CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE
DECEMBER 24, 2019
1) Video – “Nativity”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/nativity-5576-detail?ref=MediaSerps
2) Welcome & Opening Prayer Pastor Kratz
4) Reading: Luke 2:1-20 Roy Douglas
5) Carol – “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”: Roy Smyth
6) Video” Bethlehem Hope”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/bethlehem-hope-4869-detail?ref=MediaSerps
7) "Why All These Gifts?" Pastor Kratz
This Christmas Eve we pause to remember the real reason for this celebration of giving. We want to focus our thoughts on the greatest gifts ever given - those gifts given to us by God. One of those gifts is hope. Hope in scriptures is defined as a strong and confident expectation that what God has promised is true.
(Place gift of hope in place on platform) David Laird
7) The second gift is peace. Peace that passes all human understanding. The scriptural definition of peace is to be complete or to be sound. A gift that can only be truly found in Christ.
(Place gift of peace on platform) David Laird
a) Carol: “Silent Night” (English/German etc): Roy Smyth
8) The third gift is joy. Joy - not just a fleeting feeling, but an underlying joy that can be found even in our darkest moments.
(Place gift of joy on platform) David Laird
a) Carol – “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”: Roy Smyth
9) The fourth gift is love. A deep unconditional love, not one that is determined by our actions, but one given freely.
(Place the gift of love on platform) David Laird
Video – “A Prayer for Christmas Eve”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/a-prayer-for-christmas-eve-5558-detail?ref=MediaSerps
10) Lighting of the advent wreath candles – Advent Reading Mejia & Vanderknokke
Reader 1: This evening we gather to light the candles of the advent wreath. The lighting of the candles of the advent wreath is a tradition to help us prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth. The candles themselves remind us that Christ is the light that came into the world for our salvation. Each week we have remembered a different gift that has been given to us by our heavenly Father. Tonight, we light the Christ Candle – rejoicing that God has sent us the greatest gift of all in the form of His son – Jesus.
Reader 2: The first week of advent, we remembered the gift of hope. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:24 – “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Light the first purple candle)
Reader 1: The second week of advent, we remembered the gift of peace. Isaiah 26:3 – “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Light the second purple candle)
Reader 2: The third week of advent, we remembered the gift of joy. Jesus tells us in John 15:11 – “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (Light the pink candle)
Reader 1: The fourth week of advent, we remembered the gift of love. Psalms 36:5 – “Your steadfast love O Lord extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Light the third purple candle)
Reader 2: As we come now to Christmas Eve, we stop to remember the greatest gift of all – the gift of the baby Jesus.
Testimony - (Limit to 1-2 minutes)- Share a testimony of how Jesus’ birth has impacted you
Reader 1: Christ has come to bring us hope, peace, joy, and love – but even greater than all of these – salvation in Him. Isaiah 61:10 – “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Reader 2: This was recognized by the priest Simeon who blessed Jesus in the temple after his birth with these words from Luke 2:29-32: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Reader 1: It is only through the gift of Jesus that we can be saved. Acts 4:12 – “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Reader 2: Let us pray and give thanks for this gift of grace.
Prayer:
Our Gracious Father
We thank you for sending us the gift of the baby Jesus – born to free us from our wrongs. As we celebrate this Christmas Eve, we are in awe that you would humble yourself to not only come and live among us – but then become the sacrifice for our salvation. Thank you for this - the greatest of all gifts. Amen
11) This Christmas Eve let us celebrate the birth of the greatest gift ever given. Jesus, Son of God, left his home in heaven to pour himself out as a sacrifice for us. Our response is to yield our heart to Him. As you arrived, you were each given a heart to put your family name on. As we sing this next carol, you are welcome to place it in the plate that the ushers are passing around. God hears our prayers through Christ, and as a symbol of presenting our prayers to Him, you may write any prayer requests on the back before placing it in the manger.
(Ushers pass out collect hearts in offering place & pass out individual candles)
(Place the gift to Jesus in front of the manger) David Laird
12) Special Music: Safe Haven Christmas Choir
13) Message - Pastor Matt
"The Greatest Gift". Christmas Eve.
People often talk about things being the greatest. We mention how we've had the greatest time, ate the greatest meal and received the greatest gift. For something to be the greatest, like the greatest gift, by what standard do we measure that?
Christ is the greatest gift from God in many unique ways:
Our desire for you this Christmas is that you would receive this gift. We can't give it to you and you can't earn it. To receive this gift, it means that we recognize that we don't deserve it, and we receive it by faith. May this be the greatest Christmas for you. May you receive the greatest gift of Christ.
Merry Christmas, and God bless you.
14) Carol – “O Come O Come Emmanuel”: Roy Smyth
15) Thank you for joining us this Christmas Eve. As we close our evening together, our prayer is that you will open your heart to the gift of Jesus. Pastor Kratz
16) Closing prayer: Pastor Krat
DECEMBER 24, 2019
1) Video – “Nativity”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/nativity-5576-detail?ref=MediaSerps
2) Welcome & Opening Prayer Pastor Kratz
4) Reading: Luke 2:1-20 Roy Douglas
5) Carol – “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”: Roy Smyth
6) Video” Bethlehem Hope”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/bethlehem-hope-4869-detail?ref=MediaSerps
7) "Why All These Gifts?" Pastor Kratz
This Christmas Eve we pause to remember the real reason for this celebration of giving. We want to focus our thoughts on the greatest gifts ever given - those gifts given to us by God. One of those gifts is hope. Hope in scriptures is defined as a strong and confident expectation that what God has promised is true.
(Place gift of hope in place on platform) David Laird
7) The second gift is peace. Peace that passes all human understanding. The scriptural definition of peace is to be complete or to be sound. A gift that can only be truly found in Christ.
(Place gift of peace on platform) David Laird
a) Carol: “Silent Night” (English/German etc): Roy Smyth
8) The third gift is joy. Joy - not just a fleeting feeling, but an underlying joy that can be found even in our darkest moments.
(Place gift of joy on platform) David Laird
a) Carol – “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”: Roy Smyth
9) The fourth gift is love. A deep unconditional love, not one that is determined by our actions, but one given freely.
(Place the gift of love on platform) David Laird
Video – “A Prayer for Christmas Eve”
https://www.sermoncentral.com/church-media-preaching-sermons/sermon-video-illustrations/a-prayer-for-christmas-eve-5558-detail?ref=MediaSerps
10) Lighting of the advent wreath candles – Advent Reading Mejia & Vanderknokke
Reader 1: This evening we gather to light the candles of the advent wreath. The lighting of the candles of the advent wreath is a tradition to help us prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ’s birth. The candles themselves remind us that Christ is the light that came into the world for our salvation. Each week we have remembered a different gift that has been given to us by our heavenly Father. Tonight, we light the Christ Candle – rejoicing that God has sent us the greatest gift of all in the form of His son – Jesus.
Reader 2: The first week of advent, we remembered the gift of hope. The Bible tells us in Romans 8:24 – “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Light the first purple candle)
Reader 1: The second week of advent, we remembered the gift of peace. Isaiah 26:3 – “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Light the second purple candle)
Reader 2: The third week of advent, we remembered the gift of joy. Jesus tells us in John 15:11 – “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (Light the pink candle)
Reader 1: The fourth week of advent, we remembered the gift of love. Psalms 36:5 – “Your steadfast love O Lord extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.” (Light the third purple candle)
Reader 2: As we come now to Christmas Eve, we stop to remember the greatest gift of all – the gift of the baby Jesus.
Testimony - (Limit to 1-2 minutes)- Share a testimony of how Jesus’ birth has impacted you
Reader 1: Christ has come to bring us hope, peace, joy, and love – but even greater than all of these – salvation in Him. Isaiah 61:10 – “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
Reader 2: This was recognized by the priest Simeon who blessed Jesus in the temple after his birth with these words from Luke 2:29-32: “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Reader 1: It is only through the gift of Jesus that we can be saved. Acts 4:12 – “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Reader 2: Let us pray and give thanks for this gift of grace.
Prayer:
Our Gracious Father
We thank you for sending us the gift of the baby Jesus – born to free us from our wrongs. As we celebrate this Christmas Eve, we are in awe that you would humble yourself to not only come and live among us – but then become the sacrifice for our salvation. Thank you for this - the greatest of all gifts. Amen
11) This Christmas Eve let us celebrate the birth of the greatest gift ever given. Jesus, Son of God, left his home in heaven to pour himself out as a sacrifice for us. Our response is to yield our heart to Him. As you arrived, you were each given a heart to put your family name on. As we sing this next carol, you are welcome to place it in the plate that the ushers are passing around. God hears our prayers through Christ, and as a symbol of presenting our prayers to Him, you may write any prayer requests on the back before placing it in the manger.
(Ushers pass out collect hearts in offering place & pass out individual candles)
(Place the gift to Jesus in front of the manger) David Laird
12) Special Music: Safe Haven Christmas Choir
13) Message - Pastor Matt
"The Greatest Gift". Christmas Eve.
People often talk about things being the greatest. We mention how we've had the greatest time, ate the greatest meal and received the greatest gift. For something to be the greatest, like the greatest gift, by what standard do we measure that?
Christ is the greatest gift from God in many unique ways:
- We could look at how he was the greatest Prophet, Priest King, Shepherd, Sacrifice & saviour.
- But looking just at what we have seen tonight we can understand how he provided the greatest:
- Hope: Rooted in Character, promises and fulfillments.
- Peace: From being in a right relationship with God and which results in whole relationships with others.
- Joy: The gift of delight, even independent of circumstances.
- Love: Love motivated the Father to send the son who then both perfectly personified love and enabled us to love one another.
Our desire for you this Christmas is that you would receive this gift. We can't give it to you and you can't earn it. To receive this gift, it means that we recognize that we don't deserve it, and we receive it by faith. May this be the greatest Christmas for you. May you receive the greatest gift of Christ.
Merry Christmas, and God bless you.
14) Carol – “O Come O Come Emmanuel”: Roy Smyth
15) Thank you for joining us this Christmas Eve. As we close our evening together, our prayer is that you will open your heart to the gift of Jesus. Pastor Kratz
16) Closing prayer: Pastor Krat