Worship Information
This worship service is a service of Lessons and Carols. There will not be Holy Communion or a Message since the lessons and carols are the message for the day. Join us in-person for the weekly Worship Service at 10 am in-person or via Facebook Live (https://www.facebook.com/allsaintsdavenport/). The service will later be uploaded to YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@allsaintslutheranchurchdav1987) for your viewing.
Worship at All Saints might look and feel a little different. We carefully and prayerfully select a worship theme each season, and we choose songs and liturgical elements that help communicate that theme and bring us closer to God and to one another.
All Saints Lutheran Church is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and participates in the Synod Authorized Ministry (SAM) program offered by the Southeastern Iowa Synod. Bishop Amy Current has authorized Wanda Barber, Matthew Reece, and Julie Schoville to be Synod Authorized Ministers able to preside over all worship services and offer pastoral care. The Synod provides training and instruction throughout the year and fully supports this program.
If you would like the spoken words for the worship services, contact the office (office@allsaintsdavenport.org) to request the information.
Introduction
As we celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, our gospel today confronts us with the death of innocent children at the hands of Herod. The birth of Christ does not remove the power of evil from our world, but its light gives us hope as we walk with all the “holy innocents” of past generations and today who have suffered unjustly. In our gathering around word and meal, God continues to redeem us, lift us up, and carry us as in days of old.
Scripture
Isaiah 63:7-9 Israel saved by God’s own presence
God does not delegate divine intervention to a messenger or angel. God’s own presence brings salvation. The prophet and all who read these words join in celebrating God’s gracious deeds. God trusts that God’s people will not act falsely.
Psalm 148 The splendor of the Lord is over earth and heaven. (Ps. 148:13)
Hebrews 2:10-18 Christ shares flesh and blood to free humankind
Through Jesus’ suffering and death, the trail to eternal salvation has been blazed for us. We do not fear death, because he has conquered the power of death. Thus Christ, our merciful and faithful high priest, has the final say over the destiny of our lives.
Matthew 2:13-23 The slaughter of innocent children
In a dream, Joseph is warned to flee to Egypt to protect the infant Jesus from the jealousy of Herod.
Prayer of the Day
O Lord God, you know that we cannot place our trust in our own powers. As you protected the infant Jesus, so defend us and all the needy from harm and adversity, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Fellowship Time
After worship there is time for refreshments and fellowship in the gathering space.
Christmas Theme
Awake and alive: The Light is here!
Theme Write-up
written by Matthew Reece, Director of Music Ministries
The worship theme “Awake and alive: The Light Is here!” celebrates the fulfillment of Advent’s promise: the arrival of Christ, the true Light who has come into the world. No longer are we merely watching and waiting; now we stand in the radiance of God’s redeeming presence made flesh in Jesus. This theme proclaims that the long-expected Light has dawned, illuminating our lives and transforming our hearts. Through word, song, and sacrament, the congregation is invited to rejoice in the nearness of God and to see the world anew through the lens of divine love made visible in the Christ child.
To be awake and alive is to live as people renewed by that Light: to let its warmth and truth shape how we see, speak, and serve. The Light of Christ calls us out of fear and complacency into the joy and courage of discipleship. As this theme unfolds through the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, the congregation is sent forth as bearers of the Light, reflecting Christ’s presence in acts of compassion, justice, and mercy. “Awake and alive: The Light Is here!” reminds us that God’s incarnation is not a past event but a present and ongoing reality: Christ among us, transforming our darkness into dawn.