All Hallows Christmas Eve Service (December 24, 2022)
The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The Gathering Open this link to hear Judy Nishimura's arrangement of "Sussex Carol" for solo flute.
Open this link in a new tab to hear arrangement of Gerald Near's arrangement of "Sussex Carol."
1. On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring
On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring
News of great joy news of great mirth
News of our merciful King's birth
2. Then why should men on earth be so sad
Since our Redeemer made us glad
Then why should men on earth be so sad
Since our Redeemer made us glad
When from our sin he set us free
All for to gain our liberty?
3. When sin departs before his grace
Then life and health come in its place
When sin departs before his grace
Then life and health come in its place
All for to see the new born King
4. All out of darkness we have light
which made the angels sing this night
All for to gain our liberty?
3. When sin departs before his grace
Then life and health come in its place
When sin departs before his grace
Then life and health come in its place
All for to see the new born King
4. All out of darkness we have light
which made the angels sing this night
All out of darkness we have light
which made the angels sing this night
Glory to God and peace to men
now and forever more, Amen.
which made the angels sing this night
Glory to God and peace to men
now and forever more, Amen.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; for to us a child is born, to us a son is given.
The Lord be with you
The Lord bless you
Let us pray
Silence
Eternal God
who made this most holy night
to shine with brightness of your one true light:
bring us,
who have known the revelation of the light on earth,
to see the radiance of your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Open this link in a new tab to hear the traditional French carol, "Angels We Have Heard on High."
1 Angels we have heard on high,
sweetly singing o'er the plains,
The Lord be with you
The Lord bless you
Let us pray
Silence
Eternal God
who made this most holy night
to shine with brightness of your one true light:
bring us,
who have known the revelation of the light on earth,
to see the radiance of your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Open this link in a new tab to hear the traditional French carol, "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 strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be?
which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
3 Come to Bethlehem and see
him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
4 See him in a manger laid
whom the choirs of angels praise.
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
while our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Dear People of God: On this Christmas Eve, let it be our great joy and delight to hear once more the story of the birth of our blessed Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ and to join our voices to the angels in praising God’ holy name.
But first, let us pray for the needs of his whole world, for peace and justice on earth, for the unity and mission of the Church for which he died, and especially for his Church in our country and in our community.
And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold and the homeless, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as all those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us not forget those Christians who are suffering persecution for their faith, missionaries at home and abroad, members of our armed forces stationed overseas, particularly those who may be in harm’s way, the victims of domestic abuse, and all who are struggling with any form of addiction.
Finally, let us give thanks to God for our Lord’s pure and lowly Mother, and for that whole multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one for evermore. And now, to gather up all these petitions, let us pray in the words which Christ himself has taught us, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Open this link to hear Robert Farrel’s arrangement of James Quinn SJ’s “Angel Voices, Richly Blending.”
Angel voices, richly blending,
Shepherds to the manger sending,
Sing of peace from heav'n descending!
Shepherds, greet your Shepherd-King!
Alleluia (alleluia), alleluia (alleluia).
Lo! a star is brightly glowing!
Eastern kings their gifts are showing
To the King whose gifts pass knowing!
Gentiles, greet the Gentiles' King!
Alleluia (alleluia), alleluia (alleluia).
To the manger come adoring,
Hearts in thankfulness outpouring
To the child, true peace restoring,
Mary's Son, our God and King!
The Readings
A reading from the Book of Isaiah.
The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,*
a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
Silence may follow the reading
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Paul Inwood’s responsorial setting of Psalm 96, “Today Is Born Our Saviour, Christ the Lord.”
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among all the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful; and all that is in them be joyful.
Then all the trees of the forest shall exalt!
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
They shall exult before the Lord,
who comes to rule the earth,
he shall rule the world with justice,
and all peoples with his constancy.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Barbara Bridges “Christmas Season Gospel Acclamation.”
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
I proclaim to you good news of great joy:
Today a Saviour is born for us.
Christ the Lord. Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Gospel according to Luke
Praise and glory to God.
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He travelled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
After the Gospel, silence may be kept.
This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ, the Word.
The Message
A baby in a manger. At the time Jesus was born and for centuries before and afterwards the poorer folk shared their living quarters with their livestock. Only the wealthy could afford to have barns for their cattle and donkeys and stables for their horses. So, a manger, a feeding trough, in the principal room of one of the poorer folk’s houses was not an unusual sight. The house in which Mary gave birth to Jesus was most likely the house of one of Joseph’s relatives. Due to the census the house was most likely full of people who had come to Bethlehem, the town of their ancestors. Joseph and Mary arrived late so Mary was forced to give birth to Jesus in the main room of the house where Joseph’s relative also kept livestock. It was in such humble surroundings that the angels told the shepherds, they would find the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord.
