CONFIRMATION CLASS STARTING Sunday, January 7, 10:00–11:00am, Youth Room Eighth graders are invited to come build new and deeper relationships with friends and with God, learn about their faith and this church, and explore whether to become full members of the church. Parents and students are invited to the first class on January 7; more details, the class schedule, and registration are available at www.laumc.org/youth/confirmation. BATON ROUGE FLOOD RECOVERY TRIP January 28 – February 3 To help mitigate the effects of the recent floods in Louisiana, a team organized by LAUMC will go to Baton Rouge the next month. This trip is open to the general community; prior experience is welcome but not required. Registration is $235, plus airfare and some meals. Visit http://tinyurl.com/BRouge for details and to register by January 3. An orientation will be held on Sunday, January 7, 3:00–5:00pm. Contact Leslie Carmichael (carm-lee@pacbell.net or 650-468-7890) with questions. REGISTER FOR MEXICO HOUSE-BUILDING TRIP April 7–14, 2018 Come on one of LAUMC’s Mexico trips and put your faith into action! This trip will change your life as you get to know and fall in love with the people of Tecate. We will build simple two-room houses for working people. No power tools are used and no prior experience is necessary, so this trip is great for the whole family and non-LAUMC participants. Find more details and registration forms at www.laumc.org/mexico or pick up a print copy in the church entry. Completed forms and deposits are due by January 3, with later registrations accepted if space is available. Scholarships are available. For more information, contact Leslie Carmichael (carm-lee@pacbell.net).

ADVENT GENEROSITY: GIVE DONATIONS TODAY You are invited to donate to our Advent Generosity recipients: Hope’s Corner, Compassion Week 2018, and a 2017 natural disaster response fund. Pick up an Advent Generosity envelope at the Connection Point or visit www.laumc.org/adventgenerosity2017 for details. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY: CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED Monday through Wednesday, December 25–27 The church office will reopen on Thursday, December 28. For urgent pastoral care, contact our After-Hours Pastoral Care Line (650-823-4562). YEAR-END GIVING NOTES If you wish to make any final donations to LAUMC in this tax year, all 2017 financial gifts must be received in the offering plate or church office or be postmarked on or before December 31. Credit card donations can be made at https://laumc.onlinegiving.org. Contact Financial Controller Mary Joyce (maryjoyce@laumc.org) for instructions to initiate a stock transfer, which must be received by December 29. WORSHIP SERVICE TIMES CHANGING Beginning on December 31 and continuing into the new year, we will worship at two times on Sunday mornings: 8:30 & 10:00am. Coffee fellowship will be held at 9:30. The evening services will continue at 5:00pm. See you next week!

This Will Be a Sign: #morelove Sunday, December 24, 2017

Welcome to Los Altos

United Methodist Church!

We believe all persons are children

of God, and we welcome ALL, regardless

of age, cultural background, disabilities,

ethnicity, financial circumstances, gender

identity, marital status, religious tradition,

or sexual orientation.

Christmas Eve Services

Christmas Eve is a special time. We are delighted that you were here this morning and hope you will return this

afternoon or evening to celebrate the miracle of the Christ child at the service that best fits your schedule.

3:00pm* Traditional Family Service 5:00pm*

Traditional Family Service

7:00pm* Contemporary Family Service 9:00pm

Candlelight Service

11:00pm Candlelight Service

* Infant care provided (ages 0–2)

Visitors, please come by the Connection Point to receive a gift. Hearing assist devices are available: see an usher. Please turn off all cell phones and pager alarms. Those able are invited to stand when indicated with the † symbol. FWS: The Faith We Sing | UMH: United Methodist Hymnal Gathering Music - Swiss Noel Daquin

Craig Norris, organ Centering Moment

Welcoming the Light † Song - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (v. 1-2) UMH 240 Greeting † Song - Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (v. 3) UMH 240 Invitation to Prayer Choral Prayer Preparation Prayers & Pastoral Prayer Lord’s Prayer Song - Angels We Have Heard on High (refrain) UMH 238 Advent Generosity Moment Response to Our Generous God Offering In addition to the offering plate, donations may be made online (https://laumc.onlinegiving.org/) or by texting a gift amount to 650-229-5200. Info cards are in the pew pockets. † Song of Praise † Prayer of Dedication Jubilate Deo 1. Jubilate Deo… (Choir) Jubilate Deo, omnis terra; servite Domino in laetitia. Introite in conspectu ejus in exsultatione. Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus; ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos: populus ejus, et oves pascuae ejus. Introite portas ejus in confessione;

atria ejus in hymnis: confitemini illi. Laudate nomen ejus, quoniam suavis est Dominus: in aeternum misericordia ejus, et usque in generationem et generationem veritas ejus. 2. Ve adthdor vador (From age to age – Soloists and choir)

Bless his name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures from age to age. (From Psalm 100:4-5, Hebrew and Arabic)

3. Ta cao chang de yang (The sheep of his pasture – Solo and choir)

It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. (From Psalms 100:3 and 23:1, Mandarin Chinese)

