This was a tough day to prepare for, for a number of reasons. One was that there are a lot of alternative readings for Christmas Day in the lectionary, so I needed to make a selection. Since I am a Methodist, and a large proportion of my readers seem to be Methodists, I decided to use the Methodist readings for this day – I hope you’ll forgive me if you’re not a Methodist and/or you are using the alternative readings. The truth is that a lot of the resources below will work for any Christmas Day service no matter what readings you are using, so I hope you’ll find something helpful here anyway.

I pray that your Christmas is a time of great celebration and great divine challenge. 

READINGS:  
Isaiah 52:7-10: Good news of the return of God’s peace, salvation and presence to Israel.

Psalm 98: A song of praise for God’s victory and salvation.

Hebrews 1:1-4(5-12): Jesus, God’s Son, radiates God’s glory, created all things and is exalted above all things.

John 1:1-14: The Word who existed in eternity with God, and through whom all things were made, has become flesh, lived among us, and revealed God’s glory to us.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:    
As is fitting, all of the Christmas readings are full of celebration and joy at God’s visitation, God’s glory revealed in Christ, and the hope of salvation that Jesus brings. The incarnation is good news, and God’s appearance among us overcomes darkness and is a manifestation of God’s victory and sovereignty.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION:  The incarnation is God’s reign revealed among us. Within the “weakness” of this Child, amazing strength is manifest – God’s refusal to buy into human political or economic systems or agendas, revealing their darkness while not being overcome by them. The incarnation, then, must call us to reject “worldly” values and strategies for implementing God’s agenda, and also refuse to allow Jesus or the faith of those who follow him to be co-opted into oppressive or exploitative agendas. This Christmas, let’s reaffirm our commitment to follow Christ alone, and our commitment to God’s hidden, peace-bringing, non-partisan ways.

LOCAL APPLICATION: The incarnation of Christ calls us to be participants in incarnation. In our communities and churches we can embody the ways of Christ, opting out of the power struggles and “worldly” use of faith/religion for political or material gains. We can embrace the hidden, agenda-less, self-giving life of Christ. And if we will renew our commitment to incarnation, we will seek and find the places that most need us to serve, heal, and reconcile while also confronting abuses of power, wealth or faith. What do you need to opt out of, oppose, or serve in your community this year?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Silent Night
Come Again
The Foolishness Of Faith
The Familiar Story
Great God Of Miracles And Surprises
You Have Come To Us

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for Advent & Christmas

Hymns: 
The usual Christmas Carols are easily remembered and don’t need to be listed here, so I’m just going to offer a few unusual suggestions that may complement your normal Christmas music.
Christmas Angels Medley (Just a chord chart based on selected verses and well-known tunes of these popular Carols)
A King Is Born
Little Town (Link to YouTube video of Cliff Richard’s version)
Emmanuel (Link to YouTube video)
And check out Dean McIntyre’s settings of Christmas Carols in contemporary formats at the GBOD

Video:
The Word Became Flesh
What Do You Want?
It Is Christmas
A selection of Christmas video clips from popular movies at Wingclips.com

Images:
Christmas Backgrounds from Worship Graphics
Christmas Graphics from UsingPowerPointInChurch.com
Christmas Graphics from ImageVine

Drama:
Two short dramas for children on the Sacredise Advent & Christmas page
(Scroll down to find the links)
The Foolishness of Christmas
Colours & Kings

Additional Advent Resources & Reflections:
Sacredise Advent & Christmas Page
GBOD