Please note that no video was recorded for this service.
Christmas Carol – Come Oh Come Emanual
Welcome to people and Nation
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians on whose lands we share today and pay our respects to the Elders past, present and future. We commit to walking together across these lands in friendship, trust, justice and healing.
THE ADVENT WREATH
Our advent candle wreath this year is deliberately not perfect. It is not symmetrical or straight or coordinating. The colours don’t match, and the candles are not new. Why? Each Advent we think about the four messages of Hope, Joy, Peace and Love. But as we look at our lives, our community and the World, a perfect wreath or perfect candles seem put of place and insincere. So this year we have a crooked, mismatched, imperfect Advent candle wreath representing the reality of our world and the reality of our lives that we bring to Christ this Christmas.
Leader: Each night we sleep wearily under a large summer moon.
The nights are short and the dawn comes soon.
All: Come, companion Jesus, walk with us.
Let us prepare a manger in our hearts for the birth of the sacred.
This fourth candle reminds us of love.
A fourth candle is lit
Children and family come forward to light candles
Leader: There are so many who love with delight and take no account of cost
We gather in love, as people of God to welcome the Christ Child.
All: Let our will for justice, as strong as the Mountain Ash,
prepare the way and welcome Christ
Let our thirst for hope, like the dry, parched earth,
prepare the way and welcome Christ
Let our dream for peace, as bright as the sky,
prepare the way and welcome Christ
Let our reach for Joy, like the call of the kookaburra
Prepare the way and welcome Christ
Let the warmth of our love, like the long summer days,
prepare the way and welcome Christ. Amen
Australian Christmas Carol – The North Wind is Tossing the Leaves
The north wind is tossing the leaves
The red dust is over the town
The sparrows are under the eaves
And the grass in the paddock is brown
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ child the heavenly King.
The tree ferns in green gullies sway
The cool stream flows silently by
The joy-bells are greeting the day
And the chimes are adrift in the sky
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ child the heavenly King
Christmas Carol – Angels from the Realms of Glory
James Montgomery (4 November 1771 – 30 April 1854) was a Scottish-born hymn writer, poet and editor, who eventually settled in Sheffield. He was raised in the Moravian Church and theologically trained there, so that his writings often reflect concern for humanitarian causes, such as the abolition of slavery and the exploitation of child chimney sweeps. [1]
Angels, from the realms of glory,
wing your flight o’er all the earth;
heralds of creation’s story,
now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Refrain:
Come and worship Christ, the new-born King,
come and worship, worship Christ, the new-born King
Shepherds, in the fields abiding,
watching over flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
yonder shines the infant Light: [Refrain]
Wise men, leave your contemplations,
brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations,
you have seen his natal star: [Refrain]
Though an infant now we view him,
he shall fill his Father’s throne,
gather all the nations to him:
every knee shall then bow down: [Refrain]
Wise men, leave your contemplations,
brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations,
you have seen his natal star: [Refrain]
Though an infant now we view him,
he shall fill his Father’s throne,
gather all the nations to him:
every knee shall then bow down: [Refrain]
The peace and love God be with you all
And also with you
Lets pass the peace and love with each other
Christmas Carol – Silent Night
Silent night, holy night:
all is calm, all is bright round the virgin mother and child,
holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night!, holy night:
shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing, ‘Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born,
Christ the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night!
Wondrous star, lend your light;
with the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King;
Christ our Saviour is born,
Christ our Saviour is born.
Australian Christmas Carol – The Three Drovers
The Three Drovers is one of the classic Australian Christmas carols and tells the story of three shepherds who move livestock over long distances. This carol was relatively unknown until it was used as the title track for a musical Christmas play for children. It was written by John Wheeler and used by Australian primary schools and carol services.
Across the plains one Christmas night
Three drovers riding blythe and gay
Looked up and saw a starry light
More radiant than the Milky Way
And on their hearts such wonder fell
They sang with joy, Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel!
And smoke was on the yellow moon
But from the heavens faint and sweet,
Came floating down a wond’rous tune
And as they heard they sang full well
Those drovers three Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel!
The black swans flew across the sky
The wild dog called across the plain
The starry lustre blazed on high
Still echoed on the heavenly strain
And still they sang Noel, Noel
Those drovers three, Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel!
