We held our Christmas Eve service of Lessons and Carols on Thursday, December 24, 2020 at 7:00pm! You can watch a recording on Facebook by clicking here, or you may watch below.
CALL TO WORSHIP Mitchell Hay
The world is on the edge, taut with expectation.
Breathless with imminence, caught up in anticipation.
Something is going to change. Some thing . . .
Something hovers just out of sight, beyond our imagining-
Beyond our dreaming, beyond our hoping;
God moves,
and we are on the brink of the incredible.
Come, Emmanuel, come.
CAROL O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 211 vss. 1, 7
CANDLE LIGHTING Chloe Lemmel-Hay
I cannot tell you how the light comes.
What I know is that it is more ancient than imagining.
That it travels across an astounding expanse to reach us
That it loves searching out what is hidden, what is lost,
what is forgotten or in peril or in pain.
That it has a fondness for the body, for finding its way toward flesh,
for tracing the edges of form, for shining forth through the eye,
the hand, the heart.
We welcome the light.
I cannot tell you how the light comes, but that it does.
That it will. That it works its way into the deepest dark
that enfolds you, though it may seem long ages in coming
or arrive in a shape you did not foresee.
We welcome the light.
And so may we this day turn ourselves toward it.
We welcome the light.
May we lift our faces to let it find us.
We welcome the light.
May we bend our bodies to follow the arc it makes.
We welcome the light.
May we open and open more and open more still
to the blessed light that comes. Jan Richardson
CHOIR Jesus, Light of the World Gray
LESSONS & CAROLS
1. GOD BLESSES CREATION Rylie Hennessy
Genesis 1:26-27, 31
CAROL People, Look East 202 vss. 1, 4
2. THE BIRTH FORETOLD Mark Klinedinst
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
CAROL It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 218, vss. 1, 4
3. THE PEACEABLE KINGDOM Roger Dodge
Isaiah 11:1-4a; 6-9
CAROL O Holy Night vss. 1, 3
4. A PROMISE MADE TO BETHLEHEM Kristene Ericksen
Micah 5:2-4
CAROL O Little Town of Bethlehem 230 vss. 1, 4
5. THE ANNUNCIATION Heidi Evans
Luke 1:26-38
POEM Annunciation Barb Lemmel
Even if I don’t see it again—nor ever feel it
I know it is—and that if once it hailed me
it ever does—
And so it is myself I want to turn in that direction
not as towards a place, but it was a tilting
within myself,
as one turns a mirror to flash the light to where
it isn’t—I was blinded like that—and swam
in what shone at me
only able to endure it by being no one and so
specifically myself I thought I’d die
from being loved like that. Marie Howe
CAROL Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming 216 vss. 1, 3
6. JOSEPH’S DREAM Craig Evans
Matthew 1:18-25
VIDEO The Workout— A DocMorris Christmas Advert
7. JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM Donna Paffrath
Luke 2:1-7
CAROL Away in a Manger 217 vss. 1, 3
8. LUKE’S NATIVITY Paula Pickering
Luke 2:8-19
CAROL Angels We Have Heard on High 238 vss.1,2
REFLECTION Barbara Lemmel & Mitchell Hay
CAROL What Child Is This 219 vss. 1, 2
POEM Laurie Klinedinst
Take this message back:
that when the angel left I wept
that I thought I was insane
that I sat in the dark for three days
that I dreamed of stones
that I dreamed of angry crowds
that I dreamed I spread my arms to meet them.
Say on the third day
a wind through the door
say the smell of perfume
say fire
say ancient, familiar music
say I opened
say I laughed
say just a bit. Jan Richards
9. MYSTERY OF INCARNATION Kathy Dodge
John 1:1-5, 14
-WE ARE SENT-
LIGHTING OUR CANDLES
CAROL Silent Night vss. 1, 3
CAROL Joy to the World vss. 1, 2
BENEDICTION
May you be filled with the wonder of Mary,
the obedience of Joseph, the joy of the angels,
the eagerness of the shepherds,
the determination of the magi,
and the peace of the Christ child.
Almighty God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer,
bless you now and forever. Amen. Ray Pritchard
