11 AM Worship Bulletin

11 AM SERVICE

11AM Order of Worship

A bulletin you can print at home

CONNECT CARD

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& how we can connect you with ministries

GIVE

An expression of gratitude to God

WELCOME TO WORSHIP | sunday | december 14, 2025

a diverse, inclusive church experiencing and reflecting the love, hope and joy of Jesus Christ

to each other and our community.

PRELUDE
An Angelic Celebration | arr. Joel Raney
Handbell Choir
Joel Raney | © 2014 Hope Publishing Company | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

WELCOME | Pastor Doug Johns

WELCOME ONE ANOTHER

WAYS TO CONNECT | christchurchfl.org/ways2connect
Please see below.

* GATHERING HYMN | Judy O'Donnell, liturgist
Once in Royal David’s City | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 250 (verses 1,2,4)
Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed;
Mary, loving mother mild, Jesus Christ, her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall.
With the poor, the scorned, the lowly lived on earth our Savior holy.

And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love;
for that child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on to the place where he is gone.

Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander | Henry John Gauntlett | © words & music: public domain | CCLI License # 487103

* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
We believe in God, who moved across the dark waters at Creation.
God’s words “Let there be light” filled the heavens and the earth with abundant light and goodness. God loves, protects, and nurtures all of Creation.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God born among us a fragile baby.
His birth was heralded by angels. From shepherds to kings, people
came to worship Jesus, the infant king. His life, death,
and resurrection continue to transform the world with God’s love.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who gives us eyes to see all people as beloved children of God.
This Spirit calls us to live in peace, and with great joy, sing with the angel chorus: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God’s people of earth.”

* GLORIA PATRI
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

Henry W. Greatorex | public domain | CCLI License # 487103

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE
Dancers Lyanna Castillo, Vedha Jaumann, Kamryn Styron

In the midst of our waiting and longing for God to make the world right again, we cling to the truth that God has saved, God is saving, and God will save. So today, we join our voices with the prophet Isaiah, who calls us to live in the joy of the truth of God’s salvation.

all We choose to believe that the day is coming when “the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)

We light this candle of joy as a sign of the Truth that sets us free to live in joy as we wait and work for the day when all creation will flourish together.

CAROL
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
From God our heavenly Father
A blessed angel came
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
Chase and Chelsea Kulp present their daughter for Christian Baptism.
Charley Perry Kulp | June 12, 2025

To the parents

On behalf of the whole church, I ask you:

On behalf of the whole Church, I ask you: Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world, and repent of your sin? If so, please say I do.

Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves? If so, please say I do.

Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace, and promise to serve him as your Lord, in union with the Church which Christ has opened to people of all ages, nations, and races? If so please say I do.

Will you nurture Charley in Christ's holy Church, that by your teaching and example she may be guided to accept God's grace for herself, to profess her faith openly, and to lead a Christian life? If so please say I will.

To the congregation

Do you, as Christ's body, the Church, reaffirm both your rejection of sin and your commitment to Christ? We do.

Will you nurture one another in the Christian faith and life and include Charley now before you in your care?

all With God's help we will proclaim the good news and live according to the example of Christ. We will surround her with a community of love and forgiveness, that she may grow in her service to others. We will pray for her, that she may be a true disciple who walks in the way that leads to life.

...

To the congregation

Now it is our joy to welcome our new sister in Christ.

all Through baptism you are incorporated by the Holy Spirit into God's new creation and made to share in Christ's royal priesthood. We are all one in Christ Jesus. With joy and Thanksgiving, we welcome you as a member of the family of Christ.

Members of the household of God, I commend this person to your love and care.
Do all in your power to increase their faith, confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.

all We give thanks for all that God has already given you, and we welcome you in Christian love. As members together with you in the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church, we renew our covenant faithfully to participate in the ministries of the Church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness, that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

God Claims You
(refrain) Charley, Charley, God claims you, God helps you, protects you and loves you too.
1. We this day do all agree a child of God you’ll always be. (refrain)
2. We are here to say this day that we will help you on your way. (refrain)

MUSIC MINISTRY
Go, Tell it on the Mountain | arr. Dave Howland
Handbell Choir
Dave Howland | © 2011 RING OUT! PRESS, a division of Jeffers Handbell Supply | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 41:8-10 | New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
⁸But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
⁹you whom I took from the ends of the earth
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant;
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
¹⁰do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be afraid, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you; I will help you;
I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

These are the words of God for us, the people of God. Thanks be to God.

MESSAGE
A Christmas Carol Revisited | Claiming the Future | Pastor Doug Johns

OFFERING | Pastor Cathy Johns
worshiping through the offering of our lives and gifts

· Place offerings in the plates or wooden boxes

· Give online at christchurchfl.org/give

· Text GIVE to 954.880.3885

· Mail a check to Christ Church, 4845 NE 25^th Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308

Connect cards may also be placed with your offering. Christ Church is a congregationally supported ministry. Thank you for your faithfulness as we reflect the love, hope and joy of Jesus to our community.

MUSIC MINISTRY
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming | arr. Howard Helvey
Chancel Choir
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as those of old have sung. It came, a blossom bright, amid the cold of winter, when half-spent was the night. Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, the rose I have in mind; with Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind. To show God’s love aright, she bore to us a Savior, when half-spent was the night. O flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispel in glorious splendor the darkness everywhere; true man, yet very God, from sin and death now save us, and share our every load.

* DOXOLOGY
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Bourgeois & Ken | public domain | CCLI License # 487103

MORNING PRAYER

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, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

ENCHANTED TREE ANNOUNCEMENT | Connie Bookholt

* HYMN OF COMMITMENT
The First Noel | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 245 (verses 1,2)
The first Noel the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay:
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.

(refrain) Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the King of Israel.

They looked up and saw a star
shining in the east, beyond them far;
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night. (refrain)

* SENDING FORTH

* RESPONSE
O Little Town of Bethlehem | The United Methodist Hymnal No. 230 (verse 3)
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given;
so God imparts to human 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.

Dennis Allen, Lewis H. Redner & Phillips Brooks | © words: public domain | music: 1998 Pilot Point Music | CCLI License # 487103

MUSIC FOR CLOSING
Fantasy on a French Carol | Robert Hughes
Chuck Stanley, organ
Robert Hughes | © 1980 Lorenz Publishing Co. | all rights reserved | used with permission under One License #A-726973

* please stand in body or spirit.

Join us next Sunday for Gloria Christmas Angels, based on Luke 2:8-20.

For a complete list of all the ways to conect click here