Skip to main content

Christmas Eve: The Christ Candle

A candle liturgy that we will be using at our community carol service in Sandy Row this afternoon and perhaps at other services tomorrow based on Isaiah 9:2-7





VOICE 1:              The people stumbling in the dark have seen a great light;
VOICE 2:              on those living in the land shadows the light has dawned.
VOICE 1:              You have made the nation greater than they could imagine and increased their joy;
VOICE 2:              they rejoice before you   as people rejoice at a bountiful harvest,
VOICE 1:              the way that warriors rejoice when the battle is over and they have won.
VOICE 2:              For   you have shattered the shackles of oppression,
VOICE 1:              And torn the whip out of the tyrant’s hand.
VOICE 2:              Every soldier’s boot  and every garment soiled with blood will be burned;
VOICE 1:              All these symbols of sorrow will be fuel for the fire.
VOICE 2:              For a child is born for us;
VOICE 1:              a son has been given to us.
VOICE 2:              The responsibilities of government will rest on his shoulders.
VOICE 1:              He will be called, Wonderful Counsellor, Almighty God,
                                         Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
VOICE 2:              The greatness of his government and peace will know no end.
VOICE 1:              He will reign from David’s throne  and over that long promised kingdom,
VOICE 2:              Establishing on a firm footing and administering it with justice and righteousness,
VOICE 1:              from that time on and forever more
VOICE 2:              The Lord Almighty in his zeal will do all this.

All 5 candles are lit finishing with the central one.
Let us pray:
Lord we thank you for the gift of your Son come among us;
The light of your love dawning on us in the dark.
May we rejoice and be glad at his coming
And live our lives under his rule of love.
AMEN
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that ...
2 comments
Read more

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in: You tend the land and water it And the earth produces its abundance. You crown each year with your bounty, and our storehouses overflow with your goodness. The mountain meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are filled with corn; Your people celebrate your boundless grace They shout for joy and sing. from Psalm 65
3 comments
Read more

Living under the Empire... (2) Where is Babylon?

We were driving back from school last week, talking about books that we had been reading and my younger son, Ciaran, asked me "Where is Babylon?" I have to confess that my history is better than my geography, and I said that it no longer exists as an inhabited city, but its ruins were to the north west of the current capital of Iraq, Baghdad. When I checked however, I discovered that it is actually about 50 miles south of Baghdad and the modern town is the administrative centre of the province of Babil... But just as the modern city is but a shadow of the historic capital of 2 ancient empires, first under Hammurabi in the 18th century BCE and then the "Neo-Babylonian" empire (under Nebuchadnezzar etc) in the 6th century BCE, so the earthly Babylonian empire/s was/were fleeting in comparison to the enduring metaphorical idea of Babylon. The original Empire under Hammurabi was probably the ultimate origin of some of the early Biblical stories, including the ...
1 comment
Read more