Trinity Presbyterian Church, Denton, TX
Worship Remembering Those We Miss At Christmas
PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP
The Spirit is breathing.
All those with eyes to see,
women and men with ears for hearing
detect a coming dawn;
a reason to go on.They seem small, these signs of dawn
perhaps ridiculous.
All those with eyes to see,
Women and men with ears for hearing
uncover in the night
a certain gleam of light;
they see the reason to go on.
(Dom Helder Camera, Its Midnight, Lord)
PRELUDE
WELCOME
*CALL TO WORSHIP
How indeed do we say love? For our hearts are bound by the
memories we know. God first loved us, and drew us to himself that
we might know love and come alive.
And so we come
again to find the heart of God.
We gather to praise God for the gift of life
and do not know
what to say, and so we sing.
We gather remembering the loss of our lved ones,
and do not know
what to say, and so we sing.
We gather in joy for the gift of love,
and do not know
what to say, and so we sing.
God of the loving heart is always ready to have our hearts
mended, filled and opened again to the wonders of life--and so we
sing.
Let us worship God..
*HYMN NO. 5 “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” (Verses 1,2, 3)
1. Let all mortal flesh keep silent, and with fear and trembling stand,
Ponder nothing earthly minded, For with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.
2. King of kings yet born of Mary, As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture, In the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food.
3 Rank on rank the host of heaven, Spreads its vanguard on the way.
As the Light of light desendeth From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish, As the darkness clears away.
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE (Congregates read print in
bold).
This is the time of endings and beginnings when the small signs of dawn pierce through the night and something new is born.
As the darkness clears away with each candle set aflame--
hope, peace, love, and joy--
(light each of the four candles as these are said)
these are God's gifts, even in our waiting for dawn.
Let us prepare ourselves for the God-child to be born anew
in our time, in our life, in our present moment--
even while we sing of the God-child coming once upon a time to
Mary. In our end is our beginning, in our time, infinity;
in our death a resurrection unrevealed until its season.
Godly signs gleam in our darkness.
*HYMN "In the Bulb There is a Flower" Natalie Sleath
MUSIC OF PRAISE AND PREPARATION
Special music
offering a variety of Christmas Carols
REMEMBERING THOSE WE MISS
(Candles are placed on a table near the Advent wreath, and are
lit after the Advent candles. On the table or pedestal are
enough small votive style candles for each person
attending. People are invited to come forward and light a
small candle from the larger ones, naming the person or persons
they miss and wish to remember during this service and season. )
THE WORD OF GOD
Gospel Readings Luke 2:8-20
Matthew 13: 31-33; 44-46, 51-52
SPEAKING THE
WORD
"Treasures Old and New"
(The following is a
brief idea of the homily used in this context)
Each of us gathers treasures of memories
and experiences, teachings and principles as we age and
mature. So we accumulate a rich treasure. Christmas seems
to be an especially poignant time of drawing out these memories
that reach as far back as childhood. Songs, sights,
traditions all have rich emotions attached that give meaning to
what we do this season. The ancient story Luke tells about
the birth of Jesus is one of those treasures we hear and store
away.
Certain people make up the memory treasures in our
life. Tonight we gather here to to worship and remember
those persons no longer with us because of death, divorce,
separation, or other loss.
In our worship we shall sing and give thanks,
and remember these loved ones. We heard the words of
Matthew whereJesus tells his disciples what the kingdom of God is
like. And then he said that whoever remembers these teachings is
like the master of the house who draws out treasures old and
new. So that is what we are doing tonight. During our
worship we draw out the treasured memories reflect on the lives
that were shared with us, and gave us much. And in so
doing, we can transform our past memories into rich
treasures that give meaning and delight in remembering and
telling stories about them—especially at Christmas.
So, tonight I will share a story with you about how it was like
to bring out the treasures of Grandma Kay the first Christmas
after she died.
The story
"Christmas Without Grandma Kay" is by Robin Jones Gunn
(Story is found in Christmas
Stories for the Heart edited by Alice Gray, Multnomah Gift
Books, 1997. Condensed from Virtue Magazine, Nov/Dec, 1993)
RESPONDING TO THE WORD IN PRAYER
(From Ted Yoder, Guerrillas of Grace)
O God of all seasons and senses, grant us the sense of your
timing
to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the
seasons.
In this season of short days and long nights, of grey and white
and cold,
teach us the
lessons of endings;
children growing, friends leaving,
loved ones dying, grieving over,
grudges over, blaming over, excuses over.
O God, grant us a sense of your timing.
(Time for silent prayer)
In this season of short days and long nights, of grey and white
and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth
what is ready to be born--
something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love--
in the fullness of your time.
O God, grant us the sense of your timing.
(Silent Prayers)
Prayer for Others, for Ourselves and the Lord's Prayer
MUSIC A time of singing more upbeat and joyous Christmas hymns and carols
BENEDICTION
Rev. Kent C. Miller, Trinity
Presbyterian Church, Denton, TX
kcmiller@trinitypresdenton.org