Updated March, 2025
This service of lessons and carols is rooted in the story of God’s eternal Word made flesh and living among the people. The readings, prayers, carols, and other folk music were chosen to embody this theme.
Our pipe organ, never a great instrument, gave up the ghost a number of years ago. Our congregation has tried to turn a loss into a blessing by encouraging instrumentalists to add their music to the service. We now have an astonishing array: flutes, recorders, violins, trumpet, mandolin, a concertina, percussion of all kinds, and even a psaltery!
We have learned that the choice of instruments can add a layer of meaning to the service. The same is true of readers: a child’s voice reading a certain passage can change how we hear it. Choose readers, both adults and children, male and female of various ages, and rehearse the passages ahead of time. Encourage them to read slowly, letting the emotion of the passage show in their voices. It might help some readers to imagine themselves a character (Isaiah as a young man, for example, or Wisdom as an older woman); for others, it might help to almost “sing” the passage, especially if it is a psalm or a poetic prophecy.
Recruit instrumentalists well ahead of time and determine their strengths and weaknesses. For example, even a beginning guitarist can play a single-note drone for “Noel Nouvelet” (“Now the Green Blade Rises”).
Teach unfamiliar refrains (such as the “Gloria” by Pablo Sosa, or any others) before the service begins. Show the congregation where the “Gloria” will be sung, and prepare them to repeat it strongly or softly, as the Spirit—and the music leader—moves.
The congregation could sing almost all the music suggested here if you do not have a choir.
This service refers to The Book of Psalms (1995, The Presbyterian Church in Canada) for its psalm selections, but other psalm settings can be used. The service can be scheduled for Christmas Eve or any service of lessons and carols just before Christmas. It uses some of the texts from Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary but can be used in any year.
Call to Worship
In your wisdom, O God, you call us here to worship you.
We gather, alive to the Word of God.
You call us to be fully alive with your life abundant, ready to listen and respond with heart, soul, strength, and mind.
We listen, alive to the Word of God.
You call us to be always watchful for your Word of wisdom, sometimes startling and unexpected, sometimes still and quiet, but always dwelling among us.
We watch and wait for the Word of God.
Processional
“O Come, O Come, Immanuel”Latin
[st. 1-2, all; st. 3, women; st. 4, men; st. 5, solo (male); st. 6, solo (female); st. 7, all]
Opening Prayer
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
O God, for your Word of Wisdom, with you from the foundation of the world,
we give you thanks and joyful praise.
We thank you that her voice cried out in the streets, and sought those who seek after God.
We give you thanks and joyful praise.
With Miriam and Moses we sing and rejoice at your mighty works.
We give you thanks and joyful praise.
With Joseph the dreamer and Joseph the carpenter, we thank you for visions of glory and warning.
We give you thanks and joyful praise.
With Sarah and Hannah, Elizabeth and Mary, we thank you for new life, longed-for but always surprising.
We give you thanks and joyful praise.
We thank you for your Word of Wisdom that does not return to you empty. We gather in joyful anticipation of the coming of Immanuel, the Word made flesh, who is and who was and who is to come. Amen.
Lesson 1
Reader 1: God’s Word of Wisdom creates the world; a reading from the book of Proverbs. (Proverbs 8:1-4)
Reader 2: (Proverbs 8:22-31) The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Carol (choose one)
“Creator of the Stars of Night”Neale
[st. 1-3, choir (a solo voice can sing the 1st phrase, with the rest of the choir joining for the rest of each stanza); st. 4, all; st. 5, solo (male or female); st. 6, all]
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”Prudentius
Lesson 2
Reader: God gives wisdom to those who seek him. We read responsively from the book of Psalms.
Reading/Carol (choose one)
“Psalm 14”Watts
[If this setting is used, sing the second refrain, “Oh, that salvation would come from Zion!” to end the reading; if the psalm is read with no refrain, end the reading with a doxology according to the tradition of your congregation.]
