Hanging of the Greens Service
Prelude
Call to Worship
As our nights grow longer and our days grow shorter, we look on these
earthly signs—light and green branches—and remember God’s promise to our
world: Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, celebrated on
December 25. Christianity regards Christ’s birth as significant and
incorporates the Advent season as a time of quiet preparation. Today we gather
to worship our Lord who gave the world his son.
The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red: green for the
continuance of life through the winter and the belief in eternal life through
Christ and red to symbolize the blood that Jesus shed at his crucifixion.
As we sing the hymns of praise, the greenery will be hung around the windows
and doors.
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*Carols of Salutation: "There’s a Spirit in the Air"
"O Come, All Ye Faithful"
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HS
214
HS 238
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The singing of carols dates from the fourteenth century when the tunes were
carried from door to door by people lighting their way with lanterns and
playing wind instruments. The tradition of carols continues as people reach
out to spread the Good News.
Welcome, Announcements, Celebration of the Good News
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*Carol of Hope: "Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus"
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HS 201
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*Invocation
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*Congregational Response: "May Thy Presence Be Ours"
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HS 102
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The Advent wreath began with pre-Christian Germanic people who, during the
cold December darkness, gathered wreaths of evergreen and lighted fires as signs
of hope in a coming spring and renewed light. By the sixteenth century,
Christians throughout Germany used the wreath to celebrate their Advent hope in
Christ, the everlasting light. We hang the wreaths to remind us of the
everlasting presence of God in our lives. We place the Advent wreath in
preparation of each succeeding week, in hopeful anticipation of the celebration
of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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Hymn of Peace: "Holy Spirit, Come with Power"
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HS 287
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We light the candle of peace to signify the active part God takes in our
lives. We acknowledge that God’s purposes will be achieved.
Sharing Our Concerns
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Carol for Peace: "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"
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HS
250
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The first recorded use of the Christmas crèche goes back many centuries to
1223 in Italy when St. Francis of Assisi used a life-size nativity to explain
the birth of Jesus to non-believers. Today we display the nativity to remind us
of the beautiful story of Christ’s birth, to remind us that Christ came for
all: the humble shepherds and the wise kings.
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Carol of the Nativity: "Jesus, Good Above All Other"
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HS
259
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The Christmas tree originated in Germany. According to legend Martin Luther,
while walking through the forest on Christmas Eve, was so moved by the beauty of
the starlit fir trees that he brought one indoors and decorated it with candles
to remind his children of God’s creation. In 1841, Prince Albert of Germany
gave his wife, Queen Victoria of England, a gift of a Christmas tree, the first
in England, and the custom spread quickly.
Carol of the Tree: "O Christmas Tree"
- O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree! Our tree most fair and lovely! (sing
twice)
The sight of you at Christmastide spreads hope and gladness far and wide.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree! Our tree most fair and lovely!
- O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree! You have a wondrous message. (sing
twice)
You do proclaim the Savior’s birth, good will to everyone on earth.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree! You have a wondrous message.
The poinsettia plant has been in our Christmas celebrations for nearly 200
years. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the first United States
ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, admired the dramatic beauty of the
bright red poinsettias that grew rooftop high and bloomed at Christmastime. He
sent cuttings of the plant back to the United States. The flowers are
star-shaped, reminding us of the star that shone for Jesus’ birth. They are
red to remind us of the blood Christ shed for us. As we sing, we place the
flowers in the sanctuary.
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Carol of Our Joy: "O Thou Joyful, O Thou Wonderful"
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HS 235
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Offertory Statement and Prayer
Gift giving has continued since the gifts of the Magi to Jesus. We have
spread the custom of giving gifts to our family and friends to show our love
for them and their importance to us. We give our tithes to build up the
storehouse for the poor and those less fortunate than us. We hold food drives
to restock shelves. We prepare food baskets. We take this time to return a
portion of the Lord’s bounty.
The Candymaker’s Witness
In Indiana a candymaker wanted to make a candy that would be a witness of
Jesus. So he made the candy cane, incorporating the pure white to represent
the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus and the hardness to symbolize the
solid rock, the foundation of the church, and the firmness of the promises of
God. He made it in the shape of a "J" for Jesus, also representing
the staff of the good shepherd with which he reaches down into the ditches of
the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.
Thinking the candy to be plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes
to show the stripes of the whipping Jesus received by which we are healed, to
represent the promise of eternal life. We use this symbol again to witness to
the wonder of Jesus and his great love that came down at Christmas.
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*Hymn of Promise: "I Wonder as I Wander"
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HS 251
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*Closing Prayer
*Response
*Postlude
Hand out candy canes to the congregation as they exit.
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