Worship Service at Church of the Dawntreader Thursday December 24, 2015 10:00 a.m. SLT
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
    Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™
    Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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"New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989,
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved." Designated by the initials, (NRSV).

Invocation:
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
Confession and Absolution
We come before you, our Loving Father, Mother God, confessing most of all our need of you.
We confess that we have not always acknowledged how much we depend on you.
We confess that we have not always loved you with all our heart, soul and mind.
We have not always loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We ask that you will forgive us and grant us your strength to conform more fully to your loving will for us.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen.
In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is my privilege to declare to you and to myself, the entire
forgiveness of all our sins.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you made this holy night shine with the brightness of the true Light.
Grant that here on earth we may walk in the light of Jesus' presence and in the last day wake to the brightness of his glory;
through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen

First Lesson: Isaiah 9:2-7 (NRSV)
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Mid'ian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Here ends the First Lesson

Psalm 96 (NRSV)
1 O sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the LORD; for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with his truth.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Second Lesson: Titus 2:11-14 (NRSV)
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,
12 training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly,
13 while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.
Here ends the Second Lesson.

Gospel Lesson: Luke 2:1-20 (NRSV)
1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3 All went to their own towns to be registered.
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.
7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:
11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”
16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child;
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.
19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
Here end the Readings from Holy Scripture.

 - Sermon -

Today we share in our Dawntreader congregation's celebration of Christmas, the Nativity of our Lord.
Today is Christmas Eve, the start of the Christmas Season, the Twelve Days from December 25 through January 5.
Technically, Christmas begins at sundown today, but the church often advances a holy day by a few hours for purposes of worship times.
In Second Life, in any case, people gather from all over the world, and it is well past sundown, even already December 25 in many places on our planet.
Our lessons for today are all from the wider church's celebration for Christmas Day.
I hope and pray that everyone will have the opportunity to share with others
the joy of the contemplation of the birth of Christ,
the reason for the season!
All of our lessons for Christmas
focus our attention on the meaning
of the holy birth that changed our world forever.
Our first lesson reminds us
that people who had dwelt in spiritual darkness
have had the light of hope, faith and great joy shine on them.
Spiritual darkness has many causes,
but most of them are based on fear and a sense of our own unworthiness.
The cure is universal:
the love of God, poured out into our hearts.
Love is the light that scatters the darkness,
and the Light was born among us in Bethlehem about 2019 years ago.
A miscalculation in the Middle Ages
has the actual earliest possible date of His birth as 4 B.C.E.
He took on a human body from His mother, Mary,
and He became one of us.
The story is among the most precious to many of us,
and in the words of St. Luke,
among the most beautiful ever written.
So it is no wonder that we treasure Luke's description of our Lord's birth.
The angels bear witness that the holy birth was given from Heaven,
a sign of God's loving, good will
to all of us, His human children.
The shepherds teach us that His birth was among the common people
even though He was born to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
To US a child is born,
To US a son is given
and the message of peace rings out
even in the midst of our wars.
The Prince of Peace will win the final victory,
and His birth among us is the sign
that God has not given up on us.
The message of Christmas is crystal clear
if we are paying attention.
The birth of Christ is absolutely unique,
and yet...
His birth as a human child,
laid in a manger among the animals of His own creation
teaches us
that the birth of every child is a holy event.
The Hindus have a saying:
The birth of every child is a sign
that God has not given up on us yet,
and Christmas is the reminder of this eternal truth.
We remember the birth of the Son of God
to remind us all
year after year
that because of Him
we are all children of God,
His sons and daughters,
loved with that same infinite love
that brought all the worlds into being.
We remember the birth of the Son of God year after year
to remind us that every night a child is born is a holy night!
Amen.

Prayer of the People
Please type your spontaneous petitions in chat.
Each prepared petition is intended to remind us of the things we need to pray about,
so a brief pause will be provided for us to pray our own petitions,
either sharing them in the chat window
or praying them in our own hearts.

Loving God, we pray for each other, for those who depend upon us for prayer, and for all people according to their needs.
We ask that your healing power may prevail in our lives.
We pray that those in positions of public trust may be worthy of that trust as they act as stewards of power and wealth
for the benefit of all.
We pray that conflicts may be resolved in the context of relationships,
so that violence of thought word and deed may be diminished all through our world.
We ask your blessing for all who bear witness to the Gospel, so that relationships with you may be deepened for all people.
All these things, and whatever else you see that we need, we ask that you will grant for the sake of your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name we pray.
Amen.
Our Lord's Prayer
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 sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever,
Amen.
Benediction
May the Lord bless us and keep us.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen +