December 24, 2025 Christmas Eve
CHIMING OF THE HOUR
WELCOME
The heavens tell of your glory this evening, O God. All creation sings for joy. For tonight we celebrate a birth that took place centuries ago, that tonight still brings to each of us great light and the promise of abundant life. We come this evening to experience the awe; to be amazed; and to hear the story again and make it our own. We come seeking the love and acceptance that Jesus our Christ promises, to make the story of Christ’s birth transformational in us and to create in us new life as well.
OPENING PRAYER
Holy One, as you came at night when all was still, so enter our lives this night. Illumine our paths with the light of Christ’s presence, that we may clearly see the way, the truth, and the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
CHORAL PRELUDE
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Bloomming” Praetorius
LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE
David & Judy Platt
In the ancient world, various peoples lit fires to mark the turning of the light into winter’s season and to pray for the return of the light. The church has Christianized that practice in the lighting of the Advent wreath. To us, these candles are signs of the growing light of Christ who is coming again in all fullness into the darkness of our world. Until the dawning of that great day, we watch and wait in the Holy Spirit for Christ’s coming into the darkness of our world, lighting candles of hope, peace, joy, and love, and remembering the promises of God with prayer.
After a greeting in the name of the Lord, the leader says:
We have watched; we have waited . . .
. . . in hope, Light the first candle.
. . . for peace, Light the second candle.
. . . in joy, Light the third candle (pink).
. . . with love. Light the fourth candle.
Now our redemption draws near! Light the Christ candle (white, center).
Sentences of Scripture may be read:
Year A, B, C Luke 2:10–11
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[a] the Lord.
The litany concludes with praise:
Glory to God in the highest!
Alleluia! Amen!
*HYMN No. 119 “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
1 Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn king.
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful all ye nations, rise;
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn king!”
2 Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate deity,
pleased in flesh with us to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn king!”
3 Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn king!”
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
We would make room for you this night of all nights, dear Lord:
room in our minds and hearts;
room also in our lives, whether together or apart.
Let your word be born in us anew, so that,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
your splendor shines in us and through us.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
ANTHEM “Awake! Sing Gloria!” Joseph Martin
SCRIPTURE: Luke 2:1-7 Eric Campo
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
HYMN NO. 121 “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
1 O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
2 For Christ is born of Mary
and, gathered all above,
while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
proclaim the holy birth,
and praises sing to God the king,
and peace to all on earth.
3 How silently, how silently,
the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
but in this world of sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
4 O holy child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us; abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!
SCRIPTURE Katherine Pepe-Coleman
Luke 2:8-14
8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
HYMN No. 113
“Angels We Have Heard on High”
1 Angels we have heard on high,
sweetly singing o’er the plains,
and the mountains in reply
echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
2 Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
SCRIPTURE: Luke 2:15-20 Larry Diehlman
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
HYMN NO. 114 “Away in the Manger”
1 Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
2 The cattle are lowing; the poor baby wakes,
but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus; look down from the sky,
and stay by my side until morning is nigh.
3 Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
close by me forever and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.
A CHRISTMAS STORY “Joyeux Noelle”
I love the story about Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist: A.J. Muste, who, during the Vietnam War, stood in front of the White House night after night with a candle – often times alone. A reporter interviewed him one evening as he stood there in the rain,
“Mr. Muste,” the reporter said, “do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a candle?”
J. responded, “Oh, I don’t do this to change the country. I do this so the country won’t change me.”
How many times have we felt like we were beating our heads against a wall with no results? How many times have our prayers felt unanswered? How many times have we come to a worship service and felt disconnected? How many times have we lit candles, and wondered if it made any difference?
Every year, around this time, we hear Scripture passages and sing beloved Christmas carols about “peace on earth and good will to men/women.” We light candles and sing “Silent Night, all is calm, and all is bright.” And it’s beautiful, perhaps even nostalgic for so many of us.
But does it really make any difference? You look at the world around us and you see all the unrest, violence, pain and brokenness. And you wonder…is peace really possible?
Or you look at our nation, still feeling the aftershocks of one of the most contentious election cycles in modern U.S. history. You’ve seen the deep divisions across the country, perhaps experienced them in your own communities, in your workplace and neighborhoods, maybe even in your own family. Is peace really possible?
Of course, we need not look around to see the signs of pain and brokenness. We look within ourselves, and we find the restlessness in our own hearts, the divisions within; we feel the ache, the longing for something more, for our lives to be well and whole. Is peace really possible?
