The Light Calls
A Christmas Eve Service with optional communion
by Lisa A. Frenz Copyright 1991
Service Notes
The opening of this service is a poem of "Call to Worship" during which six of the seven Christmas candles are lit. We recommend that the candles be displayed on the altar or prominently near it. Light the first six before beginning each verse of the poem. The lighting of the seventh or Christ Candle is marked in the text of St. Luke's telling of the Christmas story.
Provision is made for individual candles to be lighted in two places in the service. The first option occurs about 12-15 minutes prior to the end of the service. The second occurs about 5-7 minutes prior to the close of worship. We recommend you use whichever option is most comfortable and meaningful for your congregation. Another option would be to bring the lights down completely just before "Silent Night," light the individual candles, blow out the candles after the Luke 2:8-14 reading and simultaneously bring lights up to half, at the Pastor's final Blessing, "Take the step" bring the lights up to full.
We recommend that lay Readers be appointed to read various parts of the service. Particular care should be taken with the reader(s) of the opening Call to Worship poem. This should be an experienced, emotive reader with a good sense of dramatic timing.
P = Pastor
A = Assistant
C = Congregation
Scriptures are from the New International Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.
Prelude
Greeting (optional)
Stand
Hymn: "Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel" (Veni, Emmanuel)
Tune Name: VENI, EMMANUEL
Text Source: Text: Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, Koln, 1710; tr. John M. Neale, 1818-1866, alt.
Music Source: Music: French processional, 15th cent.
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear. Refrain
2. Oh, come, oh, come, great Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient tames once gave the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Refrain.
3. Oh, come, strong Branch of Jesse, free
Your own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell your people save
And give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Refrain.
4. Oh, come, blest Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by your advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight. Refrain.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to you, O Israel.
(Light 1st candle)
P: The Gleaming Light calls.
It beckons.
The path glows with light supernal.
God's pathway - made straight,
Valleys made high,
Mountains made low.
The shimmer of God's ancient promise
Calls us into light.
(Light 2nd candle)
A: The Light of God Promises all:
Life
Health
Heaven, itself.
(Light 3rd candle)
P: The glory of God Is
Was
Will be.
(Light 4th candle)
A: The Servant of God
Is our Light
Our Way Our Truth.
(Light 5th candle)
P: Come into the light.
Leave the dark behind.
Bask in the warmth,
The gentle, clear Light of God.
(Light 6th candle)
A: For to us a child is born
That we may see God's Great Light.
Arise! Shine! in the reflected glory
For the Light of the World
Is come.
sit
(Optional special music)
Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. for to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Hymn: "Comfort, Comfort Now My People" (Free Dich Sehr)
Tune Name: FREU DICH SEHR (rhythmic)
Text Source: Text: Johann G. Olearius, 1611-1684; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878, alt.
Music Source: Music: Trente quatre pseaumes de David, Geneva, 1551
1. "Comfort, comfort now my people;
Tell of peace!" So says our God.
Comfort those who sit in darkness
Mourning under sorrow's load.
To God's people now proclaim
That God's pardon waits for them!
Tell them that their war is over;
God will reign in peace forever!
2. For the herald's voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Calling us to true repentance,
Since the Kingdom now is here.
Oh, that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way!
Let the valleys rise to meet him,
And the hills bow down to greet him!
3. Straight shall be what long was crooked,
And rougher places plain!
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits his holy reign!
For the glory of the Lord
Now on earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That God's word is never broken.
P: As a signal candle seen from afar
C: So is the hope of Jesus.
P: As a match struck in a cavern
C: So is the relief from fear that is Jesus.
P: As a lighthouse sending forth its light
C: So is the strength of God's Light.
P: As the amber warmth of the hearthfire
C: So is the comfort of God's promise.
P: As the hypnotic pull of wild flames
C: So is the power of God.
P: As the raging roar of a forest fire
C: So is the encompassing glory of God.
P: Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
C: Praise be to the Father.
P: Gloria in excelsis Deo!
C: Praise be to the Son.
P: Gloria! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
C: Praise be to the Spirit.
P: Our God,
C: Three in One! Amen.
Reading: Psalm 104: 1-4, 31-35 (NRSV)
Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. 0 Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, you set the beams for your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers... May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works - who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, 0 my soul. Praise the Lord!
