Worship Service
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2020
Note: The prelude begins 15 minutes into the video and the audio file
We are RECEIVED as the Beloved of God
PRELUDE
WELCOME
ADVENT WREATH CANDLE LIGHTING
CALL TO WORSHIP
LAS POSADAS SERVICE OF SHELTER FOR THE HOLY FAMILY (from The United Methodist Book of Worship)
Pastor: Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.
All: In the name of God, we beg: will you let us enter? We are tired and we are cold. May we please have shelter?
Pastor: You look dirty and you smell. Will you please keep moving? For your kind there is no place, for our inn is decent.
All: It is not by our own choice that today we travel. But the emperor has said that all must be counted.
Pastor: For your reasons we care not, every room is taken. Can’t you see the place is full? You are bad for business.
All: He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.
Pastor: Who are the children of God?
All: All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Pastor: To what does the Spirit of God guide us?
All: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Pastor: How do we know we love the Lord and have faith?
All: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. Will the child be born tonight out on a street corner? Can’t you find a place for him? Do you have no pity?
Pastor: Oh, my goodness, do come in. Enter, holy pilgrims. Receive this corner not of this humble home, but of our hearts.
All: Eternal God, by the birth of Jesus Christ You gave Yourself to the world. Grant that, being born in our hearts, He may save us from all our sins, and restore within us the image and likeness of our Creator, to whom be everlasting praise and glory, world without end. Amen.
OPENING PRAYER
Gracious God,
With joy and thanksgiving we gather as your people. We have come to hear the timeless story of Christ’s birth.
In the excitement of this night, quiet our hearts that we may know the peace and fullness of this holy time.
Shine, O Light, in the darkness of our world.
Sing, O angels, in the stillness of our hearts,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those God favors.”
This we pray in the name of the Child of Bethlehem. Amen.
SONG – Away in a Manger UM Hymnal # 217
CHILDREN’S TIME
SONG – Christmas Canon of Peace
We are TRANSFORMED by the Word of Jesus Christ
ISAIAH 43:1-4a
Now, says the LORD – the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel:
Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched and flame won’t burn you.
3 I am the LORD your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you.
LUKE 2:1-20
In 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.)3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When 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.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
GOOD NEWS God’s Miracle-Making Partner
SONG – Joy to the World UM Hymnal # 246
THE HOLY COMMUNION
RESPONSE TO GOD’S GRACE (OFFERING)
Pastor: God wants our love more than God wants our offerings; God cares about our hearts not the amounts of our offerings. (Hosea 6:6).
All: As we count all the blessings God has already given to us, we cheerfully give our offerings to God, the Provider, with grateful hearts. Amen! (2 Corinthians 9:7).
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
We are SENT in the Power of the Holy Spirit
ANNOUNCEMENTS
DISMISSAL IN SILENCE – SILENT NIGHT