We can pray for peace—within ourselves, our relationships, our nation and world. We can yearn for it. But after a while, you do wonder if you’re just talking to a wall. Is anyone listening? Or as one peace advocate put it, it can feel like you’re banging your head against a wall; and if you’re lucky, you might make a tiny crack. The walls that divide us are so strong…so strong.
The world is not the way it’s supposed to be. You didn’t need me to tell you that; you already know as much. Our lives are not the way they’re supposed to be. God has something else in mind.
It was on God’s mind in the beginning when our Lord went about creating the world and everything in it. A vision for shalom, yes that’s the word. It’s Hebrew and it gets translated as “peace,” but it means so much more than what we tend to think. So much more…
What’s it mean? Wholeness. Flourishing. Completeness. Interconnectedness of all things. The way things are intended to be. It means right relationship with God, right relationship with others, right relationship with all of creation.
But sin made a mess of things, disrupted this shalom, fractured the relationships. And up went the walls. Walls all around us; walls between us; walls within us. Our own hearts divided.
But God refuses to leave the world a mess, fractured and broken. God refuses to have a world with so many walls, so many divisions.
So, what does God do? God enters into the mess, the darkness, the brokenness. God comes to be with us among all the walls. God calls a people to be his covenant people—a light to the nations. Sometimes they live into this calling; much of the time they don’t. But God’s intent is to pull the world back together, break down the walls, restore his shalom…bring his peace – the peace that passes all understanding.
So, Isaiah prophesies about it. He talks about a child who will be a light in the darkness. A Messiah, a Savior, who will come to draw the world back together, draw people back to God, usher in God’s shalom, God’s peace for all people, for all the nations.
He has a name…Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…Jesus, which means “God saves.”
And he has a face… the scrunched up, ruddy face of an infant—so helpless and vulnerable, born into straw and poverty to a teenage mom and her fiancé.
And this infant is bringing another kingdom—the one Isaiah speaks of—in the line of David, Israel’s greatest king—a kingdom of peace, where righteousness and justice meet in peace, shalom.
A peace that is not just the absence of conflict but the presence of something…justice, beauty, goodness, wholeness…God’s very spirit. A peace in which the walls come down, and we can finally be at peace with God—forgiven and put back in right relationship. And we can experience peace with one another—overcome our divisions and move toward one another in love and understanding. And nations can beat their weapons into plough shares and stop warring against each other.
This child brings this peace, makes this peace which seems impossible… possible! The Swiss theologian Karl Barth called this the “impossible possibility”—a God who is able to do what we, in our own striving and effort—cannot do. This child who would grow up into a man, fully God and fully human, and who would lay down his life in a sacrifice of love. Only to bust forth from the tomb three days later and be crowned Lord of all. The impossible possibility. And now the world can really be different.
The apostle Paul declares it this way in Ephesians: “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one, broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us… He has come to create one new humanity, thus making peace…”
No wonder the angels sang out on that first Christmas day: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth—yes, it is really possible—on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
The movie Joyeux Noelle (2005) tells the true story of the famous “Christmas Eve Truce” of 1914. Kaiser Wilhelm II had sent thousands of Christmas trees to the front lines in order to boost the morale of the German troops. After the trees were set up over their trenches, in sight of the enemies’ lines, a German soldier began to sing the beloved Christmas hymn “Stille Nacht” (“Silent Night”). His strong tenor voice pierces the cold, wintery night as enemy armies sit in their trenches gripping their rifles.
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Soon the French and Scottish troops, huddled in their separate barracks, begin to sing along in their own languages. Then something remarkable happens. Slowly, soldiers from all sides began to climb out of their trenches, without their weapons. They engage each other in conversation, exchange gifts, and then participate in Christmas Eve mass together!
In the movie, a fictional character is added—a world-class soprano to sing along with the great tenor. It is the beauty of their singing—and the beauty of the gospel that made up the content of their song—that breaks through the political dividing walls of hostility, and unites these sworn enemies in joy and tears.
And so tonight is sung… (Hark the Herald Angels Sing, GTG No. 119 v. 3)
“Hail the Heaven born Prince of Peace! Hail the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.”
Hail the Heaven born Prince of Peace! In this child born in Bethlehem, a kingdom of peace has come. A kingdom of peace that is not yet here in completion. So, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us to join God in this work of peace he is doing in the world.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be sons and daughters of God. Let it begin with each of us. Let it begin within our own hearts. What is impossible for us is now made possible with God. May we honor the Prince of Peace on this holy night and into the new year!