“Toda la Tierra” (“All Earth Is Waiting”)Taulé
[st. 1, all; st. 2, women; st. 3, men; st. 4, all]
Lesson 3
Reader 1: The Word of God will fulfill its purpose; readings from the book of Isaiah. (Isaiah 55:10-11)
Reader 2: (Isaiah 55:12-13) The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Anthem (choose one)
Three anthem possibilities follow, all chosen for their roots in popular forms. Handel’s oratorios were popular entertainment before they occupied concert halls. Bach’s cantatas were usually based on hymn tunes. The third suggestion is in a contemporary idiom.
“How Beautiful Are the Feet,”Handel (soprano solo; available in any standard edition of Messiah)
“Zion Hears the Watchmen’s Voices,”Bach
“Waiting for Messiah,” Leach and Donaldson
[This is an accompanied anthem (piano) with some syncopation, easy to medium harmony, and an optional cello part.]
Lesson 4
Reader 1: Rejoice, O Daughter of Zion! Our Hebrew sisters and brothers, our spiritual ancestors, lived in expectation of God’s salvation; a reading from the book of Zephaniah. (Zephaniah 3:14)
Reader 2: (Zephaniah 3:15-19)
Reader 1: (Zephaniah 3:20)
Reader 2: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Carol (choose one)
“Comfort, Comfort You, My People"Olearius
“Hark, the Glad Sound!”Doddridge
Lesson 5
Reader 1: The Word of God comes to Joseph in a dream.
Readers 1 and 2: (Matthew 1:18-25; one reader is narrator, the other is the voice of the angel.)
Reader 2: The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Prayer Response
O God of dreamers and visionaries, thank you for Joseph the dreamer, who set aside the wisdom of his age, its desire for vengeance, and forgave the brothers who had wronged him.
Thank you for Joseph the carpenter, who set aside the wisdom of his age, heeded your dream of promise, and became the husband of Mary. We thank you that he heeded your dream of warning and fled to Egypt.
Carol (choose one)
“The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came”
[st. 1, all; st. 2, men; st. 3, women; st. 4, all]
"‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” (Huron Carol)Huron, Middleton
[st. 1, choir, all on refrain; st. 2, choir men, all on refrain; st. 3, choir women, all on refrain; st. 4 and refrain, all]
God’s Word appears to those on the fringes, on the hillsides far from the halls of power.
Lesson 6
Reader: God’s Word comes to Mary, who sang this song to the Lord as recorded in the gospel of Luke.
“The Song of Mary” (Magnificat)Psalter
[The Song of Mary may be read responsively or dramatically. Or it may be sung by choir in an anthem setting or by the congregation from your hymnal.]
Lesson 7
Reader 1: God’s Word appears to those on the fringes, on the hillsides far from the halls of power. God’s Word appeared not to the wise of this world, but to shepherds; a reading from the gospel of Luke.
Readers 1 and 2: (Luke 2:8-13; one reader is the narrator, the other the voice of the angel)
Carol (choose one)
“Gloria,”Sosa
[Accompany this carol with rhythm instruments and guitar. Repeat strongly or gently as the shape of worship requires. You might want to have the instruments softly play under the following reading, letting it fade gradually.]
“Angels We Have Heard on High”Crown of Jesus Music
Reader 2: (Luke 2:15-20) The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Lesson 8
Reader 1: God’s folly is wiser than our wisdom; a reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 1:25-26)
Reader 2: (1 Corinthians 1:27-31) The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Carol (choose one)
“Before the World Began” Iona Community
[st.1, all; st. 2, women; st. 3, men; st.4, all]
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”Wesley
Lesson 9
Reader 1 (female): God’s Word became flesh and lived among us; a reading from the gospel according to John. (John 1:1-5)
Reader 2 (male): (John 1:6-13)
Reader 1: (John 1:14) The Word of the Lord.
All: Thanks be to God.
Reader 2: Let us go out rejoicing, for the Wisdom of God, the Word of God, the one who is and was and is to come, is born among us, and we have seen God’s glory!
Note: Add a congregational blessing, if appropriate.
Recessional Options
“Il est né”Anonymous
[All sing verses in English, refrain in French.]
“People, Look East”Farjeon
[Congregation and choir.]