Online Worship Bulletin

Grace and peace in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Reminder of Where We Begin

A s we head out of the season of giving, and into the season of the Wisemen giving gifts to Jesus, I’m introducing our new series called: A Generous Life. The heart of this series is simple: God’s people live generously only when Jesus first gives them peace. Before open hands can share, open hearts must rest an receive mercy. Today we step into the first movement of that journey as we learn: The Blessing in Generous Living.

Section 1 – The Weight We Drag Into a New Year

People often step into January with more weight than they admit or realize. Bills arrive. The celebrations are winding down. There’s still plenty of Winter ahead, and the gift of real cold tends to arrive right about this time. It can make days feel long and though the daylight is lengthening (we’ve added five minutes of sunlight since the 21^st)¹ it still feels short. Al of this can make hearts feel heavy.

Isaiah teaches us to remember “The steadfast love of the Lord²” because His compassion carries His people.³ This isn’t just poetic mist. This is God acting in real world history, picking up His real world weary people. God is telling them to recall how He led them through wilderness and the troubles they encountered.⁴

Psalm 111 echoes that same steady care. God provides food, remembers His covenant, and makes His works known. His people learn to trust Him because He has shown Himself faithful.

Before generosity grows, the fetters of fear must be freed. Before the hands open, the heart receives.

Section 2 – Letting Go When Life Feels Chaotic

The third reading, our Gospel reading, takes us straight into chaos. Joseph receives a frightening command: “Rise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt.”⁵ They instantly becomes refugees fleeing persecution. Herod paranoia drives him to grip his power with a clenched fist, and evil is squeezed out.

Joseph cannot keep control into this moment. He releases control because God speaks. He trusts Him because God has already proven Himself faithful. The Bible that teaches us also taught him:

The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom.⁶

Joseph lives that wisdom.

It shows us something important to understand: fear leads to grasping, and grasping leads to sorrow. Herod grasps for power. Joseph releases control and walks by faith. The contrast cannot be more clear. Joseph’s journey into Egypt teaches when God guides, less becomes more.

Section 3 – God Carries His People, Even in Scarcity

Scarcity surrounds the Joseph and his charge. They have no home, no land, no steady income. Yet God preserves His Son. Matthew records each step: the warning, the journey, the waiting, the return. Every moment reveals a heavenly Father who cares for and carries His children. Isaiah 63 describes God bearing Israel through the Red Sea, through the wilderness, through rebellion. God is the One who lifts His people when they cannot lift themselves, even when they don’t believe, or don’t want His care.

The Bible says:

God sent forth His Son…
so that we might receive adoption.⁷

Adopted children are part of the family and learn to trust the Father’s care. Adopted children should have no reason to cling to fear or hoard for tomorrow, because the Father provides.

The works of God’s hands are truth and justice. All his precepts are trustworthy, steadfast forever and ever, done in truth and uprightness.⁸

The Bible teaches us you cannot be “a stingy disciple.” Disciples aren’t stingy because their Father isn’t stingy. Loved children learn to love to reflect their father’s ways. Our generous Father teaches us His ways.

Section 4 – Simeon’s Peace for Weary Hearts

Luke’s Gospel tells us about Simeon’s encounter wit this family. His appearance in the Temple is brief, but the moment carries deep truth. Simeon has waited long years. He has watched danger threaten his people. His heart could have grown heavy. Yet he lives by the promise.

The Promise arrives wrapped in swaddling cloths. Simeon lifts the Christ Child and declares, “My eyes have seen Your salvation.⁹” He releases fear. He releases waiting. He releases control. He can depart in peace.

Herod clings. Joseph obeys. Simeon releases. In each case the fruit follows the posture. Faith produces good fruits.¹⁰ Faith frees open hands. Fear freezes them.

Section 5 – Learning to Live with Open Hands

Luther writes in the Small Catechism that God richly and daily provides all we need.¹¹ When that truth settles in, the hands loosen. The world urges people to clutch and cling. Christ calls people to contribute to the care of others.

Jesus teaches:

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.¹²

The heart follows treasure the way geese follow an old flight path across winter skies. Plant your treasure in fear and fear grows. Plant your treasure in Christ and peace is produced. The Christian who releases control, clutter, and comparison, discovers unexpected room for joy. Generosity begins not with wallets but with hearts set free.

Section 6 – A Path to Walk This Week

This week, consider one burden to release: – Release one fear in prayer. – Release one unnecessary object or obligation. – Release one anxious thought by writing it down and handing it to Christ. – Release one comparison by thanking God for His provision.

Letting go is not loss. Letting go is trust. Psalm 111 tells us that God’s works are faithful. God’s gifts endure. God’s people need not cling when their Father carries them.

Conclusion – Peace Before Generosity

Matthews Gospel brings us into a world trembling under the weight of fear. Isaiah shows us a God who carries His people through the wilderness of fear. Galatians shows us the astonishing generosity of a Father who adopts His children out of fear. Psalm 111 shows us a God whose works endure forever. When Jesus enters the world, He brings peace that frees people from frantic grasping. Simeon rests in that peace. Joseph walks by that peace.

Today, that same peace invites you to loosen your grip and rest in the scarred hands of your Savior. The blessing in generous living begins not with giving, but with letting go. Next week we will discover how God wakes His people to new purpose, moving from released hearts to ready hands.

Amen.

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NOTES

As We Gather

As we begin a new year, this message opens a new series focused on The Blessing in Generous Living. Before Scripture ever speaks about giving, it speaks about receiving—receiving peace, provision, and identity from God. This first message invites hearers to release the burdens they carry and to rest in the faithfulness of the Lord who carries His people. Generosity grows where fear loosens its grip and trust takes root.

Prayer Before Service

Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in His name you will grant their requests. Fulfill now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of your servants as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.

History:
This prayer is attributed to St. John Chrysostom (4th century), Archbishop of Constantinople, and has been used in the Church for over 1,500 years. It emphasizes God’s gracious presence among His gathered people and frames worship as a gift received, not an offering earned. Its infrequent use makes it suitable here without risk of repetition in the near term.