Manuscript for the Christmas Service

 P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

 

INTROIT  Psalm 2:1–2, 4–6; antiphon: Liturgical Text

When all was still, and it was midnight,
your almighty Word, O Lord, descended from the royal throne.
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointed.
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

C Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

KYRIE LSB 186

C Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

 

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS LSB 187

P Glory be to God on high:

C and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee,

we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory.

O Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty.

O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ;

O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer.

Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.

For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord.

Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,

art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 

COLLECT OF THE DAY

 

P O God, You make this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light. Grant that as we have known the mysteries of that Light on earth we may also come to the fullness of His joys in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

  

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 9:2–7

² The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shined.
³You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
⁴For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
⁵For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
⁶For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

EPISTLE Titus 2:11–14

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹²training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

 

A This is the Word of the Lord.

 

 

HOLY GOSPEL

P The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the second chapter.

 

¹In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ¹⁰And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹²And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

 

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

 

APOSTLES’ CREED

 

359 LO, HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING

1 Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
    From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming
    As prophets long have sung,
It came, a flow’ret bright,
    Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

2 Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
    The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
    The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
    She bore to us a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

3 This flow’r, whose fragrance tender
    With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
    The darkness ev’rywhere.
True man, yet very God,
    From sin and death He saves us
And lightens ev’ry load.

4 O Savior, child of Mary,
    Who felt our human woe;
O Savior, King of glory,
    Who dost our weakness know:
Bring us at length we pray
    To the bright courts of heaven,
And to the endless day.

Text: Public domain

 

 

SERMON

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

“Isaiah twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind.” so we sing.

Isaiah certainly had a delightful job. He got to preach to the people of God that a Savior was coming. The Virgin would have a baby. That baby born would be the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. The Mighty God from heaven would come down to earth, and would be here, for us.

Isaiah’s job was to preach good news to people, a message that would be like a light shining in their darkness. This message here, is the greatest good news. This is the Gospel. “To us a Son is given.” This is the way God loved the world, he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life (John 3:16).

The Gospel is the message of the gift of God, Jesus born in Bethlehem, living on earth, dying for us poor sinners, rising again to be our Lord forever. Jesus is God’s Christmas gift to you.

Our Lord says, unless you have faith like the little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. Christmas is certainly a time to worship our Lord and believe in Him with child-like faith.

Children are good at faith and the living out of their faith. It’s easy for them to believe that a child was born to them, a Son was given to them. They get it. It’s a gift. When a child is given a gift, he or she takes it. It’s that simple. Grown-ups have complications and hang ups about getting gifts. Sometimes it can get awkward if you get a gift from someone and you didn’t get them anything. Or if someone gave you a big gift, and you got them something much smaller. 

Many of us agree with Jesus who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Of course, Jesus meant that as an encouragement to be generous. But we feel like we would rather be the giver than the receiver because when you are the giver, you are in control. When you receive a gift, you have no control of what’s coming, or how best to react. When you give a gift, you are in charge of what the other person is going to get, and when and where they get it. The one who is in charge get’s to decide, “Here. You can have this.” Or, “No. You can’t have that. You’ll probably put your eye out with that.” The more grown-up we get, the more we want to be in charge, the more uncomfortable it is when we are not in charge. But when you’re a child, you just take the gift. You think, “I don’t have to be in charge. I just get a gift.”

Forgive us Lord for all the times we want to be in charge. It is so much better when we let Him be in charge, because then, he gives us good gifts.

One of those who was supposed to be listening to Isaiah’s preaching way back then, was a man named Ahaz. He was the king. He thought he had everything in control. He was in charge. He thought he could control the nation, and control any foreign threats to the nation. But the Lord knew better. Ahaz was no match for enemy nations like Assyria. Ahaz should have listened to this promise about the Savior who would be born, the Prince of Peace, “the government shall be upon his shoulders” (Isaiah 9:6). That was a dig at King Ahaz. He would be a better king if he’d realize that the Lord is ultimately in control. We are all, low and high alike, dependent on the Lord. It is foolishly prideful to try to take all things on one’s own shoulders. The government was on the Lord’s shoulders.

So let me ask you, what’s on your shoulders? What’s the burden you’re bearing nowadays?

We are all given responsibilities we must tend to. We don’t want to be lazy and shirk our responsibilities. We don’t want to be foolish and miss the opportunities we have to work for good. But we take too much responsibility when feel the full burden on our shoulders. We need to stop pretending that we are in control of everything. We need to stop being embarrassed because there are some things that are out of our control. We need to take what is here given.

Those walking in darkness, need a light to shine. Those carrying heavy, crushing burdens, need someone to shoulder it up. Those dying need the Lord of life. Those who have sinned, need a Savior.

There is a gift, chosen by the good Giver of gifts. The Lord takes charge, he is in control of the whole situation and says, “Here, Take this. It is exactly what you need, a Savior.

to us a child is born, to us a son is given;

This flow’r, whose fragrance tender

    With sweetness fills the air,

Dispels with glorious splendor

    The darkness ev’rywhere.

True man, yet very God,

    From sin and death He saves us

And lightens ev’ry load.

Amen.

 

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Blessed God in Heaven, Father of us all, source of all wisdom and grace, you promised the people of old by the prophets, deliverance from condemnation and death. Now we your people, give you our fullest, humble, thanks and praise for remembering your covenant and fulfilling your promises in the gift of your Son Jesus Christ. We stand in awe at the miraculous gift from you that is our Savior Jesus Christ. That God, the Son of God, should take our mortal form for mortals’ sake, who can fully comprehend this wondrous mystery?

Dear Lord Jesus, although we have not deserved your attention and care, you continue to come to us and abide with us. As we gather together here in this your house, or listen in at a distance, strengthen and uplift us with your presence. Fill our hearts with gratitude and joy, hope and faith, that each one may find in you, the way of salvation, the remission of sins, the deliverance from every evil and fear and the assurance of eternal life.

O Holy Spirit, bless and watch over our loved ones who are distant from us, whom we can’t be with face to face. Remind them of your grace. Pour into them the joy and peace that comes from hearing and believing the Good news of a Savior, born for us.

Bless your people throughout the world, especially where fears or persecution is preventing the free preaching and hearing of the Gospel of Jesus. We pray that people everywhere, from pole to pole and from east west, may come to know and trust in the Son of Mary, the Son of God. Let this truth sink into the hardest of hearts and the most stubborn of minds. Let it shatter idolatries and ideologies. Let His Light pierce the darkness of all who dwell in the night of ignorance and the shadow of death.

Fill all homes with the glad tidings of great joy, that the true meaning of Christmas may be heard clearly by all children and parents so that they know the greatest gift of all, the Child of Bethlehem. Teach us each to consider all of our earthly blessings and earthly gifts as much less important and valuable than the eternal gift that is ours in Jesus, our Emanuel, God with us.

All this we pray in the name of Jesus, in whom alone is hope of salvation. Amen.

 

 

LORD’S PRAYER

C 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.

 

BENEDICTION

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and T give you peace.

C Amen.

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting Three from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2020 Concordia Publishing House.