A CHRISTMAS EVE PRAYER
Glory to you, O God,
for good news of great joy that you give to all people.
Thank you for Jesus Christ,
Immanuel, who lived among us and now reigns on high.
Thank you for his light that continues to shine in the places of darkness and shadow. With the angels, we sing praise to you,
celebrating your glory in all the earth,
in the Son given to us,
and in your promised salvation.
Although we are scattered and apart on this Christmas Eve,
your Holy Spirit, O God,
gathers us together to be your church in the world.
So hear your church, Holy One,
as we pray for your church in every place,
that we may make known to others what has been told to us about Jesus,
the child born in Bethlehem.
O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
We pray for the church…
With Mary, help us to treasure
and ponder the gift that has been given to us,
a gift of good news and great joy for all. O Christ, our light, hear our payer.
We pray for the world…
With the prophets, help us to proclaim the promise of your people
for all nations and your justice for all people.
O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
We pray for this community…
With the shepherds, help us to keep watch over those entrusted
to our care and all who need protection this night.
For healthcare providers and hospital workers caring for the sick and dying.
For those lonely and alone this night whether in a hospital room or at home,
in a prison cell, or in a shelter.
O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
We pray for loved ones…
With angels, help us to offer signs of hope,
comfort, and joy for all who live in fear, for all who are sad,
for all those missing loved ones on this holy night.
O Christ, our light, hear our prayer.
Lord Jesus Christ, hope of the world,
help us to bear witness to your light that shines
all the brighter when the world is dark.
Shine in our hearts and families and communities this night.
Finally, hear us now, as we pray the prayer Christ taught us by saying together, “Our Father …”.
The Lord’s Prayer
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. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
HYMN No. 147, vs. 1, 2 & 6 “The First Nowell”
1 The first Nowell the angel did say
was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay,
in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
on a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Refrain:
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
born is the King of Israel.
2 They looked up and saw a star
shining in the east beyond them far;
and to the earth it gave great light,
and so it continued both day and night.
(Refrain)
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
born is the King of Israel.
6 Then let us all with one accord
sing praises to our heavenly Lord,
that hath made heaven and earth of nought,
and with his blood our life hath bought.
(Refrain)
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
born is the King of Israel.
PRESENTATION OF OUR TITHES & OFFERINGS
This evening’s offering will be given to the
Christmas Joy Offering of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The offering aids the denomination’s racial ethnic schools and the Board of Pensions,
which assists retired ministers and mission workers in need.
In recognition of our commitment to God
and our gratitude for all God has given to us,
we present our gifts, our offerings, and our tithes.
Because God so loved the world,
God sent the Son into the world.
In response to this good news of great joy,
we offer songs of praise, our offerings,
these gifts, and our lives.
OFFERTORY
*DOXOLOGY No. 113, V. 3 “Angels We Have Heard on High”
Come to Bethlehem and see
him whose birth the angels sing;
come, adore on bended knee
Christ, the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
Holy God, giver of every good and perfect gift,
receive the gifts we offer you this day —
our resources, our time, our hearts, our lives.
Use these gifts and use our lives
to proclaim the good news
that you are with us always;
through Jesus Christ, Emmanuel. Amen.
ANTHEM “Candlelight Carol” John Rutter”
*SHARING THE LIGHT
Isaiah 9:2-7
2 [a]The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
As the light is passed from person to person down the pews,
Please tilt the unlit candle to accept the light from the upright-lit candle.
*HYMN No. 122 “Silent Night”
Silent night, holy night! All is calm, all is bright,
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child! Holy Infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night! Shepherds quake at the sight Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia! Christ, the Savior is born, Christ, the Savior is born.
Silent night, holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.
Silent night, holy night! Wondrous star, lend they light; With the angels let us sing, Alleluia to our King Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born.
Hum Final Verse of “Silent Night”
*BENEDICTION
On this holy night
May you be filled with the light of God,
Filled with God’s life, God’s joy, God’s hope.
Do not be afraid—
This light, indestructible, shines in the darkness.
May the love of God enfold us,
the joy of Christ encompass us,
and the Holy Spirit empower us
and abide with us this night and forever.
Amen.
*HYMN OF CELEBRATION No. 134
“Joy to the World!”
Joy to the world! The Lord is come! Let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world! the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ, While fields and floods,
Rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sound joy
No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow, Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found
He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love, And wonders and wonders of His love
POSTLUDE “In Quiet Joy” Marcel Dupre’