United in God’s Love, Empowered to Serve, Welcoming All

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The First Sunday after Christmas

December 28, 2025

Holy Eucharist

11:00 A.M.

BISHOP: The Rt. Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer

PRESIDER AND PREACHER: The Rev. Steven Metcalfe

MUSIC DIRECTOR and ORGANIST: Stephen Kennedy

ASSISTANT ORGANIST: Jimmy Jeffery

TODAY’S ORGANIST: Carol Manuel

We seek to serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
We strive for justice and peace among all people,
respecting the dignity of every human being.

Welcome

We seek to mirror the love of God and the hospitality of Jesus in our worship and our service to others. We are a community welcoming all races, ethnicities, faiths, genders, orientations, and abilities. Our worship is open to all, and every person is invited to receive communion.

CHRIST CHURCH OFFICE HOURS – TELEPHONE: 585.454.3878

TUESDAYS - 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

WEDNESDAYS - 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

THURSDAYS - 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

As discussed during the Annual Meeting, the Rector Search Committee is interested in your input! Click here and leave us a message https://songforchristchurch.org/contact and share your thoughts. Members of the Search Committee will be available after church during Coffee Hour, too, to answer any questions, and the boards will be available through the month of February.

Assistant

THE HOLY EUCHARIST: RITE TWO

From The Book of Common Prayer

Voluntary

THE ENTRANCE RITE

Please stand, as able.

Hymn 497 How bright appears the morning star

OPENING ACCLAMATION

Presider: Blessed be the One Holy and Living God.

People: Glory to God for ever and ever. Amen.

Collect for Purity

Presider Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid; cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SONG OF PRAISE Hymn 82 Of the Father’s love begotten

THE WORD OF GOD

Presider God be with you.

People And also with you.

Presider Let us pray. (Silence)

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Please be seated.

First Lesson Isaiah 61:10-62:3

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,

until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.

The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;

and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.

You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Lector The word of the Lord.

People Thanks be to God.

Gradual Hymn 432 O Praise ye the Lord

Second Lesson Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Lector The word of the Lord.

People Thanks be to God.

Please stand, as able.

The Holy Gospel John 1:1-18

Gospeler The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John

All Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Gospeler The Gospel of the Lord.

All Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Sermon The Rev. Steven Metcalfe

The Nicene Creed

recited in unison.

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 worshipped 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.

The Prayers of the People

God of tender and vulnerable love, you gave us your Son at Christmas, wrapped in swaddling clothes,

the Redeemer of all, lying in a manger. Draw us deeply into the abyss of your love. As we join our voices with the heavenly host, we pray for the church and the whole world, saying, Lord, in your merciful love,

hear our prayer.

We pray for the Church and all those entrusted with its leadership and service, remembering especially Sean, our Presiding Bishop, and Kara, our bishop. Lord, in your merciful love, hear our prayer.

Imbue the leaders of all nations with your wisdom and compassion, that, by honoring the dignity of all

peoples and cultures, and by respecting and caring for creation, we may live together in peace.