Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

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Christmas Eve Candlelight Service The First Presbyterian Church of Rome (EPC) December 24, 2017

6:00 PM

CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE December 24, 2017

6:00 PM

ef Prelude

String Ensemble

Welcome and Gathering Prayer ALL: O God, on this night of expectant wonder, we again walk the path to Bethlehem and to the child whose birth was heralded by prophets, proclaimed by angels, and welcomed by shepherds. Open our eyes this night to see in that infant your loving purposes, and stir within us adoring praise. Amen

Hymn of Christmas No. 270

“Joy to the World”

Responsive Affirmation of Faith

Rev. Jonathan Schwartz

Leader: God the Father has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the Church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:13-20 NIV) ALL: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Special Music

“ The First Noel” “

String Ensemble

The Christmas Story in Scripture and Song Scripture Reading ~ Matthew 1:18-24 “Oh, Holy Night” Sandy Hosea, soloist; Kyle Coleman, accompanist

Scripture Reading ~ Luke 2:1-7 Hymn of Christmas No. 261 ~ “Away in a Manger” Scripture Reading ~ Luke 2:8-20 Hymn of Christmas No. 278 ~ “Angels We Have Heard on High”

Message and Lighting of the Christ Candle

Rev. Jeff Chadwick

The Candle Lighting Service 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, shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar; Heavenly hosts sing “alleluia”. Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is born! Silent night, holy night, wondrous star, lend thy light; With the angels let us sing, alleluia to our 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.

Commissioning and Benediction Postlude

“Joy to the World” arr. Jason Payne Dr. Patty Nelson, organist

ef Join us again next Sunday morning in King Hall for our New Year’s Eve morning combined worship service at 10:30 am. No Sunday School for any age on New Year’s Eve morning. Childcare will be available as usual during the service. Poinsettias may be picked up after the service tonight or during the day on Wednesday, December 27.

ef A Prisoner’s Perspective on Christmas Unless God intervenes, as midnight once more turns to Christmas morning it will mark the second Christmas that Pastor Andrew Brunson has spent unjustly imprisoned in Turkey, accused of crimes he did not commit while simply trying to be a faithful witness to the good news that, in Christ, God has come to dwell with man. As you return to your homes and share the joy of family gathered around you, presents spread before you, hearts full of the good things of Christmas and stomachs full of Christmas goodies, would you take time as a family to remember Andrew, and all those who will share none of those things this year? Would you pray that, though the cell may be bare of anything and everything that typically brings comfort and joy, the presence of Christ would cause everything they are lacking to pale in comparison with the gift of “Immanuel” which overflows in them? During another Christmas season, Dietrich Bonheoffer, also a follower of Jesus, sat unjustly imprisoned in a cell in war-torn Germany. From that cell, he wrote a letter to his parents which confronts us with the sweetness and glory of Christ which can never be stripped from us, and which is present no matter where we find ourselves, perhaps especially at Christmas. In part, he wrote: “… Viewed from a Christian perspective, Christmas in a prison cell can, of course, hardly be considered particularly problematic. Most likely many of those here in this building will celebrate a more meaningful and authentic Christmas than in places where it is celebrated in name only. That misery, sorrow, poverty, loneliness, helplessness, and guilt mean something quite different in the eyes of God than according to human judgment; that God turns toward the very places from which humans turn away; that Christ was born in a stable because there was no room for him in the inn — a prisoner grasps this better than others, and for him this is truly good news. And to the extent he believes it, he knows that he has been placed within the Christian community that goes beyond the scope of all spatial and temporal limits, and the prison walls lose their significance…” With gratitude and love… Your Dietrich

The Apostle Paul was no stranger to imprisonment and persecution for his faith, and still he shared the following prayer with the church in Ephesus. Would you pray that Andrew, his wife Norine, and their children… all others who face hardship and heartache this Christmas season, and also we who this year will share the good gift of comfort and peace might all be encouraged by Paul’s prayer and moved to break out into the same Doxology, no matter in what circumstances this Christmas season finds us? “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we dare to ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Happy Christmas to all… and to all a good night!

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