Sunday’s Liturgy
December 7, 2025
Listen throughout the week, so you’re ready to sing along on Sunday!
[ Gathering ]
Call to Worship
Psalm 145:1-12
[One:] I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
[All:] Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The LORD is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Confession of Sin
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
Here in this wilderness,
in our self-inflicted exile from the Garden,
you invite us to trust you:
to look to you for safety and deliverance,
to rely on you for our daily bread,
to be satisfied in your steadfast love
and find in you rest for our souls.
Yet often we live not in trust, but from fear.
We take our lives into our own hands,
relying on ourselves instead of your grace.
We look to the world’s hollow promises
to satisfy our longing and fill our emptiness.
We chase after shadows, trying to earn and build
what can only be found in you.
We confess, merciful God:
We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry, and we humbly repent.
Teach us instead, O gracious King,
to trust you in our weakness,
to walk in your light as we hope in your promise.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us,
that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your name.
Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Hear, O child, the good news of God’s promise:
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
(Zephaniah 3:14–17)
Our God and King is faithful!
By the blood of Jesus,
he has taken away our judgement
that we may stand in his presence.
Our Lord is near and mighty to save,
to calm our every fear with his love.
So take heart, O child, and rejoice!
Rest in the faithfulness of your Savior!
In Christ we are forgiven!
Thanks be to God!
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Greetings of Peace
[CityKids are dismissed.]
[ Word ]
Prayer for Illumination
Reading of Scripture
Isaiah 7:1-17
In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
And the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer’s Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord GOD:
“ ‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz: “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.” And he said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Sermon
Concluding Prayer
[ Table ]
Invitation to Communion
Prayer of Consecration
Distribution of Elements
[We gather in small groups around tables throughout the room and pray together as we receive the bread and cup.]
[ Sending ]