Jesus is born into darkness,
a darkness that’s over the deep:
the deep sorrowing of our world,
the mourning over murdered children,
the soft sobbing of the hungry,
the wailing over bombed cities,
the despairing over a polluted earth,
the crying over our own sad stories.
On our darkest Christmas eve,
when we’ve forgotten what light looks like,
a baby is born. …
We give thanks to you God,
for the body of a tiny baby,
life and breath in a tiny ribcage.
Immanuel, God with us,
a promise of salvation.
We give thanks
for loving parents,
for the light of a star,
for the radiance of angels,
for the running feet of shepherds,…
May the God who gave us this year
and the Saviour who walked at our side each day
and the Spirit who filled us with life abundant,
grace the coming year with peace and hope and joy,
Amen.
he baby emerges
like every baby:
wet, naked and wrinkled,
mouth opening for breath,
lungs expanding like a wet butterfly,
fingers stretching, eyes blinking.
The first wailing cry.
Arms cradle,
hands touch each limb,
smoothing, cleaning, swaddling.
Two adults weak with relief,
ing a joyful song to the Lord,
sing carols for the birth of a saviour!
Raise your voices in praise to the Lord of hosts,
and give thanks with all your hearts!
Welcome to worship this morning,
it’s a delight to be in the house of God with you this morning!
Let’s pray together;
Thank you, God, for melodies and harmonies,
for voices of every pitch.
Thank you for composers and poets,
for instruments and musicians.
Thank you for ears to hear
and minds to comprehend
God of darkness, God of light,
God of stars and angels,
God of weary travellers and stables,
God of hard labour and new birth,
we come today to worship you.
Open our eyes to your glory,
open our ears to your wisdom
open our hearts to your love
as we come to worship
Jesus, our newborn Saviour.
O God, on this holy night,
we celebrate your birth among us as a human child.
We celebrate alongside Mary and Joseph,
who through their everyday work of parenting
became part of your story of salvation.
On the first Christmas, there was no room in the inn.
Protect with your love those in our community who have no home tonight,
who are living under bridges, in abandoned buildings or in hostels.
We pray especially for homeless families with babies,
who bear the fragility of new life in hard and anxious times.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory. [Isaiah 6:3 NRSV]
The Lord of hosts is with us.
Let us lift up our hearts!
We lift them up to the Lord!
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!
It is a good and joyful thing to give God thanks and praise!
Let us pray:
Holy God, we come together as your people
searching for sacred space,
longing to be cherished,
craving a real connection.
God, you created this cold and dark time of waiting,
where the sun is far away and our part of the world sleeps.
Thank you for trees whose structural beauty is revealed in nakedness,
and for evergreens, giving us pleasure in this gray season.
Thank you for snow, blanketing the earth in white.
Thank you for all the animals, snug in their winter beds,
and for birds which are travelling from Canada to tropical places.
Thank you for the harvest whose stored bounty we still enjoy;
root vegetables, apples, and even last spring’s harvest of maple syrup.
Thank you for the dark of night, and all the stars of heaven.
Thank you for the sound of the wind.
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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