Updated April, 2025
Instrumental Prelude (carol arrangements for organ and flute)
Processional: "Once in Royal David’s City" (English) Alexander
Welcome and Prayer
[Leader to improvise words of welcome to the congregation; then to lead in prayer:]
Let us pray. Eternal God, this night is radiant with the brilliance of your one true light, Jesus Christ. As we have come together to hear again, in readings, hymns, and carols, the story of Christmas, we want to thank you for your gift of Jesus, born in Bethlehem to be our Savior. We pray that you will accept and sanctify our worship, and that your Holy Spirit will help us hear afresh the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Anthem: "I Wonder as I Wander" (Appalachian) Traditional Appalachian carol
[For soloist and/ or children's choir;]
First Reading
As we heard in this Appalachian carol, Jesus was born to save ordinary people like you and me. That is the good news of Christmas! But that good news began long ago already when God promised a Savior to Adam and Eve. It's a cruel irony that the story of God's gift of salvation began with the sin of our first parents who, when tempted by Satan, disobeyed God.
[Reader then reads Genesis 3:8–15].
Hymn: "Isaiah 40: Comfort, Comfort Now My People" (Swiss) Olearius
Carol: "'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime" (Huron/French) de Brébeuf and Middleton
[or]
Carol: "Joyful Christmas Day" (Japanese) Okamoto
[Two-part round, preferably with handbells;]
Second Reading
The salvation that God promised, made necessary by disobedience, was to be accomplished through its opposite—obedience: the obedience of Abraham, the obedience of the Hebrew nation, the obedience of the Virgin Mary and, most importantly, the obedience of Christ. When Abraham proved obedient in his willingness to offer his only son Isaac as a sacrifice, God promised him that through his offspring all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
[Reader then reads Genesis 22:16–18].
Hymn: "Isaiah 61: Hark, the Glad Sound!" (English) Doddridge
Carol: "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" (Polish) Attributed to Piotrowi Skardze
Third Reading
God kept that promise. Abraham's offspring became a large nation—the Jews, God's chosen people. But time and again they fell into disobedience and sin. So through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, God promised again to send the Savior.
[Reader then reads Isaiah 9:2,6–7]
Carol: "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" (German) 15th cent. German hymn
Carol: "He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child" (French) Traditional 19th cent. French carol
Fourth Reading
So far we have heard how the story of salvation began with God's promise of a Savior in the garden of Eden and how God said the Messiah would come from Abraham's children. Next, God announced the place where the Savior would be born. And, characteristically, God did not choose the capital city of a world empire, nor even Jerusalem, but a little village in Judea.
[Reader then reads Micah 5:2–4].
Carol: "That Boy-Child of Mary" (African) Colvin
Hymn: "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" (English/German) Wesley
Fifth Reading
In the fullness of time, God made the final preparations for the birth of the promised Savior. God sent the angel Gabriel to tell the Virgin Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.
[Reader then reads Luke 1:26–33].
Though undoubtedly quite shocked at the announcement, Mary accepted her task and soon broke out in song: "Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!"
Canticle: "Tell Out, My Soul" (English; Song of Mary) Dudley-Smith
Sixth Reading
The preparations that God had made for the restoration of his disobedient creatures had taken centuries. The Lord had formed a nation from which the Savior was to come. The Lord had chosen the place where the Messiah would be born and had prepared the woman who would be the mother of the Savior. Now, at last, the time had come: the Savior promised long ago was born!
[Reader then reads Matthew 1:18–25].
Carol: "Silent Night, Holy Night" (Austrian) Mohr
Carol: "O Sleep, Dear Holy Baby" (Spanish) Folclórico Hispano
[or]
Carol: "Child So Lovely" (Spanish) Venezuelan
Seventh Reading
God's plan for the salvation of sinful people had taken a great step forward in the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The child who would one day make the sacrifice of perfect obedience had been born at last. And just as God achieved the plan of salvation through people of little importance, God now revealed the birth of the Messiah to shepherd people of little importance.
[Reader then reads Luke 2:8–13; verse 14 is sung by a choir in a four-part Take round ("Gloria", PH 576); the reading then concludes with Luke 2:15–20].
Carol: "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice" (Latin / German) 14th cent. Latin hymn
Carol: "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow" (African-American spiritual) Traditional spiritual
Eighth Reading
Some time after the shepherds returned to their work, wise men appeared from the East. They followed a star to Jerusalem and then found out from King Herod that they needed to go to Bethlehem.
[Reader then reads Matthew 2:9–12].
But not everyone worshiped the newborn Son of God. Contrary to the clean and tidy pictures on many of our Christmas cards, we read in the Bible that Jesus' birth involved mass murder.
[Reader then reads Matthew 2:16, after which the choir could sing the "Coventry Carol" (Carols for Choirs, Book 1, Oxford University Press); then the reading continues:]
But God saved his Son from Herod's demonic plan so that later Jesus could die and live again to save God's people from their sin—to fulfill the promise made ages ago.
Hymn: "Psalm 98: Joy to the World!" (American [USA]) Watts
[An offering may be received during this hymn].
Prayer for Peace
Lord God, you are glorious in the highest heavens. You send peace on earth among those whom you favor. As we have heard again your plan of salvation and the good news of Jesus' birth, we pray: give peace to your church, peace among the nations, peace in our homes, and peace in our hearts; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
Carol: "Go, Tell It on the Mountain” (African-American, spiritual) African-American spiritual
Organ Postlude
Some of the introductions to the Scripture readings in this service were adapted from The Story of Christmas by Richard Tatlock and Desmond Ratctiffe (Novello, 1973).