Advent Service 2017 Sermon

This is a sermon I gave to Oasis Christian Fellowship on the first of four Sunday evening "Carols by Candlelight" services in December 2017

Introit (as guests are finding seats and settling): Joubert’s “Torches”, Personent hodie, Gaudete

Welcome

Good evening, my name is Nick, and I am part of the church family here at Oasis Christian Fellowship and, on behalf of the whole church, I’d like to offer you our warmest welcome to our first carol service of 2017!  We are so pleased that you’ve been able to come tonight, and we hope to give you a thoroughly enjoyable evening over the next hour or so.

I, personally, absolutely love Christmas carols – for me, they invoke memories of the many happy family times I’ve been blessed with when I sing - or even just hear – them.  So I am very grateful for the church’s idea to run a carol service on each of the four Sunday evenings leading up to Christmas this year, and for the abundant enthusiasm that has gone into practising the carols, decking the halls, mulling the wine, and mincing the pies!

It also means we can enjoy some different carols each week.  This evening, we are going to enjoy some of the more reflective traditional carols, primarily focussing on those written in a minor key.  We’ll intersperse these with passages from the Bible and a bit of explanation, a bit like the traditional ‘Nine Lessons And Carols’ you may see on TV, except we’ll just have six lessons and carols!  Our “lessons” (or short talks, really) this evening will look at how God had prepped His people for the birth of His Son over two thousand years ago: What were Mary and Joseph to expect of this person, Jesus?  What do we expect: ok, Jesus is born – but, so what?  What does that mean for me?

To help answer these questions, we’d like to take you through just a small number of the many, many prophecies about Jesus - proclaimed and recorded often hundreds of years before He was even born.  And, as part of that, we’re also going to have a look at a tiny number of Jesus’ many, many names - other than “Jesus” - used in some of those prophecies, which should give us some insight into The Man and His Mission.

Our musical theme for tonight was inspired by the classic Advent carol, “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, our third carol for this evening, the music for which is in a minor key.  Other carols written in a minor key include “Torches”, “Personent hodie”, and “Gaudete”, all of which were playing at the beginning… and you’ll be pleased to know that those last two are the only carols we’ve included in Latin!

Some say that music written in a minor key gives a feeling of anticipation, so it’s entirely appropriate for this church-season of “Advent”, as “advent” is Latin for “coming to” or “coming towards” – it’s the season for anticipating the coming of Jesus to Earth.  But, before we get into our carols in a minor key, let’s warm up our voices as we stand to sing that other classic “O Come” carol: O Come All Ye Faithful!

Carol 1: O Come All Ye Faithful

1. O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem, come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

2. God of God, Light of Light, Lo! he abhors not the virgin’s womb; Very God, begotten not created.

3. See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle, leaving their flocks, draw nigh with lowly fear; we, too, will thither, bend our joyful footsteps:

4. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!  Glory to God, in the highest;

Lesson 1

The “Advent season” celebrates the anticipation of the coming of Jesus, but what does that actually mean?!  It might be helpful to kick off with our first two ‘other names’ for Jesus, which are “The Son of God” and “The Son of Man”.

Jesus has always been The Son of God, but when He left His Father in heaven to be born of Mary at that first Christmas, He then became The Son of Man too.

As the “Son of God”, Jesus could come to us and say: “Oh yes!  I know God in heaven very well – He’s my Father!”  And, in fact, as His Father’s Son, He would be like Him in every way.  But then, as “Son of Man”, Jesus could go back to His Father and say to Him: “Oh yes!  I know ‘people’!  They are my brothers and sisters!”  So, as both the Son of God and the Son of Man, Jesus could bring God and Man together.  He made a way for all of us, sons and daughters of humankind, to become children of God.

And those who have come to know just how wonderful God is as a Father have been writing songs about this ever since.  Our first carol in a minor key, then, is about how Mary was told that she would be the one through whom the Son of God would become the Son of Man.  Let’s stand to sing “The angel Gabriel from heaven came”.

