​Prayer of praise 
Lord’s prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen​

Reading - Luke 2: 1-16 

The response of a ‘Shepherd’
Until today
I could not fit the size of God 
into my head.
I thought he was a God 
for priests and kings,
men of words and wisdom.
But today I am looking at God made small,
small enough for me,
small enough to pick up
and hold like a lamb.
I could not talk to a God in the clouds;
but today when I look and smile
and talk nonsense to this tiny thing,
I know that I am talking to God.
And it is God who smiles back at me
and waves his perfect hands in delight.
And today in your smallness, God,
you seem bigger and more powerful
to me than you ever did before.
I can hold you now,
hold you in my head
and hold you in my arms,
and know that you are holding me in yours.
(adapted* from Hay and Stardust-* tonight changed to today for use on Christmas morning)

Prayer – holding and being held - intercessions for Christmas Day

Loving Lord God as we hold the Christ child in our hearts
Your love for others flows out through us
We pray for our families and friends – especially those we won’t see this Christmas – who are far away or gone to be with you.  

We ask for healing for those we know who are sick

We pray for those who don’t know your love yet, and pray that you’ll give us the words to encourage them to turn to you.

Lord God we know that you hold all the nations in your strong arms, so we pray that the message of your love will find its way into every country this Christmas.

On this Christmas morning we know you are holding each of us in your arms. Keep us close to you, always ready to speak your words of love, and to show love by our actions to everyone, as you have loved us.

In Jesus’ Name we pray-
Amen
​

Let us go in heart and mind to Bethlehem – to recall again the wondrous events of that place and to ponder what God maybe be saying to us now through them.

​Opening Prayer 
Loving God, you have come to us in Jesus.  So now we come to you, to offer our worship, to hear your word, to reflect on your love.  Help us through all we share this afternoon to hear the great story of Christmas speaking to us as though for the first time. May words that we know of old take on new meaning so that Mary’s faith, Joseph’s humility and Bethlehem’s joy, become good news for us!  This we pray in faith and in the name of Jesus Christ our light and salvation.  Amen

Prayer
Gracious God – you came to our world in fulfilment of your promises of old – your word embodied in a child, lying in a manger.
You loved us so much – that you staked everything to break down the barriers that keep us from you.
You shared our humanity from birth to death, so that with you we might share your eternity – life in all its fullness.
You became God with us, so that we might become one with you.
Teach us that as you needed Mary’s response then you need our response now: our willingness to trust our very selves to you, accept your mercy and experience the blessings you so long to give us.
Come again now and be born in our hearts – so that we may truly love you and joyfully serve you this and everyday – through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

​Reading Luke 2:8-20

​StF 213 - O little town of Bethlehem

​  As we come to our time of intercession let us remember the people of the Holy land and  all people, of the world who are living daily with conflict, suffering and hardship... 

Or perhaps there may be people in your own life who are experiencing conflict, suffering and hardship in other ways… the lonely the sick the bereaved 

I invite you to light a candle for them.

Prayer.
When the world was dark and the city was quiet – you came – you crept in beside us.
And no-one knew – only the few – who dared to believe that God might do something different
Will you do the same this Christmas.
Will you come into the darkness of today’s world Lord?

Silence.

Loving God – we ask that you come into the dark areas of the world represented in these candles… silence

We hold before you those known to us who, this night, are experiencing dark times...silence

And we pray for ourselves - come into our lives as we open them to you and do something different…silence

When the world was dark and the city was quiet you came – you crept in beside us.
Do the same this Christmas Lord – do the same this Christmas. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen

Blessing: 
May the light of Christ shine in our hearts that we may be filled with his joy and peace.  And may the blessing of Almighty God, be with us and those for whom we pray this day and for evermore.  Amen.​​

Father God,
As I prepare myself for worship today, may I be open to receiving from you.
May I expect to learn more about you, expect to be challenged by you, expect to encounter you.

But Lord, I make this space to come before in worship not just to receive but also to give, to connect. To offer myself and my life and my service as the natural response to what I have received.

As advent continues, through this time of waiting and anticipation, I say my prayers of thanks. Thank you that you are not a God who is in a hurry. The process of creation which produced the beauty of a winter’s morning took hundreds of millions of years, so the process of new creation, of which Jesus’ life and death is the first fruits, will be a
slow but steady march towards beauty and restoration.

I ask that in my worship time today, I may catch a glimpse of that beauty. At the same time, I acknowledge that sometimes I get in the way of restoration breaking into the world, that sometimes I contribute to its failing rather than its recreation.
For this, I am sorry, and I come humbly before you to ask for forgiveness as I take a moment to acknowledge how I have fallen short in this past week.
I ask this in your holy name, and in full assurance of your forgiveness.
Amen
Opening prayers written from All We Can

Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen

 Reflection written by Holly Adams
The Christmas season is a glorious time of decorated streets, family get togethers, excited children, cosy evenings, good food. But there are very few of us, beneath the tinsel and lights, who don’t have something to worry about. Christmas does not magically lift us from our own difficult times, whatever they be.

