December 18, 2024 Blue Christmas
Bulletin
Liturgy
Liturgy for the Longest Night/ Blue Christmas service
December 18, 2024
Prelude
Cynthia Hibbetts
Welcome
Rev. David Petty
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, we warmly welcome you to this Blue Christmas service. While the rest of the world seems to be celebrating the joyous occasion, we come to the manger realizing this not a time of joy for everyone. Our feelings of loneliness and loss can overwhelm while our hearts cry out: “Help us be strong; help us.” I invite each of you this evening not to hide or suppress those feelings, but to embrace them, realizing that they bring you much closer to the real Christmas story.
Hymn
How Can We Sing a Joyful Song?
("Though I May Speak")
1. How can we sing
a joyful song?
O God, our sorrows
hem us in.
When pain and grief
seem all too strong,
How can we sing
a joyful hymn?
2. The world around
finds songs to sing
Of laughter, mirth
and happiness,
But these sound false
and even sting
When what we
feel is deep distress.
3. And yet, O God,
we dare to sing
For in our grief,
we're not alone.
You love this world
and entered in
By sending us
your only Son.
4. You sent us hope
— Emmanuel!
O God-with-us,
you bore our pain.
And so we sing,
for all is well!
In Christ, we will
be whole again.
Greeting
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
Leader: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And also with you.
Leader: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow, a light has shone. For the yoke that was weighing upon them, and the burden upon their shoulders, you have broken in pieces, 0 God, our Redeemer.
Let us pray:
People: God of mercy, hear our prayer in this Advent season for ourselves and for our families who live with painful thoughts and memories. We ask for strength for today, courage for tomorrow and peace for the past. We ask these things in the name of your Christ, who shares our life in joy and sorrow, death and new birth, despair, and promise. Amen.
Solo
Hope
Kristina Kafka
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 40:1, 25-31
CLM Twinkle Gordon
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Scripture Reading
Psalm 121
Rev. David Petty
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 5:3-12
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God.
Chant
Dominick Nors
A LITURGY OF REMEMBRANCE
First Candle:
Rev. David Petty
The first candle we light to remember those persons whom we have loved and lost. We pause to remember their name, their voice, their face, the memory that binds them to us in this season. We hold them before God, giving thanks for their lives in ours. Please take a moment to remember those who have died. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts…
All: Lord, each of us takes our loved one by the hand and leads them to you, the God of love. Here we present them to you. Accept our love and thanksgiving as we entrust them to your loving care. We want our loved ones to be free at home with you. Thank you for the gift each of these people has been in our lives. We want to believe that we will celebrate the treasure of love with them again, when we are all in your presence forever.
May this truth sustain us in the days to come. Take our sad and aching hearts and comfort us. Comfort us, for we only feel hollowness and emptiness. God of sorrowing, draw near! Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Second Candle:
CLM Twinkle Gordon
The second candle we light is to redeem the pain of loss; the loss of relationships, the loss of jobs with the security they bring, the loss of health in ourselves or in family members, the loss of joy and peace in our lives from the stresses which surround us, the loss and loneliness we experience when our loved ones do not share our faith.
As we gather up the pain of the past we offer it to you, O God, asking that into our open hands you will place the gift of peace. Please take a moment to remember the losses. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts…
All: God of mystery, we turn our hearts to you. We come before you in need of peace, grateful for the mystery of life and ever keenly aware of your promises of guidance and protection.
We want to place our trust in you, but our hearts grow fearful and anxious. We forget so easily that you will be with us in all that we experience. Teach us to be patient with the transformation of our lives and to be open to the changes which we are now going through. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Third Candle:
Rev. David Petty
The third candle we light for those who experience a loss of direction in their lives. God of the Exodus, you led Moses and your people through the wilderness to a new land. Hear our prayer. We want so much to have a sense of direction, to know where we are and where we ought to be headed. But the darkness and the questions stay.
