December 31, 2023

December 31, 2023
 
Prelude
Stephanie Shorden

Greeting
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

*Threshold Moment

Leader: Ahhh… here we are again, friends, and for the last time sitting in a time of contemplation together. As this series draws to a close, I want to encourage you to continue this practice at home if it has resonated with you, giving you a bit of respite and calm. Here on January 1, the threshold of a New Year, it is appropriate for us to settle in and start this calendar year with aligning ourselves in the quiet with the reflection of the sacred within us so that we might be inspired to be God’s Sacred Doing in this world.
I invite you to get comfortable where you are sitting, feet on the floor, hands upward in your lap or any other position that has become your favorite position for these moments of quiet. Close your eyes if you are comfortable doing so and take a deep, intentional breath in and out. If it is difficult to get your mind to quiet down, if you are making New Year’s resolutions in there, it’s OK. Don’t judge it… just take another breath and “thank and excuse” for just a moment the mental gymnasium in your brain. That’s it. Take time to settle in.
Bring to your mind’s eye–to your memory and imagination–a moment in your life when you were invited to help someone. Remember the empathy you may have felt and the relief at knowing you could make this person’s situation just a little bit better. Now remember a time in your life when you felt helped. It could have been a simple conversation, a piece of advice, a comforting word, or something tangible and practical that solved a dilemma for you. Become aware of the feeling this brings back to you in your memory. Now imagine particles of light showering slowly upon either or both of these scenes. Let this reflection of light be an anointing for you for the opportunities you will have this year for being part of the Sacred Doing that must occur in our relationships, our families, our church, and our world. Imagine that each time an exchange of help occurs, this is a reflection of the sacred, the Christ Mirror that is showing you God’s hope, love, joy, and peace in abundance. Continue to just breathe, listen, and see with your heart.

Choir
Upon this moment,
upon this people,
upon this place,
the holy comes.
And sacred knowing
brings sacred being
for sacred doing of God’s plan.
 
Take one more deep breath and open your eyes slowly. As you are ready, I invite you to stand in body or spirit and face the back as a brand new candle for the new year comes into our midst. For those worshiping online, you are invited to light a candle where you are.

Readers:
Please repeat after me [us]:
 
Leader: We pray for a new start this day.
People: We pray for a new start this day.
 
Leader: We open to see the Sacred reflected in all things.
People: We open to see the Sacred reflected in all things.
 
Leader: We open to see each relationship
People: We open to see each relationship
Leader: as a gift of holy presence.
People: as a gift of holy presence.
 
Leader: This is the gift of the Christ Mystery,
People: This is the gift of the Christ Mystery,
Leader: lighting the way to the future.
People: lighting the way to the future.

Congregation Sings:
 
Upon this moment,
upon this people,
upon this place,
the holy comes.
And sacred knowing
brings sacred being
for sacred doing of God’s plan.
 
People: Amen.

Choose Your Own Adventure Hymn Sing
UMH #211-251

Baptism of Brantley Dean Ford

Brothers and sisters in Christ: Through the Sacrament of Baptism we are initiated into Christ’s holy church.

We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit. All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price. I present Brantley Dean Ford for baptism. On behalf of the whole church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin?

I do.

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?

I do.

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races?

I do.

Will you nurture these children (persons) in Christ’s holy church, that by your teaching and example they may be guided to accept God’s grace for themselves, to profess their faith openly, and to lead a Christian life?

I will.

Do you, as Christ’s body, the church, reaffirm both your rejection of sin and your commitment to Christ?

We do.

Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include these persons now before you in your care?

With God’s help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround these persons with a community of love and forgiveness, that they may grow in their service to others. We will pray for them, that they may be true disciples who walk in the way that leads to life.

Members of the household of God, I commend these persons to your love and care. Do all in your power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.

We give thanks for all that God has already given you and we welcome you in Christian love. As members together with you in the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church, we renew our covenant faithfully to participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

The God of all grace, who has called us to eternal glory in Christ, establish you and strengthen you by the power of the Holy Spirit that you may live in grace and peace.

Greet Your Neighbors
 
Mystery Box

Pastoral, Silent and, The Lord’s Prayer
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

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. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever.
Amen

Invitation to Offering
CLM Twinkle Gordon

Offertory
Prayer of Thanks and Dedication
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

*Doxology
Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow
 
Praise God, from whom
all blessings flow;
Praise God, all creatures
here below: Alleluia! Alleluia!
 
Praise God, the source
of all our gifts!
Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts!
 
Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia!

Scripture Reading
CLM Twinkle Gordon
 
Isaiah 63: 7-9 (NRSVUE)

Reader: I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not act deceitfully,” and he became their savior in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but his presence that saved them; in his love and pity it was he who redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Matthew 2: 13-23 (NRSVUE)
 
Reader: Now after [the magi] had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
 
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Prayer for Illumination
Leader: May the words of my mouth,
People: and the meditations of all of our hearts
All: be acceptable in your sight, O Lord our rock and our redeemer.
Psalm 19:14

Message
Sacred Doing
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

Covenant Prayer
CLM Twinkle Gordon

Leader: This prayer comes from Wesley's covenant service and was traditionally used as part of a service on New Years Eve or New Years Day:
All: I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, place me with whom you will.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be put to work for you or set aside for you, praised for you or criticized for you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and fully surrender all things to your glory and service.
And now, O wonderful and holy God,
Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
you are mine, and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
Let it also be made in heaven.  Amen.

*Sending Hymn
Go Tell It on the Mountain
UMH #251
WORDS: John W. Works, Jr., 1907 (Lk. 2:8-20)
 
Refrain
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills
and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain,
that Jesus Christ is born.
 
1. While shepherds kept
their watching
o’er silent flocks by night,
behold throughout
the heavens
there shown a holy light.
 
Refrain
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills
and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain,
that Jesus Christ is born.
 
2. The shepherds
feared and trembled,
when lo! above the earth,
rang out the angel chorus
that hailed
the Savior’s birth.
 
Refrain
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills
and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain,
that Jesus Christ is born.
 
3. Down in a lowly manger
the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation
that blessed
Christmas morn.
 
Refrain
Go, tell it on the mountain,
over the hills
and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain,
that Jesus Christ is born.
 
*Benediction
Pastor Donnie Sturgill

When you see lights twinkle,
when you catch a reflection in a mirror,
when you notice the sunlight dancing on a surface
or a nightlight glowing in the darkness,
let these be signs that the Christ Light is revealed
again and again in and through this world.
Know that your brilliant presence
is pouring more hope, love, joy, and peace into a weary world.
God loved us by becoming us.
This means you are already
reflecting the sacred.
In the name of the Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Postlude
Stephanie Shorden