the words in italics. They are the answer key for the presider. Place them in a basket or bowl to be used during the Focus Moment.
We are poised to share the peace of Jesus... What is this Mission Initiative?
Invite People to Christ
We are poised to become congregations... What is this Mission Initiative?
Experiencing Congregations in Mission
We are poised to restore Christ’s covenant of peace...What is this Mission Initiative?
Pursue Peace on Earth
We are poised to equip men, women, and children... What is this Mission Initiative?
Develop Disciples to Serve
We are poised to be Christ’s hands and feet... What is this Mission Initiative?
Abolish Poverty, End Suffering
Either have a copy of Sharing in Community of Christ, Exploring Identity, Mission, Message, and Beliefs, Fourth Edition, Herald House, 2018, or print the five Mission Initiatives from CofChrist.org to be used during the Focus Moment.
Have a chime, bell, or other sound source available.
Prelude
Because this Sunday is still in the season of Christmas, arrange for Christmas carols to be played for prelude.
Welcome
Invitation to Worship: Psalm 148:1-4
Hymn of Praise
“Not in Grand Estate” CCS 444
OR “Fairest Lord Jesus” CCS 33
OR “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” CCS 27
Invocation
Instrumental Response
Prayer for Peace
Light the peace candle.
Peace Scripture: Colossians 3:12-15
The first few verses of the letter to the Colossians give good insight into living a Christian life and, in doing so, finding and letting the peace of Christ dwell within us. If we do that, we will be better able to share it with others.
We Sing of Peace
“Peace Among Earth’s Peoples” CCS 448
OR “My Peace” CCS 149
OR “O God of Love, Grant Us Your Peace” CCS 316
Peace Prayer
Creator God, you have formed us and formed the planet on which we live. When we honestly evaluate our response to your creative acts, we can see where we have often taken both for granted. We pray for your ongoing involvement in this world and in our lives so that we will more deeply sense our call to preserve and restore our Earth-home and become the peacemakers the world and its life forms need. Help us in this task, we pray. Amen.
Looking Back
The writer of Psalm 148 was so full of awe and love for the Lord that the writer was impelled to pen words of praise that would come from all corners of the Earth and all creatures on, over, and under the Earth.
Activity: Psalm 148
Let’s put ourselves in the psalmist’s place and add to what is recorded in Psalm 148 by thinking about this year and adding additional phrases in the same style as the Psalm. What would you add?
Project or print the words of the Psalm for all to see. Read the Psalm slowly and intentionally.
In the next two minutes, write on the sticky note provided in your bulletin the words and phrases to add to Psalm 148 and then place your sticky note on the poster board.
Plan to compile a new version of Psalm 148 for use in the worship service on January 5, 2025, using statements created today and editing them by combining similar statements.
Looking Inward
The Prayer of Examen is a spiritual practice of looking into our own hearts and minds to retune ourselves to the sacred in ordinary life. This practice is most often used at the close of day. But for this experience we will explore this practice by looking inward at our own personal life this past year. This practice involves four steps:
- Remembering God’s presence,
- Experiencing gratitude,
- Reflecting on the year, and
- Preparing for next year considering what we sense God is showing us about being better at staying in tune with God.
In preparation, let the words of a hymn open your mind and heart.
Hymn of Reflection
“I Wonder as I Wander” CCS 435
OR “In the Quiet of This Day” CCS 161
OR “I Will Talk to My Heart” CCS 168
The chime will be rung twice: once to begin a time of silent self-examination, and a second time to draw us back to the present moment. We will spend about two minutes in silence thinking about our own personal journey through this past year using the guidance found in the four steps: remembering God’s presence, experiencing gratitude, reflecting on the past year, and preparing for the next.
Looking Forward
Focus Moment
Invite five people to come forward to each take one of the prepared cards. Inform participants that they will be experiencing listening and being asked questions. Invite one of the five to read their card. Ask people to guess the answer.
Reinforce correct answers, or encourage additional guesses as needed. Refer to the key in the Preparation section. Then read the complete corresponding Mission Initiative statement before moving on to the next question. After five statements/questions have been read and answered, conclude by leading into the scripture from Luke that tells the story of a time when the boy Jesus listened and asked questions as he opened himself to discover the mission that awaited him.
