Here is the worship guide for Sunday, December 28, 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 147:1–7 (ESV)
1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre!
Song: “How Many Kings”
Words and music by Jason Germain and Marc Martel.
Follow the star to a place unexpected.
Would you believe, after all we’ve projected,
a child in a manger, lowly and small the weakest of all?
Unlikeliest hero wrapped in His mother’s shawl,
just a child, is this who we’ve waited for?
’Cause how many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
to romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Bringing out gifts for the newborn Savior,
all that we have whether costly or meek,
because we believe.
Gold for His honor and frankincense for His pleasure
and myrrh for the cross He’ll suffer.
Do you believe? Is this who we’ve waited for?
How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least for me?
And how many gods have poured out their hearts
to romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?
Only one did that for me.
Hymn: “My Savior’s Love”
Words and music by Charles H. Gabriel
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene,
and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
For me it was in the garden He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
In pity angels beheld Him, and came from the world of light
to comfort Him in the sorrows He bore for my soul that night.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
He took my sins and my sorrows, He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calv’ry, and suffered and died alone.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see,
’Twill be my joy through the ages to sing of His love for me.
How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful is my Savior’s love for me!
Hymn: “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”
Words: Charles Wesley. Music: Felix Mendelssohn.
Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Sermon: “Everyone Needs Jesus”
Mark 7:31–37 (ESV)
31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Hymn: “Go, Tell It on the Mountain”
Words: John W. Work Jr. Music: Spiritual, harmonized by John W. Work III.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night,
behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
The shepherds feared and trembled when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
Benediction
Galatians 6:18 (ESV)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.