Day 28: A Prayer for Christmas Eve

Loving and Gracious God,

Today we have gathered to celebrate Christ’s birth and it is with joy and thanksgiving that we have moved through the wondrous events that have led us here.  We come before you at this holy time, grateful for the arrival of Jesus Christ.  Out of the busyness of our worlds and out of the darkness of our lives, we have seen a great light. We feel humbled and awed that you came to us not with great signs and wonders but as a babe who became a humble carpenter.  You took on human form, not with the trappings of power and might, but among common, lowly people, simply seeking to follow your leading.  Lord, may we be inspired this Christmas to do the same.  May we set aside our desire for power and might and instead humbly seek to serve others, to give back, with joy, a portion of all that we’ve received from you. 

     Lord, at Christmas the gift of our salvation is renewed in our hearts and in our minds.  May we embrace your amazing gift of grace by honouring you with our whole lives and seeking to live out the message of Christmas in all that we do and say.  And when we fall short of being the people that you long for us to be, we thank you for your willingness to forgive us.  May we too share that spirit of forgiveness by offering another who has offended us that same gift of grace.

     Lord, at Christmas sometimes our worries and concerns come into greater focus and so on this day we ask that the peace that has been promised to us through Jesus Christ be especially real to those who feel particularly overwhelmed by life’s challenges.  For those who face financial worries, we ask that you would provide.  For those who are suffering from grief due the loss of loved ones, we ask that you would provide comfort.  For those who are mired in conflict, we ask that you would provide a pathway to resolution.  And for those who are sick, either with physical illness or emotional pain, Lord, we do ask that you would send your healing touch.  For those of us who are enjoying comfort and peace, may we be inspired to reach out to another who is suffering during this season.

     Lord, even in the midst of our joy, we are aware that our globe is mired with sadness and unrest.  We know that even today, in the midst of Christmas celebrations, wars are raging, people are sick and hungry, and there is great sadness in many lands.  We are more acutely aware of the people in our world who lack basic human needs and ask that somehow in the midst of their hardship, they might still feel the love that we know you have for the whole of humanity. God, we do ask that you redeem our world that all might enjoy the fullness life that you have promised us. We bring these concerns before you and ask that the peace of Christ, which is our hope at Christmas time, permeate these regions.  May the love of Christ which flows out of the Christmas event, make an impact in even the places of our world in which we think there is little hope.  We pray Lord Jesus that your light, the light of the world, be that which illuminates the darkness which dominates so many corners of our earth.

God, our hearts are full of joy and celebration.  May our lives be a reflection of that joy in the world around us which hungers so deeply for your love.  May we rejoice with the angels and the shepherds and acknowledge with them that unto us is born in Bethlehem, Christ our Savior.  This is indeed good news of a great joy which has come to all people.  Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and good will to all.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

Christmas Eve

We hold our service at 16.00 and always look forward to sharing in a beautiful time together.  

The main sanctuary beginning to fill in.

This year, we decided to hold the service in the large sanctuary upstairs, where the Swedes have their worship services, because they have their service at 11.00 so it was open.  The big sanctuary has a huge ceiling and is beautiful when all the candles are lit so it was a great opportunity for us to create something special.  The choir sang, a sweet Ugandan family lit the Christ Candle, the music was beautiful and traditional, the readings well spoken and I enjoyed bringing a message about hospitality at Christmas.  It was a wonderful time of worship and focus on Christ's birth. 

 

 

Finally the four candles of advent burning brightly and the Christ candle shining beside them.

The music was lovely with members of the Tatlow family providing piano, strings accompaniment.  Helen Downey sang a lovely rendition of Mary did you know and our choir led out with music from around the world.  Doug delighted the children by having them help him build the nativity out big, wooden characters. All in all, it was a joy-filled occasion indeed.

Afterward we had been invited to some dear friends for Christmas eve dinner and fun family time.  She is Swiss, he American and they have 3 wonderful children, two in college, one in high school who we take delight in.  They prepared a beautiful meal and we all ate until we could eat no more!They love Tanner so he was able to come along for the ride as well.  He behaved until dessert when he got hold of 3 pieces of the chocolate nut date cake that we left on the counter.  It seems that he can't get through an evening without doing something naughty!  At least we had all eaten our fill of a beautiful and delicious dinner.  We rounded out the evening by playing Christmas Charades which was really quite hilarious.  Grand Prize goes to William for acting out In Excelsis Deo in a most creative way.  Good for Valerie for guessing it as well!  Yes, my thoughts did wander to them when we sang it on the day after Christmas!  We got home in time to watch a bit of the mass from Rome and were soon resting peacefully, fully content with our Christmas Eve celebration.  Christ the Savior is born, hallelujah.

Christmas Eve

The candles of hope, peace, joy and love surround the Christ candle.

Advent is over...Christ is born in Bethlehem and Christians all over the world tonight will celebrate this sacred truth. We had a great church service and a wonderful time of fellowship afterward.
We came home to a nice, relaxing dinner with our good friend and associate pastor, Chris and his girlfriend Hanna. Good food and warm fellowship around a beautiful table.

\Now we're sitting in bed watching the holy mass from St. Peter's in Rome...that's kind of become a late night Christmas eve tradition for us. I feel very blessed tonight. God has been good to us and the fellowship and worship that we enjoyed with our church family set just the right tone for entering into the Christmas story once again.
Here are the words we used as we lit the Christ candle tonight.

The Reading:

Hope, peace, joy, and love. Four candles, four promises continually offered to us by God, and all of them manifest in this one we light tonight: the Christ candle. In Christ we find the hope of transformation, the peace that follows justice, the joy of self-fulfillment in community, and the love that encompasses us in all our diversity, empowering us to make our own unique contribution to this world. In Christ we find light and life, and the courage to be like him, answering his call and following in his footsteps.

The Prayer:

Loving God, tonight we rejoice in your steadfast presence in our lives, and in the coming of Jesus Christ, whose miraculous birth we celebrate this night. We give you thanks that Jesus came as a tiny little baby and grew to embrace and manifest the qualities of hope, peace, joy and love in our world. For the gift of salvation that is ours to embrace, through his birth, death and resurrection, we give you praise. Amen.

The Charge:

May the Lord Jesus come near to you this night. May he be born in our hearts, our minds, and our lives. May the light of His life be kindled in us all, and lead us to the shining truth, of God with us, God for us, God in us.

God bless you on this holy night. May the reality of Christ's birth bring you joy and peace. Amen.