A Guide for Observing Christmas Morning at Home
Open with prayer (from Eph 3:14-21):
Father, we bow before You, with gratitude on this day.
We ask that by Your Spirit You strengthen our faith, that Christ might fill our hearts—that we, being rooted and grounded in Your love, may come to know more fully this day what is the breadth, length, height, and depth of the love of Christ. So may we be filled, hearts and minds and lives, with the fullness of Your Love.
Be glorified in us this day, as we remember and celebrate Your steadfast and enduring love, revealed in astonishing measure at the birth of our Lord Jesus, in whose Name we pray. Amen.
Read Psalm 107 in sections:
1-3* …4-9* …10-16* …17-22* …23-32*
*Between each section, say the following in unison (from Luke 1:68; 2:11):
Blessed be the LORD our God, for He has visited and redeemed His people. For unto us is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
After reading, sing together (at least) the first verse of Joy to the World.
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing.
Joy to the world! The Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ.
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
To conclude:
Leader - Thanks be to God for this gift too wonderful for words!
All - Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our LORD.
Closing Prayer: (Leader)
Lord God, Giver of the inexpressible gift of Christ, and Giver of every good thing, as we now turn our attention to celebration, to the giving and receiving of gifts, to the enjoyment of delicious food and drink, to fellowship, play, and rest, receive our joy in these lesser good things as the grateful worship it is, in honor of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose Name we pray, Amen.
Photo by Gareth Harper on Unsplash