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Woship Resources 2008-2009 — Year B: Be a Sanctuary of Christ's Peace
Christmas Eve:
Sanctuary of God's Peace
December 24, 2008
Fill the room with soft candlelight. The four candles of Advent are lit
before the congregation arrives. This is a service of waiting and anticipation
with the joy and assurance that Jesus will be born in our lives. Participants
should represent the diversity of the congregation.
Following this service outline, you will find the text for each scripture
reading and the Sending Forth statement. All biblical scriptures in this outline
are adapted from or based on the NRSV.
Preparation for Worship: “O Holy Night”
Use a soloist, CD, or instrumental group.
Call to Worship
Reading: Isaiah 11:1–9
Prayer
Response
With Mary We Are Waiting
Reading: Luke 1:26–33, 46–48, 56
Hymn: “Silent Night! Holy Night!” HS 244
With the Shepherds We Are Tending Our Fields
Reading: Luke 2:8–20
Hymns: “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” HS 242
“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” HS 256
With the Wise Men We Are Watching for Signs of His Coming
Reading: Matthew 2:1–11
Hymn: “As with Gladness Men of Old” HS 254
We Bring Our Gifts
Hymn: “What Child Is This” HS 257
With the World We Are Praying for the Peaceable Kingdom
Reading: Isaiah 9:6–7
Hymn: “Newborn of God” HS 247
Prayer for Peace on Earth
Hymn: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” HS 248
With Jesus We Are Growing in Our Discipleship
Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 163:11a
*Hymn: “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” HS 250
*Prayer for Our Discipleship
*Response
*Sending Forth
This reading is from John and I Peter.
*Postlude
Christmas Eve Readings
Call to Worship
Pianist can play “Silent Night” quietly to provide background for this
reading.
Reading
Come and Worship. Watch and wait. In a stable a child will be born. He
will be called Jesus, Messiah, Promise of the Prophets, Our Salvation. He
will be Emmanuel, the revelation of God with us. He will be Christ, Son of
God. Come and worship. Watch and wait while the world labors to birth the
Christ, God come down.
Isaiah 11:1–9 adapted
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow
out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of
knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and he shall stand as a signal to the
peoples. On that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to
recover the remnant that is left of his people. The wolf shall live with the
lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the
fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
Come and worship. Watch and wait together. We wait for the birth of the
child who will lead us into the world’s salvation, the peaceable kingdom of
God on earth.
With Mary We Are Waiting
Luke 1:26–33, 46–48, 56 adapted
In the sixth month (of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John) the
angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a
virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The
virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored
one! The Lord is with you.” But she was perplexed by his words and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great
and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to
him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God
my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.”
And Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her
home. And like all mothers waiting for the birth of their child, Mary
waited, considering the wonderful things that she had heard.
We have heard the prophets, we have heard the angel, and we, too, have
seen the power of God working in wonderful and mysterious ways. Now we watch
and wait together. We wait for the birth of the child who will lead us into
the world’s salvation, the peaceable kingdom of God on earth.
With the Shepherds We Are Tending Our Fields
Based on Luke 2:8–20
We are like shepherds, tending to our lives as if in the dark, often
unthinking, sometimes caught up in our culture without judgment or wisdom.
As we wait for the child to be born, let us think together about how his
coming has made a difference; how his coming might make a difference in our
own lives. We know he calls us, even from the manger, to come and follow him
in a way that often flies in the face of our culture. As we wait for the
child to be born, let us humble ourselves like the shepherds so we may hear
the angel voices calling us to be witnesses of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
With the Wise Men We Are Watching for Signs of His Coming
Based on Matthew 2:1–11
Let us be wise enough to follow the signs of his coming into our lives.
As we watch and wait tonight for the child to be born, let us consider what
gifts we will offer in worship and service, in witness and invitation. As a
symbol of our willingness to bring our best to the manger to lay before the
child Jesus, let us now—at the direction of the ushers—bring our tithes and
offerings and lay them at the manger.
Ushers or deacons will invite people who are able to leave their chairs,
beginning at the back, to go forward down the center aisle to the manger and
leave their tithes. Deacons at the front will direct people to go back to
their seats, returning along the outside aisles. Adapt this movement
according to the arrangement of your sanctuary.
With the World We Are Praying for the Peaceable Kingdom
Based on Isaiah 9:6–7
The child is our Savior, born for us. Let the child, the Savior, the
Christ be born in our hearts as we remember his birth. We honor the baby
called Jesus; we remember the child who became a man. We know that he is our
brother, our Lord, and we would be among those called his disciples. We
shall follow him to bring justice to our world and so reveal the peaceable
kingdom.
With Jesus We Are Growing in Our Discipleship
Based on Doctrine and Covenants 163:11a
The baby that is born tonight and that night long ago is changing the
world. We will be humble like Mary and accept the gift of Jesus Christ. We
will be joyous like the shepherds and become his witnesses. We will be wise
like the Wise Men of old and offer our gifts in his name to the neediest
around us. We will be the body of Christ growing as Jesus grew to understand
and do the will of God. We will be the Community of Christ ushering in the
peaceable kingdom.
Sending Forth
John 20:19–22
“Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’…Then the
disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace
be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said
this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
I Peter 5:14
“Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
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