Welcome to Worship

“Sustaining the Light”
January 2, 2022

 Join us here for a live-stream beginning at 9:15am

“Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine; love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.” -Love Came Down at Christmas, by Christina Rossetti

WELCOME – Rev. Talia Raymond

PRELUDE – Phillip Herr-Klepacki

INVOCATION
O Giver of every good gift, We Gather here by habit or by accident, from lives frantic or serene. We Gather here, young, old, in middle age, all of us children whose names you know by heart. We gather here, each of us hoping for a new word, a gentle touch, a nudge in the right direction: straight into the arms of love. Amen.

OPENING HYMN – “Angels, from the Realms of Glory”

Angels from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all earth;
As you sang creation’s story, now proclaim Messiah’s birth:

Refrain: Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, give thanks and sing.

Shepherds, in the fields abiding, watching o’er your flocks at night,
God with us is now residing, yonder shines the infant light:

Refrain

Sages, leave your contemplations, brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of Nations, guided by Christ’s natal star:

Refrain

Saints, before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly, your prayers attending, Christ beside you shall appear.

Retrain

TIME WITH OUR CHILDREN – Rev. Talia Raymond and Shelby Hall

READING – “Taking Down the Tree” by Jane Kenyon

“Give me some light!” cries Hamlet’s
uncle midway through the murder
of Gonzago. “Light! Light!” cry scattering
courtesans. Here, as in Denmark,
it’s dark at four, and even the moon
shines with only half a heart.

The ornaments go down into the box:
the silver spaniel, My Darling
on its collar, from Mother’s childhood
in Illinois; the balsa jumping jack
my brother and I fought over,

pulling limb from limb. Mother
drew it together again with thread
while I watched, feeling depraved
at the age of ten.

With something more than caution
I handle them, and the lights, with their
tin star-shaped reflectors, brought along
from house to house, their pasteboard
toy suitcases increasingly flimsy.
Tick, tick, the desiccated needles drop.

By suppertime all that remains is the scent
of balsam fir. If it’s darkness
we’re having, let it be extravagant.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE – Rev. Talia Raymond

PRAYER RESPONSE – “What Child is This”

What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet while shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this, the angels sing, is Christ, God’s holy offering;
Haste, haste, your praise to bring the babe, the child of Mary!

Why lies the child in manger bare where ox and ass are feeding?
Give heed, draw near; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.
Raise, raise the song on high, the mother sings her lullaby,
Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the child of Mary!

SCRIPTURE READING – Luke 9:28-36

INTERLUDE – As the music is played, the Grushers will pass the offering plate, sanitizing it at regular intervals. You are invited to give or to pass as you are so moved.

READING – “Goodbye Christmas Tree” by Jim Yerman, read by Rev. Andy Bachmann

We finally took our Christmas tree down; it was time but I might add
Every year taking the tree down makes me a little sad.

The ornaments and lights are stored and all that’s left is the tree
Soon everything about Christmas is just a memory.

Oh their good memories, don’t get me wrong, I just wish they had extended
Because taking down the tree means Christmas has finally ended.

Now this Christmas joins all Christmases past and with other memories is combined
And the only way to visit them is in the corners of our mind.

They join memories of Deborah’s mom and dad, memories we adore
They join Whitman our old golden, whose essence still waits by the door.

They join memories of our children and grandchildren and all memories new and old
I’m always amazed at the amount of memories this old house can hold.

Taking down the Christmas tree reminds me of how we live only in the present
And that life is so ephemeral, so sudden, so evanescent.

It reminds me to cherish each moment while that memory’s being made
For soon that moment’s over and even memories can fade.

Sometimes I wish those happy moments would last eternally
But then I realize if that were true we’d make no new memories.

No, Life is meant to keep moving, that’s the way it has been cast
And it’s up to us to move with it and not linger in the past.

But that won’t stop me from enjoying this most recent memory
Or always being a little sad when we take down our Christmas tree.

SERMON- “Sustaining the Light,” Shelby Hall, UCG Member in Discernment

CLOSING SONG – “Love Came Down at Christmas” 

Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas, star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead, Love incarnate, Love divine;
Worship we our Jesus, but where is God’s sacred sign?

Love shall be our token, love be yours and love be mine;
Love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.

BENEDICTION

ALLELUIA