December 24, 2024
Christmas Eve Service at Kemper Knoll Farm
Portions of today’s service were written by: Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org
WORDS OF Welcome
Alexis Ward Owens
OPENING Song
Brent Holl
“O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL”
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels
REFRAIN:
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
All glory in the highest
REFRAIN
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning
Jesus, to Thee be glory given
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
REFRAIN
Prayer
Wendy Carr
God of manger straw and swaddle cloth,
God of silent nights and joyfully-chaotic mornings-
we long to know you.
The hustle and bustle of this time of year can be more than distracting,
so for a moment, we pray-
Still our busy hearts.
Quiet our minds.
Help us to sink deeply into this day.
Help us to pause here,
to linger here
as we hear your good news spoken over us.
God, we long to know you,
so speak to us now.
With grateful hearts, we pray.
With grateful hearts, we listen.
Amen.
Advent REFLECTIONS
Chris Zepp
Personal Sharing and Prayer
Lighting the Advent Candles
“O COME, O COME, IMMANUEL”
O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
REFRAIN:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.
REFRAIN
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
REFRAIN
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
REFRAIN
LUKE 2:1-20 (CEB)
Roy Nelson
1 In those days Caesar Augustus declared that everyone throughout the empire should be enrolled in the tax lists. 2 This first enrollment occurred when Quirinius governed Syria. 3 Everyone went to their own cities to be enrolled. 4 Since Joseph belonged to David’s house and family line, he went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to David’s city, called Bethlehem, in Judea. 5 He went to be enrolled together with Mary, who was promised to him in marriage and who was pregnant. 6 While they were there, the time came for Mary to have her baby. 7 She gave birth to her firstborn child, a son, wrapped him snugly, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guestroom.
8 Nearby shepherds were living in the fields, guarding their sheep at night. 9 The Lord’s angel stood before them, the Lord’s glory shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 The angel said, “Don’t be afraid! Look! I bring good news to you—wonderful, joyous news for all people. 11 Your savior is born today in David’s city. He is Christ the Lord. 12 This is a sign for you: you will find a newborn baby wrapped snugly and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great assembly of the heavenly forces was with the angel praising God. They said, 14 “Glory to God in heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors.”
15 When the angels returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go right now to Bethlehem and see what’s happened. Let’s confirm what the Lord has revealed to us.” 16 They went quickly and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they reported what they had been told about this child. 18 Everyone who heard it was amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 Mary committed these things to memory and considered them carefully. 20 The shepherds returned home, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Everything happened just as they had been told.
Song
“Silent Night”
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child!
Holy Infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night,
Darkness flies, all is light;
Shepherds hear the angels sing,
"Alleluia! hail the King!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born."
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night,
Wondrous star, lend the light;
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.
JOHN 1: 1-5 (CEB)
In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
The Word was with God in the beginning.
Everything came into being through the Word,
and without the Word
nothing came into being.
What came into being
through the Word was life,
and the life was the light for all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.
COMMUNION
Laura Douglass
Servers: Sara, Camila and Conrad
SONG
Brent Holl
“JOY TO THE WORLD”
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing
Joy to the Earth, the Savior reigns
Let all their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders, of His love
Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing
STATEMENT OF FAITH
Alexis Ward Owens
*Read in unison
Like Mary,
we believe in cherishing good news.
Like the angels,
we believe in singing God’s praise.
Like the shepherds,
we believe that God’s presence in our life is something worth talking about.
Like generations before,
we believe that God is with us.
Like the generations to come,
we believe that God is with us.
God is here. God is love.
We believe. Thanks be to God!
CLOSING SONG
Brent Holl
“GO, TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN”
REFRAIN:
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
REFRAIN
The shepherds feared and trembled
When, lo! Above the Earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior's birth
REFRAIN
Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And brought us all salvation
That blessed Christmas morn
REFRAIN
BENEDICTION
Alexis Ward Owens
From generation to generation,
God keeps drawing near.
From generation to generation,
a light has shone in the darkness.
From generation to generation,
God’s love has moved through the world like our connection moved through this barn.
So may we celebrate that.
May we rest in the joy of this day,
and may we allow it to change us.
Merry Christmas!
Go in peace.
God is with you every step of the way.
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