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:41-52
Message
Based on Luke 2:41-52
Disciples’ Generous Response
Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 162:7c-d
Statement
This counsel was given in 2004 and is still relevant to our discipleship today. Think about what that means for you.
God’s generous compassion is limitless. As we open our hearts to courageously and generously share by placing money in the offering plates or through eTithing, we join the movement of God’s compassion in the world. God shares abundantly, we share faithfully, others share generously, and God’s love and compassion grow endlessly.
If you have participants joining the worship online, remind them that they can give through www.CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing at www.eTithing.org (consider displaying these URLs).
Blessing and Receiving of Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes
Hymn of Affirmation
“God’s Love Made Visible” CCS 411
OR “No Obvious Angels” CCS 418
OR “Hidden Christ, Alive Forever” CCS 24
OR “We Would See Jesus” CCS 35
Closing Prayer
Instrumental Response
Sending Forth
We have been reminded of 12-year-old Jesus’s journey toward mission and elements of what that mission is for us today. He had questions and listened for answers. As we prepare for the new year, let us each be open to answers to the questions we may have about what God is calling us to do individually and in our gathered communities. Let us be ready to not only remember the Mission Initiatives but also be willing to put them into practice. Go into the new year with Christlike energy and witness!
Postlude
SERMON AND CLASS HELPS
Year C—Letters
First Sunday after Christmas
Luke 2:41-52
Exploring the Scripture
In this passage Jesus is a 12 year old. He is coming into an age of responsibility and accountability. As we read, we sense the tension that accompanies the learning curve on this journey.
It is the festival of the Passover—a time when Jewish people remember they were once slaves in Egypt and God brought them out of slavery (Deuteronomy 16:12 and Exodus 13:3) and that God spared the firstborn from the 10th plague. God commanded the “children of Israel” to keep Passover so they would never forget (Exodus 12:14).
Jesus travels with his family to Jerusalem for Passover. It is a journey they make every year so this is not a new adventure for Jesus. It is a common event. He knows his way around the town and the temple. His parents have little or no concern about him in the larger company of family and friends. As Passover ends, they join the caravan to head home. At the end of the first day of travel, they realize Jesus is not with them. They hurry back to Jerusalem and spend three days searching for him. They find him in the temple sitting with the teachers, learning and astounding those around him.
Jesus surprises his parents by not letting them know where he is. They are concerned. They spend three days looking for him! He, on the other hand, is surprised that they were concerned and didn’t know he would be in the temple. His comment to them is “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is the moment when Jesus begins speaking for himself; pointing himself in the direction his life will take.
This story of Jesus highlights the importance of preparing oneself and learning in a place where the sacred is spoken. Jesus went into the temple and sat with the teachers to learn and discuss. The scriptures tell us Jesus went to the temple to learn and teach not only when he was 12 but throughout his life. And because of this, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52). As disciples of Jesus we are also called to lifelong learning and spiritual growth.
Central Ideas
- The festival of the Passover is a Jewish tradition that reminds the Jewish people of God’s faithfulness. It is a time of community, in a sacred place.
- Jesus went to the temple to learn from the temple teachers in a sacred space.
- When his parents find him and question his activity, Jesus speaks of his relationship with God as important and different from his relationship with his earthly parents.
Questions for the Speaker
- In your congregation, what observed traditions of Community of Christ strengthen sacred community? In what ways?
- Have there been times when you came to the temple (or your congregation or other community setting) to learn? What blessings did you experience through sharing and discussing with others?
- Like Jesus going to the temple teachers, whom do you seek out when you want to discuss and process your questions?
- Develop Disciples to Serve is one of Community of Christ’s five Mission Initiatives. How important is this initiative in your life and within your congregation?
- What does it mean to be a lifelong learner? Who do you know that exemplifies this concept?
- How is your relationship with God, as a child of God, similar to your relationship with your parents? How is it different?
SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY
Year C, Letters
First Sunday after Christmas
Colossians 3:12–17
Gathering
Welcome
The Christmas season lasts twelve days, from Christmas Day to Epiphany on January 6. During this time, we celebrate the joy, love, hope, and peace of Jesus Christ.
Prayer for Peace
Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.
