Call to Prayer
O Immanuel, O Wisdom from on high, O Lord of might, O Branch of Jesse’s stem, O Key of David, O Bright and Morning Star, O king of nations, we rejoice and are glad for truly you have come, full of grace and truth. Even now, come into our hearts again. Show us the path of knowledge. Comfort us in our mourning. Save us from our sin. Open wide our way to heaven. Turn our darkness into light. End our sad divisions and be our King of peace, so that every creature in heaven and on earth will join in a chorus of praise, and shout with joy to you, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, you sent a star to guide the Magi to the child Jesus. We confess that we have not followed the light of your Word. We have not searched for signs of your love in the world or trusted your good news to be good. We have failed to praise your Son’s birth and refused his peace on earth. We have expected little and hoped for less. Forgive our doubt and renew in us all fine desires, that we may watch and wait and once more hear the glad story of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen
Assurance of Pardon
To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Carol: Angels We Have Heard on High
Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing over the plains. And the mountains in reply, echoing their joyous strains.
Shepherd, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? What the gladsome tidings be, which inspire your heavenly song?
Come to Bethlehem, and see, Him whose birth the angels sing. Come, adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
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!
Psalm: Psalm 84
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
Scripture Readings
Old Testament: Jeremiah 31:7-14
New Testament: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Luke 2:41-52; Matthew 2:1-12
Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by. Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above. While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love. O morning stars together proclaim the holy birth. And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently the wondrous Gift is given. So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.
O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us to day. We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell. O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.
Intercession
For the Human Family
O God, you made us in your own image, and you have redeemed us through your Son Jesus Christ. Look with compassion on the whole human family. Take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts. Break down the walls that separate us. Unite us in bonds of love, and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen
Collect
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature, grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Benediction
May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources
The Book of Common Prayer. (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019).
The Worship Sourcebook. (Kalamazoo, MI: Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2004).
Worship the Lord, The Liturgy of the Reformed Church in America. (Reformed Church Press, 2005).
