God on the Move – Yokohama Union Church

This bulletin for the First Sunday after Christmas (December 28, 2025) at Yokohama Union Church centers on God’s presence with vulnerable people, using Matthew 2:13–23 and the lament of Rachel as a call to courage, compassion, and peacemaking in a hurting world.

Theme and Scripture

The service theme, “God on the Move,” reflects how God travels with refugees, the vulnerable, and those who suffer, just as God journeyed with the Holy Family to Egypt.
The main scripture is Matthew 2:13–23 (read in English and Japanese), focusing on Joseph’s dream, the flight to Egypt, Herod’s violence, and the fulfillment of prophecy that Jesus would be called a Nazarene.
The bulletin highlights Rachel’s weeping (Jeremiah 31:15 / Matthew 2:18) and connects it to contemporary grief in war, displacement, and violence, often referred to as the “Massacre of the Innocents.”

Order of Worship

Worship includes a call to worship, confession, assurance of pardon, welcome of guests, passing of the peace, children’s time, scripture readings, sermon, hymns, and prayers.
Music for the day features “Once in Royal David’s City,” the response hymn “A Voice Was Heard in Ramah” (to the tune of “Lead On, O King Eternal”), “Gesu Bambino” as special music, “The First Noel,” and the postlude “Still Still Still,” with piano leadership by Miho Kobayashi and others.
The congregation is invited to join in the Lord’s Prayer in their own language or tradition, and to stand for specific parts such as the doxology, closing hymn, and benediction.

Message Focus

The sermon by Rev. Claudia Genung-Yamamoto, “God on the Move,” emphasizes that God does not abandon people to fear but guides and restores them, as with Joseph and the Holy Family.
The hymn of response and notes invite the church to hear the cries of children and vulnerable people worldwide and to labor for peace and justice in “every troubled nation” and “every violent street.”
Worshipers are encouraged to move from convenience to compassion, from silence to truth, and to become brave and open to transformation as followers of Jesus, the “refugee Son.”

Community Life and Upcoming Events

Those serving include Rev. Claudia Genung-Yamamoto, ushers, fellowship hosts, and YUC board members, emphasizing that all at YUC are “ministers.”
Key announcements: name tags for members and regulars, sign-up for the weekly newsletter, Sunday School resuming January 11, 2026 at 9:10 a.m., snack donations for New Year fellowship, and volunteer sign-ups for ushering, liturgy, scripture reading, snacks, and testimonies.
Upcoming Sundays: January 4 – Epiphany Sunday (Matthew 2:1–12; Isaiah 60:1–6); January 11 – Baptism of the Lord with Rev. Maki Fushii preaching; January 18 – Christian seminar by Rev. Toshi Yamamoto at 12:10 p.m. in the manse.