And so, John the Baptist’s message is relatable to us. We’re not asked to ignore the realities of our lives, but to recognise them. There is room for our worry and our pain, in the Christmas story.

We’re assured that a different future is possible, for the whole world but also for us, for you and for me. I wonder how much John the Baptist, in his prison cell, was reassured by this message? I wonder how much we are, in times of difficulty? We are told to wait for the Kingdom of God, and notice the signs that tell us it’s near.

This advent, no matter what you’re going through, no matter what doubts you have, we are called to live in a way which expects miracles, which expects signs of wonder, which expects Christ, Immanuel, to come - with a key to the bars of our prison cell. Hear him speak to you through the bars: you may feel like the least and the last and the lost, but even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, greater than anyone ever born. Hear Jesus’ words to you:
you
are
free.

Does anything in this poem, or the characters in the video, resonate with you, and your story? Do you know someone who needs to know that there is room for them in God’s story this Christmas season? Could you be the person to help them see this?

Blessing 
Here I go, liberated and set free by the God who loves me, who comes here, with me.
Here I go, believing in the miracle of a Christmas God who came, who comes, who will go on coming, with me, alongside me,
Here I go, in the name of the Christ, Immanuel.
Amen.

Opening Prayers
Dear Lord,
Thank you that you are constantly drawing each of us towards you. Not forcing or coercing, but inviting and encouraging us into deeper relationship with you.
Thank you for that which you use to prepare the way. The people and things which break down the barriers we put up. The barriers that, intentionally or otherwise, keep you out. For the wonder of your creation which humbles us, for the challenging words of a close friend which rouse us, for the kindness of a stranger which reminds us of
the divinity in everything.

May I draw near to you today.
Prepare this space for me, and prepare my heart to receive what you have in store for me this Advent.

Just as John the Baptist proclaimed “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” may I answer that same call, knowing that transformation comes through acknowledging that the status quo, in myself and in the world, is not as it should be.
​
I repent today, because the Kingdom of Heaven has come near, and with God’s grace
I can bring it nearer still.
I know myself forgiven, loved and set free, by the Advent God who comes amongst us,
this year and every year.
Amen.
Opening prayers written by All We Can

Response to the reading
Have you been walking in a popular, mountainous area recently?
Perhaps somewhere like the Lake District or Snowdonia? The paths are often made of huge slabs of stone, set into the ground to protect the landscape from erosion – just looking at them makes me think about the people involved in getting these stones there – laying them in tricky and difficult conditions must be back-breaking work.

John the Baptist is ‘preparing the way’ in the wilderness – but this isn’t a simple laying out of a red carpet, it’s hot, sweaty, difficult work.

Making space for God to come into our lives is more like an excavation: we have to overhaul the greed, selfishness and injustice in order to make room for the Prince of Peace this Advent season. That’s the work our charity partner and friends at All We Can are involved in – seeking to overcome poverty and see every person’s potential
fulfilled around the world.

You might like to watch this video summarizing All We Can’swork in Zimbabwe:-

​All We Can goes about its work in a particularly ‘John the Baptist’ sort of way. He insists that it is not about him, but about Jesus. That is your role too – not to be ‘heroes’ in the story of tackling poverty, but to allow the people All We Can is working with, the people our giving will support this Christmas season, to be the heroes in their own story – to flourish and fulfil their potential on their own terms. It’s time to put local communities in the driving seat of their own story.

Matt 3:8: ‘Produce fruit worthy of repentance’. What does this mean to you? Perhaps it can be a challenge for us today – we cannot simply say ‘all is not right with the world’ or ‘the current way of tackling poverty is broken’. Rather, we must bear fruit that reflects that we believe it’s possible to do things a different way. As the Catholic thinker and writer Richard Rohr says: ‘the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better’.

So your invitation is to ‘practice better’ this Advent season – as you worship, as you see friends and family, as you give presents, and as you support charities like All We Can. Thank you.
Reflection written by All We Can.

You might like to pray this prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to prepare for your coming
By making space and staying still.
Help me to prepare by honest examination of myself.
Help me to lift my face to the wind of your Spirit
And be prepared for your coming.
Amen.

Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours. Now and for ever.
Amen

Blessing
As I go out, into the midst of winter and the middle of advent,
As I wait, as I prepare, as I open my heart to you,
Lord God, Immanuel, show me something of what it means to be God-with-us.
Come here, into my life, by your grace.
I go in grace, in hope, in anticipation,
I step out in love,
Amen.