Chalmers-Castle Downs United Church
Christmas Eve
Candle Light Service
Dec. 24, 2014
Please stand as you are able for lines marked ""
Christmas Eve
WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS
• Tonight’s Christmas Offering will be shared
with the Bissell Centre, an inner city ministry in
Edmonton.
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Latin
trans.: F. Oakeley (1841)
No. 60 Voices United

O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 1/5)
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;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 2/5)
God of God, light of light,
Lo, he abhors not the virgin’s womb;
very God, begotten, not created:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 3/5)
Sing, choirs of angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
Glory to God in the highest:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 4/5)
See how the shepherds summoned to his
cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh with lowly
fear;
We too will thither bend our joyful
footsteps;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
O Come All Ye Faithful (v. 5/5)
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy
morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh
appearing:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
!
We Gather
CALL TO WORSHIP
• Celebrate God’s Presence
One: Holy people, beloved of God, come. Come to
follow the way prepared for you.
All: Glory to God in the highest, and
peace to all on earth!
We Gather
One: Once again the earth is surprised at a manger, as
the glory of God transforms the commonplace.
All: Let us go to Bethlehem to see what
God has made known to us!
One: Experience the wonder of God's ways. Kneel in
awe before life newly borne.
All: Let us sing glory and praise to God
for all that we have seen and heard!
We Gather
CHRISTMAS PRAYER
LORD’S PRAYER
• p. 921 VU
...
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will
be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against
us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and
the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
We Receive the Light
ANTHEM: “Christ, the Saviour, Is Born”
• Dorothy R. Furiness
• arr. David Lantz III
We Receive the Light
THE ADVENT WREATH
• The Advent Candles
• The Christ Candle
PRAYER
• repeated response
One: Thank you, God for the light of Christ.
All: Help us live in the Light!
A Candle Is Burning
Sandra Dean (1986)
© 1986 Sandra Dean
No. 6 Voices United

A Candle Is Burning (v. 1/5)
A candle is burning, a flame warm and
bright,
A candle of hope in December’s dark
night.
While angels sing blessings from heaven’s
starry sky,
Our hearts we prepare now for Jesus is
nigh.
A Candle Is Burning (v. 2/5)
A candle is burning, a candle of peace,
A candle to signal that conflict must
cease:
For Jesus is coming to show us the way;
A message of peace humbly laid in the
hay.
A Candle Is Burning (v. 3/5)
A candle is burning, a candle of joy,
A candle to welcome brave Mary’s new
boy.
Our hearts fill with wonder, and eyes light
and glow
As joy brightens winter like sunshine on
snow.
A Candle Is Burning (v. 4/5)
A candle is burning, a candle of love,
A candle to point us to heaven above.
A baby for Christmas, a wonderful birth,
For Jesus is bringing God’s love to our
earth.
A Candle Is Burning (v. 5/5)
We honour Messiah with Christ-candle’s
flame,
Our Christmas Eve candles glad tidings
proclaim.
O come, all you faithful, rejoice in this
night,
As God comes among us, the Christian’s
true light.
!
We Receive the Light
SCRIPTURE LESSON
• What does the Nativity mean to you today?

Luke 2:1-20
• The Birth of Jesus
Luke 2:1-20 (1/6)
At that time Emperor Augustus ordered a
census to be taken throughout the Roman
Empire. When this first census took place,
Quirinius was the governor of Syria.
Everyone went to register himself, each to his
own hometown. Joseph went from the town of
Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in
Judea, the birthplace of King David.
Joseph went there because he was a descendant
of David.
Luke 2:1-20 (2/6)
He went to register with Mary, who was
promised in marriage to him.
She was expecting a child, and while they were
in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have her
baby.
Mary gave birth to her first-born son. She
wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in
a manger, because there was no room for them
to stay in the inn.
Luke 2:1-20 (3/6)
There were some shepherds in that part of the
country who were spending the night in the
fields, taking care of their flocks.
An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the
glory of the Lord shone over them.
They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to
them, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good
news for you, which will bring great joy to all
the people.
Luke 2:1-20 (4/6)
“This very day in David’s town your Saviour
was born,– Christ the Lord! And this is what
will prove it to you: you will find a baby
wrapped in bands of cloth, and lying in a
manger.”
Suddenly a great crowd of heaven’s angels
appeared with the angel, singing praises to
God: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and
peace on earth to those with whom God is
pleased!”
Luke 2:1-20 (5/6)
When the angels went away from them back
into heaven, the shepherds said to one another,
“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has told us.”
So they hurried off and found Mary and
Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger.
When the shepherds saw him, they told them
what the angel had said about the child.
Luke 2:1-20 (6/6)
All who heard it were amazed at what the
shepherds said.
Mary remembered all these things and thought
deeply about them.
The shepherds went back, singing praises to
God for all they had heard and seen; it had
been just as the angel had told them.
Gentle Mary Laid Her Child
Joseph Simpson Cook (1919)
No. 46 Voices United

Gentle Mary Laid Her Child (v. 1/3)
Gentle Mary laid her child lowly in a
manger;
There he lay, the undefiled, to the world a
stranger.
Such a babe in such a place, can he be the
Saviour?
Ask the saved of all the race who have
found his favour.
Gentle Mary Laid Her Child (v. 2/3)
Angels sang about his birth, wise men
sought and found him;
Heaven’s star shone brightly forth, glory
all around him.
Shepherds saw the wondrous sight, heard
the angels singing;
All the plains were lit that night, all the
hills were ringing.
Gentle Mary Laid Her Child (v. 3/3)
Gentle Mary laid her child lowly in a
manger;
He is still the undefiled, but no more a
stranger.
Son of God of humble birth, beautiful the
story;
Praise his name in all the earth; hail the
King of glory!
!
We Receive the Light
CHRISTMAS REFLECTION
CHRISTMAS PRAYER
ANTHEM: “Do You See a Star?”
• John Parker, Larry Schackley
We Take God’s Light into the World
THEME CONVERSATION
• “The Symbols of Christmas”
Joy to the World!
Isaac Watts (1719)
No. 59 Voices United

Joy to the World! (v. 1/4)
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 World! (v. 2/4)
Joy to the earth! the Saviour 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.
Joy to the World! (v. 3/4)
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground:
He comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.
Joy to the World! (v. 4/4)
He rules the earth 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.
!
We Share God’s Gift of Light
 INVITATION TO THE OFFERING
Tonight’s offering will be shared with the Bissell
Centre, an inner city ministry in Edmonton.
Bring your gifts forward, and place them at the manger,
pick up a candle, and form a circle around the
sanctuary.
Children can come to the front for the Nativity Tableau.
We Share God’s Gift of Light
NATIVITY TABLEAU
• Children can come to the front for the Nativity
Tableau.
• When the lights go off, please turn on your
candles.
CAROL MEDLEY
O Little Town of Bethlehem (v. 1/4)
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we
see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the
silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the
everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are
met in thee tonight.
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (v. 1/6)
While shepherds watched their flocks by
night
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
Away in a Manger (v. 1/3)
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet
head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down
where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
Silent Night (v. 1/3)
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 (v. 2/3)
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight:
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing Hallelujah,
Christ the Saviour is born,
Christ the Saviour is born.
Silent Night (v. 3/3)
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.
!
Merry Christmas, and
Blessings for the New Year!