A Christmas Sing
A Christmas Sing
Gathering music
Candle-lighting
1: (enters singing “Silver Bells”)
2: Hi. What are you doing?
1: Oh, I’m just looking around at all the lights and signs and shop
windows…and thinking about all the great things I’m going to give and
get this Christmas.
2: (sadly) Oh.
1: What’s wrong?
2: I’m glad you’re happy—Christmas is a great time to be happy. I
don’t want to take that away from you…but…
1: But…but what?
2: Are you really “looking around”?
1: What do you mean?
2: Well—Christmas is about…
1: Christ! I mean, we all know that—here in church at least!
2: Right! But sometimes we seem to leave Christ in the church and
forget about God’s presence in the world. It feels like we forget to ask
ourselves, What does this have to do with Christ?
1: I get it. Sometimes we forget why we’re doing all this stuff.
2: Exactly!
1: So…what you’re asking me to do—what you’re asking all of us to
do—is to open our eyes and look around, to connect our believing with
our doing.
2: Yes!
1: We can do that! Let’s light this candle as a reminder to “open our
eyes and look around,” to watch for Christ’s presence in the world.
2: And in the places where there is need, to see where we can be
Christ’s presence in the world!
(light the candle)
Written by Julie Kinkaid. Gathering,
Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2006-2007, page 56.
Used with permission.
Prayer
Welcome
Christmas is about many parts of life – the fun and the
snow…Santa…sledding…candles…baking cookies…giving and receiving
gifts…but most importantly, the coming of God in the flesh to be one of
us.
We’re going to celebrate many of those aspects tonight…and we’ll
begin with a song we’ve probably all known for years, a song originally
written for Thanksgiving, but which has become associated with
Christmas—“Jingle Bells.”
Song: Jingle Bells
Reading
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of getting ready for
Christmas…the shopping…writing Christmas cards…decorating the tree…when
we take time to look around, we see the joy that the season can bring…we
can hear sounds of the season…the “Silver Bells.”
Song: Silver Bells
Reading
But what is Christmas really all about? Well…here’s what the writer
of the Gospel of John said:
In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through Him.
All that came to be had life in Him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower…
The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and He was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through Him
and the world did not know Him.
But to all who did accept Him
He gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of Him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God Himself.
The Word was made flesh,
He lived among us,
and we saw His glory,
the glory that is His as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
—John 1:1-5, 9-10, 12-14 Jerusalem Bible
Heir of All the Waiting Ages - HS 253
Reading
The world waited for the birth of a child who would change
history…even as we wait today for his coming again. But who was…who
is…this child? this Jesus? That is a question that has sounded through
the ages—in word and in song.
What Child Is This - HS 257
Reading
We know the story...we hear it every Christmas. (Read Luke 2:1-12)
And we love to sing the songs that tell the story as well.
Angels We Have Heard on High - HS 237
Silent Night - HS 244
Away in a Manger - HS 232
Reading
But the story isn’t all joyful.
Read from Markings by Dag Hammarskjöld. Translated by Leif
Sjoberg and W.H. Auden.
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc. and Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1964, 198.
[The reference is to the sentence about the manger being situated on
Golgotha.]
OR
“The Cross in the Manger” from Kneeling in Bethlehem by Ann
Weems (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1987), 77.
And so we sing of the joy—but also of the sorrow that we know is yet
to come.
Look at This Man, Born of God - HS 230
Reading:
This is God’s Christmas greeting.
In the beautiful story of Jesus’ birth,
it was sung by a chorus of angelic voices.
Heard at first only by Judean shepherds outside the town of
Bethlehem,
nevertheless, it is a message that the whole world should hear.
On each Christmas Day
God repeats His greeting.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - HS 250
Reading
So we look around. What do we see? A world of wars…a world in need of
peace…a world in need of a people who will be peacemakers. Is
that us?
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear - HS 256
Prayer
God of Hope, we come to you in this Advent season waiting for your
blessing. We experience your grace in the stuff of everyday life. We see
your glory in the strong winds of winter and in soft-fallen snowflakes.
We see your peace in bundled up children and in frosty designs on the
windowpanes. We are amazed, once more, by the power and patience of your
amazing love.
We come to you in this season of waiting for the Christmas spirit. We
hear carols and see coloured lights. We join shoppers and seek the
perfect gift for that special someone. We wait for you to come to us
anew every day. We also wait for that day when you will gather us all
into your kingdom, where justice will reign and love will be the
standard by which everyone will live.
We wait with hope for a better world where all people will have a
roof over their heads, clothes on their backs, and enough food to
satisfy their hunger. We wait for a world where everyone is able to be
safe and secure, where they can close their eyes and have a restful
sleep, not worrying about what the morning will bring. As we wait for
these things, help us to do our best to make them a reality in our time.
There is much to do that has been left undone. Give us the courage to
step out in faith to build your kingdom in our corner of creation.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Written by Kim Gilliland. Gathering,
Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2003-2004, page 31.
Used with permission.
*Go, Tell It on the Mountain - HS 249
*Sending forth
The angels said, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and peace on
earth.” Together let us go into the world to live out this good news.
*Postlude
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