Christmas Morning, December 25, 2022 Rev. Karen Hollis

Christmas Morning, December 25, 2022 Rev. Karen Hollis Musician: Dorothy Dittrich

We acknowledge these lands upon which we worship are the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.

Whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey,

you are welcome here!

* please stand as you are able

We Gather in God’s Presence

Prelude

Welcome 

If you are gathering in person, on zoom or worshipping at home with the bulletin, welcome! We are one community, one in the body of Christ. 

Land Acknowledgment & Announcements

Centering & Stillness

*Greeting                                                                    
One:  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, 

          and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

All:     And also with you

*Call to Worship                                                                                                             enfleshed

One:  Our souls magnify the Holy among us!

All:    Our spirits rejoice in the Way-Making God!

One:  For God regards us with compassion and calls creation blessed.

All:    God’s mercy echoes through generations.

One:  God scatters the imagination of the proud

All:    into open fields of solidarity.

One:  God puts down the mighty from their seats

All:    and exalts those who care for their neighbors and planet home.

One:  God nourishes the hungry

All:    and sends exploiters away with empty spirits.

One:  Our souls magnify the Holy among us!

All:    Our spirits rejoice in the Way-Making God!

Opening Prayer                                                                                                            enfleshed

Wisdom of Christ, you come to us as a baby, reminding us that we depend on one another for flourishing. You were noticed by shepherds, workers reaching for expansive ways of living. Animals gathered round you--they, our siblings in wonder. Thank you that you are a God of the stables and not of the halls of power. Thank you for being with us instead of above us. Teach us your gentleness. Teach us your radical communion with all things. Amen.

Carol: Jesus, Our Brother                                                                                 VU #56

We Hear God’s Word

Reader: By the gift of your Spirit, calm and quiet our souls that we may hear your Word today and be lifted up to walk with you. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen

First Reading: Isaiah 62:6-12 (NRSV)                                     Reader: David Soy

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest, and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it renowned throughout the earth. The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink the wine for which you have labored; but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in my holy courts. Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. The LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, "See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." They shall be called, "The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD"; and you shall be called, "Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken."

Psalm 97 (VU p.817)                                                                                      Reader: David Soy

Gospel Reading                                                                                      Reader: David Soy

As is your custom, please stand or sit for the reading of the gospel. 

Reader:           God be with you.         

All:      And also with you.

Reader:           The Good News of Jesus Christ according to Luke.

All:         Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:8-20 (Inclusive Bible) There were shepherds in the area living in the fields and keeping nightwatch by turns over their flock. The angel of God appeared to them, and the glory of God shone around them; they were very much afraid. The angel said to them, “You have nothing to fear! I come to proclaim good news to you – news of a great joy to be shared by the whole people. Today in David’s city, a saviour – the Messiah – has been born to you. Let this be a sign to you: you’ll find an infant wrapped in a simple cloth, lying in a manger. Suddenly, there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in high heaven! And on earth, peace to those on whom God’s favour rests.” When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see this event that God has made known to us.” They hurried and found Mary and Joseph, and  the baby lying in the manger; once they saw this, they reported what they had been told concerning the child. All who heard about it were astonished at the report given by the shepherds. Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds went away glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as they had been told.

       Reader: This is the Gospel of Christ.   

       All:        Praise be to Jesus Christ       

Reflection                                          Angels             

silence for reflection

*Carol: Angels We Have Heard on High                                                    VU #38

We Respond to God’s Word

*Affirmation of Faith:

You are the new song.

You are the next beat in my heart.

You are the praise and possibility. 

You are the present and the future.

I believe the Light of the World has come this day. 

I see it now in all days. 

Those gone and those to come aflame in love.

Your love wrapped in human form,

Your love learned in justice and in mercy,

Your love risen over death.

I believe love has come on this day.

I believe love has and will always come.                                             

Prayers of the People                                                                                 Betty Schultze

One:  Loving God

All:    Hear Our Prayer

Passing of the Peace 

Christ is born among us this day – let us stand as we are able and share the peace he brings!

One:    The peace of Christ be with you! 

All:      And also with you!

You are invited to turn to those directly around you and share Christ’s peace. Those on zoom, please unmute and share with one another.       4

Invitation to Offering

Hope is a muscle. Hope is a practice. Hope is a disposition of the heart. It is stubborn and determined. It is the field of our shared dreams. So let us co-create hope this Christmas day, collecting our gifts and offering them to God and each other.

