Lection: Psalm 96

December 24, 2023 (evening)

Isaiah 43:15-21
Psalm 96
Revelation 21:1-6
John 1:1-14

“Sing a New Song”

Carol Singing

We don’t have enough services in the Christmas season to fit in all the wonderful carols of our faith that have been written to celebrate Christ’s birth. We’ve already sung several during the season of Advent, and we’ll sing some more next Sunday as the season of Christmas continues. But rather than miss singing some of our traditional favourites, we thought tonight we would do a little extra carol singing.

Our theme in worship throughout Advent has been “Sing a New Song.” Over the last four weeks, we have studied and joined in the Song of Mary as she sang about God bringing down the powerful and lifted up the lowly through the ministry of her son, Jesus, who was soon to be born. We sang the Song of Zechariah who foretold that his son John the Baptist would prepare the way of the Lord.

We rejoiced with the Song of the Angels to the Shepherds, proclaiming good news of great joy to all people. And we found hope in the Song of Simeon who was filled with peace when he recognized God’s promise fulfilled in the child Jesus, who would be the Messiah.

The … Read more »

December 24, 2017 (evening)

Luke 2:1-20
Psalm 96

“What Happens in Bethlehem”

You’ve heard the saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”? One of my favourite Twitter hashtags is an alternate version of that saying: “What happens in Bethlehem doesn’t stay in Bethlehem.”

The story of Christ’s birth reminds us in a wonderful way that when God became flesh and entered our world as an infant, God was born in a particular place, to an ordinary family, and the news was made known to regular, working-class people who were nearby. God’s entrance was not made with a lot of pomp and circumstance, but he was born in a little town, in a stable out back of someone’s house, where very few people would notice.

But we are also reminded that God’s coming into the world in this way changed the lives of those he encountered, and eventually it changed the whole world. What happened in Bethlehem didn’t stay in Bethlehem.

In many ways, I expect that this has been a pretty normal year in and around First Presbyterian Church. But it has also been a remarkable year, for me especially. A new minister for you has meant at least a few changes. And a new congregation, and home, and … Read more »

December 24, 2014

Luke 2:1-20
Psalm 96

“What Happens in Bethlehem Doesn’t Stay in Bethlehem”

You’ve heard the saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas”? This morning I noticed someone post a tweet with the hashtag #Christmas and alternate version of that saying: “What happens in Bethlehem doesn’t stay in Bethlehem.”

The story of Christ’s birth reminds us in a wonderful way that when God became flesh and entered our world as an infant, God was born in a particular place, to an ordinary family, and the news was made known to regular, working-class people who were nearby. God’s entrance was not made with a lot of pomp and circumstance, but he was born in a little town, in a stable out back of someone’s house, where very few people would notice.

But we are also reminded that God’s coming into the world in this way changed the lives of those he encountered, and eventually it changed the whole world. What happened in Bethlehem didn’t stay in Bethlehem.

In many ways, this has been a pretty normal year in and around our church. But it has also been a remarkable year. And one of the ways that it has been remarkable is the number of babies that have … Read more »