Carol 2: Gabriel’s Message (The angel Gabriel from heaven came)

1. The angel Gabriel from heaven came, His wings as drifted snow his eyes aflame.  "All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden Mary,

Most highly favoured lady," gloria!

2. "For know a blessed mother thou shalt be, all generations laud and honour thee.  Thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold

3. Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head "To me be as it pleaseth God," she said.  "My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name."

4. Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ was born, In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn; And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:

Lesson 2, with Reading 1: Luke 1:26-38

In our first reading, we’ll hear how Luke - a doctor-turned-investigative-journalist of the time - describes the event we have just sung about.  (Elizabeth, who will be mentioned early in the reading, was a relative of Mary, who – unbeknownst to Mary – was, herself, pregnant with a baby boy, who would go on to be John The Baptist):

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.  So the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month.  For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Although we don’t use this word for angels so much, Gabriel, there, is essentially “prophesying” - a “prophet” is someone, whom God sends to tell people what He is about to do.  John The Baptist, mentioned earlier, served as a prophet in the few years before Jesus started teaching.  We’ll look at a few more prophets later but, for now, did you notice the angel’s odd instructions for Mary?

He says: “you are to call him Jesus” … and then He immediately adds: “He will be called the Son of the Most High” … and, not long later: “the child will be called the Son of God” - so many names for such a wee fellah!  It sounds like Gabriel can’t make His mind up!  But, there are actually over a hundred names for Jesus!  And every single one describes something about who He is, what He’s like, or what He came to do.

We’ll sing of some other names for Jesus now in our third carol: “O come! O come! Emmanuel”.  As “Emmanuel” literally means “God with us”, this carol is really a prayer for God to come to be with us – a prayer that was answered on that first Christmas Day.  Let’s stand to sing “O come! O come! Emmanuel”.

Carol 3: O come! O come! Emmanuel

1. O come! O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel; that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

2. O come! Thou Branch of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny; from depths of hell Thy people save, and give them victory o'er the grave.

3. O come! Thou Day-Spring come and cheer our spirits by Thine Advent here; and drive away the shades of night, and pierce the clouds and bring us light!

4. O come! Thou Key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.

5. O come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind; bid Thou our sad divisions cease, and be Thyself our King of Peace.

Lesson 3, with Reading 2: Matthew 1:18-25

The name “Emmanuel” was used by a prophet called Isaiah, who told the king of Judah, some 700 years before Jesus was born: “A virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”.  Our second Bible reading this evening describes how Joseph is told that this prophecy is to be fulfilled in his lifetime:

 “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said:

“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”

Again, here, the angel gives more than one name for the baby.  In giving the reason for the name “Jesus”, the angel explains: “because he will save his people from their sins”, and the name “Jesus” means “The Lord saves”, or even, “The Lord is salvation”.  The other name, “Immanuel”, means “God with us”.  And who He is, what He’s like, and what He came to do are all bundled up together right there in those two names!  The baby is “God” and “Lord”.  This God and Lord loves us and wants to be “with us”, and so He came “to save us”.

But what did we need saving from?

There are many things we need saving from in this world.  Just a brief look at another prophet - Zechariah, the father of John The Baptist – would give one answer:

“The Lord … has come to his people and, … as he said through his holy prophets of long ago, (will save us) from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us … The Rising Sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

We need saving from our enemies who hate us and the shadow of death, but also remember what the angel said when giving the name Jesus: “he will save his people from their sins”.  We also need saving from our sins.

Our sins are not actually things like greed, murder, and injustice – these are only symptoms of what sin really is.  Sin, really, is rejecting God as our Father.  Everything else just comes out of that.

The symptoms of sin can make us enemies of other people around us, but sin itself made us enemies of God.  And that is why it was so important that Jesus, the Son of God, became the Son of Man too.  Despite our making enemies of God, God still loves us and Jesus came to offer to make us, sons and daughters of humankind, into children of God again.

Zechariah described this as “The Rising Sun (coming) to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness”, which may remind you of another traditional Christmas reading: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned”.