I must wonder what went through the shepherds’ minds. You are on a hillside at night, keeping watch over your sheep, when an angel of the Lord suddenly appears in your midst and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounds you. Both are manifestations of God’s presence, the shekinah. You are not only going to be terrified, but you also are going to be paralyzed.
Once the angels had returned to heaven, I don’t see the shepherds lingering on the hillside and then slowly making their way to Bethlehem. They most likely threw together a rude corral made out of thorn bushes for their sheep and headed for Bethlehem posthaste. Their sheep may have trailed behind them.
When someone has an experience like they had, that person is going to experience an overwhelming compulsion to do what the angel told them to do. They are not going to dawdle.
They must have gone from house to house until they came to the one where Mary and Joseph were staying, the one where a baby was lying in a manger.
A baby in a manger. Now a Messiah born in such humble surroundings is not what many Jews were eagerly awaiting. After all, the Messiah was supposed to be a descendant of David, Israel’s greatest king. Wouldn’t the Messiah, God’s Promised One, be born in palace or less humble surroundings?
Some folks never got over this expectation. They were expecting a military leader like David and Jesus did not meet their expectations. A warrior on a war horse with a retinue of advisors, servants, and armed men—a mighty man of valor. Instead, they got Jesus, an itinerant teacher and miracle worker who claimed that he and God were one and was followed by a ragtag group of fishermen, a former tax collector, a revolutionary, and a thief.
A surprising number of folks who identify themselves a Christians struggle with this claim to this day. How could God be the Supreme Being and a human being at the same time? Jesus’ answer to that question would be, “Nothing is impossible for God.”
The conclusion that the early Christians reached was that God was a union of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one being, based upon Jesus’ own teaching. While each person is distinct and separate from the others, they share the same substance and form one God. The baby who lay in the manger in Bethlehem was God in the person of the Son. The Jesus who suffered and died on the cross on Calvary was also God in the person of the Son. Jesus was fully human like us. He experienced what we experience. At the same he was fully divine. He was God.
Jesus did not assume the appearance of human being like the gods of Greek and Roman myths were believed to do. They were also believed to turn themselves into animals and birds and even inanimate objects. Zeus took the form of a white bull to have his way with Europa. Zeus seduced or raped Leda in the form of a swan. Zeus impregnated Danae in the guise of a shower of golden coins. Jesus became an actual human being. He felt cold, heat, hunger, thirst, and pain. He laughed and wept and he died.
God as a union of three persons in one supreme being not as difficult to grasp as we might think. Human beings are far more complex than we may realize. Psychologists tell us that human beings can have several personalities. We all appear to have what are described as “ego states,” ways in which we think, feel, and behave, and which form our personality. We also can have one or more personas, aspects of our character or nature which we present to other people, often in contrast to our real character or nature. We may present ourselves one way at work or school, another way at home or with friends.
While the different parts of our personality may be in conflict with each other, this is not the case with the persons of God. They work with each other in perfect harmony.
What then does it mean for us that God was in the baby in the manager. If Jesus was just a human being, the greatest human being who lived but a human being none the less and not God, as surveys appear to indicate a large number of US Christians appear to believe, we can pick and chose among his teachings, take what we like, and discard the rest. Since, however, he is also God, we cannot make free with his teaching and must give consideration to everything that he taught if we are serious about following him as his disciple.
If this sounds daunting, the good news is that Jesus promised to send to his disciples the Holy Spirit to help and guide them. The Holy Spirit is not a force or an energy. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the union of three persons in God. God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit will live in us. When we believe in Jesus, we enter a relationship with God which will not only last our lifetime but for all eternity. We are united by the Holy Spirit to God, to the Father and to Son.
The shepherds who went to Bethlehem did not realize it but the baby in the manger was the greatest gift that God has given to humankind. The baby in the manger is the greatest gift that will be offered to you in your lifetime. How do we accept that gift? We believe in Jesus. We trust his word. We say yes to his lordship over our lives and no to the things that come between us and him. God is offering you that gift right now. Will you accept it?
echo back their joyous strains.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
gloria in excelsis Deo!