*Doxology                                                                                                                                       CP #669

Praise God the Source of life and birth,

Praise God the Word, who came to earth.

Praise God the Spirit, holy flame.

All Glory, honour to God’s name.

*Offering Prayer                                                                                                    enfleshed

Nurturing One, as a baby needs food, shelter, and love, we offer the same to each other. Bless our offerings to the children in our communities and the inner child, alive in our own spirits. All people deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. They deserve safety, play, and connection. Protect us as we undo systems of harm and guide us as we dream-up ways of compassionate care. Amen.                         

*The Great Thanksgiving                                                   Islands Liturgy, adapted

One:  God be with you                        

All:    And also with you

One:  Lift up your hearts         

All:    We lift them to God

One:  Let us give thanks to God most high           

All:    It is right to give God thanks and praise

Creator of all that is, Mother of life itself, 

by your hand we were formed.

You made us relational.

You created us to thrive – not alone, but together.

You shaped the entire cosmos so that every form of life depends on another. You never intended for us to power through these lives alone.

You made us strong and resilient people, but equally vulnerable and dependent on you, the earth, and all our neighbors.

You gifted us with the need to rely on one another,

bone of each other’s bone, flesh of each other’s flesh.

In your wisdom, you created us with both desire and need to be in community.

Therefore we join our voices with your people on earth and all the company of the heavens, singing praise to you,  

Sanctus:                                                                                                  MV #203

O Holy, holy, holy God, O God of time and space.

All earth and sea and sky above bear witness to your grace

Hosanna in the highest heav’n, creation sings your praise.

And blessed is the One who comes and bears your name always!

In our longing for your presence with us, we often expect your arrival in traditional places of power. We seek our hope and salvation in the false promises of dominance and might. But instead, you brought us salvation through vulnerability. You too became bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. God, in the form of a baby, you made yourself dependent on us. An infant, revealing the transformative power of giving and receiving love through human flesh.

Throughout the life of Jesus, we saw lives transformed by your willingness to make yourself vulnerable. And yet, the same vulnerability also came at a price. Though some fed you and raised you and befriended you, others persecuted you to the point of death. Seeking to eradicate their own feelings of vulnerability, those in power preyed on yours . . . still, today, we often crucify the ones who dare to risk it all on love.

On the night of his arrest, Jesus shared a meal with his companions. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said:

“This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

After the meal, he took the cup, blessed it, and shared it saying:

“This cup that is poured out is the new covenant.”

In remembrance of all you have done to save us,

we proclaim the mystery of our faith:

Christ was birthed among us.

Christ was killed among us.

Christ rises again among us. 

Pour out your Spirit on these gifts, O God. Give us a taste of resurrection hope that lasts through even the most challenging of relational betrayals. Meet us today in the bread and cup of your table and shine your transforming light on our lives.

In collective longing for a taste of your Kindom on earth, we join together in echoing the prayer of Jesus:

Lord’s Prayer                                                                                                                          VU #959

Our Father in heaven, 

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come, 

your will be done

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil,

for the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,

now and for ever. Amen

Breaking the Bread

One:  We break the bread of life, and that life is the light of the world.

All:    God is here among us, 

          light in the midst of us, bring us to light and life.

One: These are the gifts of God for the people of God.

All:    Thanks be to God.

One:  Let us all who are gathered here receive Christ in our hearts. Those gathered in the sanctuary are also invited to receive a wafer.

Please keep to your right as you process up behind the communion table to receive and continue around, back to your seat. If you prefer to remain in your seat and socially distanced, indicate so to the usher and you will be served in the pew. Gluten Free is available upon request.

Hymn: Away in a Manger                                                                                   VU #69

*Prayer after Communion 

Loving God, we recognize the ways you still make yourself vulnerable to us today. In gratitude for a taste of your Kindom, may our discipleship shape us into fierce protectors of the vulnerable, give us courage to practice our own vulnerability, and help us to honor the sacredness of our need for one another. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.

We Go Into The World

*Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to God from generation to generation, in the Church and in Christ Jesus, for ever and ever. Amen.                                     

*Benediction

For unto us a child is born,

for unto us the invitation to practice hope is given.

And the ways of oppression shall be on our shoulders,

but the Ways of Life shall lighten each other’s loads.

Hallelujah, God is with us!

Their Mercy echoes through generations.                                                      

*Carol: Go Tell It On The Mountain         VU #43

*Dismissal                                                                                                       Iona Community

One:  Let us go now in peace to love and serve the Lord.

All:    Thanks be to God! Alleluia!

Postlude