Call to Worship – Ebenezer Allotey and Selina Odei
Walter
Leader: Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy, for all people. To you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior,
who is the Messiah, the Lord.
People: There is nothing present in death or life, in things present, or things to come, nothing in all creation, that can separate us from the love of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Leader: Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice!
People: Thanks be to God! Amen!
Hymn – Joy to the World – UMH 246
Michael
Lighting Christ Candle – In a time of violence and despair, an ancient prophet gives good news: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. The boots of earth-shaking armies on the march, the soldiers’ cloaks rolled in blood, are destined to be burnt, food for the fire. For a child has been born to us. Wide will be the dominion and boundless the peace with justice and righteousness from now on, for evermore. We light the Christ candle, thankful that God has come to us, not as a conquering hero but as a child, whose faithful, peaceful life will follow God’s way of love.
Prayer: God of peace, you hold the nations in your hand, yet know and love us all. May the love of Christ shine brightly, at the center of our lives, spreading warmth and light, in us, in this congregation and everywhere. Amen.
Pastor Reading:
Tonight, we shall tell the story of God’s love in Jesus Christ, in Scripture, readings, and song. The prophet Isaiah promises that God’s glorious love will be revealed to all humankind:
Song – Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People
Comfort, comfort, ye, my people, speak ye peace, thus saith our God.
Comfort those who sit in darkness, bowed beneath their sorrow’s
load; Of the peace that waits for them, speak ye to Jerusalem. Tell
her that her sins I cover, and her warfare now is over.
Make ye straight what long was crooked. Make the rougher places
plain; Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits his holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord, now o’er earth is shed abroad, and all flesh
shall see the token that his word is ever broken
Pastor Reading:
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Living God. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Living God shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of God has spoken.
Melanie Reading
Song – Away in a Manger – Ed Horne
Leo Reading:
When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1-7
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
Hymn – Angels We Have Heard on High – UMH 238
Bob
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:15-21
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Hymn – What Child Is This? – UMH 219
Pastor Reading
When the world was dark and the city was quiet, you came. You crept in beside us and no one knew. Only the few who dared to believe that God might do something different. Will you do the same this Christmas, Lord? Will you come into the darkness of tonight’s world; not the friendly darkness as when sleep rescues us from tired ness, but the fearful darkness in which people have stopped believing that war will end or that food will come or that a government will change or that the Church cares?
Will you come into that darkness and do something different to save your people from death and despair? Will you come into the quietness of this city, not the friendly quietness as when lovers hold hands, but the fearful silence when the phone has not rung, the letter has not come, the friendly voice no longer speaks, the doctor’s fact says it all?
Will you come into that darkness, and do something different, not to distract, but to embrace your people? And will you come into the
dark corners and the quiet places of our lives.
We ask this not because we are guilt-ridden or want to be, but because the fullness our lives long for depends on us being as open and vulnerable to you as you were to us, when you came, wearing no more than diapers, and trusting human hands to hold their maker.
Will you come into our lives, if we open them to you and do something different? When the world was dark and the city was quiet you came. You crept in beside us. Do the same this Christmas, Lord.
Do the same this Christmas. Amen Iona Community
Children’s Choir – If I Could Visit Bethlehem – WAS 3063
Peggy Reading
Offering: Joyfully offering our time, talent, energy, and resources
Choir: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Doxology – UMH 95
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
praise God all creatures here below,
praise God above you heavenly hosts.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Prayer: Christ among us, Light of the World, heal our brokenness, and bring us to wholeness, ease our pain, and bring us hope, strength and life. Give us a new heart, new hope and a new song, that our prayers and deeds may be one. We ask it in your name. Amen
Lighting of all candles
Christ, the light of the world, gives each one of us light, so that we too may shine with gratitude, hope and love. Receive the light that comes
to you: it comes from the Christ candle, but it reaches you only through your neighbors. Receive the light from a brother, a sister, a sibling in Christ. Hold the light, enjoy the light, and be thankful.
Musical Offering – O Holy Night – Tom Jones
Hymn – Silent Night, Holy Night – UMH 239
Benediction: May the love that made the stars, be your guiding light. May the love of God revealed in Jesus be your hope and inspiration; and may the love of the ever-present Spirit, give you courage, joy, and hope, now and forever. Amen. Go in peace.
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Connect with Cokesbury:
703.494.5400
Gmail : CokesburyUMC@gmail.com
Website : CokesburyUMC.church
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Contact Pastor Gayle: 703.980.1029. Mondays are her sabbath.