Sunday Service - 25-26 December

Welcome to our service - 25-26 December

This service sheet can be used individually or with households.
We would encourage you to say (or even sing) hymns and songs out loud.
Prayers, other liturgy or readings can be said out loud or silently, corporately or individually.

If you are able, we would also like invite you to join us for our main Sunday service, 10am, live on Zoom. Even if you have never been to St Gabriel’s before we would love you to join you. Please get in touch with the vicar Alistair (vicar@saintgs.co.uk) and he will send you the Zoom details.

SERVICE

There will be no 11:30am service in church on 27th December. Please join us again on 3rd January.

SERVICE

Opening

Alleluia, alleluia,

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we have seen his glory.

Alleluia, alleluia.

SING: https://youtu.be/FLURukXoht8

Joy to the world, the Lord has come!

let earth receive her King;

let every heart prepare Him room

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing!

2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!

your sweetest songs employ

while fields and streams and hills and plains

repeat the sounding joy,

repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3 He rules the world with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove

the glories of His righteousness,

the wonders of His love,

the wonders, wonders of His love.

Isacc Watts (1674-1748)

CONFESSION

Lord of grace and truth, we confess our unworthiness to stand in your presence as your children.

We have sinned:

All: forgive and heal us.

The Virgin Mary accepted your call to be the mother of Jesus. Forgive our disobedience to your will.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

Your Son our Saviour was born in poverty in a manger. Forgive our greed and rejection of your ways.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

The shepherds left their flocks to go to Bethlehem. Forgive our self-interest and lack of vision.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

The wise men followed the star to find Jesus the King. Forgive our reluctance to seek you.

We have sinned:

forgive and heal us.

Almighty God, who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,

bring you his pardon and peace, now and for ever.

Amen.

COLLECT

God in Trinity,

eternal unity of perfect love:

gather the nations to be one family,

and draw us into your holy life

through the birth of Emmanuel,

our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

ACCLAMATION

Let us bless the living God:

He was born of the Virgin Mary,

revealed in his glory,

worshipped by the angels,

proclaimed among the nations,

believed in throughout the world,

exalted to the highest heavens.

Blessed be God, our strength and our salvation,

now and for ever. Amen.

SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgR48OpNmOA

Once in royal David's city

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her baby

In a manger for his bed:

Mary was that Mother mild,

Jesus Christ her little Child.

2. He came down to earth from heaven

Who is God and Lord of all,

And his shelter was a stable,

And his cradle was a stall;

With the poor and mean and lowly

Lived on earth our Saviour holy.

3. And our eyes at last shall see him,

Through his own redeeming love,

For that Child so dear and gentle

Is our Lord in heaven above;

And he leads his children on

To the place where he is gone.

4. Not in that poor lowly stable

With the oxen standing by,

We shall see him; but in heaven,

Set at God's right hand on high;

When his children gather round

bright, like stars, with glory crowned.

Mrs C F Alexander

READINGS

Ruth 4:13-22 New International Version - UK

So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.’

Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. The women living there said, ‘Naomi has a son!’ And they named him Obed.

He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

Matthew 1 New International Version - UK

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,

Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,

Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,

Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,

and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,

Abihud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,

Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Elihud,

Elihud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,

and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: his mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.’

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (which means ‘God with us’).

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

TALK by Alistair Stevenson

Christmas can often become a time where we want everything to be perfect. The perfect Christmas lunch, the perfect presents to give to others, the perfect time with friends or family. But maybe the message of Christmas is the opposite. Jesus came into the world, 2000 years ago in all its many many imperfections. And he does the same of us today.

As we come to the end of our journey through Ruth and also the beginning of Jesus's journey in Matthew - we see in both accounts a genealogy. You may feel it odd that I included the full chapter of Matthew 1 in our service this morning. I wonder how you got on reading all the names? Could you pronounce all the names? Did you skip over them? Did you find it boring? Sometimes we wonder why long lists of names and geologies are included in the Bible.

The author and theologian Tom Wright says this:

‘For many cultures ancient and modern, and certainly in the Jewish world of Matthew’s day, the genealogy was the equivalent of a roll of drums, a fanfare of trumpets, and a town crier calling for attention. Any first century Jew would find this family tree both impressive and compelling. Like a great procession coming down a city street, we watch the figures at the front, and the ones in the middle, but all eyes are waiting for the one who comes in the position of greatest honour, right at the end’.

We end Ruth similarly with a ‘family tree’, with the shocking and wonderful discovery that the boy born to ‘redeem’ Naomi’s family was no less the great-great-grandfather of a greater Redeemer, King David. As we come to the New Testament we see that David isn’t the end of the story – the line continues until we reach ‘Jesus, who is called the Messiah’ (Matthew 1:16).

Even with just a limited knowledge of the Bible we can see that within the ancestry of Jesus are so people who we far from perfect.

Matthew 1 lists the people in Jesus’ family tree. And while it perfectly matches Old Testament prophecies, the people in this list were far from perfect.

· Abraham followed God to an unknown land but lost faith in God’s plan for his family and had a son with his maid (Genesis 16:1-4).

· Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute (Genesis 38).

· David, known as a man after God’s heart, committed adultery with another man’s wife then murdered him to cover it up (2 Samuel 11).

· Boaz was the son of the Jericho prostitute Rahab (Joshua 2).

· Manasseh and Abijah were basically evil.

Despite their flaws, God made each of these men and women part of Jesus’ genealogy.

When you think of the kind of people God works through, who comes to mind?

The end of Ruth and the beginning of Matthew are proof that God accomplishes His perfect plan with imperfect people.

