Christmas Season Events: Lessons & Carols Evening and Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
LESSONS AND CAROLS
December 21, 2014 6:30 PM
Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
As the music plays, we invite you to quiet your heart for worship. Set your mind on things above where your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Scripture Reading – Isaiah 40: 1-5
*Hymn:
197 “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People”
Scripture Reading – Isaiah 11: 1-10
*Hymns:
221 “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”
194 “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 1-20
*Hymns:
223 “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks”
203 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
213 “What Child Is This”
Scripture Reading – Matthew 2: 1-12
*Hymn:
226 “As with Gladness Men of Old”
Scripture Reading – Matthew 2: 13-23
*Hymn Supplement:
41 “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”
Solo: Akaylah Kothman (Hymn Supplement 58) “Who Is This?”
Scripture Reading – John 1: 1-5, 14-18
*Hymn:
208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
Everyone will bring their favorite holiday sweets and savories to share during a time of fellowship afterward
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
December 24, 2014 6:30 PM
Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
Prelude
As the music plays, we invite you to quiet your heart for worship. Set your mind on things above where your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Greeting and Announcements
Meditation in Preparation for Worship
“First of all, the congregation in its assembly does not just meet by itself, but seeks to meet with their God. . . . The congregation is spiritually quickened precisely in those moments when they, as congregation, discover the nearness of their God and the presence of the holiness, that is, when they in their meeting together at the same time meet with their God. Thus the highest view one can form of our worship services is to see them as a meeting of the congregation with their God.”—Abraham Kuyper, Our Worship, pp. 13-14.
Call to Worship
And going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matt 2:11
Prayer of Invocation
*Hymn # 208 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
Call to Confession
She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Matt 1:21
Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
But as it is, [Christ] has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Hebrews 9:26b
*Hymn # 213 “What Child Is This”
*Old and New Testament Reading
Micah 5:1-5a
2 Corinthians 8:9
Pastor: This is the Sacred Word of God which is able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Congregation: Thanks be to God!
Affirmation of Faith Definition of Chalcedon (451 A.D)
Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards His Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards His manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards His Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards His manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of Him, and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.
Pastoral Prayer
Worship in Offerings (Harvest Ministries)
*Hymn # 434 “Lord, Thou Lov’st the Cheerful Giver”
Lord, Thou lov’st the cheerful giver, who with open heart and hand
Blesses freely, as a river that refreshes all the land.
Grant us then the grace of giving with a spirit large and free,
That our life and all our living we may consecrate to Thee.
*Scripture Reference Luke 2: 1-7
Sermon Series: When the Sunrise Visited Us from on High Pastor Joshua Owen
“The Humiliation of the Lord of Glory”
Prayer of Response
*Hymn Supplement # 41 “Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne”
*Benediction
*Hymn # 210 “Silent Night! Holy Night!” (Lighting of the candles)
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