Christmas | Saturday 03 Jan 2026
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
Almighty God,
you have poured upon us the new light
of your incarnate Word:
Grant that this light, kindled 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.
“All these people died still believing
what God had promised them.”
(Hebrews 11:13)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 72 – ‘Give the king Your judgments, oh God!’ | Poor Bishop Hooper / Psalm Musicals – Christian Music Channel
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OT Reading: Genesis 28:10-22 (NLT)
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
28:10 Meanwhile, Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep. As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
28:13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
28:18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
28:20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”
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We Are Climbing Jacob’s Ladder | Bernice Johnson Reagon
+ We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder
Soldiers of the cross
+ Every round goes higher, higher
Soldiers of the cross
+ Do you think I make a soldier?
Soldiers of the cross
+ Rise, shine, give God your glory
Soldiеrs of the cross
+ Keep on climbing, we will make it
Soldiers of the cross
+ We are climbing Jacob’s Ladder
Soldiers of the cross
+ Children, do you want your freedom?
Soldiers of the cross
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NT Reading: Hebrews 11:13-22 (NLT)
11:13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
+ It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.” Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
+ It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.
+ It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.
+ It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.
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Standing on the Promises | Harpeth Gospel Quartet / SE Samonte
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Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you set the solitary in families: We commend to your continual care the homes in which your people dwell. Put far from them every root of bitterness, the desire of vainglory, and the pride of life. Fill them with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, and true godliness. Knit together in constant affection those who, in holy matrimony, have been made one flesh; turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents; and so enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we may evermore be joined to one another with bonds of loving-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O God, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your only-begotten Son into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your Church, that we may fulfill his command to preach the Gospel to all people. Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May God, who has called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
bless us and fill us with peace.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Peanut Gallery 