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CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
NOTE: As you may know, due to some technology issues that are still being worked out, when those participants attending in the Upper Room sing or speak at the same time the sound becomes garbled and not able to be understood by those on Zoom. Dennis and others are working on getting this resolved. As you also may know, what has been done as a temporary solution to this issue is that the person managing the technology for that liturgy has been muting both the Owl in the Upper Room and Zoom on the computer at certain times and the two groups temporarily proceed separately until only one person is speaking again.
For this Christmas liturgy we would like to try something different in an effort to reinforce that we are ONE community celebrating Christmas liturgy together, regardless of our location. This will require that only one person speaks or sings at any given time and so we are asking the community to say the prayers of the liturgy and sing the alleluia silently along with the person who is speaking or singing them aloud.
We are not suggesting that this become our new mode of operation. We would just like to try this for this Christmas liturgy.
For the final song, let’s all sing together no matter what it sounds like!
Welcome and Opening Prayer
Julie: Welcome to you all as we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is such a special time, a time of peace and love, and Dave and I are so happy to share tonight’s liturgy with you. Let us pray:
We believe
that for generations
people have gathered together
on this holy night,
because there is something about this story
that speaks to the deepest parts of us.
We believe in bundling up this hope,
this good news, and passing it on—
to our children, to our neighbors,
to the world around us.
I believe my voice can make a difference,
just like I believe this story can make a difference,
so I will not stay quiet.
I will tell this story—of a love that makes room for all.
I will sing this story—of a love that knows our name.
I will live this story—because love has come again.
I believe that words have power.
I will not stay quiet.
AMEN.
Prayer by Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC |sanctifiedart.org.
Opening Song: Light of the World – Lauren Daigle
LITURGY OF THE WORD
Judy Stamp: A Reading from the Prophet Isaiah (11:1-10)
A flower shall come out from the root of Jesse,
a wild shoot shall grow out from the roots.
The spirit of God will be at work in that flowering,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and strength,
the spirit of knowledge and wonder.
The joy of that child will be in God.
Not by appearance will the child judge,
nor by hearsay decide.
Instead, you shall judge the poor with justice,
and defend the meek of the earth with equity.
Righteousness shall be the belt around your waist,
and faithfulness will gird your loins.
The wolf will nestle with the lamb.
The leopard will lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a young child will lead them.
The cow and the bear will graze in the same pasture,
their young lie down together.
The lion will eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child put its hand on the adder’s den.
None will hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain.
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of God,
as the waters fill the sea.
On that day, the flower of Jesse
will be a sign for all peoples.
All nations will seek it out,
and it will be glorious.
These are the inspired words of the Prophet Isaiah and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
Psalm (89:2+5; 6-9; 20-25; 37-38, Merrill, adapted)
Our sung Psalm Response is
R: Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Born.
Suzanne DeFroy: Your Love, my God, is my song and I’ll sing it!
With forthright voice, I will proclaim Your goodness
to all generations.
Your Love endures beyond time,
your faithfulness extends beyond the heavens.
From the beginning of time, Your covenant encompasses
all who choose to walk the path of Love.
And to all generations that honor Your Way and Your Truth,
Love will make Itself known.
R: Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Born.
Jean Albert: The heavens praise your marvels, O Loving Creator,
the heavenly hosts sing of your faithfulness.
Who in the skies is comparable to You?
Who among heavenly beings, among stars and galaxies of stars, is like You?
You are immeasurable, infinite and infinitesimal.
Who is like You, awesome beyond knowing?
Who is like You, humble and in our midst?
R: Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Born.
Kathie Ryan: A long time ago, You spoke in a vision.
You made Yourself known to Your faith-filled, saying
“Here is my Heart, my Servant,
whom I will anoint with holy oil.
Here is My ruler-child
who will lead warriors into peace,
and lead all in the ways of peace.
Here is my Gift for you:
My firstborn who will teach you to Love,
and will be kept forever in My love.”
R: Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Born.
Deven Horne: Through the Heart of all hearts, You open the way to Life.
Your love will shine even when stars are no more;
Your love will outlast the cosmos.
We will know You as Loving Companion Presence now
and in the life to come.
R: Go tell it on the mountain over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is Born.
Alleluia: Dennis
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 thee, O Israel
Gospel
Phillis Sheppard: A reading from the gospel of Luke 2:1-14
In those days, Caesar Augustus published a decree ordering a census of the whole Roman world. This first census took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All the people were instructed to go back to the towns of their birth to register. And so Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to “the city of David”—Bethlehem, in Judea, because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David; he went to register with Mary, his espoused wife, who was pregnant.
While they were there, the time came for her delivery. She gave birth to her firstborn, a son; she put him in a simple cloth wrapped like a receiving blanket, and laid him in a feeding trough for cattle, because there was no room for them at the inn.
