Liturgies Online

CALL TO WORSHIP:  Based on Isaiah 61: 10, 11.

As seeds are transformed into green shoots when they stretch upwards towards the sun; So our lives are transformed when we are exposed to the light which has entered the world in Jesus Christ. Through him, we are blessed and robed with righteousness and clothed with the garments of salvation. Rejoice with our whole being as we join heaven and nature to sing of the wonders of God’s love.

​

TIS 268: “Joy to the world”

​

​

OPENING PRAYER: based on Psalm 148

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens and in the heights;

   the angels, the sun, moon and shining stars. 
Praise the Lord who established heaven and earth and everything within them;

   every animal and bird, every fish and creature of the seas;
every mountain and hill, every tree and plant,
     every river and stream, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord every ruler and government,  
    all people of every age and every colour…

​

​

A WORD WITH THE YOUNG

​

TIS 301: “The first Nowell”
TIS 303: “Hark! the herald angels sing”

​

​

PRAYER OF PRAISE AND ADORATION
Gracious and loving God, with the angels, the shepherds and the wise men, we too sing praises to the newborn King, ever marvelling at the greatness of your love for us. A love prepared  to take on our flesh and be born in the humblest of circumstances. Each year, the breadth of your love brings forth from us a response of praise as we sing traditional carols and as we hear familiar words of scripture...

​

EPISTLE: Galatians 4: 4 -7

​

​

PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Forgive us, O God, if we are glad that Christmas Day is over for another year. 

Forgive us for shaping Christmas into a commercially driven spending spree  -
in contrast to what happened at Bethlehem in such simple and humble surroundings...

 

(silent reflection)
 

Even when we do temporarily forget the true reason for the Christmas season and find our attention drawn to other than Jesus, he does not do that to us. God sent Jesus into the world not to judge us, but to save us. The great good news is this: In Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven.

Thanks be to God!
 

GOSPEL: Luke 2: 22- 40

​

MEDITATION ON THE GOSPEL:

An elderly man and woman could act out the meditation as it is being narrated.

​

TIS 210/AHB141: “O for a thousand tongues ...”

TIS 319/AHB 241: “Child in the manger”

​

PRAYERS: 'Remembering the Needy at Christmas’

​

​

THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

​

OFFERING

 

​

OFFERTORY PRAYER
Loving God, out of your great love for the world, you have given us so much. We respond by offering these gifts and our lives to spread the Good News of Jesus’ birth.  We pray that you will empower us with your Spirit to be faithful witnesses like Simeon and Anna, praising your name now and forever.   Amen

​

​

GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

It is right that we give you our thanks and praise, O God, creator of all things, visible and invisible. You revealed your glory in the wonders of your creation and in the way you lovingly formed people - male and female - in your image and entrusted them with the ongoing task of revealing your glory in the world.

When they failed and turned from your ways you did not abandon them but spoke tenderly to them through prophets such as Isaiah. You shaped the conviction in Isaiah’s mind that the crushed and broken of the world were invited to shelter close to your heart and be comforted, like lambs by a shepherd; that the op­pressed of the world would be liberated by your gracious and loving acts towards them…

​

Blessed are you O God, and forever blessed are the people of this world since you chose to break into our history in the person of Jesus Christ. He made your extravagant love so visible in and through all he said and did, especially on the night when he washed his disciples’ feet and sat down at a table to share the meal with them. On that night - the night of his betrayal - he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This is my life, poured out for you and for every­one. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, O God, and upon these gifts of bread and wine, that they may be for us the life of Christ and that we may make that life visible through serving as he served, comforting as he com­forted, and loving as he loved. This we pray in his name. Amen
 

​

THE LORD’S PRAYER
 

​

BREAD-BREAKING PRAYER
The bread we break and the cup we now take are a sharing in the life of Christ.
The gifts of God for the people of God.

 

DISTRIBUTION 

 

​

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Gracious God, we give you thanks for satisfying our hungry hearts with this holy meal shared in the Spirit with Jesus, your Son, our Lord. Strengthened and refreshed, we go from here prepared to live revealing your image in the world with the angels, the shepherds and the wise men, as we too sing praises to the newborn King. This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

TIS 290/AHB 215 : “Of the Father’s love begotten”
TIS 309/AHB 235: “Angels from the realm of glory”
TIS 322/AHB 246: “The North wind is tossing the leaves”

 

BENEDICTION:
May the love of God bless you and keep you;
the peace of Jesus Christ take root in your hearts;
and the Holy Spirit bring hopes and dreams to reality in your lives.

​