St Clement Church Community Christmas Morning Service
Good morning to you all as we celebrate our Christmas Morning service whether in our own homes or church building.
We will be celebrating a Communion Service in Church at 10am, this Service of the Word is for folk who are unable to be with us.
There will be no service in Church on the 26th for Christmas 1 but I will email a Service of the Word for you to read at home that day.
I hope you continue to have a blessed and happy Christmas.
May Christ’s love sustain you always.
Much love to you all,
Rev Di and family xx
Let us pray;
Lord Jesus Christ, your birth at Bethlehem draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth: accept our heartfelt praise as we worship you, our Saviour and our eternal God. Amen.
Our prayers of Penitence
Hear the words of the angel to Joseph: ‘You shall call his name Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.’ Therefore let us seek forgiveness from God through Jesus the Saviour of the world:
Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us, forgive our unwelcoming hearts…
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, Son of God, Servant of humanity, forgive our self-centred lives…
Christ, have mercy.
Jesus, Prince of Peace, Hope of the nations, forgive our bitter conflicts…
Lord, have mercy.
May our Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners, bring us his pardon and peace, now and for ever. Amen.
Let us pray our Collect for today
Almighty God, you have given us your only begotten Son to take our nature upon him and at this time to be born of a pure virgin: grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Carol: ‘Away in a Manger’
Readings:
Isaiah 52. 7-10
Hebrews 1. 1-12
Carol: ‘Once in Royal David’s City’
Our Reading is taken from the Gospel of John 1. 1-14
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
The Gospel According to
John
The Word Became Flesh
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God.
3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.
12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
The words of the Gospel, ‘in the beginning’ take us back to the creation of the world in the book of Genesis, when God spoke and the universe sprang into being, in all its diversity and richness. God’s words, imaginative and inventive, shape a world of mountains, stars and seas, of trees and creatures, and finally us, humanity.
We’re told that the Son of God was with God before time began, and then John’s perhaps shocking, but transforming good news, ‘The Word was made flesh and lived among us.’
The divine Word choosing to share our journey through life, to be alongside us in the joys, hopes and dreams, as well as the trials and tribulations.
God is no longer speaking to his people through the prophets, but through his Son, a Son who will walk in our midst and will risk rejection, torture and death, and experience the worst that human beings can do to each other, in order to carry out the saving will of the Father.
Because God sends his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but so that through him, the world might be saved.
So we return to the child lying in the manger, and we gaze anew on the one who turns our world upside down.
Here is the reality of the wonder of a new-born baby, here is an exhausted mother, and an anxious and relieved husband. Around are the dodgy, smelly characters just come down from the hills, and we stand with them, just as we are, with all the rough bits of our lives, including the worries of this day, the stress of the pandemic and how to entertain our visitors safely because of it, the peculiar presents both given and received.
But in all this we are invited to recognise that in this reality our human hopes are caught up in this one tiny baby, lying in the humility of a stable.
And as we recognise that reality, we can begin to see more deeply, to recognise that God is here, speaking to us, that his living word is his gift to us, an assurance that his promises are true and will not be revoked.
And we begin to glimpse his glory and his grace, the beloved Son of the Father, Emmanuel, God with us, and the word he speaks to us is his love.
Amen.
Carol: ‘O Come all ye Faithful’
Affirmation of our faith
Let us declare our faith in God.
We believe and trust in God the Father, source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.
We believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.
We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world.
This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith.
We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Our Intercessions today are taken from the book: Times and Seasons
Let us pray to Jesus our Saviour.
Christ, born in a stable, give courage to all who are homeless.
Jesus, Saviour, hear our prayer.
Christ, for whom the angels sang, give the song of the kingdom to all who weep.
Jesus, Saviour, hear our prayer.
Christ, worshipped by the shepherds, give peace in earth to all who are oppressed.
Jesus, Saviour, hear our prayer.
Christ, before whom the wise men knelt, give humility and wisdom to all who govern.
Jesus, Saviour, hear our prayer.
Christ, whose radiance filled a lowly manger, give the glory of your resurrection to all who rest in you.
Jesus, Saviour, hear our prayer.
Jesus, Saviour, child of Mary, you know us and love us, you share our lives and hear our prayer. Glory to you for ever. Amen.
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as Jesus taught us;
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, the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Carol: ‘God rest ye merry Gentlemen’
The Peace
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called the Prince of Peace.
May the peace of God be always with us. Amen.
Blessing
May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ-child be ours this Christmas; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us, those whom we love, and remain with us always.
Amen.