You ask us to be full of faith, to believe deep within that you are our signpost, that you are our wisdom and our guide, and to trust in your presence. Your words to us are clear: “Do not fear, I go before you.”
All: God of our depths, we cry out to you to be our guide. Help us to have a strong sense of inner direction and grant that we may have the reassurance of knowing that we are on the right path. Take our lives and use them according to your will. Take all that is lost in us and bring it home with you. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Fourth Candle:
CLM Twinkle Gordon
The fourth candle we light as a sign of hope, the hope that the Christmas story offers to us. We remember that God, who shares our life, promises us a place and time of no more pain and suffering.
All: O God whose spirit is known by those whose hearts are thankful, and who makes cheerfulness a companion of strength, lift up our hearts, we pray, to a joyous confidence in your care. Guide us when we cannot see the way.
Teach us to know that a shadow is only a shadow, because the light of eternal goodness shines behind the object of our fears. Where there is love in life, teach us to find it; help us to trust it and enable us to grow in the power of love.
So may our lives bring comfort and encouragement to others. We ask it, in the name of Jesus Christ whose life is our light. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Lighting of Individual Candles
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
Each of us comes bearing our own hurts, sorrows, broken places. I want to invite each of you to offer your personal wound to the God who loves each of us deeply and wants to carry our pain.
God waits patiently, gently calling out: “Give me your pain, come to me… all who labour and are heavy laden, I will refresh you!”
I invite you now to light your candle. As you light the candle, remember that it is God who lights a candle in our darkness and holds us close until we are able to shine.
These lights in their brightness are only symbols, but as they burn and finally go out, we remember that suffering passes, though memory remains forever.
Solo
The Goodness of God
Kristina Kafka
Benediction
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
The life our Lord Jesus Christ, who lived and suffered and died for the sake of all suffering and hurting humans, yesterday, today, and tomorrow; the peace of God, which passes all understanding; and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit supporting and encouraging you, be with you through this season of the longest night. Amen.
December 18, 2024
Prelude
Cynthia Hibbetts
Welcome
Rev. David Petty
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, we warmly welcome you to this Blue Christmas service. While the rest of the world seems to be celebrating the joyous occasion, we come to the manger realizing this not a time of joy for everyone. Our feelings of loneliness and loss can overwhelm while our hearts cry out: “Help us be strong; help us.” I invite each of you this evening not to hide or suppress those feelings, but to embrace them, realizing that they bring you much closer to the real Christmas story.
Hymn
How Can We Sing a Joyful Song?
("Though I May Speak")
1. How can we sing
a joyful song?
O God, our sorrows
hem us in.
When pain and grief
seem all too strong,
How can we sing
a joyful hymn?
2. The world around
finds songs to sing
Of laughter, mirth
and happiness,
But these sound false
and even sting
When what we
feel is deep distress.
3. And yet, O God,
we dare to sing
For in our grief,
we're not alone.
You love this world
and entered in
By sending us
your only Son.
4. You sent us hope
— Emmanuel!
O God-with-us,
you bore our pain.
And so we sing,
for all is well!
In Christ, we will
be whole again.
Greeting
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
Leader: The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
People: And also with you.
Leader: The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in a land of deep shadow, a light has shone. For the yoke that was weighing upon them, and the burden upon their shoulders, you have broken in pieces, 0 God, our Redeemer.
Let us pray:
People: God of mercy, hear our prayer in this Advent season for ourselves and for our families who live with painful thoughts and memories. We ask for strength for today, courage for tomorrow and peace for the past. We ask these things in the name of your Christ, who shares our life in joy and sorrow, death and new birth, despair, and promise. Amen.
Solo
Hope
Kristina Kafka
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 40:1, 25-31
CLM Twinkle Gordon
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel,
‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Scripture Reading
Psalm 121
Rev. David Petty
I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.
The Word of God for the people of God.
All: Thanks be to God.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 5:3-12
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God.
