Order of Service - Christmas Eve, 6pm & 8pm
Date of Service:
December 24, 2016
December 24, 2016 Christmas Eve
6pm & 8pm
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*Gathering Hymn #253 O Come, All Ye Faithful John Francis Wade
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.
Lo, humble shepherds, hastening to his cradle,
Leaving their flocks in the fields, draw near.
We, too, with gladness, thither bend our footsteps;
O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ the lord.
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
“Glory to God! Glory in the highest!”
O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ the lord.
Prelude O Holy Night arr. Daniel Gledhill
Welcome
Chalice Lighting Kathleen Hogue (6pm)
Dr. Zanaida Robles (8pm)
*Carol #237 The First Noel arr. John Stainer
The first Noel, the angels did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay:
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the king of Israel.
They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the east, beyond them far:
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the king of Israel.
And by the light of that same star
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a king was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the king of Israel.
Story The Sounds of Christmas Kathleen Hogue
Welcoming Our Children
Responsive Reading #616 For So the Children Come
Leonard Cachola (6pm)
Cathie Gentile (8pm)
For so the children come
And so they have been coming
Always the same way they come
Born of the seed of a man and a woman
No angels herald their beginnings
No prophets predict their future courses
No wise men see a star to show where to find
The babe that will save humankind
Yet each night a child is born is a holy night
Parents –
sitting beside their children’s cribs
Feel glory in the sight of new life beginning
They ask, “Where and how will this new life end?
Or will it ever end?”
Each night a child is born is a holy night –
A time for singing
A time for wondering
A time for worshipping.
Selection Carol for a Child Elizabeth Sutton Benefiel
The Birth Luke 2:1-7
Sue Bickford (6pm)
Tom and Fred Kafka (8pm)
Carol #255 There’s a Star in the East Traditional
There’s a star in the east on Christmas morn,
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
It will lead to the place where the babe is born.
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Leave your ewes and leave your lambs
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Leave your sheep and leave your rams,
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Follow, follow, rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Follow the star of Bethlehem, rise up, shepherd, and follow.
If you hark to the angel’s holy word,
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
You’ll forget your flock, you’ll forget your herd.
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Leave your ewes and leave your lambs
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Leave your sheep and leave your rams,
Rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Follow, follow, rise up, shepherd, and follow.
Follow the star of Bethlehem, rise up, shepherd, and follow.
The Shepherds & the Angels Luke 2:8-14
The Burton Family (6pm)
Scott Roewe (8pm)
Selection A La Nanita Nana arr. Charlotte Lansberg
Pondering in Our Hearts Luke 2:15-19
Emma Stashin (6pm)
Linda Marten (8pm)
Christmas Prayer Now is the Moment of Magic Victoria Safford
Sharing Silence
Carol #244 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Richard Storrs Willis
It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, goodwill to all from heaven’s all gracious king.”
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come, with peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats o’er all the weary world.
Above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovering wing;
And ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.
But with the woes of war and strife the world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not the love song that they bring.
O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the angels sing!
For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years comes round the age of gold.
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.
Offering Alleluia Alan Hovhaness
Sharing the Light
Carol #251 Silent Night, Holy Night Franz Xaver Gruber
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,
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.
Closing Words
Carol #245 Joy to the World! Lowell Mason
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! the Savior reigns; let us our songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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.
He rules the world 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.
*Benediction
Musical Response Gloria Antonio Vivaldi
Extinguishing the Chalice
*Please stand in body or in spirit
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Service Notes
Thank you to our service participants: Bob Dietz, Tom Early, Nina Emerson, Tom Foretich, Barbara
Kernochan, Karl Lisovsky, Dan Patterson, Linda van Ligten, Greg Wood.
Refreshments after tonight’s services are provided by the Board of Directors and friends, with special
thanks to Jacki Weber, Emily Hero and all those who donated cookies and other goodies.
One hundred percent of our offering will go to the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) . OPCC
empowers people to rebuild their lives, with the goal of ending-- not simply managing -- human
suffering. OPCC is an independent, community-supported organization in which staff, volunteers and
clients work with mutual respect to address the effects of poverty, abuse, neglect and discrimination.
The agency's programs are designed to remove barriers to access the resources individuals need to
ensure their survival, end their victimization and improve their quality of life.
If you would like to make an additional gift to the church, please designate UU Santa Monica on your
check or mark UU Santa Monica on one of the small envelopes provided. You can also make a
one-time or monthly gift to the church at archive.uusm.org/make-a-donation.