The Revised Common Lectionary passages for the Lord’s Day are:

First Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96:1-13
Second Reading: Titus 2:11-14
Gospel: Luke 2:1-14 (15-20)

The liturgical color for the day is Purple/Blue or White.

This Sunday is Christmas Eve, and it is also the day that the fourth advent candle is lit.  Many of us will worship in the morning and in the evening too.  Also, for many of us, we are a bit thrown by the calendar when it falls this way.  What does one do with the Lord’s Day morning worship service?  Is it a celebration of 4th  Advent or is it the celebration of Christmas Eve?  Add to that the question of will people come back for the evening worship, or will they only attend one—all that taken together can make for some Christmas anxiety for church leadership.

To that we all need to pause and realize that this is an incredible opportunity we have to celebrate the coming of our Lord and anticipate his ultimate return.  There are many approaches to worship opportunities for both the morning and evening services, and as long as our choices proclaim the birth of God-With-Us we are living into the celebration that the Church is called to have.  We do that in preaching the Word, in singing “O Come All Ye Faithful,” in coming to the table, and in lighting candles.

In the Gospel reading from Luke we hear:

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

As you prepare readings, sermons, candles, anthems, and sacrament—my prayer for you is that you will treasure this opportunity to share the Good News of God’s incredible love that reaches all the way out to us and claims us in the love of Christ the Lord.  As you light the Candle of Love and the Christ Candle may you both feel and share the “Joy to the World” of Christ as the center of our lives together.

A Joyous Christmas!  -Daris

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Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk