Happy Christmas Eve! Soon we will gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Here is a preview of our Sunday morning service, so you can prepare yourself for this encounter with the living Messiah.

• Welcome/Announcements: We take care of the business of the church.
• Prayer: We acknowledge God’s presence among us and invite him to be attentive to our worship.
• “Angels We Have Heard on High”: We celebrate the birth of Jesus with this carol: Glory to God in the highest!
• “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”: We continue in praise of our newborn King.
• Christ’s Birthday Observance Offering: We give a special offering to honor the birth of Jesus. This offering supports national and international ministries of the Church of God.
• “This Little Light of Mine”: We join in singing this spiritual as we give our special offering.
• Responsive Reading (Psalm 148): We praise the Lord by reading a psalm of praise together.
• “Jesus Messiah”: In song we adore Jesus, the one who became our righteousness: love so amazing!
• Scripture Reading (Isaiah 61:10-62:3): We hear an ancient text that inspires us to sing praise to God in our souls.
• Scripture Reading (Luke 2:22-40): The sermon text calls us to center our thoughts on an encounter with the newborn Jesus.
• Message (“Give Thanks to God”): Mary and Joseph brought young Jesus to the Temple, where he was greeted by Simeon and Anna. We reflect together on this marvelous story.
• “Come, Share the Lord”: We sing this song to prepare ourselves to meet Jesus face to face.
• The Lord’s Supper: This is the highlight of the service. In the bread and cup, we meet our crucified and risen Savior. This is a mystery – but it’s one that we share with each other with eyes wide open.
• Offering: We give our regular tithes and offerings to the Lord, in response to the gift he has given us: life with him.
• “You Have Been Given”: We sing this chorus to prepare ourselves for prayer.
• Prayer: We lift up our praises and petitions before the Lord.
• Special: We hear a story from one of our dear, elderly saints.
• “Good Christians, Now Rejoice”: We sing this carol to remind ourselves of our call to rejoice in the Lord always.
• Benediction: We receive a blessing as we depart, changed forever by this encounter with the living Jesus.