CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE 11.30 p.m. 24-12-2009
Good evening.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A warm welcome to our Christmas Eve Service and I am delighted to welcome anyone visiting us tonight –
I hope that you enjoy our time together and that it might be a time
of great blessing for you as you join with us.
The Offering tonight is to support Christian Aid’s work in Bethlehem –
if you are able to gift aid your offering, there are envelopes provided
for that at the end of the pews . . .
You all have a candle and this candle will be lit during the first Hymn – those sitting at the aisles will have the candles lit and if you just past on the light until all the candles are lit.
And, as I said to the children earlier, please be very careful!
As we prepare to hear the story of God coming to the world and experiencing again his coming into our lives let us prepare for our worship.
INTROIT
Tonight we are excited
BLESS US WITH WONDER
Tonight we are expectant
BLESS US WITH GLADNESS
Tonight we are on tiptoe
BLESS US WITH NEW BIRTH
God, who crept into the world in a newborn child, is waiting to come into our lives again,
to wrap everlasting arms around us in love and give light for our darkness.
The Lord says, ‘Bethlehem, Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.
LET US WORSHIP GOD
Hymn 315Once in royal David’s city
LET US PRAY
Lord,
in the beginning
when all was very dark, you said:
‘Let there be light.’
And there was lightand life throughout the universe.
And when the human racewas exhausted, tired and weary,
in the darkness of anxiety, confusion and sin,
into that darkness you cameas light in Jesus Christ.
Once again it is dark.
Not just dark as we approach midnightbut dark in ourselves:
doubt,
fear,
uncertainty,
all come at times and in different ways to engulf us in darkness.
Come, Light of life,
lighten the darkness in our liveswith your mighty word of love.
Lighten our heart with the joyof your promised coming.
Lighten our world with the hope
that faith in you still brings.
In the name of Christ, the light of the world.
AMEN.
Hymn 316Love came down at Christmas
Reading Lesson -Luke 2 : 1 – 7
The Birth of Jesus
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
I am going to be a Father . . .(Stuart Cox)
I am going to be a Father,
yes, you heard right, a Father.
And I just can’t put into words how I’m feeling at this time –
I’m somewhere between excitement and fear.
Yes, I know that might seem a bit strange to you but its where I’m at.
There’s the excitement of a child,
a new life bringing light into the life of the family,
new dreams, new visions, new possibilities,
perhaps he’ll be able to help me in my carpenter’s shop.
And then there are the fears
will he sleep,
will we cope,
will we be able to look after him as we should,
will we be good parents?
“How do you know it’s going to be a boy?” I hear you asking.
Well, that’s the bit that’s tricky you see the reason we know that its going to be a boy is, in a nutshell, because God told us.
Well, not him directly but an Angel.
Now I see you glazing over and taking a step back.
I can read your mind,
“He’s lost the plot!”
It’s true and that’s why the excitement and the fear are even more intense.
He child Mary is carrying is the one who will not only bring new light into our family,
but into the life of the world,
bringing to birth new dreams, new visions, new possibilities
for all of us.
I know that I might only have him for a short time in my workshop but I will need to learn to let him go.
And that’s my biggest fear,
what will happen then.
But even though I know that it won’t be easy for him,
somehow it will all be part of God’s plan,
somehow things will turn out well for him and for all of us.
Hymn 313See! in yonder manger low
Reading Lesson – Luke 2 : 8 – 20
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone 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 about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
I am going to be a Dad . . . (George Randall)
I am going to be a dad,
yes, you heard right, a dad.
And I just can’t put into words how I’m feeling at this time –
I’m somewhere between excitement and fear.
As you know this isn’t the first one,
our eldest boy, Noor is 17 –
what an age difference,
what a shock!
The excitement of a younger brother or sister for Noor is so great I can hardly contain myself but the excitement of another after so long is overshadowed by a fear.
To you Noor seems like any other 17 year old –
he loves football and loves hanging about with his friends.
But our fear for our soon to be born child is not just some phantom in the night fear that has no roots in reality,
but is borne from the experience of bringing a child up in Bethlehem.
You’d think thatBethlehem, the place where hope entered into the world in a baby, would be seen and experienced everywhere here,
quite the opposite in fact.
Noor injured his hand in an explosion,
yes, an explosion, but because of where we are here in the Palestinian
territories and because we are so poor we couldn’t get the treatment
he needed –
he was frightened, worried what his friends might think,
he felt weak,
he felt different,
he felt alone.
So why have another in such a situation?
Well, to many looking around there is no hope but it is amazing what can be done –
there is no situation too difficult to overcome when we work together
with each other here and with our friends from the YMCA who are
being supported by Christian Aid.
Hope gone?
No, just at a low ebb just now but as Noor is now working with computers and has a reason to go back to school we hope for the same for our new little one.
They tried to extinguish the hope in the Christ child at many points in his life but God was with him and thank God, he is with us now.
Hymn 305In the bleak midwinter (Omit verse 3)
ADDRESS
“Airdrie’s not the town it used to be!”
How often have you heard someone say that?
How often have you hear yourself say it?
If you have, sadly, it puts you in a certain age bracket and I say that knowing that I’ve caught myself saying the same.
Someone asked if I would ever find myself living in Saltcoats again, say, in retirement which, despite popular belief, is still some time away.
“Oh, Saltcoats – no, its not the town it used to me.”
