Pin on Magi

Welcome and merry Christmas! This is Second Sunday after Christmas and we are still celebrating Christ’s birth, as is the Episcopal way (and many other faith traditions as well.) The Reverend Dorothy Hartzog is presiding over this morning’s service. May this season of Christmastide bring you and our whole world much-needed hope and joy.

We are grateful for music supplied by our wonderful church musicians, Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot, and our lay readers, Missy McDonald and Jonathan Beasley.

Announcements: Nora Beasley, daughter of Jonathan and Michelle, was baptized Dec 28 in a baptismal service conducted by Mother Dorothy at Grace Church. Welcome to the family of God, little Nora! For some precious photos, visit Grace’s member’s group on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our “reverse Advent collection of food.“ We collected a significant amount and those items will be donated to the food pantry at Atkins Porter park.

Our New Year’s Eve service is available here, in case you want to kick 2020 to the curb all over again! Thank you to Rhonda Stanton, Jim Lacey, Dianne Carlisle, Pat Woods and Mother Dorothy for their recorded participation. It was (and still is!) a lovely way to greet 2021 with faith and hope in God’s faithfulness.

Children’s Resources

This week we present two different ways to tell the story of Epiphany, the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. If you have time to share both of them with your children, the differences and similarities may spark their thinking and imagination as they make art about this story or re-enact it with their own materials. What part of the story seems to be of particular interest to your children today? What part of the story could be about them, or could they see themselves in this story?

This telling of the Epiphany story emphasizes the Magi’s interaction with King Herod.
This telling emphasizes the significance of the gifts the Magi brought to Jesus.

Together at Home: click the link to download conversation starters, prayers and activities for families based on Bible lectionary readings for the week of January 3rd.

The Second Sunday After Christmas

Prelude: Away in a Manger

Rhonda Stanton, pianist

Opening Hymn: 93 Angels from the realms of glory

Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot

1. Angels, from the realms of glory,
wing your flight o’er all the earth,
ye, who sang creation’s story,
now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
come and worship, come and worship
worship Christ, the new-born King.

2. Shepherds in the field abiding,
watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
yonder shines the infant Light:
come and worship, come and worship
worship Christ, the new-born King.

3. Sages, leave your contemplations;
brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations;
ye have seen his natal star:
come and worship, come and worship
worship Christ, the new-born King.

4. Saints before the altar bending,
watching long in hope and fear,
suddenly the Lord, descending,
in his temple shall appear:
come and worship, come and worship
worship Christ, the new-born King.Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot

Opening Sentences and Collect for the Second Sunday after Christmas

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14

Jonathan Beasley

Thus says the Lord:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
“Save, O Lord, your people,
the remnant of Israel.”

See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame, those with child and
those in labor, together;
a great company, they shall return here.

With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;

for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him,
and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.”

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and over the young of the flock and the herd;

their life shall become like a watered garden,
and they shall never languish again.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.

I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will give the priests their fill of fatness,
and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty,
says the Lord.

Psalm 84

Missy McDonald

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *
My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
2 The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
they will always be praising you.
4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.
5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, *
for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.
6 They will climb from height to height, *
and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.
7 Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; *
hearken, O God of Jacob.
8 Behold our defender, O God; *
and look upon the face of your Anointed.
[9 For one day in your courts is better than a thousand in my own room, *
and to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
10 For the Lord God is both sun and shield; *
he will give grace and glory;
11 No good thing will the Lord withhold *
from those who walk with integrity.
12 O Lord of hosts, *
happy are they who put their trust in you!]

Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a

Missy McDonald

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Gospel Hymn: When Jesus left his Father’s throne

Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot

1 When Jesus left his Father’s throne,
he chose an humble birth;
like us, unhonoured and unknown,
he came to dwell on earth.
Like him, may we be found below
in wisdom’s paths of peace;
like him in grace and knowledge grow
as years and strength increase.

2 Sweet were his words, and kind his look,
when mothers round him pressed;
their infants in his arms he took,
and on his bosom blessed.
Safe from the world’s alluring harms,
beneath his watchful eye,
thus in the circle of his arms,
may we forever lie.

3 When Jesus into Zion rode,
the children sang around;
for joy they plucked the palms and strowed
their garments on the ground.
Hosanna our glad voices raise,
hosanna to our King!
Should we forget our Saviour’s praise,
the stones themselves would sing.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12

Mother Dorothy Hartzog

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 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.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`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.'”

Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 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.” 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. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 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. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Sermon

Mother Dorothy Hartzog

Nicene Creed

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:
    by the power of the Holy Spirit
        he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
        and was made man.
    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.
    With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
    He has spoken through the Prophets.
    We believe in one holy catholic and 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. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church;
That we all may be one.

Grant that every member of the Church may truly and
humbly serve you;
That your Name may be glorified by all people.

We pray for all bishops, priests, and deacons;
That they may be faithful ministers of your Word and
Sacraments.

We pray for all who govern and hold authority in the nations
of the world;
That there may be justice and peace on the earth.

Give us grace to do your will in all that we undertake;
That our works may find favor in your sight.

Have compassion on those who suffer from any grief or trouble;
That they may be delivered from their distress.

Give to the departed eternal rest.
Let light perpetual shine upon them.

We praise you for your saints who have entered into joy;
May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.

Let us pray for our own needs and those of others.

Silence

The People may add their own petitions.

Closing Hymn: The First Nowell

Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot

1. The first Nowell the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
in fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

Refrain:
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
born is the King of Israel.

2. They looked up and saw a star
shining in the east beyond them far,
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night. (Refrain)

3. And by the light of that same star
three wise men came from country far;
to seek for a king was their intent,
and to follow the star wherever it went. (Refrain)

Peace, Blessing and Dismissal

Mother Dorothy Hartzog

Postlude: Rise up, shepherd and follow

Rhonda Stanton and Zoë Pouliot
Adoration of the Magi by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, 17th century
Adoration of the Magi – Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (Spanish, 1617-1682)