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Christmas Pack #1
Alternatives Christmas Campaign

Worship Aids

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Alternatives Christmas Campaign

Worship Aids

Theme of Service

Theme of the Service: "Preparing to Celebrate the Birth of Christ"

SCRIPTURE LESSONS:

REFLECTIONS

"What is being described in this passage (Matt. 25) are the new kinds of human relationships which Jesus asks of his followers and which he made possible by his life, death and resurrection, These relationships are acted out in the form of giving and sharing  clothing, food, shelter, hospitality, time, energy and compassion    all components of celebration!

"Our goal, then, with respect to the task at hand, will be to set out to transform our celebrations in the image of the Matthew 25 vision. . . . In so doing we will hope to evolve celebration patterns which will be less commercial, less exploitative, less wasteful and expensive, while they are more personal, more joyful, more dedicated to sharing with the needy, and more open to the fostering of genuine community    SHALOM. If we can achieve this we will also have begun to withdraw our tacit cooperation from the systems which demean humankind and to give back to our earth the capacity to support her people!" (VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY STUDY/ACTION GUIDE, p. 24)

"We must try to live by the divine contrariness of Jesus. We need a rapidly increasing minority that is entirely counter suggestible, a minority that calls the bluff of the trend  setters, is a dead loss to the advertising agencies and poor material for the career advisers.... Our need is for men and women who are free with the freedom of Christ, free to ask the awkward questions that have occurred  to no one else, and free to come up with startling answers that no one else had dared to give." (ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, p. 69)

CALL TO WORSHIP

LEADER:
Welcome, sisters and brothers, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth    the one sent by the Creator to bring light into a dark world;
PEOPLE:
The Redeemer, who brings life in the midst of death.
LEADER:
The Liberator, who brings freedom and justice in the midst of oppression and injustice.
PEOPLE:
The Lord of All, who calls us to acts of discipleship, walking with others who are poor and hungry.
LEADER:
Let us praise the God of our ancestors who brings life, freedom, justice and desires for all creation to possess life in all its fullness.
OR
 
LEADER:
We have come to this place of worship as individuals, each with varied backgrounds, abilities, interests, and goals; yet we gather to celebrate community.
PEOPLE:
We are called to be the church in the world. We are not a building; we are people. We are not spectators; we are participants in this life which God gave us.
LEADER:
Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst."
PEOPLE:
Together we celebrate the presence of God with us   Emmanuel   because being many, in Christ we are one.

(Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, Mississippi)

INVOCATION

Gracious Spirit of God, we thank you that you came to earth in the body of a person. We thank you for the great human creative spirit that mirrors our own.

We celebrate the many traditions and customs that we have incorporated into our remembering of Christ's birth.

As we learn about these many experiences, help us all to remember that your mystery is greater than all these traditions.

Keep our love with your supreme creative gifts, not simply in these human creations.

In the name of the one whose birth we affirm. AMEN

(Kenneth Daniel, in Meredith S. Dregni's "Another Kind of Christmas")

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Forgive us, O Lord, for claiming to love you, then ignoring the needs of your children; for calling you our Parent, then denying our kinship with others of the human family; for singing the hymns of grace, and not being gracious with others, for making the claims of faith and not keeping faith with one another.

Forgive us, too, O Lord, when we seek justice and mercy without your wisdom and strength. Restore us to you, O Lord, and to one another. AMEN.

(adapted from Northminster prayer)

OR

God of our ancestors, God of our lives, God of the full and the hungry: We confess that we hear your call to sacrifice, as did our ancestor Abraham, yet we fail to respond faithfully. Sacrifice disturbs us and makes us uncomfortable, for we live in a society that promotes "getting" instead of "giving". Help us to face up to ourselves and to risk sacrifice for your sake and the sake of our brothers and sisters.

Spare us from self centeredness, selfishness, and greed, so that we might give ourselves to others and, thus, give ourselves to you. AMEN

(Worship Resource Guide II, Task Force on World Hunger, Presbyterian Church in the U.S.)

OR

ALL:
O Lord, You created the heavens and earth, You created us to be your children and to live together as members of your family. We confess that we do not act like your children:
LEADER:
Someone said, "I am hungry"
PEOPLE:
And we set up a task force.
LEADER:
Someone said, "I am thirsty"
PEOPLE:
And we told them that God helps those who help themselves,
LEADER:
Someone said, "I am a stranger"
PEOPLE:
And we talked about refugees.
LEADER:
Someone said, "I do not have any clothes"
PEOPLE:
And we had war bills to pay.
LEADER:
Someone said, "I am sick"
PEOPLE:
And we told them they shouldn't be.
LEADER:
Someone said, "I am in prison"
PEOPLE:
And we blamed it on the communists.
LEADER:
Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me."
PEOPLE:
Forgive our blindness in not seeing you in our sisters and brothers.
Forgive our refusal even to recognize "the least of these" as our sisters and brothers.
Forgive our insensitivity to their sufferings.
ALL:
Restore us by your grace, we beseech you. Renew our minds so we know whose we are, and who our brothers and sisters are. Give us courage so that, without excuse, we serve you by serving others, that we give to you by giving to others. In the name of Him who gave himself, even Jesus Christ. AMEN.

OFFERTORY PRAYER

O Lord, help us to order our lives better. Help us to use our gifts more industriously. Help us to turn from no one in need and see You in the hungry, the sick, the prisoners, the lonely. Help us each day to do some work of peace for You. In the name of Jesus. AMEN (Voluntary Simplicity Study/Action Guide)

PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Help us, O Lord, to be the instruments of your Love, that we may bring comfort to those who sorrow and joy to those who are regarded as persons of little account. In this country of many races, make us courteous to those who are humble and understanding to those who are resentful.

As for us, make us more joyful than we are, especially when this is needed for the sake of others. Help us learn to celebrate authentically with joy and thankfulness and in such a way that no one else is harmed. In the name of Him whose birth we celebrate. AMEN (Voluntary Simplicity)

HYMNS

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