That was Isaiah - again, 700 years before Jesus was born - prophesying about Jesus’ birth as ‘light dawning’, driving all darkness away before it.  Our next song, performed by our very own choir, Oasis Hearts And Voices, sings of Jesus - The Great Light - being born into our darkness.

Choral Piece: “Silent Night”

1. Silent night!  Holy night!  All is calm, all is bright; round yon virgin mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace!  Sleep in heavenly peace!

2. Silent night!  Holy night!  Shepherds quake at the sight; Glory streams from heaven afar, Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia!  Christ the Saviour is born!  Christ the Saviour is born!

3. Silent night!  Holy night!  Son of God, love’s pure light; radiance beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.  Jesus, Lord at thy birth!  Jesus, Lord at thy birth!

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Don’t worry – we will all have a chance to sing that popular carol a little later.  But, for now, our next carol describes a little more the bleak darkness that Jesus came into, to save us from.  Let’s stand to sing: “In The Bleak Mid-Winter”.

Carol 4: In The Bleak Mid-Winter

1. In the bleak mid-winter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter, long ago.

2. Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor Earth sustain; Heaven and Earth shall flee away when He comes to reign: in the bleak mid-winter, a stable-place sufficed; The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

3. Enough for Him, whom cherubim worship night and day, a breastful of milk and a manger full of hay; enough for Him, whom angels fall down before, the ox and ass and camel, which adore.

4. Angels and archangels may have gathered there, cherubim and seraphim thronged the air.  But His mother only in her maiden bliss, worshipped the Beloved with a kiss.

5. What can I give Him, poor as I am?  If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb; if I were a wise man I would do my part - yet what I can I give Him, give my heart.

Lesson 4, with Reading 3: Luke 2:25-35

Instead of a palace of marble and gold for this King of Kings to be born into, a stable-place of straw and smells and draughts and dung sufficed for Him.

Instead of a painted crib, a downy mattress, and clean bedclothes, the Son of God rested in an ox, an ass, and a camel’s feeding trough – a manger full of hay.

Instead of a planned programme of the rich and famous honouring this Ruler of all creation, a handful of shepherds and a few wise men sneak in by night, drop off a lamb and “do their part”, and then scarper again before Herod can track them down.

This is hardly how we’d expect The Son of God to start off His mission to save us.  But, not only did Jesus accept this humble introduction, He went on to suffer humiliation throughout His lifetime, ending up being executed by the very people He came to save.

This is no aloof God, demanding his pleasures at our expense.  No, Jesus is “The Servant King”.  Upturning all our concepts of what it means to be ‘king’, He served us every second of His life, right up to – and in - His death.

Another prophet spoke a little of this, very soon after Jesus’ birth, as we’ll hear in our next reading:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.  He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.

Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.  When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Our next song, performed by Pentatonix, which we’ll play for you, explores the emotions Mary might have experienced as she considered all she’d been told.

Video Piece: “Mary, Did You Know”

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?  Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?  Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?  This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?  Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand? Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?  And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

Mary did you know, Mary did you know, Mary did you know?  The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again; The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?  Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?  Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?  This sleeping child you're holding is the great “I am”!

Lesson 5                                                                                                                                                                                 

Did you hear the last verse, there?  “This sleeping child you're holding is the great ‘I am’”!  ‘I am’ is one of the stranger names for Jesus, yet it is one given by Himself, as if to answer the fundamental question we all have at some point: does God exist?

But this song takes us far beyond this question, to the very mission of Jesus: “Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters … will one day rule the nations?  … The dead will live again …”

The dead will live again!  Death is all about separation.  Our sin, remember, is our rejection of God as our Father – in the deepest parts of our hearts, we actually want separation from God.  But, despite our rejection of Him, He still loves us and is always trying to convince us to come home.

So, for example, every day, we can enjoy the blessings of food, water, shelter, the love of our loved ones, the kindness of strangers, the wonders of creation, the very breath we breathe – all this to give us just a taste of God’s love for us.  But we can also endure hunger and famine, natural disasters, disabilities, decay, disease, death, and the cruelty of our fellow man in the world – all this to give us just a taste of what it would be like completely without God’s love.

In this life, God constantly presents us with a choice: “come home, where, with me, all is goodness and light and love and joy, without any tears or pain or sorrows!” … Or: “choose to reject me - and all that I am, in all my goodness and light and love and joy, and know only the tears and pain and sorrows that that leaves you with.”  This choice is ours, until we ourselves die.  God Himself wants no-one to choose separation from Him.  But He won’t force our hand – that would leave no room for love to grow in us.  Instead, He showed His love for us when He died for us on the cross, and He continues to show His love for us in all the blessings He gives us now.  And when we call on Him in prayer.

A few years ago, I went to see The Passion of The Christ in a cinema in central London.  As you’ll know if you’ve ever seen it, it is brutal.  I remember, afterwards, heading home via Waterloo station with a friend who’d watched it with me.  As we walked and talked, we found we couldn’t avoid any longer acknowledging a deep self-centredness in our own hearts.  A self-centredness that, sometimes, we tried vainly to rid ourselves of but, frankly, sometimes we just couldn’t care less about.

We couldn’t reconcile that self-centredness in us with God’s selfless love for us – a love so deep and high and wide and strong that The Son of God chose separation from His Father through death, so that we wouldn’t have to.  A love that saved us from what our own self-centredness actually craved: separation from God.

As my friend got on his train and I settled down to wait for my bus, questions about this raged through my mind.  Just then, my bus turned up.  Despite being a major central London transit point on a weekday evening, the bus was utterly empty apart from the driver.  As I climbed up to the top deck, all of my questions seemed to come to a head in one question, that I put to God in a silent prayer: “God – who am I to you?”

I sat down in one of the front seats of the top deck and looked up.  And there, across the entire front window, was etched as graffiti into the glass three letters: “S – O – N” … “son”.  With this one word, all of the Bible verses I’d ever heard or read, reassuring me that God had taken me as His child and would never leave me again, rushed through my brain, dispelling all previous doubts and questions.

God has such a love for all of us.  And yet many of us remain unconvinced.  We are now going to hear, in song, two contrasting responses to God’s reaching out to us.  The first, performed by our choir (although we were only able to start learning this last week, so do pray for us quickly before we start!) is “Hark! How the bells”.

Choir Piece: “Hark how the bells” (Carol of The Bells)

Hark!  How the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say “throw cares away!  Christmas is here, bringing good cheer to young and old, meek and the bold.  Ding dong ding dong – that is their song, with joyful ring, all carolling.  One seems to hear words of good cheer from everywhere filling the air.  Oh!  How they pound, raising the sound o’er hill and dale, telling their tale!  Gaily they ring, while people sing songs of good cheer – Christmas is here!  Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!  Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas!  On, on they send - on, without end – their joyful tone to ev’ry home.

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I do love that song, yet it does raise an awkward question: “Hark, how the bells - sweet silver bells - all seem to say “throw cares away!” … Can I really just throw cares away?  Is dealing with the problems of this life really that easy?

Jesus took all of our cares a lot more seriously than that.  He dealt a final death blow to the very core of all our cares when He made a way back to God as our Father for us.  Now, indeed, we can enjoy a “merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas, on, on, on without end”.

Our next carol describes three people - kings themselves - who recognised Jesus as the “King and God and sacrifice”, who “sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying” gave His all to bring us home.  Let’s stand to sing “We Three Kings”.

Carol 5: We Three Kings

                                                                 

1. We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts, we traverse afar.  Field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder star.

O Star of Wonder, Star of Night, Star with Royal Beauty bright,

Westward leading, still proceeding, guide us to Thy perfect Light.

2. Born a King on Bethlehem plain, gold I bring to crown Him again.  King forever, ceasing never, over us all to reign.

3. Frankincense to offer have I; incense owns a deity nigh: prayer and praising, all men raising, worship Him God on high.

