Christmas Eve with St. Andrew’s (click here)

December 24, 2020

Preacher: Rev. Ena van Zoeren

Passage: Readings from Isaiah and Luke

Service Type: Christmas Eve Service

Welcome to our Christmas Eve Service.

At St. Andrew’s we have a Christmas Eve tradition of gathering for cookies and coffee before the service. It is a way of feasting and celebrating together. This year, as we gather apart to worship together, it seemed fitting to have a time for an Agape meal during the service. So please join us by having available some cookies or cake or tarts that are a part of your Christmas Celebration and a warm beverage tea, or coffee, or hot chocolate or mulled wine that would be a part of your Christmas celebration. These will be the food and drink of our Agape Meal, at the end of the service.

An Agape Meal is an ancient tradition of the fellowship of the Christian Church—similar to, but yet not a communion. A time merely for feasting and celebrating. Let our Agape this evening be a celebration of the sweetness of grace and the everlasting warmth of mercy.

Also: we will be lighting the Christ Candle during the service. I invite you to have an advent wreath or a candle that you can light during that part of the liturgy.

Call to Worship

The Word of God comes to those dwelling in darkness.

The people who walk in darkness. That's us!
We have seen deep darkness in the world around us.
So we have come to search for the light.

We want the light to shine on us!

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”
A child is born for US!

A son is given to ALL of US!

We come to see the child that has been born,
we come to gather in the glow of the stable,

We come to sing with angels and wonder with shepherds.
we hear the song echoing on the hillside: Come and worship, come and worship! Worship the one who is born for us this day...

Hymn: 171 The people that in darkness (click the blue text for YouTube music, sorry there may be advertising)

Prayer of Approach:

O wondrous God of the stars,
we come tonight with breathless wonder
to see the babe who will change our lives.
We hear the names “Wonderful Counselor,”
“Mighty God,” “Prince of Peace,”
and we are in awe.
You have touched the earth this night
with your unconditional love.
Touch us—
touch our hearts and minds and souls.
May we never tire of this story.
May we never take it for granted.
Make this night magical again. Amen.

Isaiah 9: 2-7 God's word is given to a people lost in sin
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
3 You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
4 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.
5 Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
6 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.
7 Of the greatness 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. (NIV)

Because God’s mercy has been extended through the ages, we are bold to come before God in confession:

Prayer of Confession:

God of Joy, we come to celebrate again
the fulfillment of your word of Love.
We have gathered in the light of salvation
which is bright enough to illuminate
every corner of our lives,
yet we still find ourselves shrouded
in worry and doubt.

We have seen the promises of your mercy and
yet we hesitate to confess,
fearing to face what we have done,
and to reap what we deserve.

Yet we confess now,
confident that you will give us what we do not deserve.

Silent Confession
Holy God of Peace,
We seek your peace in these darkening days.

We seek a calm within, yes.

And an absence of conflict between people and nations.

But more deeply, we seek your shalom –

the deep and abiding peace

that will come only through the justice of your kingdom.

And so we affirm O God, that this is your justice and your mercy
that you invite us into the light of the stable
where the overlooked and forgotten have gathered
to celebrate the miracle of your love.
Give us the strength and courage
to join you at the manger. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon
People of God, hear the Good News of this night. The word of God has come among us. His salvation bursts forth before us. Once we were a people lost and alone—now we are a people whose home is found in God, whose hearts are held in his heart. Jesus comes to live among us, to show us the way into the promised land and eternal joy.

Passing the Peace

Share a sign of peace with those around you, or pray for peace for someone you know, or a place/situation in the world.

Carol: 139 Hark the herald angels sing

We pause to hear the story of Christmas

Sssh.
Can you hear it?
An expectant silence,
a hushed anticipation,
as if the very galaxy
is holding its breath.
There are some truths
even the stars know,
like darkness,
like loneliness
and how the night
can be a living thing.
And how once, long ago,
the night waited in wonder
along with the darkness
and the loneliness,
for the sound of a baby’s cry,
for the miraculous
to come down
to the earth mundane.

The Prayer for Illumination:

O God of love and mercy,
May we grow still enough to hear

the small noises earth makes in preparing for the long sleep of winter,

so that we may grow calm and grounded deep within.

May we grow still enough to hear

the trickling of water seeping into the ground,

so that our souls may be softened and healed,

guided in its flow.

May we grow still enough to hear

the splintering of starlight in the winter sky

and the roar at earth's fiery core.

May we grow still enough to hear

the stir of a single snowflake in the air

so that our inner silence may turn into hushed expectation.

In hushed expectation we listen for your word. Amen

Luke 1: 26-37 God's word is fulfilled

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” (NIV)

Carol: 136 The First Nowell

Luke 2: 1-7 Journey to fulfillment

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.

4 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. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (NIV)

Carol: 149 Away in a manger

Luke 2: 8-11 Song of fulfillment

8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (NIV)

Carol: 138 While shepherd’s watched

Luke 2: 15-20 Pondering God's word

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (NIV)

Carol: 143 Infant holy, infant lowly

Message: The Spirit Awakens our Faith (Click the blue title for the video)

Tonight we read the message from Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

Certainly when people are walking in darkness, light will make all the difference. It shows the clear path, it sheds it’s light on the rocky places and it prevents people from stumbling. But what we are talking about here is more than a physical light.

Perhaps a more accurate reading of Isaiah, would be, The people who didn’t know they were walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
even on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.

How can people who don’t know they are walking in darkness be aware of the great light that has come to them?

How does the light penetrate to the heart of deep darkness?

There is a spiritual component to this message. The dawning of salvation is not as simple as turning on the switch when entering a dark room. The dawning of salvation penetrates to the depth of our souls, cleanses us and makes our eyes, our ears and our hearts ready for the news that our God has come to live among us.

From the dawning of creation, to the dawning of salvation in Bethlehem and on the cross, the one who opens our eyes, and reaches within to the very depths of the darkness within us, is the Holy Spirit.

When we encounter all the miraculous interventions of God from creation to salvation, we see the essence of the Holy Spirit at work.

It began in creation, where the Spirit hovered upon the face of the deep. As God spoke the words, “let us create” the Spirit breathed upon creation and worked with God to bring it into being.

It is that same Spirit that hovers in all of the revelations of God to his people. That hovering, Spirit was an essential part of making the people aware that God was breaking into their lives.