Each year the government produces its New Year’s honours list. Over 1000 people recognised for their extraordinary contributions in all four nations of the United Kingdom. Firefighters, medical professionals, teachers, police officers and local government workers along with those who have contributed in an incredible way to their particular field or profession.

Those who get on the list are invited to Buckingham Palace or Winsor Castle. They get dressed up in their finest and wait their turn to come before the Queen. And when they do, they get a few moments in her presence, possibly a private word spoken. It must be quite an experience.

But, to be able to get to that place requires a lifetime of work. Time, energy and devotion to a particular field, sport, skill – an extraordinary contribution to British society.

Often when we come before God, we can think that we need a lifetime of good-works, or to excel in some extraordinary way to come into His presence. The message of Ruth and Matthew, in fact the whole Biblical story is that God continues again and again to meet with and work through those who are far from perfect.

Gertrud Mueller Nelson points out in her book To Dance With God: “The dark truth of Christmas is that Jesus was born in these conditions ‘because there was no room in the inn,’ because, the fact is, we gave and continue to give him no room. We open our doors but a crack and fail to recognize him.”

God wants to be with us. He wants our presence with him - in spite of all our imperfections and brokenness. Unlike approaching the Queen, we don’t need to come before him looking our best, presenting the best of who we are. God sent his son not to a mansion but into a manger – into the midst of normal people, living normal lives. God continues to send his son – God with us, Emmanuel – into the lives of people today – normal people living normal lives.

I wonder if a lot of people end Christmas Day or the Christmas season with a sense of guilt or discouragement. As the new year starts maybe Christmas didn’t live up to the hype. And we have seen over the last 18 months that our perfect and best laid plans can get changed in a moment with things that our beyond our control.

The story of Ruth and the story of Christmas shows us that it’s a story for people like us: outsiders and outballs; sinners and sufferers and strangers; heartbroken widows and hopeful daughters-in-law.

Where Jesus came from helps us understand who he came for.

Let the reality of the line of this family tree – for the ‘poor, meekly and lowly’ – descend into the reality of your Christmas Day. This is Ruth’s story and it’s our story too.

Jesus came into the world, 2000 years ago in all its many many imperfections. And he does the same of us today. Amen

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth

I believe in Jesus Christ,

his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand

of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen

O LORD, HEAR MY PRAYER,

O Lord, hear my prayer:

When I call answer me.

O Lord, hear my prayer,

O Lord, hear my prayer:

Come and listen to me.

Jacques Berthier/Taizé.

PRAYERS - written by John Gough

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.

Lord with the increase in numbers of cases of the Omicron virus across the world, we pray for all health workers who continue to provid support to all patients in their care, help them to cope with the stress of working long shifts and being short handed due to colleagues who are ill as well, pour out your healing spirit upon them and may they find peace knowing your loving arms surround them.

We pray for all governments and scientists who are having to make tough decisions to try and slow the progress of this virus, we hope that vaccine programs will be successful and progressed across the world.

We also ask that the scientists can make a breakthrough in future treatments and vaccines to allow the world to get closer to a more normal lifestyle as possible.

Lord we pray all people across the world who are homeless and living in poor conditions.

Draw near and comfort them in spirit through all of their struggles. Bless those who work tirelessly to provide support with shelter, food and friendship.

Lord we pray for the people of Malaysia who have been affected by the flooding after days of torrential rain, with thousands of people being displaced and those who have lost their lives as well. We ask that aid and support be given to help the Malaysion people through this crisis.

Lord we pray for our country and all in government and the devolved administrations as well. Grant them wisdom in all their decision making.

Lord we pray for our church and Parrish here in Greystones.

Thank you for all of the Christmas services and for all who attended as well.

We pray for Alistair and Catherine as they lead us in our worship.

We give thanks for the sermons on the book of Ruth and the daily reflections in the Finding Hope Under Bethlehem Skies booklet that has enabled us to look deeper in to the lives of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz.

Lord as we look forward to the new year ahead, we pray for all that will be done through the different projects of Bless Greystones, May your light shine in to the hearts and minds of all the people we come in to contact with.

Lord we ask that you will bless the Alpha Course when it begins again in January, we pray for all taking part for the first time and all who are leading as well.

Lord we continue to pray for the sick and house bound, for all on the prayer lists of the wholeness team and in a moment of silence those on our hearts this morning. Amen

LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your Kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those

who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen

SING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAU5Xg-o-eM

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 men 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.

Bishop Phillips Brooks

OFFERTORY - Take a moment to consider how you are going to continue to give to the life of the church and support other aid agencies and mission organisations.

Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power,

the glory, the splendour, and the majesty;

for everything in heaven and on earth is yours.

All things come from you, and of your own do we give you.

SING: https://youtu.be/7pH29CKXhhc

The first nowell the angel did say

was to Bethlehem’s shepherds in fields as they lay;

in fields where they lay keeping their sheep,

on a cold winter's night that was so deep:

Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,

born is the King of Israel!

2. Then wise men from a country far

looked up and saw a guiding star;

they traveled on by night and day

to reach the place where Jesus lay:

Nowell, Nowell….

3. At Bethlehem they entered in,

on bended knee they worshipped Him;

they offered there in His presence

their gold and myrrh and frankincense:

Nowell, Nowell…

4. Then let us all with one accord

sing praises to our heavenly Lord,

for Christ has our salvation wrought

and with His blood mankind has bought:

Nowell, Nowell……

English traditional carol arranged by David Willcocks, Jubilate Hymns Music

FINAL BLESSING:

Christ the Son of God, born of Mary,

Fill you with his grace to trust his promises and obey his will;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,

be upon you and remain with you always.

Amen

WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR