Welcome to our service - 27 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 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 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 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=y5VutCGsVXE
King of Kings, Majesty.
God of heaven living in me.
Gentle saviour, closest friend,
strong deliverer, beginning and end.
All within me falls at your throne.
Your Majesty, I can but bow,
I lay my all before you now.
In royal robes I don't deserve,
I live to serve your Majesty.
2. Earth and heaven worship you,
love eternal, faithful and true.
Who bought the nations, ransomed souls,
brought this sinner near to your throne.
All within me cries out in praise.
Your Majesty …………..
Jarrod Cooper © 1996 Sovereign Lifestyle Music
READINGS
Isaiah 61. 10 - 62. 3 New International Version – UK
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the young plant come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Galatians 4:4-7 New International Version - UK
But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Luke 2:15-21 New International Version - UK
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
TALK by Stuart Ibbotson
Now most of you know that I was a teacher of various subjects throughout my 30 odd years in the profession. This may be why the following story caught my imagination. It is true that it is very hard as a teacher looking at a list of new pupils that you have never met not to let their name invariably conjure up images of what they may well be like- which of course as a professional you fight quite hard to avoid doing. Anyway, a short story, which you will know very quickly to be rather fanciful: On the first day of school, the teacher asked a student, "What are your parents' names?" The student replied, "My father's name is Laughing and my mother's name is Smiling." The teacher said, "Are you kidding?" The student said, "No, Kidding is my brother, I am Joking”. It’s like all of those corny Christmas cracker jokes.
It was traditional in Hebrew practice to name a male child at the time of their circumcision on the eighth day after birth, as recorded in the Gospel according to Luke 1:59, and the custom of conferring a name upon children in Christian baptism was a development of medieval Christianity. However, in Elizabethan England the term “Christian Name” was not necessarily related to baptism but used merely in the sense of "given name": "Christian names were imposed for the distinction of persons, surnames for the difference of families."
In more modern times, the terms ‘given name’ and ‘forename’ have been used interchangeably with ‘Christian name’. As Christians, our name is important to us, although not everyone chooses to use theirs. Apparently, I was responsible for my sister Elizabeth Anne being called Anne for the whole of her life as I couldn’t pronounce Elizabeth as a toddler. My name has been somewhat confusing with people regularly miss-spelling it by exchanging the ‘u’ for an ‘ew’, so it has become a regular habit to spell out my first name and surname immediately after I have said each one- for the variety of ways to spell Ibbotson are many.
In days long ago when most people rarely saw anything much beyond the horizon of the place where they lived a surname was not always necessary, except maybe to distinguish those who shared a common first name. So, a person’s livelihood often provided their second name: baker, cooper, fletcher smith- some of which may be obvious indications of an ancestor’s employment for those with such names today, others less so. Then there are others that described a persons appearance- short, large, red, white.
Your name means a lot more than just your identity as a person: it is your Christian name, your name under God, following in a tradition that mirrors the Old Testament practice of naming a child. Often the baptism of a child takes place within their first year or so, but for Jesus his naming happened on the eighth day after he was born, in line with Jewish tradition. At that point he was also circumcised. The ceremony included a charge to his parents, like the baptism rite today, that Jesus must be raised as prescribed in God’s law. Yet Luke also makes the point that the name “Jesus” had been given by the angel before he was conceived – meaning “God saves”. The name Jesus is of course the equivalent of the Hebrew Joshua, a perfectly common name and which I also mentioned last week. It means ‘God saves’ or ‘God is salvation’. Biblically, it recalls the entry into the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey, a further type of salvation. It persisted as a common name until the end of the first century, but the rise of Christianity affected its use among Jews. And the fact that St Paul says that the name Jesus is the name above all names, to which every knee will bow, means that it is rarely used among Christians. For Jesus is salvation, uniquely and once and for all. For St Luke, this was important – the child was given not what might have been the expected name belonging to his apparent father, Joseph, but the name Jesus, just as the Baptist was named John rather than Zechariah. In the past it was much more common for the first-born son to be named after their father- something that seems to be much more common in the USA, with all those the 3rd, 4th, 5th etc! My family name for the first-born son was George, as my oldest uncle was duly baptised and which was the name of my paternal grandfather and I suspect his father, but he named his first son Stephen, and we named our son Mark- I am not sure that my grandmother was much impressed when we called our first cat George! It is true that many of us still name our children after an older relative, even if it is their second or third name. In baptism, we recognise God’s presence in our lives and look to the salvation of our souls. The involvement of God in his life began before Jesus’ birth. In his letter to the Galatians, St Paul describes how God sent his Son to be among us (and save us) but in the process that his Son had submitted to the Law of Moses. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” (Galatians 4:4)
Both the name “Jesus” and the dutiful actions of Mary and Joseph in following the Law of Moses point to the destiny of a child who would fulfil all our hopes and dreams in his life, mission and death. Jesus came from God; he was made man and he lived among us, submitting to the Law of Moses in order that a new relationship could be established – not simply with the Hebrew people who had long awaited such a time, but with all of humanity. He is fully human, born of Mary, yet in naming him God identifies his destiny and our salvation is revealed.