2 Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be?
which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
3 Come to Bethlehem and see
him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
4 See him in a manger laid
whom the choirs of angels praise.
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
while our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Dear People of God: On this Christmas Eve, let it be our great joy and delight to hear once more the story of the birth of our blessed Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ and to join our voices to the angels in praising God’ holy name.
But first, let us pray for the needs of his whole world, for peace and justice on earth, for the unity and mission of the Church for which he died, and especially for his Church in our country and in our community.
And because he particularly loves them, let us remember in his name the poor and helpless, the cold and the homeless, the hungry and the oppressed, the sick and those who mourn, the lonely and unloved, the aged and little children, as well as all those who do not know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let us not forget those Christians who are suffering persecution for their faith, missionaries at home and abroad, members of our armed forces stationed overseas, particularly those who may be in harm’s way, the victims of domestic abuse, and all who are struggling with any form of addiction.
Finally, let us give thanks to God for our Lord’s pure and lowly Mother, and for that whole multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one for evermore. And now, to gather up all these petitions, let us pray in the words which Christ himself has taught us, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power, and the glory
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Open this link to hear Robert Farrel’s arrangement of James Quinn SJ’s “Angel Voices, Richly Blending.”
Angel voices, richly blending,
Shepherds to the manger sending,
Sing of peace from heav'n descending!
Shepherds, greet your Shepherd-King!
Alleluia (alleluia), alleluia (alleluia).
Lo! a star is brightly glowing!
Eastern kings their gifts are showing
To the King whose gifts pass knowing!
Gentiles, greet the Gentiles' King!
Alleluia (alleluia), alleluia (alleluia).
To the manger come adoring,
Hearts in thankfulness outpouring
To the child, true peace restoring,
Mary's Son, our God and King!
The Readings
A reading from the Book of Isaiah.
The people who walk in darkness
will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,*
a light will shine.
You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest
and like warriors dividing the plunder.
For you will break the yoke of their slavery
and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
The boots of the warrior
and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
They will be fuel for the fire.
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
Silence may follow the reading
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Paul Inwood’s responsorial setting of Psalm 96, “Today Is Born Our Saviour, Christ the Lord.”
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all you lands.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among all the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful; and all that is in them be joyful.
Then all the trees of the forest shall exalt!
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
They shall exult before the Lord,
who comes to rule the earth,
he shall rule the world with justice,
and all peoples with his constancy.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Today is born our Saviour,
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Jesus Christ the Lord.
Open this link in a new tab to hear Barbara Bridges “Christmas Season Gospel Acclamation.”
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
I proclaim to you good news of great joy:
Today a Saviour is born for us.
Christ the Lord. Alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia! Alleluia, alleluia!
The Holy Gospel according to Luke
Praise and glory to God.
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He travelled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first-born son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
After the Gospel, silence may be kept.
This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ, the Word.
The Message
A Baby in a Manger, God's Greatest Gift to Humankind
A baby in a manger. At the time Jesus was born and for centuries before and afterwards the poorer folk shared their living quarters with their livestock. Only the wealthy could afford to have barns for their cattle and donkeys and stables for their horses. So, a manger, a feeding trough, in the principal room of one of the poorer folk’s houses was not an unusual sight. The house in which Mary gave birth to Jesus was most likely the house of one of Joseph’s relatives. Due to the census the house was most likely full of people who had come to Bethlehem, the town of their ancestors. Joseph and Mary arrived late so Mary was forced to give birth to Jesus in the main room of the house where Joseph’s relative also kept livestock. It was in such humble surroundings that the angels told the shepherds, they would find the Saviour, the Messiah, the Lord.
I must wonder what went through the shepherds’ minds. You are on a hillside at night, keeping watch over your sheep, when an angel of the Lord suddenly appears in your midst and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounds you. Both are manifestations of God’s presence, the shekinah. You are not only going to be terrified, but you also are going to be paralyzed.
Once the angels had returned to heaven, I don’t see the shepherds lingering on the hillside and then slowly making their way to Bethlehem. They most likely threw together a rude corral made out of thorn bushes for their sheep and headed for Bethlehem posthaste. Their sheep may have trailed behind them.
When someone has an experience like they had, that person is going to experience an overwhelming compulsion to do what the angel told them to do. They are not going to dawdle.
They must have gone from house to house until they came to the one where Mary and Joseph were staying, the one where a baby was lying in a manger.
