Here is the worship guide for Sunday, December 21, 2025.
PDF version of the worship guide to download or print.
The livestream will begin at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page or YouTube page.
Welcome and Announcements
Opening Prayer
Call to Worship
Psalm 100 (ESV)
1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
5 For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Hymn: “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
Words: Latin Hymn, ascribed to John Francis Wade. Music: John Francis Wade.
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant;
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels!
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
God of God, Light of Light eternal,
lo, he abhors not the virgin’s womb;
very God, begotten, not created;
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
O sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest!
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;
Word of the Father, now in the flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Song: “The Goodness of God”
By Ben Fielding, Brian Johnson, Ed Cash, Jason Ingram, Jenn Johnson.
I love You, Lord; Oh, Your mercy never fails me.
All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands.
From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head,
I will sing of the goodness of God.
All my life You have been faithful.
All my life You have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able,
I will sing of the goodness of God.
I love Your voice; You have led me through the fire.
In darkest night, You are close like no other.
I’ve known You as a father, I’ve known You as a friend.
I have lived in the goodness of God.
All my life You have been faithful.
All my life You have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able,
I will sing of the goodness of God.
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me.
Your goodness is running after, it’s running after me.
With my life laid down I’m surrendered now.
I give You everything ’cause Your goodness is running after,
it’s running after me.
All my life You have been faithful.
All my life You have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able,
I will sing of the goodness of God.
Advent Reading and Candle Lighting
1 John 4:7–12 (ESV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Hymn: “Thou Who Wast Rich”
Words: Frank Houghton. Music: French Carol “Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable.”
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor, a
all for love’s sake becamest poor;
thrones for a manger didst surrender,
sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendor,
All for love’s sake becamest poor.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
all for love’s sake becamest man;
stooping so low, but sinners raising
heavenward by Thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
make us what Thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Savior and King, we worship Thee.
Sermon: “Thou Shalt Put Us to the Test”
Mark 7:24–30 (ESV)
24 And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25 But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30 And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
Hymn: “Angels, from the Realms of Glory”
Words: James Montgomery. Music: Henry T. Smart.
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 newborn King!
Shepherds, in the fields 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 newborn King!
Sages, leave your contemplations, brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations; ye have seen the Infant’s star:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Though an Infant now we view Him, He shall fill His Father’s throne;
gather all the nations to Him; ev’ry knee shall then bow down:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Benediction
2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.