Hymn: "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful" (Adeste Fideles)
Tune Name: ADESTE FIDELES
Text Source: Text: attr. John F. Wade, c. 1711-1786; tr. Frederick Oakeley, 1802-1880, sts. 1, 3-4; tr. unknown, st. 2
Music Source: Music: attr. John F. Wade, c. 1711-1786
1. Oh, come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him Born the king of angels:
Chorus:
Oh, come, let us adore him, oh come, let us adore him,
Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
2. The highest, most holy, Light of light eternal,
Born of a virgin, a mortal he comes:
Son of the Father Now in flesh appearing!
Chorus
3. Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God In the highest:
Chorus
Reading: (Isaiah 49:1-7)
Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me; from.my birth he has made mention of my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor." But I said, "I have labored to no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my reward is with my God." And now the Lord says - he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength - he says: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth." This is what the Lord says - the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel - to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers: "Kings will see you and rise up, princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
Stand
P: Oh, praise the Lord for God is good!
C: God sees the dark despair of all God's children.
P: The Lord sees our terror of the shadows.
C: God hears our wailing cries,
P: As of children lost in a deep wood.
C: God reaches out a tender hand
P: To wipe away all nightmares.
C: The Lord gathers us together,
P: And guards us from the blackest evil.
C: The Name of God leads the peoples into the Light of Life.
P: Praise the Name of God for God is good!
C: Amen!
Hymn: "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (Carol)
Tune Name: CAROL
Text Source: Text: Edmund H. Sears, 1810-1876, alt.
Music Source: Music: Richard S. Willis, 1819-1900
1. It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, good will to all, From heav'n's all-gracious king."
The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angles sing.
2. For lo! The days are hast'ning on, By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years Shall come the time foretold,
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling,
And all the world give back the song Which now the angels sing.
Reading: John 1:1-5,14 (NRSV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.
Hymn "Of the Father's Love Begotten" (Divinum Mysterium)
Tune Name: DIVINUM MYSTERIUM
Text Source: Text: Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 348-413; tr. composite
Music Source: Music: plainsong, mode V, 13th cent.
1. Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending he,
Of things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see,
Evermore and evermore.
2. Oh, that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the Babe, the world's redeemer,
First revealed his sacred face,
Evermore and evermore.
3. This is he whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word;
Now he shines, the long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord,
Evermore and evermore.
4. Let the heights of heav'n adore him;
Angel hosts, his praises sing;
Pow'rs, dominions, bow before him
And extol our God and King;
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Ev'ry voice in concert ring Evermore and evermore.
Sit
Message
Creed (optional)
Prayers
Offering
(optional special music)
Stand
Hymn: "Come, O Precious Ransom" (Meinen Jesum Lass Ich Nicht)
Tune Name: MEINEN JESUM LASS ICH NICHT (Darmstadt)
Text Source: Text: Johann G. Olearius, 1635-1711; tr. August Crull, 1846-1923, alt.
Music Source: Music: Neuverfertigtes Gesangbuch, Darmstadt, 1699
1. Come, O precious Ransom, come,
Only hope for sinful mortals!
Come, O Savior of the world;
Open are to you all portals.
Come, your beauty let us view;
Anxiously we wait for you.
2. My hosannas and my palms
Graciously receive, I pray you;
Evermore, as best I can,
Homage I will gladly pay you,
And in faith I will embrace
Life eternal by your grace.
P: Light of lights!
C: Glory of glories!
P: Accept, we pray,
C: Our gifts of love.
P: Our hearts are open to God our Lord.
C: We bring thanks and praise to God with ever grateful spirits.
P: Praise the Lord of glory!
C: Heaven and earth are full of God's glory!
P: With saints and angels,
C: With earth and water,
P: With plants and animals,
C: With stars and planets,
P: With shepherds and magi,
C: We kneel before our King.
P: Holy is Christ the Lord.
C: Hosanna in the highest!
P: Blessed is the Light of the World!
Institution of Communion
The Lord's Prayer
(Communion may be distributed here)
Hymn: "Rejoice, Rejoice Believers" (Hat Trones Lampa Fardig)
Tune Name: HAF TRONES LAMPA FARDIG
Text Source: Text: Laurentius Laurentii, 1660-1722; tr. Sarah B. Findlater, 1823-1907, alt.