A baby in a manger. Now a Messiah born in such humble surroundings is not what many Jews were eagerly awaiting. After all, the Messiah was supposed to be a descendant of David, Israel’s greatest king. Wouldn’t the Messiah, God’s Promised One, be born in palace or less humble surroundings?
Some folks never got over this expectation. They were expecting a military leader like David and Jesus did not meet their expectations. A warrior on a war horse with a retinue of advisors, servants, and armed men—a mighty man of valor. Instead, they got Jesus, an itinerant teacher and miracle worker who claimed that he and God were one and was followed by a ragtag group of fishermen, a former tax collector, a revolutionary, and a thief.
A surprising number of folks who identify themselves a Christians struggle with this claim to this day. How could God be the Supreme Being and a human being at the same time? Jesus’ answer to that question would be, “Nothing is impossible for God.”
The conclusion that the early Christians reached was that God was a union of the three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one being, based upon Jesus’ own teaching. While each person is distinct and separate from the others, they share the same substance and form one God. The baby who lay in the manger in Bethlehem was God in the person of the Son. The Jesus who suffered and died on the cross on Calvary was also God in the person of the Son. Jesus was fully human like us. He experienced what we experience. At the same he was fully divine. He was God.
Jesus did not assume the appearance of human being like the gods of Greek and Roman myths were believed to do. They were also believed to turn themselves into animals and birds and even inanimate objects. Zeus took the form of a white bull to have his way with Europa. Zeus seduced or raped Leda in the form of a swan. Zeus impregnated Danae in the guise of a shower of golden coins. Jesus became an actual human being. He felt cold, heat, hunger, thirst, and pain. He laughed and wept and he died.
God as a union of three persons in one supreme being not as difficult to grasp as we might think. Human beings are far more complex than we may realize. Psychologists tell us that human beings can have several personalities. We all appear to have what are described as “ego states,” ways in which we think, feel, and behave, and which form our personality. We also can have one or more personas, aspects of our character or nature which we present to other people, often in contrast to our real character or nature. We may present ourselves one way at work or school, another way at home or with friends.
While the different parts of our personality may be in conflict with each other, this is not the case with the persons of God. They work with each other in perfect harmony.
What then does it mean for us that God was in the baby in the manager. If Jesus was just a human being, the greatest human being who lived but a human being none the less and not God, as surveys appear to indicate a large number of US Christians appear to believe, we can pick and chose among his teachings, take what we like, and discard the rest. Since, however, he is also God, we cannot make free with his teaching and must give consideration to everything that he taught if we are serious about following him as his disciple.
If this sounds daunting, the good news is that Jesus promised to send to his disciples the Holy Spirit to help and guide them. The Holy Spirit is not a force or an energy. The Holy Spirit is the third person in the union of three persons in God. God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit will live in us. When we believe in Jesus, we enter a relationship with God which will not only last our lifetime but for all eternity. We are united by the Holy Spirit to God, to the Father and to Son.
The shepherds who went to Bethlehem did not realize it but the baby in the manger was the greatest gift that God has given to humankind. The baby in the manger is the greatest gift that will be offered to you in your lifetime. How do we accept that gift? We believe in Jesus. We trust his word. We say yes to his lordship over our lives and no to the things that come between us and him. God is offering you that gift right now. Will you accept it?
Silence
Open this link in a new tab to hear William Chatterton Dix’s “What Child Is This.”
1 What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ, the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
2 Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
This, this is Christ, the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
3 So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
The Dismissal
Let us pray
Son of God,
light that shines in the dark,
child of joy and peace,
help us to come to you
and be born anew this holy night.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.
May Christ who by his Incarnation
gathered into one things earthly and heavenly,
fill us with his joy and peace;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be upon us and remain with us always. Amen.
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lori Pappajohn's arrangement of Greensleeves for harp, flute, and cello.
Open this link in a new tab to hear William Chatterton Dix’s “What Child Is This.”
1 What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ, the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
2 Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
This, this is Christ, the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary!
3 So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings;
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The Virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
The Dismissal
Let us pray
Son of God,
light that shines in the dark,
child of joy and peace,
help us to come to you
and be born anew this holy night.
Hear this prayer for your love’s sake.
Amen.
May Christ who by his Incarnation
gathered into one things earthly and heavenly,
fill us with his joy and peace;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be upon us and remain with us always. Amen.
Let us go forth in the name of Christ.
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
Open this link in a new tab to hear Lori Pappajohn's arrangement of Greensleeves for harp, flute, and cello.
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