Christmas Eve 2018

Christmas Eve 2018

Start Christmas Instrumental Music video at 6:45

Welcome and Opening Prayer - ________________________

Lighting of the Christ Candle - ________________________

Song

We Lift the Light of Hope (F) (Verse 5 only)

Reader ___________________

Let’s prepare our hearts to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Tell Me The Story of Jesus (C) (Verse 1 only)

Reader _____________________

My name is Zechariah. I am an old man now but I can still perform my priestly duties in the temple of the Lord God of Israel.

My life has been good. What an honor it is to serve the Lord in the Holy Place of the Temple. I am honored to be chosen by the Lord to burn incense to Him today.

As I look back over my life there are only two great pains in my heart.

The first is that my poor wife, Elizabeth, is barren; we have no children, no son to carry on the family name. It breaks my heart when we go out in public and the other women have that look on their faces when they see her; it is kind of a look of pity that she has no child and a look of arrogance wondering what she must have done in order for the Lord to withhold His blessing of children from her.

Nothing could be further from the truth. My Elizabeth is a righteous, devout woman.

There is also another absence in my life that causes me great sadness. I had always had this inner feeling that the Messiah surely would come during my lifetime. And yet, here we are, still under Roman domination. No Savior. No Messiah. No Deliverer.

How long will it be? Will the next generation see His arrival?

I can only hope that we will see the glory of the Lord soon …

Song

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (F)

Reader _________________________

My name is Gabriel. I am an Archangel of the Lord God Most High.

One of my duties is to carry important messages. In the ancient times of Israel I was sent twice to a prophet named Daniel. It was during the time when the chosen people of the Lord were in captivity in the foreign lands of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian Empires.

But now the Lord of Hosts is sending me to another righteous man. His name is Zechariah. He and his wife have been chosen to give birth to the one who will precede the long awaited Messiah!

This son of Zechariah and Elizabeth will be the one of whom it is written:

A voice of one calling in the wilderness “prepare the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

Let us see how it is written in the Holy Texts …

Reader _________________________________

Luke 1:5-25

Herod was king of Judea. During the time he was ruling, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to a group of priests named after Abijah. His wife Elizabeth also came from the family line of Aaron. Both of them did what was right in the sight of God. They obeyed all the Lord’s commands and rules faithfully. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was not able to have any. And they were both very old.

One day Zechariah’s group was on duty. He was serving as a priest in God’s temple. He happened to be chosen, in the usual way, to go into the temple of the Lord. There he was supposed to burn incense. The time came for this to be done. All who had gathered to worship were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar. When Zechariah saw him, he was amazed and terrified. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will have a child. It will be a boy, and you must call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you. His birth will make many people very glad. He will be important in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or other such drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will prepare the way for the Lord. He will have the same spirit and power that Elijah had. He will bring peace between parents and their children. He will teach people who don’t obey to be wise and do what is right. In this way, he will prepare a people who are ready for the Lord.”