chalmers-castle downs united church christmas eve candle light service dec. 24, 2014 please stand as...

Chalmers-Castle Downs United ChurchChristmas EveCandle Light ServiceDec. 24, 2014

Please stand as you are able for lines marked "Ý"

Christmas Eve

WELCOME

ANNOUNCEMENTS• Tonight’s Christmas Offering will be shared

with the Bissell Centre, an inner city ministry in Edmonton.

Ý

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Latin

trans.: F. Oakeley (1841)

No. 60 Voices United

O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 1/5)

O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem:

Come and behold him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore him,



Christ the Lord.


God of God, light of light,

Lo, he abhors not the virgin’s womb;

very God, begotten, not created:




Christ the Lord.


Sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation,

Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;

Glory to God in the highest:




Christ the Lord.


See how the shepherds summoned to his cradle,

Leaving their flocks, draw nigh with lowly fear;

We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;




Christ the Lord.


Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;

Jesus, to thee be glory given;

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:




Christ the Lord.

!

We Gather

CALL TO WORSHIP• Celebrate God’s Presence

One: Holy people, beloved of God, come. Come to follow the way prepared for you.

All: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to all on earth!

We Gather

One: Once again the earth is surprised at a manger, as the glory of God transforms the commonplace.

All: Let us go to Bethlehem to see what God has made known to us!

One: Experience the wonder of God's ways. Kneel in awe before life newly borne.

All: Let us sing glory and praise to God for all that we have seen and heard!

We Gather

CHRISTMAS PRAYER

LORD’S PRAYER• p. 921 VU

...

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

We Receive the Light

ANTHEM: “Christ, the Saviour, Is Born”• Dorothy R. Furiness• arr. David Lantz III


THE ADVENT WREATH• The Advent Candles• The Christ Candle

PRAYER • repeated response

One: Thank you, God for the light of Christ.

All: Help us live in the Light!

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A Candle Is Burning

Sandra Dean (1986)

© 1986 Sandra Dean

No. 6 Voices United

A Candle Is Burning (v. 1/5)

A candle is burning, a flame warm and bright,

A candle of hope in December’s dark night.

While angels sing blessings from heaven’s starry sky,

Our hearts we prepare now for Jesus is nigh.


A candle is burning, a candle of peace,

A candle to signal that conflict must cease:

For Jesus is coming to show us the way;

A message of peace humbly laid in the hay.


A candle is burning, a candle of joy,

A candle to welcome brave Mary’s new boy.

Our hearts fill with wonder, and eyes light and glow

As joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow.


A candle is burning, a candle of love,

A candle to point us to heaven above.

A baby for Christmas, a wonderful birth,

For Jesus is bringing God’s love to our earth.


We honour Messiah with Christ-candle’s flame,

Our Christmas Eve candles glad tidings proclaim.

O come, all you faithful, rejoice in this night,

As God comes among us, the Christian’s true light.

!


SCRIPTURE LESSON• What does the Nativity mean to you today?

Luke 2:1-20• The Birth of Jesus

Luke 2:1-20 (1/6)

At that time Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire. When this first census took place, Quirinius was the governor of Syria.

Everyone went to register himself, each to his own hometown. Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, the birthplace of King David.

Joseph went there because he was a descendant of David.

Luke 2:1-20 (2/6)

He went to register with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him.

She was expecting a child, and while they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have her baby.

Mary gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them to stay in the inn.

Luke 2:1-20 (3/6)

There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks.

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them.

They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people.

Luke 2:1-20 (4/6)

“This very day in David’s town your Saviour was born,– Christ the Lord! And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in bands of cloth, and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great crowd of heaven’s angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased!”

Luke 2:1-20 (5/6)

When the angels went away from them back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger. When the shepherds saw him, they told them what the angel had said about the child.

Luke 2:1-20 (6/6)

All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said.

Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them.

The shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen; it had been just as the angel had told them.

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Gentle Mary Laid Her Child

Joseph Simpson Cook (1919)


Gentle Mary Laid Her Child (v. 1/3)

Gentle Mary laid her child lowly in a manger;

There he lay, the undefiled, to the world a stranger.

Such a babe in such a place, can he be the Saviour?

Ask the saved of all the race who have found his favour.


Angels sang about his birth, wise men sought and found him;

Heaven’s star shone brightly forth, glory all around him.

Shepherds saw the wondrous sight, heard the angels singing;

All the plains were lit that night, all the hills were ringing.


Gentle Mary laid her child lowly in a manger;

He is still the undefiled, but no more a stranger.

Son of God of humble birth, beautiful the story;

Praise his name in all the earth; hail the King of glory!

!


CHRISTMAS REFLECTION

CHRISTMAS PRAYER

ANTHEM: “Do You See a Star?”• John Parker, Larry Schackley

We Take God’s Light into the World

THEME CONVERSATION• “The Symbols of Christmas”

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Joy to the World!

Isaac Watts (1719)


Joy to the World! (v. 1/4)

Joy to the world! the Lord is come:

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare him room,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.


Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns:

Let all their songs employ,

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat, repeat the sounding joy.


No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground:

He comes to make his blessings flow

far as the curse is found,

far as the curse is found,

far as, far as the curse is found.


He rules the earth with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness

and wonders of his love,

and wonders of his love,

and wonders, wonders of his love.

!

We Share God’s Gift of Light

Ý INVITATION TO THE OFFERINGTonight’s offering will be shared with the Bissell Centre,

an inner city ministry in Edmonton.

Bring your gifts forward, and place them at the manger, pick up a candle, and form a circle around the sanctuary.

Children can come to the front for the Nativity Tableau.

We Share God’s Gift of Light

NATIVITY TABLEAU• Children can come to the front for the Nativity

Tableau.• When the lights go off, please turn on your

candles.

CAROL MEDLEY

O Little Town of Bethlehem (v. 1/4)

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!

Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by;

Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;

The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (v. 1/6)

While shepherds watched their flocks by night

All seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shone around.

Away in a Manger (v. 1/3)

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,

The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.

The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,

The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

Silent Night (v. 1/3)

Silent night! Holy night!

All is calm, all is bright

’Round yon virgin mother and child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace.



Shepherds quake at the sight:

Glories stream from heaven afar,

Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah,

Christ the Saviour is born,

Christ the Saviour is born.



Son of God, love’s pure light

Radiant beams from thy holy face,

With the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,

Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

!

Merry Christmas, and Blessings for the New

Year!

chalmers-castle downs united church christmas eve candle light service dec. 24, 2014 please stand as...

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