Bible reading: Luke 1 26-38
Christmas carol – Away in a Manger
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.
The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love you, Lord Jesus; look down from on high,
and stay by my side until morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask you to stay
close by me for ever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in your tender care,
and fit us for heaven to live with you there.
Most remarkable God, you sent your angel to a woman named Mary, that she might accept the joy and the pain of bearing the ultimate Mystery. Fill our hearts with a love and loyalty like hers, that we may find our contentment in doing your will and celebrating your saving grace. Through your holy Son, who with you and the Holy Spirit, have turned our sorrows into gladness and our weariness into dancing!
Amen!
Irene Hughes’ own song
Bible reading: Luke 1 46 – 55
Christmas carol – The Virgin Mary Had a Baby boy
A West Indian carol
The Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
the Virgin Mary had a baby boy,
and they say that his name was Jesus.
Refrain:
He come from the glory,
he come from the glorious kingdom,
he come from the glory,
he come from the glorious kingdom,
O yes, believer,
O yes, believer,
he come from the glory,
he come from the glorious kingdom.
The angels sang when the baby born,
the angels sang when the baby born,
the angels sang when the baby born,
and proclaim him the baby Jesus. [Refrain]
The wise men saw where the baby born,
the wise men saw where the baby born,
the wise men saw where the baby born,
and they say that his name was Jesus. [Refrain]
Prayers of People and thanksgiving
Christmas carol – Oh Holy Night
Placide Cappeau France 1808-1877., the son of a cooper. He may have followed in his father’s business, but when eight years old, a playmate accidentally shot him in the hand with a gun he was playing with, and the hand had to be amputated. The shooter’s father paid for half his education, and he was able to attend town school and the College. Despite his handicap, he was awarded a first prize in drawing there. He studied literature, and law in Paris, and was licensed to practice law in 1831. Instead, he became a merchant of wines and spirits, but his focus was really on literature. A parish priest, Father Petitjean, in Cappeau’s community, asked him to write a Christmas poem to celebrate the renovation of their organ, and he agreed to do it, despite being an avowed atheist and vocal anti-cleric. He researched the book of Luke and wrote the lyrics to “O Holy night”. An opera singer, Emily Laurie, saw the text and asked a Jewish friend of hers to compose music for it, which he, remarkably, did. She sang it at a midnight mass three weeks later, and parishioners raved, but when Catholic church leaders found out it was written by an atheist, they banned it. However, it still became popular.
Oh Holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Saviour’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary soul rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Chorus
Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night O holy night O night divine.
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of star so sweetly gleaming
Here came the wise men for Orient land
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger
In all our trials born to be our friend.
Chorus
Truly he taught that we love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains shall He break the slave is still our brother
And in His name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Chorus
Prayer expressing our gratitude
Let us give thanks to God, the Holy Mother.
Let us pray.
All praise and thanks belong to you, wondrous motherly Emmanuel, for the planning and nurturing of our human creation and redemption. We thank you for the daring ingenuity of your ways, and for the revolutionary hopes you have released through your prophets.
We are most grateful for the Child that your chosen woman Mary carried in her womb, whom she nurtured from conception with courage, love, prayer and expectation. For the mother’s prayers that followed him from Bethlehem to Golgotha.
We praise you for the beauty that Jesus would let loose on the world; for the light that shone in his teaching, the faith which bloomed through his friendship, the healing that accompanied his deeds, and the grace that flowed from his death and resurrection.
Thanks be to you for the Holy Spirit who accompanies us on our faith journey and teaches us the ways of Christ; for the Counsellor who reads our deepest thoughts, nurtures our most sacred longings, and who confronts our timidity or apathy like wind and fire.
Thank you, Holy Friend, that with you it is certain that the best is yet to come. That the“eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what you have in store for us all. Wonderful are you, wondrous Emmanuel!
Amen!
Prayer
Most remarkable God, you sent your angel to a woman named Mary, that she might accept the joy and the pain of bearing the ultimate Mystery. Fill our hearts with a love and loyalty like hers, that we may find our contentment in doing your will and celebrating your saving grace. Through your holy Son, who with you and the Holy Spirit, have turned our sorrows into gladness and our weariness into dancing!
Amen!
Christmas carol – Hallelujah Chorus https://youtu.be/weFJHtcxJt0?si=8onQvDTJKGC3nEJo
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