4. Myrrh is mine; it’s bitter perfume; breathes a life of gathering gloom: sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

5. Glorious now behold Him arise, King and God and sacrifice.  Heav'n sings alleluia!  Alleluia the earth replies.

Lesson 6, with Reading 4: Matthew 2:1-12

Isaiah (mentioned before) and King Solomon (who lived over 900 years before Jesus’ birth) both prophesied about those three kings.  Jesus’ disciple Matthew called them “wise men” and “magi” in our final reading this evening, which mentions yet another prophecy - from Micah, this time, who lived around 700 years before Jesus was born:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.  When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.  He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child.  As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

King Herod was foiled, and Jesus went on to complete His mission, with a life of teaching us the truth about His Father, and a death on a cross that provided for all of us to be reunited with that Father.

Emmanuel - God With Us … Jesus, The Lord Is Salvation … Son of God, Son of Man … The Rising Sun, The Great Light … King of Kings, The Servant King, King and God and sacrifice.

We have only touched on a few of the many names and prophecies concerning Jesus, His birth, and His mission – but hopefully we’ve seen that He is for us.  Nothing and no-one in all creation would get in the way of Jesus’ plan back at that first Christmas, and nothing and no-one in all creation can get in the way of Jesus’ love for you now.  Let’s celebrate this great news now, as we stand to sing “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”!

Carol 6: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

1. God rest you merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay, Remember Christ our Saviour was born upon this day, to save us all from Satan’s power, when we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy, Comfort and joy; O tidings of comfort and joy

2. In Bethlehem, in Jewry, this blessed Babe was born, and laid within a manger, upon this blessed morn; The which His mother, Mary, did nothing take in scorn.

3. From God our heavenly Father, a blessed angel came, and unto certain shepherds, brought tidings of the same, how that in Bethlehem was born, The Son of God by name:

4. “Fear not!” then said the Angel, “Let nothing you affright!  This day is born a Saviour, of virtue, power, and might; To free all those who trust in Him, From Satan’s power and might

5. The shepherds at those tidings, rejoiced much in mind, and left their flocks a feeding, in tempest, storm, and wind, and went to Bethlehem straightway, this blessed babe to find:

6. Now to the Lord sing praises, all you within this place, and with true love and brotherhood, each other now embrace; This holy tide of Christmas, all other doth deface.

Blessing

God, our Father, thank you for Jesus – that He, as The Great Light, shone into our darkness; and that He, as Son of God, Son of Man, God and Lord came to save us.  Help us to know and enjoy your love this Christmas and forevermore.  Amen

We hope you have enjoyed our first Advent Carol service.  Do let us send you on your way not only with a song in your heart but with some warm food and drink in your belly too – there will be free mulled wine, mince pies, tea, coffee, and other refreshments available at the back in just a few minutes.  If you are interested in looking further into anything we’ve sung or heard about this evening, please do make sure you take one of the books we are giving away at the back as a Christmas gift from us to you, and feel free to grab me for a chat over refreshments afterwards if you’d like.

We would love to welcome you to any or all of our next 3 carols services - all of which will be different from each other - at the same time each week (with our families service, on the 17^th, starting with Messy Church at the earlier time of 3:30), but, if you are not able to make any of these, then may we take this opportunity to wish you a very happy Christmas!

Carol 7: “Silent Night”

Now, as promised, we would like to give you all the opportunity to sing one of the world’s favourite carols, with the choir all together.  So, let’s stand to sing our final carol: “Silent Night”.

1. Silent night!  Holy night!  All is calm, all is bright; round yon virgin mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace!  Sleep in heavenly peace!

2. Silent night!  Holy night!  Shepherds quake at the sight; Glory streams from heaven afar, Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia!  Christ the Saviour is born!  Christ the Saviour is born!

3. Silent night!  Holy night!  Son of God, love’s pure light; radiance beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.  Jesus, Lord at thy birth!  Jesus, Lord at thy birth!