You are invited to worship with us at 11:00 am on Sunday, December 28, 2025.
Below, you will find the Order of Service so you can follow along and participate in the worship service. If you would prefer, you can also download a bulletin here:
Before we start, please share the live stream on your favorite social media site and invite your friends.
Welcome
Opening Song: Joy To the World (Unspeakable Joy)
Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her king.
Let every heart prepare Him room and Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns that all their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
Chorus
Joy, unspeakable joy, an overflowing well, no tongue can tell.
Joy, unspeakable joy rises in my soul, never lets me go.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love, and wonders, wonders of His love.
(Chorus) © Vamos Publishing, Alletrop Music, and Ryan House Music
Invocation
Confession and Forgiveness:
P: Come into the presence of the Lord our God.
C: Have mercy, O Lord. If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand; but if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
P: We take a moment to reflect on our lives and confess our sins.
(a time of silence to reflect and personally confess our sins)
P: I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Let us confess our sin before the Lord. Let us confess together.
C: Heavenly Father, we confess that we are sinners. We have sinned against you and our neighbors. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.
P: The Lord is gracious and merciful. He promises to forgive our sins. Therefore, upon this, your confession, as a called and ordained servant of the Lord, in the stead and by the command of my Lord, Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Song of Praise and Thanksgiving: What a Friend
Everybody has trials and temptations.
Everybody knows heartbreak, isolation.
Pre-Chorus:
But we can lay our burdens down. Lay our burdens down.
Chorus:
What a friend we have in Jesus. East to west my sins are gone.
I see grace on every horizon.
And forever and ever His heart is my home.
Everybody has fears, everybody got worries.
Everybody knows sorrow, devastation.
Pre-Chorus:
But we can lay our burdens down. Lay our burdens down.
Chorus:
What a friend we have in Jesus. East to west my sins are gone.
I see grace on every horizon.
And forever and ever His heart is my home.
Bridge:
No more betrayal, for He is faithful.
He fills me up and my cup runneth over.
No more betrayal, for He is faithful.
How He has proven it over and over.
No more betrayal, for He is faithful.
He fills me up and my cup runneth over.
No more betrayal, for He is faithful.
How He has proven it over and over.
Chorus: (2x)
What a friend we have in Jesus. East to west my sins are gone.
I see grace on every horizon.
And forever and ever His heart is my home.
What a friend we have in Jesus. East to west my sins are gone.
I see grace on every horizon.
And forever and ever His heart is my home.
And forever and ever His heart is my home. © All Essential Music
Epistle Reading – Galatians 4:4–7
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Reading – Matthew 2:13-23
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise be to You, O Christ.
Children’s Message
Sermon Song: 10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Chorus:
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, Worship His holy name.
Sing like never before, 0 my soul. I’ll worship Your holy name.
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning;
It’s time to sing Your song again.
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me,
Let me be singing when the evening comes.
(Chorus)
You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger.
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind.
For all Your goodness, I will keep on singing;
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.
(Chorus)
And on that day when my strength is failing,
The end draws near, and my time has come;
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending:
Ten thousand years and then forevermore! Forevermore!
(Chorus)
I’ll worship Your holy name. Yes, I’ll worship Your holy name. © 2011 Thankyou Music, Said And Done Music, and SHOUT! Publishing
Sermon – “God is not Surprised”
Old Testament Reading – Psalm 111
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Prayers
The end of each petition this week will end with:
P: Praise the Lord!
C: I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.
Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen
Offering (Please click to give online)
Benediction – The online service ends. The closing song is below the lyrics as an embedded YouTube video.
Please see the announcements below as well.
God bless and thank you for worshiping with Faith!
Closing Song: O Come All Ye Faithful / Angels We Have Heard on High (Medley)
Oh come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!
Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels
Oh, come let us adore Him. Oh, come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!
Angels we have heard on high sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing.
Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord the newborn King.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo! Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Yea, Lord we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory giv’n!
Word of the Father now in flesh appearing!
Oh, come let us adore Him. Oh, come let us adore Him
Oh, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord! © Public Domain C
Closing Song Video:
Upcoming Events
Today, After the Service – In-Person Growth Group Bible Study
Faith Lutheran Church
Jan 8, 7 PM – In-Person & Online Growth Group Bible Study
Renee’s Home
Jan 11, After the Service – In-Person Growth Group Bible Study
Faith Lutheran Church
Meeting Address:
27221 Foamflower Blvd.
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
Ph: (813) 602-1104
Copyright 2025, Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel. All Rights Reserved.