Daily Archives: December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

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From our family to yours, our prayer is that you have a wonderful Christmas. Let’s celebrate the season of God with us.

Merry Christmas from the Argot family. May God bless you…everyone!

Christmas Night

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

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Nativity of the Lord – Proper III
December 24 & 25, 2007

Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Hebrews 1:1-12
John 1:1-14

We finished our Lessons and Carols service last night with this verse. I’ll share it without commentary:

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 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.

Nativity of our Lord

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

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December 25, 2007

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.
6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 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.
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 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.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 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.

Christmas Eve Traditions

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

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As has been the format for the last several years, today I worked at Radioshack till mid-afternoon. Pam and the kids went to McDonald’s for lunch.

Then we gathered at the church at 5 for our lesson and carols service. After wishing the congregation Merry Christmas, we came home and had our traditional Christmas Eve snack. On Christmas eve, we also have the children open up their presents to each other and to mom and dad. Mom and dad also exchange presents.

To cap off the night, we watched “Miracle on 34th Street” together. After the movie, Pam and I put out the gifts from “Santa.” It is fun that all the kids still go along with this. Yes, we have taught our children that there was a real person named St. Nicholas and he was a benevolent person, doing good and giving gifts to those who couldn’t afford it.

Tomorrow morning the traditions continue, as we will wake up early, before the sun comes up and open presents and then have dad’s famous breakfast scrambles. (It’s a Rachel Ray recipe, but the kids love it.) I’m looking forward to a resting day and spending it with the family. It has been a great day!

Lessons and Carols

25 Tuesday Dec 2007

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I was introduced to a Lesson and Carol Christmas Eve service several years ago while I was the pastor at Fort Miller Wesleyan. We were invited by a fellow pastor to come share Christmas Eve services with them. I was taken with the format and looked forward to trying it sometime in a church I pastored.

From Wikipedia:

The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is a format of Christian worship service celebrating the birth of Jesus and traditionally followed at Christmas. The story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in nine short Bible readings, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols and hymns.

The format was based on an Order drawn up by E.W. Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury, for Christmas Eve (December 24) 1880 in Truro. It has since been adapted and used by other churches all over the world. In the UK, the service has become the standard format for schools’ Christmas carol services.

We have used this format for our last two Christmas eve services here at Preston. We had 25 show up tonight. Considering the first year we tried it we only had 13 and five were the pastor’s family, I thought we had a good turnout. I really like starting out the Christmas season that way. We offer an early service (5:00 PM) so that we can begin worshiping Christ and then go home and celebrate the birth with our families.

I had planned to use the projector for the service, but Powerpoint had some issues. Now I know why I like EasyWorship. So, we backed up and punted and sang out of the hymnal and I sang the couple songs that weren’t in the hymnal. We had a trio sing one of my favorite Christmas songs (In The First Light) and they did an excellent job. The service concluded with a traditional candlelight service while we sang Silent Night. A very good night indeed!

If you’re interested in the format, here’s what we used:

Welcome and Introduction
Opening Song “Once In King David’s Royal City”

Lighting of the Christ Candle: Titus 2:11-14

First Lesson Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19
Carol “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”

Second Lesson Genesis 22:15-18
Carol “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

Third Lesson Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
Congregational Song “His Name is Wonderful”

Fourth Lesson Isaiah 11:1-4a
Carol “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”

Fifth Lesson Luke 1:26-35, 38
Special Music “Mary’s Boy Child”

Sixth Lesson Luke 2:1-7
Carol “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

Seventh Lesson Luke 2:8-16
Carol “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night”

Eighth Lesson Matthew 2:1-11
Carol “As With Gladness Men of Old”

Ninth Lesson John 1:1-14
Carol “Joy to the World”

Special Music: “In the First Light”

Candlelighting
Carol: “Silent Night”

Benediction

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