Entire service

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS                                        
 (Please sign and pass the registers)

LIGHTING THE THIRD CANDLE OF ADVENT      Peggy Kilgore & Gary Moore
CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE

Festival of Lessons and Carols by John Leavitt

The congregation is invited to sing the text in bold print.

Carol:       Once in Royal David’s City

Choir:       Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby in a manger for His bed.
Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ, her only Child.

All:           He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all. And His shelter was a stable, and His cradle was a stall.
With the poor and mean and low lived our Savior long ago.

But our eyes in truth should see Him through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle is our Lord in heav’n above.
As He leads His children on to the place where He is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable with the oxen standing by
Shall we see Him, but in heaven, set at God’s right hand on high.
Then like stars His children, crowned, all in white, His praise will sound!

First Lesson: To Us a Child is Born (Isaiah 9)

Carol:       Break Forth, O Beauteous, Heavenly Light by J.S. Bach

Choir:       Break forth, O beauteous, heav’nly light and usher in the morning; Ye shepherds, shrink not with affright, but hear the angel’s warning. This Child, now weak in infancy, our confidence and joy shall be,
The pow’r of Satan breaking, our peace eternal making.

Second Lesson: The Branch from Jesse(Isaiah 11)

Carol:       O Come, O Come, Emmanuel by John Ferguson
Seanad Chang, viola

Choir:       O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel.

Third Lesson: A Promised Ruler from Bethlehem (Micah 5)

Carol:       O Little Town of Bethlehem

Women:   O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Men:        Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
All:           The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

Choir:       For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wond’ring love.
O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth;
And praises sing to God the king, and peace to all the earth.

Women:   O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray.
Cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today.
Men:        We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell.
All:           O come to us, abide with us, our Lord, Immanuel!

Fourth Lesson: The Birth of Jesus Foretold (Luke 1)

Carol:     O How Joyfully

Choir:     O how joyfully, O how blessedly,
Grace comes to us at Christmastime!
God to us has given blessings from heaven.
Sing for joy at Christmastime!
O how joyfully, O how blessedly,
Grace comes to us at Christmastime!
Heaven’s hosts in the sky sing rejoicing from on high:
Sing for joy at Christmastime!

Fifth Lesson: The Birth of Jesus(Luke 2)

Carol:     Away in a Manger

All:           Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

Choir:     The cattle are lowing; the Baby awakes;
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus; look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.

All:           Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And take us to heaven to live with Thee there.

Sixth Lesson: The Shepherds and the Angels (Luke 2)

Carol:     This Little Babe by Benjamin Britten

Choir:     This little Babe, so few days old, is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake, though he himself for cold do shake.
For in this weak unarmèd wise the gates of hell he will surprise.

With tears he fights and wins the field; his naked breast stands for a shield. His battering shot are babish cries; his arrows looks of weeping eyes. His martial ensigns Cold and Need, and feeble Flesh his warrior’s steed.

His camp is pitchèd in a stall; his bulwark but a broken wall.
The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes; of shepherds he his muster makes. And thus, as sure his foe to wound, the angels’ trumps alarum sound.

My soul, with Christ join thou in fight; stick to the tents that he hath pight.
Within his crib is surest ward; this little Babe will be thy guard.
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy, then flit not from this heavenly Boy.

Seventh Lesson: The Visit of the Magi (Matthew 2)

Carol:     As With Gladness Men of Old

All:          As with gladness men of old did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light, leading onward, beaming bright;
So, most gracious Lord, may we evermore be led by Thee.

Choir:       As they offered gifts most rare at Thy cradle, rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy, pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All out costliest treasures bring, Christ, to Thee our heav’nly King.

All:           In the heav’nly country bright need they no created light;
Thou its light, its joy, its crown, Thou its sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing Alleluias to our King.

PASTORAL PRAYER AND THE LORD'S PRAYER

OFFERTORY:   It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Paul Thurmond

Eighth Lesson: The Word Became Flesh (John 1)

Carol:     Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

All:          Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.”
Joyful, all you nations, rise, join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic hosts proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

Choir:     Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord.
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail, incarnate Deity!
Please as man with us to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

All:          Hail, the heav’nborn Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings, ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by, born that man no more may die,
Born to raise each child of earth, born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice by Samuel Scheidt

Reader
Rick Woods

Chancel Choir
Marilyn Aitken
Diane Glasgow
Sam Glasgow
Gerald Hansen
Sharyl Hansen
Ted Hayes
Chelsea Holland

Jonathan Holland
Gordon Hunter
Joane Kibbons
Katie Kumar
Marilyn Ledbetter
Ron Ledbetter
Gary Lovellette
Virginia Lovellette

Sharon Myers
Eliseo Rios
Marge Rios
Donna Simpson
Grace Anna Sine
Janis Swim
Barry Turner

Orchestra
Jillian Storey, flute
Hannah Shoopman, oboe
Anne Thurmond, clarinet

Wei Tsun Chang, violin
Lauren Carlton, violin
Seanad Chang, viola

Carson Prevatte, cello
Sarah Ransom, bass

Paul Thurmond, director