Chant
Dominick Nors
A LITURGY OF REMEMBRANCE
First Candle:
Rev. David Petty
The first candle we light to remember those persons whom we have loved and lost. We pause to remember their name, their voice, their face, the memory that binds them to us in this season. We hold them before God, giving thanks for their lives in ours. Please take a moment to remember those who have died. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts…
All: Lord, each of us takes our loved one by the hand and leads them to you, the God of love. Here we present them to you. Accept our love and thanksgiving as we entrust them to your loving care. We want our loved ones to be free at home with you. Thank you for the gift each of these people has been in our lives. We want to believe that we will celebrate the treasure of love with them again, when we are all in your presence forever.
May this truth sustain us in the days to come. Take our sad and aching hearts and comfort us. Comfort us, for we only feel hollowness and emptiness. God of sorrowing, draw near! Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Second Candle:
CLM Twinkle Gordon
The second candle we light is to redeem the pain of loss; the loss of relationships, the loss of jobs with the security they bring, the loss of health in ourselves or in family members, the loss of joy and peace in our lives from the stresses which surround us, the loss and loneliness we experience when our loved ones do not share our faith.
As we gather up the pain of the past we offer it to you, O God, asking that into our open hands you will place the gift of peace. Please take a moment to remember the losses. I invite you to name them, aloud or in the silence of your hearts…
All: God of mystery, we turn our hearts to you. We come before you in need of peace, grateful for the mystery of life and ever keenly aware of your promises of guidance and protection.
We want to place our trust in you, but our hearts grow fearful and anxious. We forget so easily that you will be with us in all that we experience. Teach us to be patient with the transformation of our lives and to be open to the changes which we are now going through. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Third Candle:
Rev. David Petty
The third candle we light for those who experience a loss of direction in their lives. God of the Exodus, you led Moses and your people through the wilderness to a new land. Hear our prayer. We want so much to have a sense of direction, to know where we are and where we ought to be headed. But the darkness and the questions stay.
You ask us to be full of faith, to believe deep within that you are our signpost, that you are our wisdom and our guide, and to trust in your presence. Your words to us are clear: “Do not fear, I go before you.”
All: God of our depths, we cry out to you to be our guide. Help us to have a strong sense of inner direction and grant that we may have the reassurance of knowing that we are on the right path. Take our lives and use them according to your will. Take all that is lost in us and bring it home with you. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Fourth Candle:
CLM Twinkle Gordon
The fourth candle we light as a sign of hope, the hope that the Christmas story offers to us. We remember that God, who shares our life, promises us a place and time of no more pain and suffering.
All: O God whose spirit is known by those whose hearts are thankful, and who makes cheerfulness a companion of strength, lift up our hearts, we pray, to a joyous confidence in your care. Guide us when we cannot see the way.
Teach us to know that a shadow is only a shadow, because the light of eternal goodness shines behind the object of our fears. Where there is love in life, teach us to find it; help us to trust it and enable us to grow in the power of love.
So may our lives bring comfort and encouragement to others. We ask it, in the name of Jesus Christ whose life is our light. Amen.
Song
Stay with Me
TFWS #2198
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Stay with me,
remain here with me,
watch and pray,
watch and pray.
Lighting of Individual Candles
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
Each of us comes bearing our own hurts, sorrows, broken places. I want to invite each of you to offer your personal wound to the God who loves each of us deeply and wants to carry our pain.
God waits patiently, gently calling out: “Give me your pain, come to me… all who labour and are heavy laden, I will refresh you!”
I invite you now to light your candle. As you light the candle, remember that it is God who lights a candle in our darkness and holds us close until we are able to shine.
These lights in their brightness are only symbols, but as they burn and finally go out, we remember that suffering passes, though memory remains forever.
Solo
The Goodness of God
Kristina Kafka
Benediction
Pastor Donnie Sturgill
The life our Lord Jesus Christ, who lived and suffered and died for the sake of all suffering and hurting humans, yesterday, today, and tomorrow; the peace of God, which passes all understanding; and the presence of God’s Holy Spirit supporting and encouraging you, be with you through this season of the longest night. Amen.
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