PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog Christmas
Eve
December
24, 2020
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“Behold,
I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to
you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10b-11
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Welcome
to this blog service in celebration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I
wish we could all be together for this joyful event. But take comfort in
knowing that though we can’t all be together, the world together celebrates the
birth of our Savior.
During
the live worship/Zoom service tonight we will be lighting candles (the battery
ones) while singing Silent Night and Joy to the World, as is our Christmas Eve
custom. I invite you to have a candle ready to light and to join in the singing
as we joyfully proclaim the Light the came into the world.
Now allow yourself a
brief time of silence
as you open your hearts
and feel God’s presence with you, right where you are.
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LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLES
This holy night, we light five
special candles.
The first
four candles remind us of
God’s hope, peace, joy and love.
This holy night, our Advent journey is over and
our
Christmas
celebration begins.
This holy
night, we light the white candle—the Christ candle. It is the most special
candle of all, for
we light it to celebrate the birth of
Jesus.
This
holy night, the Christ child comes to us.
This holy
night, let us sing with joy,
for the
Lord is come!
HYMN: “O
Come All Ye Faithful” Glory #133
CALL TO WORSHIP
Light
looked down and saw darkness.
“I will go there,” said Light.
Peace
looked down and saw war.
“I will go there,” said Peace.
Love
looked down and saw hatred.
“I will go there,” said Love.
So he, the Lord of Light,
The Prince of Peace,
The King of Love
Came down and crept in beside us.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Eternal
God whose name is Love, this is the time we remember your gentleness, hidden in
a mother’s hope and in the joy of a birth. This is the time when we believe
again, if only for a season, that love is stronger than fear, peace more
enduring than enmity, and that the darkness will never put out the light. And
so we offer to you the joy, the hopes, the dreams of children. We offer to you
our gift of gratitude for we are gathering in the name of Love. Amen.
SCRIPTURE 1: Isaiah 11:1-3, 6-9a
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on
him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of
power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear
of the
Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
The wolf will live with
the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and
the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed
with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw
like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young
child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on
all my holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as
the waters cover the sea. In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner
for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be
glorious.
HYMN: “Angels
We Have Heard on High” Glory
#113
SCRIPTURE 2: Luke 2:1-20
In those days a decree
went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was
the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be
enrolled, each to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the
city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his
betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her
to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in
swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them
in the inn.
And in that region there were shepherds out in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with
fear. And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you
good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will
be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying
in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!"
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they
went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And
when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning
this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But
Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it
had been told them.
CAROL: “Away in a Manger” Glory
#115
SERMON: “God
with Us” Rev. Jean Hurst
HYMN: “Hark
the Herald Angels Sing” Glory
#119
PRAYER
O God, whose love blesses and unites us
in every place and time, we come before you with hearts gladdened by this holy
season, its lights, its colors, and, most especially, its message of peace and
good will to all.
In the birth of Jesus, you have given
our weary and struggling world reason to rejoice. In the cry of an infant, you
have given hope to all who cry. By the light of a star, you have helped us find
our way again.
We thank you, good and generous God,
that in Jesus the Christ, you have made yourself known and have beckoned us to
join you in the continual creation of a world where wolf and lamb shall dwell
together and justice will roll down like waters.
Create in us, O God, hearts devoted to
shaping that world and bless especially those for whom such a world seems only
a distant dream—the poor, the imprisoned, the ill, the lonely, the despised.
Open our hearts, Spirit of Life, to the news of angels and the wonder of
shepherds that these days may renew us for the days to come.
Grant, to your glory, that those whose
lives we touch may hear in our words and see in our lives that truly you are
merciful and gracious and abounding in steadfast love! These things we ask,
trusting in your care for us today and always. Amen
CANDLE LIGHTING:
Jesus was the light that came into a world of
darkness. As John’s Gospel declares, the darkness was not able to overcome it.
We are now light bearers in Jesus’ name. As we light our candles, we proclaim the
light of Jesus and the good news of his kingdom.
CAROL: “Silent
Night” Glory #122
CAROL: “Joy
to the World” Glory #134
PRAYER AND BENEDICTION
I want to share with you an old Jewish prayer. It’s a
reminder to us of the miracles that are all around us if we would open our eyes
to see them and open our hearts to receive them. This is a season of miracles.
Let us pray:
Days pass and the years vanish and we walk sightless among
miracles. Lord, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing. Let there
be moments when your Presence, like lightning, illumines the darkness in which
we walk. Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns,
unconsumed. And we, clay touched by God,
will reach out for holiness and exclaim in wonder, “How filled with awe is this
place and we did not know it.” Amen.
May you be exceedingly blessed in this holy time. May your
hearts hear the song of angels, may you be delighted by the wonder of the
season. May the coming year be filled with peace and hope. As you go, may your
hearts be lighter as you carry the light of the Lord with you.
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