News & Announcements UPCOMING EVENTS & MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES SUNDAY SCHOOL & YEAR OF THE BIBLE: Sunday School and Year of the Bible will begin again today (January 6th)! All are welcome to join us! WINTERFEST 1/26: Join us for our Annual WinterFest Celebration at The Leadership Center on Sunday, January 26th from 3pm-6pm. We ll play board games and card games (please bring your favorites), have snacks and the pool, basketball, ping pong tables will be available. A donation of $5 per is suggested. All are welcome, and bring your friends! FOOD PANTRY NEEDS: The Food Pantry is always accepting donations, please feel free to help re-stock the shelves after a busy holiday season with donations of dry goods. This month our specific item to collect is 15 oz. cans of Spaghetti & Meatballs for the Backpackers program. Donations can be placed in the Food Pantry baskets near the main entrance. ANNUAL MEETING & MINISTRY CELEBRATION: Messiah members will meet for our Annual Congregational Meeting and Ministry Celebration on Sunday, February 3rd following worship. At this meeting we will approve a Ministry Support Plan for 2019 (budget planning) and celebrate the ministry we have been a part throughout 2018. PLEASE PLAN ON ATTENDING! YOUR VOICE AND VOTE IS IM- PORTANT! Annual Reports will be available on Sunday, January 20th. At Messiah, we are powered by God s Grace! God s grace comes to us as we are. through grains of wheat that comprise the bread of Christ we share and that gathers us into the one Body of Christ. through grapes that are poured out together in the Blood of Christ, as we pour ourselves out into the world. through water that fills the baptismal font, washes us clean, and embraces us as Children of God..through the Holy Spirit that lives within us as the breath of life and that inspires us to live as grace-powered throughout the world. Messiah Lutheran Church, ELCA 415 S. 18th St., Aurora, NE 68818 402-694-2017 www.messiahaurora.org Senior Pastor - Rev. Sarah Ruch 402-833-8218 Pastor of Children, Youth & Family - Rev. Miles Ruch, Jr. 402-833-8219 January 6, 2019 01/06/2019 16 01/06/2019
A warm welcome to all today! THIS WEEK AT MESSIAH News & Announcements May this time of worship strengthen your faith and desire to serve the Creator who loves us with everlasting love in Christ Jesus. Children are welcome in this worship service, and encouraged to participate in any way they are able to. Teach the children sitting around you how to use their hymnals, bulletins, follow the screens, and sing & speak loudly! We value the noise made by our children! Visitors, we are especially glad to see you. Please come again!! As disciples of Christ, we encourage you to CONNECT with ministry opportunities here at Messiah! Please fill out a CONNECT sheet today. After you ve recorded your name(s) and pertinent information, please turn these sheets over and think about the ways in which you can use the gifts and talents given to you in the ministry here at Messiah. CONNECT sheets can be placed in the offering plate as we give our gifts of time, talent, and treasure to God. Sunday, January 6th 9:00 am -- Worship 10:15 am -- Sunday School 10:15 am -- Year of the Bible 6:00 pm -- Year of the Bible Tuesday, January 8th 8:30 am -- Moms in Prayer 6:30 pm -- Lions Club Wednesday, January 9th 6:30 pm -- Confirmation 7:00 pm -- Youth Group 7:00 pm -- First Place Saturday, January 12th 6:00 pm -- Concessions at Theater Sunday, January 13th 9:00 am -- Worship 10:15 am -- Sunday School 10:15 am -- WELCA Meeting 10:15 am -- Year of the Bible 6:00 pm -- Year of the Bible UPCOMING EVENTS & MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES WOMEN, WISDOM, & WINE: All ladies of the congregation are welcome to join us on Tuesday, January 15th for fellowship and study of a woman of the Bible. This group will meet at the Parsonage: 130 Galway Rd. CUSTODIAN POSITION AVAILABLE Messiah Lutheran Church is hiring a part-time Custodian. Job entails interior cleaning of the church building. $10 an hour/15 hours per week. Full job descriptions and applications can be picked up at Messiah Lutheran Church between 8am-2pm Monday-Friday. MIDDLE SCHOOL HAPPENINGS: Confirmation (7th & 8th graders) will begin meeting for the new year on Wednesday, January 9th at our regular class time, 6:30pm-8:00pm. Confirmation students will be attending the Nebraska Synod Middle School Gathering on January 19th-January 20th in Kearney. Please keep our kids (and their adult volunteers) in your prayers during this time. You can pray for safe travel, meaningful learning, and faithful relationship building. 01/06/2019 2 01/06/2019 15
DISTRIBUTION HYMNS I Love to Tell the Story ELW 661 Here Is Bread ELW 483 *PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION We give you thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through the healing power of this gift of life. In your mercy, strengthen us through this gift, in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. BLESSING SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world. Ushers: Youth Ushers: Reader: Acolytes: Musician: Serving Us in Worship Today George Chaney Troy McCain Jaylee Schuster Cassidy Knust David Olson Kasey Schuster Alexa Katt A Few Notes. Greeters: Mike & Ruth Fletcher Sound Booth: Rick Penner Video Recorder: Duane Katt PowerPoint: Alex Johnson Worship Asst: Cami Knust Coffee Bar Hosts: Nancy Arndt Andrea VanDeWalle The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord s face shine on you with grace and mercy. The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace. SENDING SONG Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow ELW 885 DISMISSAL Go in peace. Christ is with you. Thanks be to God. Copyright 2018 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #SAS000462. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. * Indicates congregation please stand if able. Congregational responses are printed in BOLD type ELW stands for Evangelical Lutheran Worship. This is the Cranberry colored hymnal found in each pew. You are welcome to look up our songs and liturgy in these hymnals, or follow along on the screens. If a p. is listed before the number, these are the small numbers found on the lower corners of each page in the front of the hymnal. If a number is simply listed, these are the large numbers found on the top corners in the back half of the hymnal. Communion today will be celebrated at the railing. You will be offered unleavened bread and an individual cup of wine or white grape juice. Gluten-free bread and Nut-free wafers are available from each server. Please simply indicate to your server that this is needed. We practice an open communion table at Messiah. If you are a baptized child of God and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, you are welcome at the table. 01/06/2019 14 01/06/2019 3
ANNOUNCEMENTS GATHERING The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God. GATHERING SONG Rise, Shine, You People! ELW 665 *CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS Order for Worship In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. *THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE ELW p. 190 In the night in which he was betrayed...... Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks...... Do this for the remembrance of me. *LORD S PRAYER ELW p. 191 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. COMMUNION COMMUNION SONG ELW p. 191 Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another. Most merciful God, we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 01/06/2019 4 01/06/2019 13
*DIALOGUE ELW p. 190 The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise. *PREFACE ELW p. 190 *GREETING ELW p. 184 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And also with you. *KYRIE ELW p. 184 Verse 1: All Verse 2: High Voices Verse 3: Low Voices Verse 4: All It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,..... we praise your name and join their unending hymn: *HOLY, HOLY, HOLY ELW p. 190 01/06/2019 12 01/06/2019 5
apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. *PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Dwelling in the presence of God with us, let us boldly pray for the church, the world, and all in any need. Each petition ends: Hear us, O God. The congregation responds: Your mercy is great. *PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. O God, on this day you revealed your Son to the nations by the leading of a star. Lead us now by faith to know your presence in our lives, and bring us at last to the full vision of your glory, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song. FIRST READING Isaiah 60:1-6 Old Testament pg. 535 1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Trusting in the presence of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, we commend all for whom we pray, dwelling in the light and hope of Christ, our Savior. PEACE ELW p. 189 The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you. OFFERING OFFERING PRAYER MEAL God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ. Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. GREAT THANKSGIVING 01/06/2019 6 01/06/2019 11
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage. 9 When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. SERMON HYMN OF THE DAY Shine, Jesus, Shine ELW 671 *CREED ELW p. 189 We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and 01/06/2019 10 4 Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God. PSALM 72:1-7, 10-14 Old Testament pg. 415 1 Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the king s son; 2 that he may rule your people righteously and the poor with justice; 3 that the mountains may bring prosperity to the people, and the hills, in righteousness. 4 Let him defend the needy among the people, rescue the poor, and crush the oppressor. 5 May he live as long as the sun and moon endure, from one generation to another. 6 Let him come down like rain upon the mown field, like showers that water the earth. 7 In his time may the righteous flourish; and let there be an abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more. 10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles pay tribute, and the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts. 11 May all kings bow down before him, and all the nations do him service. 01/06/2019 7
12 For the king delivers the poor who cry out in distress, the oppressed, and those who have no helper. 13 He has compassion on the lowly and poor, and preserves the lives of the needy. 14 From oppression and violence he redeems their lives, and precious is their blood in his sight. *GOSPEL ACCLAMATION ELW p. 188 SECOND READING Ephesians 3:1-12 New Testament pg. 149 1 This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 for surely you have already heard of the commission of God s grace that was given me for you, 3 and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, 4 a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. 5 In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: 6 that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 7 Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God s grace that was given me by the working of his power. 8 Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make everyone see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things; 10 so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God. CHILDREN'S MESSAGE This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. This Little Light of Mine *GOSPEL: Matthew 2:1-12 New Testament pg. 1 The holy gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord. 1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 asking, Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage. 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They told him, In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel. 01/06/2019 8 01/06/2019 9