Music Source: Music: Swedish folk tune
Institution of Communion
Distribution of Communion
(optional special music or hymn: Hymn: "Angels, from the Realms of Glory" (Regent Square))
Sit
A: The Gleaming Light calls. It beckons.
The path glows with light supernal.
God's pathway - made straight,
Valleys made high,
Mountains made low.
The shimmer of God's ancient promise
Calls us into light.
Hymn: "From Heaven Above" (Vom Himmel Hoch)
Tune Name: VOM HIMMEL HOCH
Text Source: Text: Martin Luther, 1483-1546; tr. Lutheran Book of Worship, 1978
Music Source: Music: V. Schumann, Geistliche Lieder, 1539
1. From heav'n above to earth I come
To bring good news to ev'ry one!
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To all the world, and gladly sing:
2. To you this night is born a child
Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;
This newborn child of lowly birth
Shall be the joy of all the earth.
3. This is the Christ, God's Son most high,
Who hears your sad and bitter cry;
He will himself your Savior be
And from all sin will set you free.
4. The blessing which the Father planned
The Son hold in his infant hand,
That in his kingdom, bright and fair,
You may with us his glory share.
Reading: Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and your are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."! "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Hymn. "Lo, How a Rose Is Growing" (Es Ist Ein Ros)
Tune Name: ES IST EIN ROS
Text Source: Text: German, 15th cent.; tr. Theodore Baker, 1851-1934, sts. 1-2; Harriet R. Krauth, 1845-1925, st. 3; John Caspar Mattes, 1876-1948, st. 4
Music Source: Music: Alte Catholische Geistliche Kirchengesang, Koln, 1599
1. Lo, how a rose is growing,
A bloom of finest grace
The prophets had foretold it:
A branch of Jesse's race
Would bear one perfect flow'r
Here in the cold of winter
And darkest midnight hour.
2. The rose of which I'm singing,
Isaiah had foretold.
He came to us through Mary
Who sheltered him from cold.
Through God's eternal will
This child to us was given
At midnight calm and still.
3. This flow'r, so small and tender,
With fragrance fills the air;
His brightness ends the darkness
That kept the earth in fear.
True God and yet true man,
He came to save his people
From earth's dark night of sin.
Reading: Luke 1:39-45
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.
Hymn. "0 Little Town of Bethlehem" (St. Louis)
Tune Name: ST. LOUIS
Text Source: Text: Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893
Music Source: Music: Lewis H. Redner, 1831-1908
1. 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.
2. For Christ is born of Mary,
And, gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wond'ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the king,
And peace to all the earth!
3. How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heav'n.
No ear may hear his coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
Reading: Luke 2:1-7
in those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. (Light 7th candle) She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
stand
Hymn: "Silent Night, Holy Night!" (Stille Nacht)
Tune Name: STILLE NACHT
Text Source: Text: Joseph Mohr, 1792-1849; tr. John F. Young, 1820-1885
Music Source: Music: Franz Gruber, 1787-1863
(1st option for individual candles to be lighted.)
1. Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all. is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
2. Silent night, holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia!
Christ, the Savior, is born! Christ, the Savior, is born!
3. Silent night, holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from your holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus,
Lord, at your birth, Jesus, Lord, at your birth.
Reading: Luke 2:8--14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good new of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Hymn: "Angels We Have Heard on High" (Gloria)
Tune Name: GLORIA
Text Source: Text: French carol; tr. "Crown of Jesus," 1862
Music Source: Music: French carol; arr. Edward S. Barnes, 1887-1958
1. Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply,
Echoing their joyous strains
Chorus:
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?
Chorus
3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on betided knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn king.
Chorus
Reading: Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, *'Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about the child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising god for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
(2nd option for individual candles to be lighted.)
(Optional special music)
P: Take the step. Come into the Light. Leave the darkness behind you.
The Lord blesses you and gifts you. May you shine with God's Word.
May you shimmer with God's grace. For Jesus, our Savior, is sent us. Jesus, our Savior, is born!
Hymn: "Joy to the World" (Antioch)
Tune Name: ANTIOCH
Text Source: Text: Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
Music Source: Music: George F. Handel, 1685-1759, adapt.; arr. Lowell Mason, 1792-1872
1. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive its King:
Let ev'ry heart prepare him room
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing.
2. Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
3. No more let sin and sorrow grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
4. He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders of his love.
Postlude