Christingle Service – Leaders’ Notes
These notes have been designed to accompany the Standard Order of Service template provided in the Christingle resource centre. If you would prefer to put together your own service outline, there is also a Create-Your-Own service template available for you to use.
Within these notes you’ll find a number of flexible ideas to help you put together an order of service suitable for your style of worship.
The components are designed to help you to:
§ engage all ages more fully with the themes being explored
§ meet the needs of your church or congregation
§ prepare your service speedily
Alongside the liturgy, a number of optional, interactive activities are provided, to help children and all ages to engage. Once you have decided which ideas you would like to include in your Christingle service, simply copy and paste the relevant parts into the Order of Service template which you can print and give out to your congregation. You can find this online at www.christingle.org..
Welcome
Leader: Welcome to our Christingle service and this special chance to remember Jesus, who left all of heaven’s riches to reach out and come alongside us, so we could know his love.
We gather to celebrate the work of The Children’s Society who help us to look beyond ourselves, to reach out and to walk alongside children who need to experience our love in practical ways.
Throughout today’s service there will be chances to act out, as well as to say, prayers that celebrate Jesus’ example and our own desire to come alongside children who are in need. Don’t worry about not joining in any of these if you don’t feel comfortable, or about anything going wrong at any point if you do. The ideas are offered to help us focus on coming together to worship God and remind us that God loves all of us.
Opening Prayer
Leader: Jesus, who left behind unimaginable riches and came to find us,
All: Jesus, you are here. We share in God’s love.
Leader: Jesus, who came and walked alongside us to demonstrate God’s love for us,
All: Jesus, you are here. We never have to walk alone.
Leader: Jesus, who showed us how to love all your children, especially those with no one else to turn to,
All: Jesus you are here. Together, we can reach out and care for one another so all are included.
Leader: We make this prayer, in your name.
All: Amen.
Hymn: O Come Immanuel
Reading
Matthew 1:18-23
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Talk/Sermon
For this section, you can use one of our pre-written sermons, or use our sermon ideas resource to help you formulate your own.
Megan’s Story
Megan and her mum had a falling out when Megan was just 10 years old. Megan was then placed in care and moved around different foster families. Altogether, Megan was moved around 15 times. She found moving around really hard, so would often run away from these families, and ended up staying with people that she didn’t really know.
Megan then met someone called Nick. She loved him and she would go to his house every day. Nick was 25 and Megan was 15. Although Megan wasn’t entirely comfortable with Nick’s age, he was the only person she had in her life, so she continued her relationship with him.
Sadly, things turned bad. Nick became threatening, demanding that Megan get him drugs, threatening to beat her if she didn’t.
Fortunately, Megan was referred to one of The Children’s Society’s projects by the police. It was there that she met Zoe, her project worker.
To Megan, Zoe became more like a big sister, than a worker. Zoe would often call Megan to make sure she was ok and never gave up on her, even when Megan didn’t feel like talking. Before she came to The Children’s Society, Megan had never had anyone to rely on or trust because she was put in care and moved around so many times.
Thanks to the support she’s received, Megan has been able to rebuild her relationship with her mum – something she didn’t have before. She also gets on much better with the rest of her family and now goes over for tea to spend time with them. This type of healing, restoration and reconciliation could be the experience of so many more children and young people thanks to the funds we are raising at our Christingle celebration.
By joining our celebration, each one of you is playing a vital part in changing the lives of children across the country who would have no one else to turn to otherwise. Thank you so much for helping The Children’s Society to be there for them.
Prayers of Intercession
Leader: We pray for children growing up in families which are broken and frayed by abuse and neglect.
Lord Jesus, it hurts to think about this. Part of us would rather not. We’d rather look away. Help us to reach out, and come alongside them. We thank you for the Christingle and the ribbon that represents your loving sacrifice, wrapping itself around the world.
We ask you to wrap your loving arms around each child in need today.
Be close to each one who has not experienced the feelings of safety, love and companionship we expect from family; who is avoiding telling a parent or carer the things that are hurting them; or who is frightened of what might happen or of people finding out how hard things are at home.
We ask you to keep opening our eyes to see them and help them, directly in our communities, and through the work of The Children’s Society throughout our country.
Come, Lord Jesus.
All: Hear our prayer.
Leader: We pray for the work of The Children’s Society.
Bless their projects to help children and to champion their rights to our government.
Help them to continue to challenge us to care, give and speak up on behalf of others. Bless every area of their work. Uphold their staff in your love and may every child who comes into contact with them continue to receive the love and practical care they need.
Come, Lord Jesus
All: Hear our prayer.
Leader: We pray for the research and campaigning work of The Children’s Society striving to raise awareness about those in difficult situations, and encouraging all to see things through the eyes of a child.
Help us all continue to speak up for children who don’t have a voice. And help those with power to hear what we are saying and prioritise children and their childhoods above power, popularity or money.
Come, Lord Jesus
All: Hear our prayer.
Leader: We pray also for ourselves. We cannot love like you do in our own strength, we are quick to focus in on ourselves again and slow to remember those we cannot easily see, or whom we would rather not remember. We ask that you would keep filling us up so we can keep reaching out and coming alongside, just as you do.
Come, Lord Jesus
All: Hear our prayer.
Offering/Collection of Gifts
You might like to encourage the congregation to put their hands together and offer a round of applause alongside their response words each time. Explain that they will have to raise their voices to be heard over this and explain that this is a good thing, because it’s right to make a joyful, loud noise to thank God for all He’s done directly, and through the work of The Children’s Society.
Leader: Thank you, Jesus, for leaving heaven’s beauty and splendour to come to find us.
All: We praise you, Lord Jesus! You came to find us.
Leader: Thank you, Jesus, for coming alongside us and drawing us back into the fullness of God’s love.
All: We thank you, Lord Jesus! You come alongside us.
Leader: Thank you, Jesus, for showing us how to seek out and help all who are on the edge.
All: We trust you, Lord Jesus! Yours is the perfect way to follow.
Leader: Thank you, Jesus, for the work of The Children’s Society and for every child they help, especially those who have not received the love and care all children deserve.
All: We glorify you, Lord Jesus! You lead us to love like you do.
Leader: Thank you, Jesus, that you give us all the chance to join you in reaching out to these children.
All: We worship you, Lord Jesus! We want to give like you do.
Leader: Lord Jesus, who gave up untold riches for us, we offer you back today this small reflection of your love.
We ask you to bless this money and the practical care and genuine love that it will help resource. We pray that every child helped through The Children’s Society as a result of this generosity will receive a rich demonstration of your love.
All: Amen.
Lighting of the Christingles
Song: Shine Jesus Shine
Prayer
All: Lord Jesus, I stretch out my hands and receive this gift, and I hold it tight because it is mine.
My Christingle.
Light, fruit, sweets, colour, but so much more precious than this.
I hold in my hands a picture of your love.
Lord Jesus, help me to remember those who have not known your love, and do not have anyone to turn to.
Today, as I hold my Christingle and remember you, I pray that you would make me someone, like you, who will reach out my opened hands to give and love like you do.
Amen.
Blessing