Christmas Day

Color: White or Gold
Scripture Readings: Isaiah 52: 7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1: 1-4 (5-12); John 1: 1-14 

Call to Worship

L: We who dwelled in shadows have seen a great light:

P: Glory from heaven embraces the earth, like a mother's arms around a newborn child,

L: Tucking the earth in folds of peace, like a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes,

P: Laying the earth in the cradle of truth, like a baby entrusted to a manger.

L: As the cry of a baby splits the air, uniting the songs of shepherds and angels,

P: Let us give thanks for the birth of a child, through whose young life salvation shines!

Invocation

O God, place your trumpets in our hands, and we will make a mighty sound! For unto the world a child is born; unto the world a savior is given. His hands will split the yoke of our burdens; his knee will snap the rod of our afflictions. He will establish peace upon the earth, breaking the bow and shattering the spear, casting the boots of each tramping warrior into the leaping flames.

You have struck the spark, Lord. The refiner's fire is kindled in the darkness; an ember glows in the silent night. Unto the world a child is born; unto the world a savior is given. Place your trumpets in our hands, and we shall call the world to peace!

Litany

L: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, the honor due God's name—

P: The honor of a scandalous love, a love that kept Joseph by Mary's side when she became great with child!

L: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, the majesty due God's name—

P: The majesty of a lowly manger, a manger that cradled a tiny savior when no room was found in the inn!

L: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, the power due God's name—

P: The power of a simple shepherd, a shepherd who first beheld the One whose name was announced by a heavenly choir!

L: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, the beauty due God's name—

P: The beauty of two ordinary parents, the parents who watched the magi kneel and pondered these things in their wondering hearts!

A: Honor! Majesty! Power! Beauty! Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, the glory due God's name!

Prayer for One Voice

O God, we have waited long in the fields of night, keeping watch over the flocks, looking for signs of the morning. And what a sign you have given! The birth of a child! The birth of a savior! The birth of new life! Through your tender mercy, a new day has dawned, giving light to us who sit in darkness and dwell in the shadow of death, revealing the path of righteousness and guiding our feet into the way of peace.

This child who has been born among us—he is the one with whom you will be well pleased.17 And he has been born not among the mighty, but the lowly; not among the ruling, but the ruled; not among the rich, but the poor; not among the favored, but the outcast.

He is not the messiah we had expected from you, Lord. But there is the star dancing above the stall, and there is the angelic choir singing overhead: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace!" All creation celebrates the sign that has come to the natior.s, the salvation that has come to the peoples. The night has been broken; how can we doubt? The dawn is here; how can we not view the world in a different light?

We have run from the fields to see this thing that has happened; we have seen with our eyes—help us to understand with our hearts! O God, help us to know the time of our visitation, so that when the child, become a man, draws near to the place of our habitation, his heart might not be broken; that, instead of weeping, he might rejoice, saying, "Now you have learned the things that make for peace!"

Benediction

Somewhere in the night of our lives, a baby cries, and that cry is our hope. The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of our world. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace!

From Litanies and Other Prayers, Copyright © Abingdon Press.