It’s not only folk in Airdrie or Saltcoats who say something similar,
this is said the length and breadth of the country and, I’m sure,
overseas as well.
The first time I visited Bethlehem was as a 22 year old in 1990 and I knew that it wouldn’t be the picture postcard place so often portrayed in many of the more romantic Christmas Carols but I still was impressed at a vibrant, Eastern town.
However, when I returned after the wall was erected, I found myself thinking and saying that it wasn’t the place that I had remembered –
it wasn’t vibrant any more,
the life was in danger of being drained out of it.
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” resembles “O Broken Town of Bethlehem”,
a song that children sang to us in a school we visited there.
So, how different is it to the Bethlehem where Jesus was born,
to the Bethlehem visited by both the Shepherds and the Wise Men?
I’m sure it has changed physically, politically and in so many other ways but there is much about the town, its story then and now that hasn’t changed.
The Christmas story is charged with suffering as an ordinary family wanted to find a place to see their first child born safely only to find that they were relegated to an outhouse.
The people who are told first about Christ’s birth were not religious
leaders, politicians or celebrities,
no-one with the X Factor of their day,
but poor of that society, the outcasts, the Shepherds.
Yet there in Bethlehem there started a journey that was to make inroads into suffering –
the suffering not just of those still in Bethlehem today but of all of us
for God came to be one with us –
to take us by the hand and lead us onto a journey to wholeness,
restoring broken relationships with him and with each other.
There in Bethlehem there started a journey that was to make inroads into poverty –
the poverty of those struggling in Bethlehem today and that of all
who have little or nothing –
to take us by the hand and in and through us, build a new kingdom with justice at its centre.
The reflections tonight bring the struggles of Joseph, Mary and countless others then to meet the struggles of all of us today as God identifies with us and, as he transforms us, we identify with all who suffer and are in need at this time.
Know that God is with you in Jesus –
journey with him that you might journey with each other as God’snew kingdom of justice and peace is born anew in your hearts and
in the heart of our community.
(Pause)
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . . . the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
I am your Father(Richard)
I didn’t become a dad,
I’ve always been one.
I am as a Father and Mother to you and have been from the very beginning of time –
I created you inside and out;
I know you at rest and in action;
I understand your thoughts;
I know your fears and recognise your needs.
And, as your Heavenly Father, I smile when you smile, laugh when you laugh, weep when you weep and, when I saw how great the needs were I saw only one thing that I could do and that was to come to you and be one with you –
the only way I could do this was to send my own precious Son to you.
As Father’s let go of their children I had to let go of mine,
this time I had the pain of knowing what he was going to endure.
Yet, I also knew the joy of what he would accomplish in my name.
Through him I would see my family enlarge to the far corners ofthe world as many would gain comfort from my Word.
In him I share your excitement in life as I lead you on a great adventure,
an adventure of a life-time.
In him I share your fears as I lead you through them,
through the darkness to the light that can never be extinguished.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . . . the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Hymn 309Still the night (during which the centre candle is lit)
When the time was right, God sent the Son;
sent him and suckled him,
reared him and risked him,
filled him with laughter and tears and compassion.
The Word became flesh.
He came among us.
He was one with us.
Pause
A boy has been born for us;
a child has been given to us.
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace.
Once we were no people, now we are God’s people.
Once we walked in darkness, now we have seen a great light.
It’s Christmas Day – Merry Christmas to you all.
Hymn 320Joy to the world
Offering
LET US PRAY
Everlasting Father,
We remember a crowded town and a dirty stable.
We lift to you all those who live where it is cramped and especially children who are born into poverty.
Wonderful counsellor,
We remember frightened shepherds and a new mother in a strange place.
We lift to you all those who need counsel and comfort, and especially
children who have seen violence.
Prince of peace,
We remember an occupied land and a difficult journey.
We lift to you all those who must overcome conflict and fear, and
especially children who have been injured.
King of kings,
We remember a manger and an obscure birth.
We lift to you all those who are forgotten by the world,
and especially children whose futures are fragile.
God of all hope: hope with us, in us, and for us,
give us your hope, love and courage this Christmas the we might work with all our strength to see an end to poverty,
in Bethlehem and throughout the earth.
AMEN.
Hymn 306O come all ye faithful
BENEDICTION
Rock us
Rock us gently
Rock us with love
Cradle us
Cradle us tenderly
Cradle us with love
Swaddle us
Swaddle us firmly
Swaddle us with love
Bless us
Bless us kindly
Bless u with love
And the blessing . . .
Recessional -CH4 321 Chorus, v 2, Chorus
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE 11.30 p.m. 24-12-2009
Words of Welcome
INTROIT
Call to Worship
Hymn 315Once in royal David’s city
Opening Prayer
Hymn 316Love came down at Christmas
Reading Lesson -Luke 2 : 1 – 7
I am going to be a Father . . .
Hymn 313See! in yonder manger low
Reading Lesson – Luke 2 : 8 – 20
I am going to be a Dad . . .
Hymn 305In the bleak midwinter (Omit verse 3)
ADDRESS
I am your Father . . .
Hymn 309Still the night (during which the centre candle is lit)
Welcoming Christmas Day
Hymn 320Joy to the world
Offering
Prayers
Hymn 306O come all ye faithful
BENEDICTION
Recessional -CH4 321 Chorus, v 2, Chorus
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