God of joy and hope, in this festive season we have lit candles and offered prayers in anticipation of the coming Light of peace. We smelled the fragrances and ate the foods that reminded us of celebrations past and the promise of those yet to come. We gave and received gifts to acknowledge the tradition of precious offerings carried to a manger beneath a bright star.
Now, as we rest in this Christmas season, may we remember we are called to bear the Light of peace into the world. May we gather those who are lonely, marginalized, and forgotten to the hospitality of the table of grace. And may we offer our gifts of generosity and peacemaking to the mission of Christ. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Hymn Meditation
Read the following aloud:
Reflecting on hymns can bring new insight into our life in community with each other and the Divine. The following meditation is an opportunity to read through a hymn instead of singing it. As we read, we will focus on the words and the meaning of the song.
Together, we will read it aloud one time. Then we will read it through once silently. At the end we will share what stood out to us as the message for us today. How is the Spirit stirring within us to respond to this message?
The hymn meditation for today is Community of Christ Sings 420, “Star-Child.”
Sharing Around the Table
Colossians 3:12–17 NRSVue
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Paul uses the metaphor of clothing to suggest that transformation in Christ is all-encompassing. We are, in essence, wrapped in the love of Christ that changes us from the inside out. The features of Christ’s love, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, exist beyond religious experience. Those features gain expression in relation to others in all aspects of our lives!
Paul writes that becoming a new creation in Christ is a choice, and that above all else love has the potential to change us individually and in community. Stated differently, Christ’s love creates room in our minds and hearts for others by first claiming us as beloved in Christ! Bearing with one another and extending forgiveness signals a new generosity, a willingness to open our hearts to one another, recognizing we all are in the process of becoming.
Compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience are virtues that open the heart to feel the circumstances of others as if they were ours. Open hearts are how we begin the journey toward true oneness and interdependence, in families, friendships, neighborhoods and as a global community.
We are invited to wear the clothes of love, even if we struggle to see past our differences. Paul appeals to our better nature, recognizing that intentional acts become, over time, a new way of being and doing in the world.
Paul spoke directly to his audience in this passage, hoping that what was emerging in the people would bear witness to the truth of his words. Having been transformed himself, he left with the admonition to do everything in the name of the One who calls us, loves us, and sends us to be instruments of peace in a broken world.
Questions
- Where do you see God’s new creation emerging?
- How can we tangibly express the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience more fully in our daily lives?
- What spiritual practice might you use to create more space in your heart for others?
Sending
Generosity Statement
Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.
—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. You also may give at CofChrist.org/give.
God of love and light, in this season of hope, love, and joy, may the peace of your Son Jesus be made real in the world. May our hearts, minds, hands, and resources be useful in the cause of bringing your light where there is darkness and your love where there is despair, anger, fear, and suffering. May our offerings be used toward your purposes we pray. Amen.
Invitation to Next Meeting
Closing Hymn
Community of Christ Sings 420, “Star-Child”
Closing Prayer
Optional Additions Depending on Group
- Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
- Thoughts for Children
Thoughts for Children
Materials:
- a basket with small, smooth rocks that have PEACE written on them in permanent marker (Sharpies work well for this.)
- Outreach International brochure: http://outreach-international.org/
Ask: What do you think of when you hear the word peace? (Encourage children to share. Possible answers are peace and quiet, stop fighting, a peace sign.)
Say: As disciples we share the peace of Jesus Christ. Peace is more than quiet, or a stop to fighting. The peace of Jesus is a peace that is lived when we share compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, and love.
Working for peace in our world is a big job that seems to far outweigh anything any of us could do alone. But if we work together, each small pebble of peacemaking can make a difference.
Ask children for ideas that help bring peace, healing, and welcoming to others. Possible answers: We can pray for peace each day. We can make friends with new kids at school. We can forgive someone who hurt our feelings. And we can contribute to a Community of Christ affiliate, Outreach International (http://outreach-international.org/).
Say: We each can work to share Christ’s peace in the world. Let’s each take a pebble of peace from the basket to help us remember to work for peace.
Ask children to share the pebbles with everyone in the group.
Thank the children for participating.
Adapted from http://www.buildfaith.org/pebbles-of-peace/.