BETHANY SERVICE December 21, 2025 10:30 AM
WELCOME AND GREETINGS
PRELUDE “O Holy Night” Donna Rhine & Violinist DaLinda Bohr
*CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Beloved, God calls to us—like Joseph—through angels and messengers,
inviting us to listen for the Spirit’s guidance in the midst of half-truths and
distractions.
People: We listen faithfully for the day that all the earth awaits.
Leader: Sometimes, angels surprise us (as they did Mary) with good news too
fantastical to believe and yet too real—realer than real—to ignore.
People: We listen faithfully for the day that all the earth awaits.
Leader: For generations, God has sent signs of God’s coming kingdom in
unexpected places—the birth of a child, the wisdom of the lowly, the
faithfulness of a carpenter.
People: We listen faithfully for the day that all the earth awaits.
Leader: Come! Let us worship God who calls out to us, inviting us to faithfulness as
we watch, wait, and work for the day when the whole world knows the
abundant love and grace of Emmanuel, God-with-us.
All: Come! Let us worship as we listen faithfully for the day that all the
earth awaits.
INVOCATION
*HYMN “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed” #203
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE Larry Strait & Terry Patrick
Reader: Today, we come face to face with the scandal of Advent: Mary, the
unmarried mother; God Incarnate growing in Mary’s womb as a vulnerable
baby; Joseph contemplating leaving Mary because of her pregnancy;
God’s love at work in ways that society and propriety could not
understand; God calling Mary and Joseph to faithfulness despite the fear
of disgrace.
All: With Mary and Joseph, we choose to wait, watch, and listen for the
way of Love instead of responding in fear to the world’s judgment.
Reader: We light this candle of love as a sign of our faithfulness as we seek, find,
and follow Emmanuel, God with us.
PASTORAL PRAYER
THE LORD’S PRAYER
PRESENTING OUR GIFTS TO THE LORD
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
*HYMN “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” #209 vs.1-3, 6-7
BLESSING THE READING AND HEARING OF THE WORD
FIRST TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 7:10-16 Ed Kaylor
GOSPEL READING Matthew 1:18-25 Ed Kaylor
Liturgist: This is the word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God
SERMON “An Unexpected Gift” Pastor Dave
*HYMN “Angels from the Realms of Glory” #220
*BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “It’s beginning to Look Like Christmas” Donna Rhine