Jill: Welcome to a presentation of “Lessons and Carols”. If you are familiar with a traditional or liturgical service of this nature, this may seem a little different in form and content. What we would like to do today is tell the Christmas story through various Biblical passages and then sing corresponding songs or carols that go along with the passage that was just read. We hope the Christmas story will come alive for you this Night!
ADVENT
Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.
All:
Jim ANGEL APPEARS TO MARY
Announcement of the Birth of Jesus.*
26In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
27to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.l
28And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”m
29But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
30Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31n Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
32o He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,* and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”p
34But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”*
35And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.q
36And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived* a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
37for nothing will be impossible for God.”r
38Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Choir: Behold
Sharon ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH
Matthew 1:18-23 The Birth of Jesus.*
18 Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,* but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit.
19 Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,* yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.
20 Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord* appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.
21 She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,* because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means “God is with us.”
Choir: Immanuel
Rich SHEPHERDS Luke 2:8-15
8* Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
9The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.d
10The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
12And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
13And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
CHOIR: Angels, from the Realms of Glory VERSES
ALL: Gloria, in excelsis Deo, Gloria, in excelsis Deo.
Angels from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth; Ye who sang Creation’s story Now proclaim Messiah’s birth!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo,
Gloria, in excelsis Deo.
Shepherds, in the field abiding, Watching o’er your flocks by night; God with man is now residing, Yonder shines the Infant Light.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo,
Gloria, in excelsis Deo.
Sages leave your contemplations:
Brighter visions beam a-far.
Seek the Great Desire of Nations:
Ye have seen His natal star.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo,
Gloria, in excelsis Deo.
John BIRTH OF CHRIST
Luke 2:1-7 – The Birth of Jesus.
2This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
4And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,a
5to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.b
6While they were there, the time came for her to have her child,
7and she gave birth to her firstborn son.* She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.c
All:
Away in a Manger
WISEMEN
Matthew 2:1-2, Matthew 2:7-11 – The Visit of the Magi.*
1When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,* behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
2saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star* at its rising and have come to do him homage.”a
7 Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
8He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.”
9After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
10They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
11* c and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Choir: Light of the World
