CAROLS BY CANDLELIGHT
SERVICE PLAN, READINGS AND COMMENTS
A warm Welcome to our Carols by Candlelight Service.
We are glad you are with us and pray that you will enjoy being here tonight.
A quick safety announcement before we begin:
If the candles set the church on fire - fire exits are to the rear and to the side of the church.
And if we have to abandon the building over water, you will find a life jacket under your seat.
Seriously, the real announcement is that:
There will be free refreshments served in the back hall after the service.
Everyone is welcome to stay for a hot drink and a mince pie or three - but when the service ends please allow a few moments for some of the musicians to move their equipment so that you don’t trip over any cables or instruments. Ok?
Tonight we are going to sing some traditional well known Christmas Carols together -
Feel free to stand or sit as we sing the Carols.
Between the Carols we will have some readings from the Bible to remind us of the Christmas Story -
And instead of preaching a sermon I’m going to share a few thoughts with you as we go along.
I’m going to pray and then we can begin.
Thank you tonight we can celebrate together, the
greatest gift God has ever given us, Jesus Christ.
Let’s stand and sing our first Carol together:
O Come all ye faithful.
When a baby is born there is happiness and rejoicing, children are a blessing to their family, but this baby was born to bless the world in a unique way.
The birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
was the fulfilment of a promise made long ago.
Hundreds of years prior to his birth in Bethlehem, a prophecy was given in minute detail about the circumstances of His birth, His character and His ministry.
Let’s listen as Andrea reads our first Bible reading from the book of Isaiah 7:14 and 9:2,6-7 .
1st Reading The sign of Immanuel
God will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel which means ‘God is with us’
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and for ever.
The zeal of the Lord God Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 7:14 and 9:2,6-7
Immanuel, God with us.
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
They are wonderful descriptions of the promised Messiah.
Jesus, The Son of God, the one who, at the appointed time, came to reconcile, to restore, to bring people into a real relationship with God.
Let’s sing our second carol:
In the Bleak Midwinter
Samantha will now read from Matthew 1:18-25 and remind us that the purpose of Jesus birth, the reason why He was born, was to “save his people from their sins.”
A wonderful statement made in the middle of a conversation between an angel and Joseph who was engaged to be married to Mary.
2nd Reading Joseph accepts Jesus as his son
This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
All of this occurred to fulfil the Lord’s message through his prophet:
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’”
When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And Joseph named him Jesus, which means the Lord Saves.
Matthew 1:18-25
This short talk between Joseph and the angel reveals something of the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit in bringing conception to the Virgin Mary.
There is also the amazing revelation of God’s eternal plan “He will save his people from their sins.”
Simon will now read to us from Luke 1:26-35, a record of a similar conversation that took place between Mary and the Angel Gabriel.
3rd Reading The birth of Jesus foretold
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favoured woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favour with God!
You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:26-35
Let’s Sing another Carol:
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Imagine for a moment what it would be like to be 9 months pregnant and have to take a long journey.
To do it today, with smooth roads, air conditioning, Sat Nav it might not be that difficult.
But 2000 years ago thats a different story all together.
Brenda will read to us from Luke 2:1-7 a passage that explains why Joseph and Mary had to make that journey:
4th Reading The Birth of Jesus
At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He travelled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.
She gave birth to her first child, a son.
She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
Luke 2:1-7
The birth of Jesus,
a humble beginning in so many ways,
no cot or crib, but a manger,
a feeding trough for His first bed.
And strips of cloth, rags to wrap Him up.
Yet the Angels sang and rejoiced at His birth.
Let’s sing again:
Angels from the Realms of Glory.
Think about those Shepherds for a moment
simple workers, ordinary people, not respected rich leaders.
God choose to invite the Shepherds to go and see Jesus before anyone else went… not the King, nor the Governor, not the rich & well off people of Bethlehem.
Keith will bring us our next reading is from
Luke 2:8-20 that reminds us what happened to the Shepherds that night.
5th Reading The Shepherds and Angels
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.
They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger.
After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
It was just as the angel had told them.
Luke 2:8-20
These Shepherds who were probably looked down on by most people of the day - they were given a special invitation by a host of Angels to go and see the Son of God hours after His birth.
This part of the Christmas story shows that ordinary people are valuable to God!
The Shepherds were important to God and You are Important to God too! – You are worth something!
You, ordinary you, God loves you more than you can ever fully know.
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We will sing another Carol:
Silent Night
Tony is going to read to us from Matthew 2:1-12 and then the choir are going to sing a couple of songs.
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6th Reading Visitors from the East
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. Matthew 2:1-12
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Choir 2 Songs
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What does the coming of Christ into the world really mean to you today?
Do you understand what his purpose was?
Jesus came as God’s gift to mankind.
Jesus came to save people from their sins.
Jesus came to bring hope — hope for this present life and hope for eternity.
Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
Jesus is the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus came to teach people how to love the Lord their God with all their hearts and to give expression to that love by loving their neighbors as themselves.
The babe of Bethlehem’s stable was born as a result of God’s great love for lost and bewildered humanity;
Jesus loved humanity so much that that he later laid down his life that we might have eternal life.
Such an example of love ought to inspire us to have true love for God and for others.
Andy is going to read to us from John 1:1-14 a passage that speaks of how Jesus laid aside His glory for us and came into the world he created.
7th Reading Christ, the Eternal Word
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John 1:1-14
Our next Carol speaks of the mission of Christ - He was born to Save.
Lets sing Good Christians all rejoice
Christ was Born to Save - that is a wonderful truth.
But the story does not end with the birth of Jesus,
the baby became a toddler
the toddler became a boy,
the boy became a man,
the man spoke spiritual truth to those who would listen.
He healed the sick, the lame, the deaf,
He gave sight to the blind,
Even the dead were restored to life,
then at the right time, He went to the cross...
He willingly died on the Cross so our sins could be forgiven.
And still the story did not end there!
Three days later He rose from the grave,
He conquered sin, He defeated death,
and He is alive today!
And in Him you have the power and the ability to live the way God wants you to.
To God it does not matter whether you are rich or poor.
Whether you are a success or a failure.
Whether you look like a beauty queen or a slob.
Whether you have a clean slate or a criminal record twenty pages thick.
Whether you have a clean home or a messy home.
Whether you have everything in order or your life is a complete chaos.
Whether you are always on time or habitually late.
In fact many of the standards we put in place, distract us away from God.
They can distract us away from God’s blessing if we put too much effort in them.
There is only one thing that matters to God.
Do you trust Jesus as Saviour and Lord?
Jesus can relate to the toughest things you go through.
Jesus is the one that can give you Hope.
Jesus is the one that can bring change into your life
Jesus is the one that gives us purpose
Jesus is the one that makes this life worth living.
Jesus is the one who can bring real Joy to your life.
Will you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour not just for Christmas but for eternity?
Lets sing our final Carol:
Joy to the World
