Merry Christmas!

What a year this is!  We hope that you are well and staying safe as this COVID variant runs through our world.  It is affecting so many and we need to take care of one another.

One of the gifts of faith is that we are loved by God in all that happens – it is the Apostle Paul who writes to the Romans:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In spite of a pandemic, the world will still celebrate the birth of the Christ child.  The angels will still sing.  The star will still shine.  God’s love will be born anew!

But some things will not be as we planned.

As of today, there will not be an in-person Christmas Eve service at Transcona Memorial , nor will there be a ZOOM with a live-stream.  Instead, there is this Worship at Home.

If you are celebrating at home, and lighting the Christ candle of your Advent wreath, we offer this prayer and music.

We begin with our land acknowledgement:
We are gathered for worship and work in Treaty One territory, which is the traditional land of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dené peoples and the homeland of the Metis Nation. For thousands of years Indigenous Peoples walked this land and knew it to be the centre of their lives and their spirituality. We respect the Treaties that were made on these territories, we acknowledge the harms and mistakes of the past, and we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.

This is the night of angel song
This is the night of Bethlehem birth!
This is the night that Christ is born!
O Holy Night!

Hark the Herald Angels Sing:

Let us pray:  God, on this silent, holy night, we listen to the story of shepherds and angels and Mary and Joseph. We listen to the story of the birth of Jesus. We listen and we worship to have our faith renewed as we open our lives to Your love and blessing.  AMEN

We light the Christ candle of the Advent wreath as we sing:
Verse 5 of A Candle is Burning:

Carol reads Luke 2:1-20

Away in a Manger:

Jeff tells the story of Rev. Julie.  The Year of the ‘TV Evangelist’ is part of an ongoing tradition of Rev. Julie stories told on Christmas Eve.

Printable Version:
Rev Julie Christmas Eve 2021

Let us pray: 

Holy God,
you gather us with the song of angels and by the light of the star of promise.
You lead us not only to hope for the future,
but to trust in your presence in every time and place.

God of All, we thank you for all your gifts to us this Christmas Eve.

We thank you for calling us to be your people and to live your love in this world.
We need your gift of courage as we face another year of restrictions and cancellations.
Hear us as we pray.
For those who are sick with COVID, and all who grieve the many deaths from COVID throughout our world, may you give healing and hope.
For those who are sick OF this pandemic and all that it brings, my you give love and encouragement.
For those who are afraid, may you give courage.
For those suffering conflict and fear, may you bring peace.
For those who long for food and water, may they be filled.
For those who long for justice, may it be fulfilled.

O God, hear us as we pray for ourselves and our community.
That those working in healthcare may know strength in this COVID surge
That those sick at home or in hospital and in care feel your strength.
That those who are alone and anxious feel you near.
That those who are ill in body and in spirit be comforted.
That our friends and family be blessed by healing and love.

Guide us this night, as we come to the Bethlehem stable.
Lead us to the mangers of this world,
where uncertainty and life mingle together.
Help us to join the chorus of the angels who proclaim ‘fear not’ as we live care for one another.
Be with us on this most wondrous of nights, we ask in Jesus’ name

And we pray tonight saying the words that Jesus taught his disciples
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil,
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
Forever, and ever,
Amen.

Our closing hymn is “Silent Night”

May the light of the Christmas star shine in your heart
and bring you hope, peace, joy and love,
today and always.

Amen.

We keep you in our prayers,
Carol and Jeff