Community United
Methodist Church, Quincy
December 22, 2020
Longest
Night/Blue Christmas Service
WELCOME
EVERYONE!! We are happy you are
worshiping with us today, wherever and whenever you are worshiping. Please feel free to leave us a message or
leave a comment in the video and let us know how we can best connect with you,
pray for you, and where you are joining us from whether it’s Quincy or the rest
of the world. We are a church where ALL
are welcome!!
UMC
Mission:
To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ For
the Transformation of the World
Community UMC Mission:
We are a Christ-centered community,
joyfully committed to being His ambassadors.
In the fellowship of His love and grace, we grow in Christ through the
study of God’s word, prayer and worship; living out our faith in service to
others.
Please
participate as fully as you wish, or simply watch and take it all in.
*Indicates to
stand as comfortable
UMH – United
Methodist Hymnal (Red Hymnal)
FWS – The
Faith we Sing (Black Hymnal)
Into this silent night
As we make our
weary way
we
know not where,
just when
the night becomes its darkest
and we cannot see our path,
just then
is when the
angels rush in,
their hands full of stars.
ANN
WEEMS
FROM: “KNEELING AT BETHLEHEM”
Gathering Music Alice King
Words of Welcome Pastor
Andrew Davis
Opening Prayer (Altogether):
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness,
and put on the garment of light, now in the time of this mortal life, grateful
for your presence and your companionship along our way to healing and hope.
Amen.
Hymn: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” - UMH
230, v. 1, 2, 3
1.
O Little
town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above
thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet
in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
The
hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
2.
For Christ
is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While
mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love
O
morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And
praises sing to God the King, and peace to all on earth.
3.
How
silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given;
So
God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No
ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek
souls will receive him, the dear Christ enters in.
Lighting
the Advent Candles A Litany of Remembering
We light this first candle to remember those whom we have loved
and lost. We pause to remember clearly, their faces, their voices, their
bodies. We embrace and give thanks for the memories that bind them to us in
this season of expectation, when all Creation waits for the Light.
We remember them with love. May God's eternal love surround them.
We light this second candle to remember the pain of loss: loss of
relationships, loss of trust, loss of jobs, loss of health, loss of faith, the
loss of joy. We acknowledge and embrace
the pain of the past, O God, and we offer it to You, asking that into our
wounded hearts and open hands You will place the gift of peace, shalom.
We remember that through You all things are possible.
Refresh, restore, renew us, O God, and lead us into Your future.
A period of silent reflection
We light this third candle to remember ourselves this Christmas
time. We pause and remember the past
weeks, months, and for some of us years, that have been heavy with our burdens.
We accept and lay before you, God, the sharpness of memory, the sadness and
grief, the hurt and fear, the anger and pain. We accept and lay before you the
ways we feel we have fallen short, and the times we have spent blaming
ourselves, and you, for all that we have suffered. We accept and lay before you the time we have
walked alone, in darkness; and in knowledge of our own mortality.
We remember that though we have journeyed far, and that, while
lost, we may have turned away from the light, the light itself has not failed.
We remember that though winter be upon us and though the night be
dark,
with the turning of the Wheel the dawn will come, and dawn defeats
the darkness.
A
Period of Silent Reflection
We light this fourth candle to remember faith, the gift of light
and hope that God offers to us in the stories of Hanukkah and of
Christmas, which both also began in abandonment, insecurity, and
humbleness, in a time of war and in a poor stable. We remember that the loving God who kept
the light shining in the temple and who came to share this life with us
promises us comfort and peace.
We remember the One who shares our burdens, who shows us the way
to the Light, and who journeys with us into all our tomorrows.
A period of silent reflection
A Lament: Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?
Why are you so far from helping me, so
far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I
cry by day but you do not answer,
and by night,
but I find no rest.
In you, our ancestors trusted. They
trusted and you delivered them.
It was you
who brought me from the womb,
you who kept
me safe on my mother's breast.
Since my
mother bore me, you have been my God.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is
near and there is no one to help.
God does not
despise the affliction of the afflicted.
God does not
hide from me.
When I cry to
God, God hears me.
Thanks be to
God.
Words of Comfort (Altogether): Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul;
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
thou annointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of
the LORD for ever.
Gospel Lesson: Luke 2: 1-7
In those days a decree
went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This
was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of
Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be
registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of
Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he
was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He
went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a
child. 6 While they were there, the time came for
her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to
her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger,
because there was no place for them in the inn.
A period of silent reflection
Hymn:
O Come, Come Emmanuel – UMH 211, vs.
1-2[i]
1.
O Come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom
captive Israel,
That mourns
in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears.
Refrain:
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel. Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
2.
O come, thou Wisdom from on high, and
order all things far and night;
To us the
path of knowledge show and cause us in her ways to go.
Refrain
Compassionate
God, there are those among us who are grieving over what might have been. A
death or loss has changed our experience of Christmas. Once it was a special
day for us too, but someone has died or moved away, we have lost a job, a
beloved pet, a dream, a goal, a cause. We find ourselves adrift ... alone...
lost.
Loving
God, receive our prayers. And in your merciful love, answer.
The
Christmas season reminds us of all that used to be and cannot be anymore. The
memories of what was ... the hopes and fears of what may be... still stifle us.
All around us we hear the sounds of celebration. But all we experience is a
sense of feeling deep sadness, numbness, feeling lost. Please be near us this
night.
Loving
God, receive our prayer, And in your merciful
love, answer.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel, vs. 3 – UMH
211
O come, O come, great Lord of
might, who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height In ancient times once gave the law
in cloud in majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel. Shall come to thee, O
Israel.
Lighting Memory Candles:
Everyone is invited to light a
candle in memory of someone or for a reason this season is not happy. Soft music will be played during this time, as
you are invited to reflect and meditate as you light your candlest.
*Prayer for the Night (Please
Respond in Bold Print):
Lord,
it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of
God.
It
is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been
done has not been done; let it be.
The night is dark. Let our fears
of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.
The
night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all those dear to
us, and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn. Let us
look expectantly to a new day,
To the new possibilities, new
hopes and new peacefulness You give us, in your Holy name, we pray. Amen.
*Closing Hymn: It
Came Upon the Midnight Clear – UMH
218
1. It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song
of old,
From angels bending near the earth, to touch their
harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth good will to all, from heaven’s
all gracious King.”
2. Still through the cloven skies they come with
peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats o’re all the
weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains, they bend on
hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels
sing.
3. And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms
are bending low,
Who toiling along the climbing way with painful
steps and slow,
Look now! For glad and golden hours come swiftly on
the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels
sing.
(Verse 4 on next page)
4. For lo! The days are hastening on, by prophet seen
of old,
When with the ever-circling years shall come the
time fortold
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient
splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.
*Sending Forth and Benediction
Connect with Us!!
P.O. Box 766, Quincy, CA 95971
Tel/Fax (530)283-1740
email:quincyumc@sbcglobal.net
Church
Website: www.quincymethodist.org
Facebook:
CUMCQuincy
YouTube:
QuincyUMC95971
Instagram:
@QuincyUMC95971
[i] “O Come,
O Come, Emmanuel,” Words 9th Cent. Latin; Trans. St. 1, 3 The
Hymnal, 1940. Music, 15th
Cent. French, harm. By Thomas Helmore, 1854.
St. 1, 3 ©1940, 1943, renewed 1981 The Church Pension Fund. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted/Streamed with permission under ONE
LICENCE, License # A-735696. All Rights
Reserved.
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