4. Ngokujabula! (With great rejoicing! – Choir) Hlokoma kuJehova ngezwi lokuhalalisa, mhlaba wonke. Mkhonzeni uJehova ngokujabula, nisondele ebusweni bakhe ngokuhuba kwentokozo. Yazini ukuthi uJehova unguNkulunkulu! 5. Bendecid su nombre (Bless his name – Solo and choir) Entrad por sus puertas con acción de gracias, a sus atrios con alabanza. Dadle gracias, bendecid su nombre. 6. Song of the Earth (Choir) Alleluia. 7. …Omnis Terra! (Choir) Omnis terra, jubilate, omnis terra, laudate, Omnis terra, jubilate Deo! (Adapted from Psalm 100, Latin Vulgate) † Sending Forth † Song of Blessing Closing Music - Sleigh Ride Anderson

IN SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD: Please pray for those who are hungry, displaced, sick, or in poverty because of natural and human-made disasters, and for the workers who minister to them. SPECIAL CONCERNS: Mercedes B., Larry D., Sarah S-J. SYMPATHY: Our sympathy to Jan Lull on the death of her sister, Helen Koett, on December 18. Our sympathy to Bill Wachsmuth and friends on the death of his wife, Roberta Wachsmuth, on December 16. A service will be held at Los Altos UMC on Friday, January 5, at 1:00pm. MEN & WOMEN IN UNIFORM AROUND THE WORLD: Rachel Z. E. Sheridan (USAF), James Dobson (USAF), Tyler Elgin (USA), Devin Kenny-Hernandez (USA), Phillip Lyman (USA), Kelly McCoy (USA), John Principe (USA), Jared Vallner (USA), Daniel Wood (USA), David Wood (USA), Jeffrey Wood (USA).

LAUMC is a Care Ministry Congregation with trained, supportive, and loving people who are available to provide you with confidential, caring support in times of special need. If you need care, call the pastoral care line (650-823-4562).

To view an extended Prayer Concerns list, or to request prayers, please visit www.laumc.org/prayers/.

The Sanctuary and media images of the blue doors are from a collage piece by artist and pastor Jan Richardson, “Crossing the Threshold.” © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com The Worship Arts Committee thanks Mary Ellen Snodgrass for loaning her collection of angels, which decorate the Tree of Angels in the Narthex. O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands:

serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with a song. Be ye sure that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving,

and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and speak good of his name. For the Lord is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth from generation to generation. (Psalm 100, Latin Vulgate)

Shout with triumph to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with joy, come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God! (From Psalm 100:1-3, Zulu)

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Be thankful, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4, Spanish) Praise Jehovah. (Nearly universal transliteration) Sing for joy, dance in gladness, shout for joy, all the earth! (Adapted from various English translations)

J U B I L A T E

D E O

By

D A N

F O R R E S T

Jubilate Deo

Text: Psalm 100 Music by Dan Forrest

Dan Forrest’s Jubilate Deo is a 45-minute cantata in seven movements. The text, “O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands” from Psalm 100, is set in eight languages and the unique musical characteristics of several cultures. And so, the work carries a message of universal unity. It was published in 2016 and premiered in February 2017 at Carnegie Hall, New York. The opening, in liturgical Latin, is set in an American musical idiom. In movement two, Hebrew and Arabic are intertwined. Two Biblical instruments evoke the languages’ ancient roots: the flute and harp. Two soloists sing in the style of a haunting Eastern chant. Movement three, a Pastorale (a shepherd song), features the erhu, a traditional Chinese two-stringed violin. A soprano solo and choir sing in Mandarin. Movement four begins with a Zulu praise song, with traditional call and response. Djembe (drum) and shekere (shaker) lead the orchestra, to evoke a traditional Zulu song-and-dance. Movement five is serene and folk-like—a Spanish lullaby. The Earth itself is heard to sing in the sixth movement—wordlessly at first, as choir and orchestra blend together, and then in simple but evocative “alleluias.” In the finale, all of these movements unite, musically and symbolically. And we are blessed with the reality of Emmanuel—God with us—in every language and culture and sound of the earth.

Orchestra

Violin I Virginia Smedberg, Concert Master Xiaoli Chen, violin & erhu

Violin II Lisa Zadek Oleksandr Makarenko

Viola Galina André Wilbur Wong

Cello Kathy An Ami Yoshimoto

Contrabass David André

Flute Ginger Rombach Adams

Oboe Alayne Gyetvai

Clarinet Karen Sremac

French Horn Randy Nickel

Harp Anna Maria Mendieta

Guitar Ed Daranciang

Piano Dirk Damonte

Organ Craig Norris

Percussion Tim Whipple Dylan Damonte Choir

Soprano I Hatsuko Arima-Stenzel Danni Carter Melanie Ercoli Lauren Haber Marile Shelly Lynda Silva

Soprano II Doris Arensberg-Lehr Jan Grady Marilyn Hosfeldt Marissa Kobylenski Pamela Nissley Pat Osborne Gail Whipple

Alto I Joyce Cavanaugh Christine Hunt Jean Kan Carol Meyer Lisa Reiche Ann Ritter Edith Toussey

Alto II Carole Cameron Betsy Daly-Caffell Jane Goold-Caulfield Barbara Kelsey Sue Mennear Joyce Wright

Tenor Alison Nyberg Larry Wray Jim Holl

Tenor II Howard Roberts

Bass I Michel Conrad Ken Kobylenski Matthew Reeve

Bass II Don Cameron Harvey Dixon

Jubilate Deo

Music by Dan Forrest Shulamit Hoffmann, conductor

Lauren Haber & Danni Carter, soloists