christmas eve service 2022
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SERMON: A Grand Slam Opportunity Holiday
READINGS--Reader Paul Keiner Isaiah 9:2-6 Luke 2:1-15 Luke 2:16-20 Matthew 2:1-12 John 1:1-18 ANTHEMS AND CAROLS Anthem: One Small Child Offertory: Celtic Christmas Lullaby Download the Carols below to sing or follow along |
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Thanks to Scott Hunter for getting the Bethlehem Light for our services tonight. See below for the story of the Bethlehem Light:
PEACE LIGHT OF BETHLEHEM--AN AMAZING STORY
Each year, a young Scout from Upper Austria fetches the Peace Light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Historians believe that it has burned continuously for at least 700 years and perhaps as many as 1400 years in this grotto.
The Peace Light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries for use at ecumenical services throughout the Continent. Boy and Girl Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, retirement homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance - to anybody who appreciates the significance of the "gift" of the Peace of Christ. It is also a challenge to each of us to serve as a messenger of peace in a turbulent world.
This light is carried in two blast proof miners lamps on an Austrian Airlines jet from Tel Aviv Israel to Vienna Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries. Austrian Airlines then flies the miners lamps containing the Peace Light from Bethlehem to New York City. It is then spread across North America where the flame is displayed in homes, churches and unit meeting places.
This tradition started in Linz, Austria in 1986. The Peace Light first came to New York in 2001 by Canadian Scouts who brought it to Ground Zero in New York City.
PEACE LIGHT OF BETHLEHEM--AN AMAZING STORY
Each year, a young Scout from Upper Austria fetches the Peace Light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Historians believe that it has burned continuously for at least 700 years and perhaps as many as 1400 years in this grotto.
The Peace Light is then flown to Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries for use at ecumenical services throughout the Continent. Boy and Girl Scouts and Guides can then take the light on to houses of worship, hospitals, homeless shelters, retirement homes, prisons, and places of public, cultural and political importance - to anybody who appreciates the significance of the "gift" of the Peace of Christ. It is also a challenge to each of us to serve as a messenger of peace in a turbulent world.
This light is carried in two blast proof miners lamps on an Austrian Airlines jet from Tel Aviv Israel to Vienna Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries. Austrian Airlines then flies the miners lamps containing the Peace Light from Bethlehem to New York City. It is then spread across North America where the flame is displayed in homes, churches and unit meeting places.
This tradition started in Linz, Austria in 1986. The Peace Light first came to New York in 2001 by Canadian Scouts who brought it to Ground Zero in New York City.