1st Sunday After Christmas
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Almighty God, You have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, shining in our hearts, may also shine out 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.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
Listen to David speak to this gospel
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for 1st after Christmas, 28th Dec 2025
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. Take my lips O God and speak through them, take our minds O God and think through them, take our hearts O God and love through them this day. <Amen>
As we read Matthew 2:13-23 we realise that the Christmas story takes a dark turn. Christmas cards never show this scene. No angels singing. No wise men bringing gifts. No shepherds kneeling.
Instead, we hear of fear, flight, and tragedy. <PAUSE>
Just after the immense joy of Jesus’ birth, Matthew’s Gospel takes us into danger and darkness. The child who has come to save the world is immediately threatened by the powers of the world.
Yet - this passage reminds us of a deep truth : God is still at work, even when the story feels frightening, uncertain, or unfinished.
The narrative begins as God Speaks in the Night (vv. 13–15). Joseph is warned in a dream: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.”
No explanation. No timeline. Just obedience as Joseph rises that very night.
This is not heroic faith with a spotlight. It is quiet, costly obedience - packing hurriedly, leaving home, becoming refugees in a foreign land, to fulfil Scripture:
“Out of Egypt I called my son.”
What looks like disruption is actually direction. What looks like chaos is held within God’s purpose.
The Application for each of us here is that God often speaks when we least expect it and faith is not always about understanding the plan, but about trusting the One who gives the word. <PAUSE>
As we move further into this gospel, we hear how the world pushes back against God’s Kingdom. Verses 16 to 18 show us how Herod responds with violence. The massacre of the innocents is one of the most heartbreaking moments in Scripture.
Let us not rush past it but take this opportunity to remember that:
The Bible does not hide human cruelty.
It does not soften evil.
It names it - and grieves it. Rachel weeping for her children
The arrival of God’s kingdom threatens unjust power.
Darkness resists the light.
Innocent people suffer in a broken world.
Yet … evil does not get the final word!
The Application for each of us here is that when we see injustice, violence, or suffering, Scripture gives us permission to lament. Faith does not deny pain - it brings it honestly before God. <PAUSE>
Time passes. Herod dies. Tyrants always do. God speaks again to Joseph:
“Get up… go to the land of Israel.”
The threat has passed. The child is safe.
What Herod tried to destroy, God preserved.
What seemed fragile was actually protected by divine purpose.
No empire, no ruler, no scheme can stop what God has promised to do.
The Application for each of us here is that WE may feel small. The work of God in US may feel insignificant, even vulnerable. But God ALWAYS guards His purposes in us - sometimes quietly, sometimes invisibly, always faithfully. <PAUSE>
As we come to the final two verses, 22 and 23, we witness God Choosing the Unexpected Place.
Joseph plans to return to Judea, but another warning comes and so he settles in Nazareth. Not Jerusalem. Not Bethlehem. Nazareth - an overlooked town with no reputation.
Yes, the Son of Man “will be called a Nazarene.”
God’s Son grows up on the margins not in the great cities and temples. Not as the son of a mighty ruler in a great palace but alongside a humble carpenter.
It can well be said that the Saviour of the world is shaped, at this time, by obscurity.
The Application for each of us here is that we must never assume that God’s work is insignificant because it is hidden. God often does His deepest work in the quiet places - forming character, shaping obedience, and preparing redemption. <PAUSE>
Most certainly, “The Massacre of The Innocents” is one of the most heart-wrenching passages of Scripture but Matthew takes us beyond that, in fact, WELL beyond that as he shows us “Hope for the Long Road Ahead”. In this gospel narrative Matthew teaches us that:
• God guides His people step by step.
• God grieves with those who suffer.
• God protects His promises.
• God works through ordinary obedience in unexpected places.
The road of faith is not always safe, neat, or celebrated - but it is never wasted.
The child who escaped Herod’s violence will one day face the cross - and through it, defeat sin and death forever.
So if you find yourself in a season of fear, waiting, or quiet faithfulness, hear this good news:
God is at work - and there is always “Hope For The Long Road Ahead”.
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Everlasting God, as we approach the start of a New Year we may find ourselves apprehensive for what it might bring. Reassure us with your loving presence that whatever we might experience in the coming 12 months will not be more than we can bear and that You will never be more than a prayer away from us.
(LONGER pause for silent, personal reflection)
In response to the call today “Lord, in Your mercy” Our response is, “hear our prayer!”
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Holy God we raise before you our Faith Community. We lay before you our plans, our hopes and the problems that we might face. Constantly remind us that in our community, results are never measured in terms of winners and losers but in how much our activities glorify Your name and bring Your son Jesus Christ closer to others.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Creator God, help us to know and to understand what it means and what it takes to make disciples and so help to transform the world. May this coming New Year of 2026 bring peace to those parts of the world where it has been absent for far too long.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Father God, as we reach out into the community through our worship and social activities, inspire us and enhance our creativity, as we seek to develop and fund the ministries of our faith community and draw others in to know and love Your ways.
For all those who are suffering, starving and mourning, we ask that help would reach them quickly – and that You would be their comfort, their healer and their safe refuge.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
We pray for the sick in their hour of need especially if the New Year fills them with doubts and fears. May they be aware of Your presence holding them and encouraging them towards healing and wholeness.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, in Syria and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
In Your goodness and mercy, grant them health of body, soundness of mind and peace of heart.
We thank You for those who have come through illness and are on the road to recovery and also for those facing the reality that there is little light at the end of their earthly tunnel.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Merciful God as we remember before You those who will not journey into this New Year we thank you for the gift of hope beyond death that You have given us through the life, death and resurrection of Your Son.
We especially pray for any we know who recently died and are on that journey to You.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed brother, Mateo (Chile).
May all the faithful departed now rest in peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your Mercy: Hear our prayer
In a moment of silence we pray for ourselves, our families, friends, for all whom we love and for our personal ministries. Make the things that we choose to do worthy of the life, death, and rising again of Your Son.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Almighty God, in Christ you make all things new and so we thank you for this New Year, for all the potential it holds. Move us every single morning throughout 2026 to look forward to the future with hope and to give You thanks for the wonders of Your creation and the wonderful gifts that You have given to us.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
