Order of Worship

12-24-25

Christmas Eve

Candlelight Service

When It Looks Dark, We Light Our Candles

Prelude ~ Don Oiche Úd I mBeithil (The Road to Bethlehem)

Shared by Tanner Bayles and Ryan Roubinson

Welcome and Greeting

Shared by Pastor Ken

Singing Our Faith ~ Angels We Have Heard On High

1. Angels we have heard on high,

Sweetly singing o’er the plains,

And the mountains in reply

Echo back their joyous strains.

Chorus

Gloria in excelsis Deo,

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?

Why your joyous strains prolong?

Say what may the tidings be

Which inspire your heav’nly song?

Chorus

3. Come to Bethlehem and see

Him whose birth the angels sing,

Come, adore on bended knee

Christ the Lord, the newborn king.

Chorus

4. Born of God’s own love divine,

We will feed the poorest one.

Christ brings peace to humankind.

Loving justice shall be done!

Chorus

Lighting of the Christmas Eve Candles

Led by Carla and Greg Freeman with Wexford Carol

One: Christmas Eve is a time for candlelight. It is a time when one desires nothing more than family and soft music.

Who can say what passes through our hearts on

Christmas Eve?

Strange thoughts.

Undefinable emotions.

Sudden tears.

All this and more, unbidden, come without reason.

All: And we light our candles for this is Christmas Eve.

(Light the First Candle)

One: Christmas Eve is not a time to be merry, but quietly glad.

It is the proper time to wish upon a star.

It is the time to watch children with excited, happy eyes,

troop off to bed to await the miracle of dawn.

It is a time to wonder, of thankfulness that life is still being

created out of darkness.

It is a time of quiet awakening to beauty that still lives on

through the strife of a war-torn world.

All: And we light our candles for this is Christmas Eve.

(Light the Second Candle)

One: Christmas Eve is a time of heartbreak, when those who are not at our side are most missed.

Christmas Eve is a time of blessing when all the

heartbroken world gives thanks for the quiet beauty of rest.

When one is closest to one’s companions and is not then

enemy to any person.

All: And we light our candles for this is Christmas Eve.

(Light the Third Candle)

One: Christmas Eve is a time of memory, when one remembers

past happiness and love and often sighs for the good that

might have been.

Peace on earth.

The story of the first Christmas... so old, and yet so new.

We lose ourselves in legend, and dream of storybook

people:

Tiny Tim,

The other Wise One,

Shepherds and angels,

live again in the memory of human hearts.

All: And we light our candles for this is Christmas Eve.

Special Music ~ Hurray for Christmas Day

Shared by Tanner Bayles and Ryan Roubinson

Opening Prayer

Led by Rev. Ken Heintzelman(Light the Fourth Candle)

A Word About Life ~ Luke 2: 1-20

Shared by Maggie Baca

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of

Syria.) All the people were instructed to go back to the towns of their birth to register. 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. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord

appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them,

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy.”

A Christmas Prayer Love Came Down at Christmas

Shared by Greg and Carla Freeman

One: Compassionate One, you are love that comes to us every day for every need.

All: Love come down to us and we shall be whole.

One: For our families and friends that we may continue to help and support each other. We need the visitation of love.

All: Love come down to us and we shall be whole.

One: For the person we have loved who has died. For all the

losses we have known, we need the visitation of love.

All: Love come down to us and we shall be whole.

One: For all the world, that all people may know love and

peace and happiness...

All: Love come down to us and we shall be whole.

One: For the peace proclaimed by the Christmas angels, to

come throughout the whole world, we need the visitation of

love.

All: Love come down to us and we shall be whole.

One: God of great compassion and love, listen to the hopes of your people. (Silence)

We unite our voices and hearts with your Spirit and pray

together,

All: Loving God, within and around us, we revere you. We seek to live life as you would want us to do: with love and respect for all people and all things in the

universe. May we find each day sufficient for our

needs. May we find forgiveness when we do wrong,

just as we forgive those who do wrong to us. In times

of trouble, may we center our lives in you. For your

being is love, which comes with strength and with

beauty, throughout eternity. Amen.

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Dedication of Our Gifts

Led by Greg and Carla Freeman

One: God of Light, we dedicate ourselves and these gifts for

service in the world.

All: May we be beacons of love and justice in a darkened world shining your light on all people living in places in need of your light.

Chimes Call Us To The Christmas Message

Christmas Message

Offered by Pastor Ken

Candle Lighting Instructions

Pastor Ken

If you would like to participate but did not pick up a candle when you came in, raise your hand and let an usher bring you a candle. You can light your candle by tipping your unlit candle to the flame of the person next to you. As we share the candle lighting portion of our service, each family decides who will hold the candles. Please be mindful of the safety of your family and the people around you.

Candle Lighting Movement and Call to the Light

Greg and Carla Freeman with The Holly and the Ivy

One: We will light candles this Christmas.

All: Candles of joy, despite all the sadness.

One: Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.

All: Candles of courage where fear is ever present.

One: Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days.

All: Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens.

One: Candles of love to inspire all of my living.

All: Candles that will burn all the year long. We are blessed by the light.

Word for the Light ~ John 1:1-5

Led by Pastor Ken

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

All: We give thanks for all the love and support we have known. We light candles because we affirm that dawn defeats despair. We light candles to proclaim the gift of hope which the Christmas story offers to us. We

assert that God is our companion, who shares our life,

blesses us, and fills us with longing and with courage.

Let us remember the One who holds us in love.

Special Music for Candle Lighting

Crescendo: The Holly and the Ivy

Silent Night, Holy Night

(Sing three verses, hum one verse, repeat first verse only)

1. Silent night! Holy night!

All is calm, all is bright,

Round yon virgin Mother and Child.

Holy Infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.

2. Silent night! Holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight!

Glories stream from heaven afar,

Heav’nly hosts sing “Alleluia”.

Christ, the Savior, is born! Christ, the Savior, is born!

3. Silent night! Holy night!

Child of God, love’s pure light,

Radiant beams from Thy holy face,

With the dawn of redeeming grace,

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

Please follow the ushers’ direction when exiting.

Take the Light Out into the World

Go now in joy, building a community full of light and love.