Circumcision is the traditional sign of Jesus belonging to the Hebrew line - part of the family of Abraham. Of course, unlike today, Jesus was not left to ‘make up his own mind when he was old enough’ about his religion- although He knew who he was. If this child was to be a Hebrew, like any other Hebrew boy child, he had to be circumcised, and that physical change to his body could not be undone. There was even a time when Gentiles had to be circumcised if they were to become slaves of a Jewish household. This was not about ethnicity; rather more about belonging and relating to each other and to God. The act of circumcision was the first act of obedience to the Law of Moses. The one who is to fulfil that Law is first submitted to it. Here we see the vocation of Jesus to be the true Israelite – the one whose obedience to the Father would be complete and unerring. Jesus came to fulfil the Law, so that by his obedience, salvation might be extended not only to Israel but to the whole world, for that had always been Israel’s true vocation, to be a blessing to all the nations.
Likewise, in baptism, symbolically we are changed by the waters from our old selves into new people and this can never be undone, although we can stray from the straight path and invariably get many things wrong as we live our day to day lives. Although we carry no physical scar, we are spiritually set apart in anticipation of our own salvation.
Jesus’ name tells us a lot about him. Even on this day when we remember his day of naming, we know his mission was to save us. We are, to use St Paul’s language, all born “under law” and today’s Gospel reading reminds us that our name, used at the time of baptism, is a testimony to our calling in faith to salvation, for we too belong to God. Whatever we may say or do, we should not be a creation of our culture, nor did we make ourselves. Everything we are and will be is of God’s love and creativity and that is why each one of us is so very precious in God’s eyes – so special that he sent his only begotten Son to show us the way of salvation and love us literally to death – the very meaning of his own name. A name which is so well summed up in John Newton’s great hymn:
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear.
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fears.
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast.
Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.
But there is also a realism – this salvation, foreshadowed by circumcision, is wrought through sacrifice, through pain, through suffering, through death. God in Christ recalibrates the story of humanity and the story of Israel in the Person of his only begotten Son. God entered fully into our human pain, suffering and death.
As New Year’s Day approaches we express our hopes for the future, but those hopes are tempered by realism. What will the year bring for our world, our nation, our own personal circumstances after all that 2020 has had us deal with? Through the unfolding human story in its joys and pains, stands the one named Jesus, whom we also know as the Christ, the Son of the Most High, as Immanuel, God who is with us. And ‘with us’ not as a mere benign influence or even someone who is on our side – although he surely is, but with us in the fullest, most complete sense of that word, for he is ‘bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh’. With us – whatever!
So I finish by wishing you all a happy and faith-filled New Year in the companionship of the One who was given the name Jesus. May we be ready to speak it out loud and thus shine a light for others.
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.
Copyright © 1982 Ateliers et Presses de Taize (France).
PRAYERS - written by John Gough
Father as we pray for our church and our world we remember all who through Covid restrictions or Illness or other personal reasons are separated form loved ones this Christmas. We pray for all who have not been able to travel in Britain to see families and for all who live and work here that have not been able to travel back to see families in their own countries.
Father we think of those who are suffering this Christmas time through Homelessness, Violence, Loneliness, Poverty, Hunger, War or Natural Disaster. We pray that through the support, love and generosity of those of us who are spared such tragedy they may be helped out of their difficulties and experience less troubled times in the new year and for better support networks through differing agencies to bring them relief from their struggles.
We praise you and thank you for the gifts that you have given to all in the science and medical community that are working on the production of vaccines to bring relief to the people of our world, for all others in these fields of work where progress and improvements has been made in the treatments of cancer and other conditions that have been overshadowed by the Covid pandemic, We pray that you will bless them and continue to uphold them in all that they do.
We pray for all the drivers who are stuck in Dover and the surrounding area that have not been able to get ferries in time to get back home to their own countries and loved ones in time for Christmas, we pray and give thanks for all local people in dover who have helped to provide help with food and drink and access to facilities to the stranded drivers and hope that better support systems can be put in place by the government in case of further problems should they occur in the future.
We pray for our church here in Greystones and thank you lord that throughout this year we have still been able to be connected with services and church meetings on Zoom, for the times when church has been open for individual prayer and for communion as well. We look forward with hopeful hearts to the time when we are all able to meet and be together again in worship.
Father I pray for the family of David Smedley who sadly passed away last weekend, he was a scout leader here at St Gabriel’s for many years and his family and grandchildren have been to services and to the holiday clubs as well.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