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Please contact the Pastor directly by text or phone with prayer requests. Pastor Nathan will be prudent in offering prayers i.e. “For First name only, in need of healing”; “For First name only, comfort in grief” etc. Please contact the pastor directly with news of those needing extra pastoral care.
The Way for Worship at Trinity United Church of Christ
“Beauty” Christmas Day
December 25, 2022 10am
Gathering with Music and Lighting of the Altar Candles Joy to the World NCH 132
Greetings and Announcements
Call to Worship Hark! The Herald Angels Sing NCH 135
Invocation
God with us, we open our hearts and souls to the beauty of your kindom. We seek to hear the precious news once again that we might be continually renewed, transformed, and awed by your abundant love, everlasting peace, miraculous hope, and quenchless joy. May our praise and prayers be pleasing to you. May our lives reflect the beauty you have birthed in us. Amen.
Anthem
Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Eternal God, you have made all things beautiful, yet all too often our attention is arrested by the ugliness of the world. The cruelty of humanity toward one another and creation overwhelms us in its depth and persistence. So often we revel in acrimony and discord and reject the beloved community you invite us to join and co-create with you. We pursue power and popularity over your presence. But you enter into our lives with good news, redeeming hope, and contagious joy. Help us to choose your way every day as we do this day. May the beauty of Christmas be the good news that carries us and empowers us toward new life in you.
Instrumental What Child is This
Words of Grace
Jesus entered and enters creation in the midst of particular circumstances. God does not avoid the realities of our lives but abides with us and invites us to a journey toward our redemption and that of the world. The beauty of the Holy One’s grace radiates, and the ugliness cannot overcome it. The good news is that rather than judgment, Christ offers a companion on the journey whose love endures forever.
Hymn of Grace Angels We Have Heard on High NCH 125 v. 1, 2, 4
Invitation to Generosity http://www.PayPal.me/CommaChurch
Praise Response Go Tell It On the Mountain
Prayer of Dedication and Thanksgiving
Generous God, we give thanks for all the beautiful resources you have given to us. Let these gifts bring glory and honor to you and beauty and peace to your creation. Amen.
Benediction “The Work of Christmas” by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.
Go in hope, peace, joy, and love…to spread the beauty of Christmas.
Postlude
Beauty: Service Prayers for Christmas Eve/Day was written by The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology, United Church of Christ.
The poem, “The Work of Christmas” is excerpted from Howard Thurman’s The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations and is used by permission of Friends United Press. All rights reserved.
Celebrations in December
25 Joann S.
27 Michelle C.
28 Sarah N.
30 Jim & Danielle
In Need of Prayers
– Family of Madorin
– Bob’s Dad
– Ashleigh’s grandmother
– Pat L.
– Helena’s dad
– Ralf T.
– Antonio
– Cindy R.
– Rev. Alan M.
– Revs. Jerry and Marion
– Raleigh NC
– Palestine/Israel
– Ukraine/Russia
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