Order of Christmas Eve Worship

24 December 2023

Christmas Eve Candle Lighting Service

Prelude ~ Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth

Shared by Travis Meyers and The Band

Welcome and Greeting

Shared by Pastor Ken

Call to Worship

Led by Robert Back

One: From the corners of this city, from the confusion of life,

from the loneliness of our hearts,

All: We gather in the spirit of God’s love.

One: To feed our minds, to fire our imagination, and to free

our hearts,

All: We gather empowered by God’s Spirit.

One: Who is welcome to this celebration of life and hope?

All: Everyone! This includes all the people.

One: Who will join us in song?

All: Choirs of Angels!

Singing Our Welcome For the Season

~ 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.

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



Opening Prayer

Led by Pastor Ken

Silence

Quiet Place



In this quiet place

In this quiet place

Help me be still and know

How I can give, and how to   forgive

In this quiet place

In this quiet place

Help me be still and know You

Like Jesus in the manger

Let me be in this quiet place

Let me see your path for me

Let me trust in your grace

In this quiet place

In this quiet place

Help me be still and know

How to be true in all I do

In this quiet place

In this quiet place

Help me be still and know

You

Celebrations and Celebration Song

Led by Pastor Ken

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

that will be for all the people. Today in David’s city, a savior—the Messiah—has been born to you. This will be a sign to you: "You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the

highest, and on earth peace to all people and all nations.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the

shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, that God has made known to us.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. Once they saw this, they reported what they had been told concerning the child. All who heard about it were astonished at the report given by the shepherds. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds, returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

(Light the Christ Candle).

Singing Our Faith ~ The First Noel

The First Noel the Angels did say

Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay

In fields where they lay keeping their sheep

On a cold winter's night that was so deep

Noel Noel Noel Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

They looked up and saw a star

Shining in the East beyond them far

And to the earth it gave great light

And so it continued both day and night

Noel Noel Noel Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

And by the light of that same star

Three Wise men came from country far

To seek for a King was their intent

And to follow the star wherever it went

Noel Noel Noel Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

This star drew nigh to the northwest

O'er Bethlehem it took its rest

And there it did both Pause and stay

Right o'er the place where Jesus lay

Noel Noel Noel Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

A Christmas Prayer Love: Came Down at Christmas

Shared by Robert Back

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)

One: 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.

Call to Give

Led by Robert Back

One: Life is a gift and we are its celebration.

All: May we rejoice in the beauty that we are.

One: Every time we offer up our gifts, we are sharing the

wondrous gift of ourselves. May the recipients of

these offerings be embraced with God’s love.

Offerings and Offertory ~ Powerless Love

Shared by Travis Meyers

Dedication of Our Offerings

Led by Robert Back

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 of need of your light.

Special Music ~ O Holy Night

Shared by Carol and Forrest Bachtel

Word About Life For Today

Shared by Pastor Ken             

The story Maggie read tells us Mary gives birth to Jesus and

she lays him in a manger, for there was no place for them

anywhere else. Was it in an inn or the living room of a

simple peasant home? Was Bethlehem teeming with visitors

who were also there to be counted in the census? Was

Joseph’s family inhospitable because they disapproved of his

marital situation? Regardless of where the birth occurs, we

know that Christ is born in a crowded, unlikely place. And

yet, God makes a place here anyway. This Christmas, let us

also make room. For this is the good news of great joy for all

people.

Candle Lighting Instructions

For those of you joining us online, you are invited to participate. Turn down the lights and get a candle. Light your candle as the flame is shared throughout the congregation. Be careful and be blessed!

Candle Lighting Movement and Call to the Light

Led by Rev. Ken Heintzelman

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

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.

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.

Sending Forth Song ~ Silent Night

(Sing three verses, hum one verse, and 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.

Take the Light Out into the World!

Looking Ahead for CHRISTMAS!

Dec. 31 First Sunday of Christmas / We Root Ourselves in Ritual. Is Ritual a Bad Word?