Call to Worship – First Sunday After Christmas
Leader: The Word has become flesh and dwells among us. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
People: We gather to rejoice in God’s gift of love, still bright in our hearts after Christmas Day.
Leader: Come, let us celebrate the Child who brings peace, the Saviour who brings hope, the Lord who brings life.
People: With grateful hearts and joyful voices, we come to worship the God who is with us— yesterday, today, and always.
All: Glory to God in the highest! Let heaven and earth rejoice, for Christ is born and Christ is here.
Prayer of Approach
God of light and life, we come before you still carrying the glow of Christmas joy. In the quiet after celebration, you meet us with peace that lingers and hope that does not fade.
As we gather in your presence, open our hearts to the wonder of the Word made flesh. Let the story of Christ’s birth shape our living, guide our choices, and renew our trust in your unfailing love.
Draw us close, O God, that we may hear your voice, receive your grace, and offer our worship with gratitude and joy. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Matthew 2:13-23 The Escape to Egypt
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.”[a]
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.”[b]
The Return to Nazareth
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.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Psalm 148 – A Reflective Paraphrase
Praise rises from every corner of creation. From the highest heavens to the quietest places of earth, let all that exists turn its face toward God.
Sun and moon, steady in your courses— shine with gratitude. Stars scattered across the night— glimmer with praise. Skies above, vast and sheltering— hold your breath in wonder.
Let all things praise the One who spoke, and it was so; who commanded, and all things found their place.
Mountains lifting their heads to the sky, hills rolling gently across the land, oceans deep and mysterious, creatures great and small— praise the Lord.
Storm winds that obey His whisper, fire and frost, rain and snow, trees that root and rise, birds that soar and sing— praise the Lord.
People of every land and language, leaders and labourers, young and old, those who rejoice and those who seek hope— lift your hearts in praise.
For God’s name alone is holy, God’s glory stretches beyond the heavens, and God draws near to His people with strength, mercy, and love.
Let everything that has breath and everything that simply is offer praise to the Lord.
Responsive Reading – Psalm of Christmas Light
Leader: The Lord is our light and our salvation; the brightness of Christ still shines among us.
People: We walk in the glow of God’s love, and we rejoice in the hope Christ brings.
Leader: Though the world may grow weary, God’s faithfulness remains steadfast.
People: The Child of Bethlehem is our strength, our peace, and our joy.
Leader: Come, let us lift our hearts in praise, for God’s mercy is new every morning.
All: Glory be to God, whose light no darkness can overcome.
Intercession
Fathering, Mothering God,
We pray for all children who have never known
or who have lost the loving care and protection of their parents…
For all children whose days begin and end in fear and uncertainty…
For all children who have no one to care for their comfort and wellbeing…
For all children unsheltered and uncomforted…
For all children alone and afraid….
And we pray too for all those
who have lost someone they love
through actions driven by the fear and violence of others.
Fathering, Mothering God –
keep them all in Your sight,
hear their cries and right their wrongs,
now and in eternity. Amen
Benediction
May the peace of the Christ‑child rest upon you, the joy of the angels surround you, and the light of God guide your steps as you go into the days ahead.
And may the blessing of God Almighty— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— be with you and remain with you always. Amen.
BELLSHILL: CENTRAL PARISH CHURCH OF SCOTLAND 