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©Order of Worship for Sunday December 24, 2023

Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 5:00pm


For the Avent Ferry UMC Worship Video Click Here (Link opens in a new window)


The worship video will be available live at 5:00 pm

Prelude:………………………………………………………Greg D.
 
Coming of the Light:…………………………………Michael C.
 
Greeting:………………………………………………Pastor Steven
 
Call to Worship:………………………………………..Beverly B.
 
Come, faithful watchers, and behold, your salvation is here!
We greet the Wondrous Light, our Messiah,
Christ the Lord.
We have waited and watched, longing for God to show up and save us from the suffering and pain in our world.
We greet the Wondrous Light, the fulfillment of our shocking hope.
We have waited and watched, longing for peace to reign among us, a peace that removes unjust barriers, frees us from sin, and binds us together as neighbors, family, and friends.
We greet the Wondrous Light, the bringer of our just peace.
We have waited and watched, longing for joy that is persistent in the face of the grief, lament, chaos, and oppression that weigh on us day in and day out.
We greet the Wondrous Light, the source of our fierce joy.
We have waited and watched, longing to encounter the love that transforms us, the Love that is now here among us, first as a babe in a manger, then as a teacher, a friend, and our Savior.
We greet the Wondrous Light, Love Incarnate who has come to save us and transform us. Amen.
 
Carol: “In the Bleak Midwinter #221 UMH
Words: Christina G. Rossetti Music: Gustav Holst, 1906
 
1 .In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.
 
2. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place suffice the
Lord and God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
 
 
3. Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,
worshiped the beloved with a kiss.
 
4. What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
 
Invocation:………………………………………….Pastor Steven
 
The Lord’s Prayer
 
Carol: “Toda la Tierra”  (All Earth is Waiting) #210 UMH
Words: Catalonian text by Alberto Taulé,1972
English trans. By Gertrude C. Suppe, 1987
Music: Alberto Taulé trans. 1989 The UM Publishing
House; harm. © 1988 Skinner Chávez-Melo
 
1. All earth is waiting to see the Promised One, and
the open furrows, the sowing of the Lord. All the world,
bound and struggling, seeks true liberty; it cries out for
justice and searches for the truth.
 
2. Thus says the prophet to those of Israel, “A virgin
mother will bear Emmanuel,” for his name is “God with
us,” our brother shall be, with him hope will blossom
once more within our hearts.

Prayer of Confession: ……………………….Elizabeth B.
Let us pray together
God of Light,
We confess that we have gone astray and have left
Your light.
We follow the dim lights of the world of success and fortune.
We follow the dim lights that call us
to be more religious by following rules.
We follow the fading light of personal salvation.
Forgive us for not seeking the true Light
of Your love for all the world.
Forgive us for not following the ways of Jesus,
who commanded us to love one another.
Call us to be light-bearers of love, compassion, and justice, in which the Mystery of Your Love is revealed.
In the name of Jesus the Messiah, we pray. Amen
 
Carol: “Love Came Down at Christmas#243 UMH
Words: Christina G. Rosetti, 1885 Music: Trad. Irish Melody
 
1. Love came down at Christmas, Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas; star and angels gave the sign.
 
2. Worship we the Godhead, Love incarnate, Love divine;
Worship we our Jesus, but wherewith for sacred sign?
 
3. Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine;
Love to God and neighbor, love for plea and gift and sign.

Lighting of the Advent Candles:………………….Pastor Steven, Allyssa, Micah

Reader 1: To a people longing for hope and yearning for deliverance, the prophet Isaiah declared,
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined…For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2, 6)
Reader 2: Tonight, we come seeking hope, peace, joy, and love, and we find these things in a child. God made flesh as a baby in a manger. A baby who is both the beginning and the end of our salvation, who dwells with us even now, our Emmanuel, God with us.

Congregation: We live as people in the in-between who celebrate the arrival of the Light that shines in lost and broken places as we wait for the day when we will live in the fullness of God’s kin-dom.

Reader 1: We light these candles as signs of our shocking hope, our just peace, our fierce joy, the love that transforms us, and Jesus Christ, our wondrous Light. May the Light burning in our hearts guide us, comfort us, protect us, and tend us in all seasons and circumstances, reminding us that day and night, in the light and in the darkness, God is with us. Our salvation has come! Amen.

Carol: “Emmanuel, Emmanuel#204 UMH
Words and Music: Bob McGee © 1976 C. A. Music
 
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, his name is called Emmanuel.
God with us revealed in us, his name is called Emmanuel.
 
Isaiah 9:2d-7……………………………….……….Chris M
The Prophet announces the birth of a king to a people in darkness.
 
“I Wonder as I Wander”………………………………..Lusi R.
Words and Music: John Jacob Niles © 1934 G. Schirmer, Inc.
 
Psalm 96 ………………………………………….Phillip J.
He is coming to establish justice on the earth!
 
“Angels From the Realms of Glory”………………………Greg D.
 
Titus 2:11-14……………………………………..Lorri B.
The grace of God.
 
Carol: “Sing Alleluia to the Lord#2258 TFWS
Words and Music: Linda Stassen © 1974 Linda Stassen
 
1. Sing alleluia to the Lord! Sing alleluia to the Lord!
Sing alleluia, sing alleluia! Sing alleluia to the Lord!
 
2. Lift up your hearts unto the Lord! Lift up your hearts
unto the Lord!
Sing alleluia, sing alleluia! Lift up your hearts unto the Lord!
 
Luke 2:1-7……………………………………………………….Irwin M.
Against a backdrop of emperors and taxes Jesus is born.
 
Offertory Prayer:……………………………………….Pastor Steven
 
Offertory: “Joy to the World”……………………………..Kids Roc
 
Luke: 2:8-20……………………………………………………..Aaron B.
Announcement to the shepherds.
 
Carol: “Angels We Have Heard on High#238 UMH
Words & Music: Traditional French carol
Harmony by Austin C. Lovelace © 1964 Abingdon Press
 
1. Angels we have heard on high
sweetly singing o’er the plains,
and the mountains in reply
echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
 
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous 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
Christ 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!
 
Matthew 2:1-11……………….……………..Melanie B.
The Wise Men follow a star to find the child Jesus,
King of the Jews.
 
Carol: “De Tierra Lejana Venimos#243 UMH v. 1,2
Words: Trad. Puerto Rican carol Music: Trad Puerto Rican carol
by permission of Walton Music Corp.
 
1. From a distant home the Savior we come seeking,
using as our guide the star so brightly beaming.
Lovely eastern star that tells us of God’s morning,
heaven’s wondrous light, O never cease thy shining!
 
2. Glowing gold I bring the newborn babe so holy,
Using as our guide the star so brightly beaming.
Lovely eastern star that tells us God’s morning,
heaven’s wondrous light, O never cease the shining!
 
Candle Lighting:………………………………………..Pastor Steven
At this time candles will be lit from the Christ Candle.
Please remain seated during the lighting and singing.
 
Carol: “Silent Night” ……………………….…………………Kids Roc
Guitar: Drew G.
 
“O Holy Night”……………………………………………Catherine S.

Dismissal with Blessing:…………………………….Pastor Steven
 
Beloved, just as the shepherds heard the angels’ news and rushed to find the Christ child, go now glorifying and praising God, declaring the good news: our wondrous Light has come!
Thanks be to God. Amen.
 
Go forth in peace and joy
Thanks be to God. Alleluia!
 
Depart in silence, extinguishing your candles
And leaving them in the receptacle at the door.
 


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Avent Ferry Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship Service 5:00pm