GREETING
Holy, holy, holy:
Joseph with Mary riding their donkey.
Holy, holy, holy:
angels with shepherds tending sheep.
Holy, holy, holy:
you with us, God, bowing before you.
Holy, holy, holy.
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE
(Optional – light the four purple candles of Advent again and add the white candle this evening.)
HYMN 230 “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
PSALM 96:1-9
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
PRAYER
Tonight, Jesus, Christians gather all around the world
to stand beside your manger and remember your coming.
In our hearts we hold you, and rock you with our love.
In our minds we kiss you, and feel your cheek brush ours.
We sense your determination as tiny fingers hold ours,
and baby arms wave welcome to those come to the manger.
What joy to see your bright eyes looking directly at us.
Your chubby smile is reflected in every face gazing at you.
So innocent and so vulnerable you are to our love,
and yet such commanding presence and tight hold on life.
Even when you were newly arrived, many hunted you,
and even at the beginning, Easter was always your destiny.
But tonight we hold you in our hearts, delighting in you.
That you have come to be with us, means so much, Jesus.
You are a little bit of heaven on earth, a beacon of hope,
a divine promise whispered to many generations of sinners.
Tonight, Jesus, we kneel before you and offer our lives.
Tonight we pledge to love you and those you love forever. Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 239 “Silent Night, Holy Night”
CLOSING PRAYER
A star roams the heavens tonight, God.
Once it served to announce a holy birth.
Let your star’s light roam our dreams,
and let your love be born in us tonight.
Then on Christmas Day, let your love
shine brightly through our daily lives. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
