First Sunday after Christmas

The Collect:

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled 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.

Old Testament: Isaiah 61:10-62:3

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

¹For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. ²The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. ³You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Psalm: 147 or 147:13-21

[¹ Hallelujah!
       How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
       how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!
² The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem; *
       he gathers the exiles of Israel.
³ He heals the brokenhearted *
       and binds up their wounds.
⁴ He counts the number of the stars *
       and calls them all by their names.
⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power; *
       there is no limit to his wisdom.
⁶ The Lord lifts up the lowly, *
       but casts the wicked to the ground.
⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; *
       make music to our God upon the harp.
⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds *
       and prepares rain for the earth;
⁹ He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
       and green plants to serve mankind.
¹⁰ He provides food for flocks and herds *
       and for the young ravens when they cry.
¹¹ He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
       he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;
¹² But the Lord has pleasure in those who fear him, *
       in those who await his gracious favor.]
¹³ Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem; *
       praise your God, O Zion;
¹⁴ For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
       he has blessed your children within you.
¹⁵ He has established peace on your borders; *
       he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
¹⁶ He sends out his command to the earth, *
       and his word runs very swiftly.
¹⁷ He gives snow like wool; *
       he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
¹⁸ He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
       who can stand against his cold?
¹⁹ He sends forth his word and melts them; *
       he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.
²⁰ He declares his word to Jacob, *
       his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
²¹ He has not done so to any other nation; *
       to them he has not revealed his judgments.
       Hallelujah!

Epistle: Galatians 3:23-25;4:4-7

²³Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, ⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Gospel: John 1:1-18

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”)¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

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