PRELUDE “Faith Noel” Jacob Cox and Michael Turner

CALL TO WORSHIP “If I Could Visit Bethlehem”

HYMN #3047 “God Almighty, We Are Waiting”

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16LEADER: I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body

ALL: and I will establish his kingdom

LEADER: He shall build a house for my name,

ALL: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

HYMN #211 “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (vs. 6)

CHILDREN’S TIME

ANTHEM “Will You Travel to Bethlehem?” Nancy Price & Don Besig

PRAYER

HYMN #230 “O Little Town of Bethlehem”

OFFERTORY “How Many Kings”

DOXOLOGY #94 “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”

SCRIPTURE Luke 2:1-5 TEACHING “The Journey to Bethlehem” Rev. Geitra Mickelson

HYMN #224 “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice”

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE “Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow” arr. Lloyd Larson

December 24, 2017

A Stephen Ministry Congregation

10AM WorshipGalilee

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Purpose

Galilee United Methodist Church45425 Winding Road • Sterling, Virginia 20165

703-430-2203 • galileeumc.org • info@galileeumc.org

The flowers are given to the Glory of God in honor of Shannon Minnick’s birthday with love from Duane, Payton, Brody and Rita.

Today’s Focus December 24, 2017

“FAITHFUL: JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM”

We are happy to have you at Galilee this morning, Christmas Eve morning. Maybe you are here because you traveled from afar, or maybe you’re a local who is not traveling this year. Either way, you know that journeys can be stressful and we invite you to relax as you worship with us. But—spoiler alert—we are going to be talking about a stressful holiday trip.

How would you feel if, like Mary and Joseph, you endured these traveling conditions:

1. You don’t want to go, but the government is making you.2. You don’t need to worry about gas prices, because you only have a donkey.3. No hotels available.4. One of you is very pregnant.

Sounds awful doesn’t it? Yet thus began the greatest miracle the world has ever known.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

— Luke 2:1-5

BRING IT INTO FOCUS

1. At Christmas, we celebrate the historic fact of Immanuel, “God is with us.” How will you live into this truth in the coming days? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Christmas can be stressful whether we travel or stay home. There are so many expectations put on us, often by ourselves. What will you do to relax and know that God is with you? __________________________________________________________________________________________

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3. If you could journey to one place in the world this Christmas, where would it be and what would you do? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All of us go on difficult journeys. The prophet Isaiah, who wrote to encourage the Jewish people during their journey into exile, wrote words that endure for all time:

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his un-derstanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

MEDITATION FOR THE WEEK

“How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. So God imparts to hu-man hearts the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in.”

—O Little Town of Bethlehem, Phillips Brooks (1835–1893)