Here is the worship guide for Sunday, December 26, 2021
PDF version of the worship guide to download or print.
The livestream will begin at 10:30 a.m. on our Facebook page or YouTube page.
Welcome and Announcements
Opening Prayer
Hymn: “Angels We Have Heard on High”
Traditional French Carol.
Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains;
and the mountains in reply, echo back their joyous strains.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?
Say what may the tidings be which inspire your heav’nly song?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem, and see Him whose birth the angels sing;
come, adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
See within a manger laid Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth!
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, with us sing our Savior’s birth.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Hymn: “Angels, from the Realms of Glory”
Words: James Montgomery. Music: Henry T. Smart.
Angels, from the realms of glory, wing your flight o’er all the earth;
ye who sang creation’s story now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Shepherds, in the fields abiding, watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing; yonder shines the infant Light:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Sages, leave your contemplations, brighter visions beam afar;
seek the great Desire of nations; ye have seen the Infant’s star:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Though an Infant now we view Him, He shall fill His Father’s throne;
gather all the nations to Him; ev’ry knee shall then bow down:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!
Hymn: “It Came upon the Midnight Clear”
Words: Edmund H. Sears. Music: Richard S. Willis.
It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men from heavens all gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long,
beneath the angel strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
and man, at war with man, hears not the love song which they bring:
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!
All ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing:
O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.
For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophets seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.
Time of Prayer
Sermon: “Good News of Great Joy”
Luke 2:8–20 (ESV)
8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Hymn: “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”
Words: Charles Wesley. Music: Felix Mendelssohn.
Hark the herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King;
peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Christ by highest heav’n adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Hail, the heav’n-born 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 the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Hymn: “Go, Tell It on the Mountain”
Words: John W. Work Jr. Music: Spiritual, harmonized by John W. Work III.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night,
behold throughout the heavens there shone a holy light
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
The shepherds feared and trembled when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.
Benediction
2 Corinthians 13:14 (ESV)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.