Our streaming services are really about home worship. Sign in alone, gather with your family and join in. These services are interactive, involving sharing together, praying together, discussing God’s Word together, and – if you desire – singing together. The live stream is here to guide and support your worship in your home.
Live stream worship will involve a live text chat. This is an important part of connecting with each other and sharing our input, feedback and prayer needs.
Sunday, December 6, at 9:30 AM
Genealogy: Jesus’s and Ours
“Jesus: The Son of Abraham”
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus. These opening verses are far more than a list of names: The family tree of Jesus points to His identity and to the nature of His mission. Our Advent Worship series focuses on this genealogy and the truths it reveals for our lives today.
People who research their ancestry often hope to discover that they are related to some great historical figure. The genealogy of Jesus, recorded in Matthew, goes back two thousand years to Abraham. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3. That same righteousness is ours as we believe in the Son of Abraham, and by faith are part of Abraham’s family tree.
Worship Notes for December 6
Family and Children Resources
We are pleased to offer several resources for families, parents and children.
“Children’s Church Lesson ”This is a weekly Sunday School/Children’s church type lesson for parents to lead with small children. Please use this at home during this time when we are unable to offer our regular children’s church. Here are this week’s suggestions:
God is Good no Matter What
6 Ways to Prepare for the Christmas Season
SIMPLE ADVENT ACTIVITIES FOR YOUR FAMILY
Click here to check out these fun activities!
“Why Do We Call it Christmas?” Kid’s Movie
Celebrating Advent 2020
Please click here for all the ways that you can participate in celebrating Advent and Christmas at St. John’s this year: https://stjohnslutheran.net/celebrating-advent-2020/
The December 6th service will include Holy Communion
For those who are streaming, we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper on December 6th in the same way that we have been during these days of quarantine. Please to go this page on our website for information regarding Holy Communion at St. John’s during COVID-19, as well as how to prepare. https://stjohnslutheran.net/the-lords-supper-at-st-johns-during-the-covid-19-crisis/ Also, take a look at this video with an explanation by Pastor Mike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNK0XJhQzRQ
Please click here to download an easy unleavened bread recipe
Wednesday Night Worship
Advent Midweek Service
“The ABC’s of Christmas”
Wednesday evening we will have our traditional ABC Advent service. We will be going through the alphabet and highlighting words and phrases from the Christmas story that begin with each letter. And through it all, we will celebrate this greatest of gifts, the birth of our Savior.
Worship Notes for December 9
Preparing for Live Stream Worship
Normally when we prepare for worship, we need to shower, get dressed, get in our cars and drive to the sanctuary. You don’t need to do any of that for the home-based streaming worship  at St. John’s. But there is still some preparation (which won’t take as long as the items mentioned above!)
- Download the worship notes for the service. The worship notes contain the reading and other items for worship. The notes also include the reflection and discussion questions, as well as suggestions for singing. If you will be participating on your phone or pad, you should print the handout because you will not be able to switch windows and keep the youtube live going.
- Sign up for a google or gmail account if you do not already have one. In order to take part in the Live Chat with You Tube, you need to have a google or gmail account. It doesn’t take long to set it up. For a guide to signing up, please go here: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/56256?hl=en  If you don’t want to see the chat feed, or you want to turn it off for part of the service, just click the “hide chat” button at the bottom of the feed. When you want to see the feed again, click the “show chat” button at the top.
- Prepare a comfortable place to worship. Plan to be totally engaged. Remove other things that may distract you. You may want to light a candle or use some other means of recognizing that this is a time for worship.
- Pray that the Lord prepare your heart. Perhaps the most important step. This is an very different way to worship, so we should pray for the Holy Spirit’s present and guidance.
If you need help with any of these steps, please contact Pastor Mike. He or someone else will assist you.