There were shepherds in the area living in the fields and keeping night watch over their flock. The angel of God appeared to them, and the glory of the God shone around them, they were very much afraid.
The angel said to them, “You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim the good news to you—news of a great joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in of David’s city, a savior—the Messiah—has been born to you. Let this be a sign to you: you’ll find an infant wrapped in a simple cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in high heaven!
And on earth, peace to those on whom God’s favor rests.”
These are the inspired words of the anonymous storyteller we call Luke and the community affirms them by saying AMEN.
(pause)
Shared Homily: Julie
Peace. It’s what Isaiah tells us the messiah brings in the first reading and what the angel greets the shepherds with at the end of the gospel. Yet Jesus was not born in peace. Birth is many things but peaceful is not one of them, especially when you’re jammed into a stable. And Jesus didn’t live in a peaceful world any more than we do. That’s why Jewish scholars don’t consider him the messiah, because he didn’t usher in the peaceable kingdom Isaiah described in the first reading. The cow and the bear don’t graze in the same pasture, nor do their young lie down together. For the earth is not yet full of the knowledge of God. We’re just not there yet.
Yet Jesus was at peace; he knew peace in his heart. And that’s the kind of peace that’s available to all of us. That’s the peace that comes from knowing ourselves and knowing our God. Knowing ourselves can be hard enough. How do we also know God? The same way we get to know each other, by talking and sharing what’s on our minds and hearts and then listening for the answer. By his very way of living, Jesus showed us how to love God and each other, all the others—the foreigners, the sick, the poor, and even those who look like us. And Jesus showed us how to be at peace while we’re doing it. He prayed, sometimes with his friends like we’re doing tonight, sometimes alone. He listened to God’s will. And in the process, he forever changed the world! That’s what we’re celebrating tonight, the beginning of his amazing life on earth and his message of love and peace that is as countercultural today as it was more than two thousand years ago. That’s why we’re so joyful and amazed and, yes, if only for a moment, at peace.
What did you hear? What will you do? What, if anything, will it cost you? We would love to hear your insights on the readings.
Statement of Faith: Christina Homer and Tim Perry-Coon
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Dave: As we prepare for this sacred meal, we are aware that just as Jesus is anointed, so is each of us. As bearers of LIGHT and HOPE, we bring to this table our blessings, cares and concerns. Please feel free to voice your intentions beginning with the words, “I bring to the table…..”
Dave: We bring these and all deeply held blessings, cares, and concerns to the table of friendship and peace. Amen.
Julie: With open hearts and hands let us pray our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
(written by Jay Murnane)
Holy One, you are continually creating the universe, continually giving birth to all of us. We sense the need to do the same, to set ourselves free from a sense of emptiness and barren hopelessness.
We celebrate you as the Source of light and life and love, and we celebrate your presence and all-ways care. We give thanks, and joined with your vision of harmony and peace, we sing:
Holy, Holy, Holy: "Here In This Place" by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/sgkWXOSGmOQ
Marjorie Moffatt: Your wisdom invites us to draw on our tradition, as old as the stars, shining through Sarah and Abraham, shining through your prophets in every age and every culture. We join that enlightening, enlivening tradition with what we are as we risk fidelity to a dream.
Filled with your spirit, we, like Jesus, can give birth in our day to your living word for the sake of hope enfleshed in creativity and confrontation, healing and reconciliation, justice, universal and unconditional love.
Diane Geary: Holy One, we dare again to dream the ancient dreams and open ourselves to marvelous visions. There are mountains of arrogance to lower, valleys of fear and separation to fill in, to create a community and communion that stretches throughout our consciousness and around our world.
In this way, working to renew the face of the earth, we are opened up to your Spirit, the Spirit of light and life and love born in Jesus.
Dave: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plates and pray the following:
When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
Julie: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying: Take and drink. Whenever you remember me like this, I am among you.
(pause)
What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives. As we share communion, we become Communion, both love’s nourishment and love’s challenge.
Let us share this bread to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace with the words: You are a champion of peace.
Communion Meditation: At This Table – Idina Menzel
Dave: Prayer after Communion:
Holy One, we are grateful for the gift of Jesus.
From his humble beginnings to his profound message for a world of love and peace. His words of hope for the poor and forgotten and his call to serve.
We are united in your Spirit, and worship you with our lives.
All: AMEN.
Jean Talbot: Let us pray as Jesus taught us:
Holy one who is within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Julie: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
May we continue to be the face of God to each other. May we call each other to extravagant generosity! May we, like Jesus, be champions of peace and a blessing in our time! AMEN
Closing Song—Joy to the World/Unspeakable Joy, Chris Tomlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxMvvptf9I
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