• Invocation
• Carol Sing

#239 O Come All Ye Faithful (1, 3)

#217 Away in a Manger (All)

#218 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (1, 4)

#219 What Child Is This? (All)

#238 Angels We Have Heard on High (All)

• Lighting of Advent Wreath (Lk. 2:1-2O)
• Meditation: The Christmas Story
• Special Music: O Holy Night
• Communion 
• Silent Night (with guitar)

*  Benediction

Lk 2:1-20 (NIV)

Meditation

Boy at Wal-Mart in Chevron coveralls-offshore  Forgive me for my tendency to play what if. Men on an offshore oil rig. Shut this baby down!! Angels we . . . Sweetly singing o'er the Gulf. Roughnecks why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?

• And what about the shepherds?
• That night for those ancient sheepherders  . . .
• But didn't stay that way
• Shepherds were just folks. Offshore folks.

The message is for the folks (all people), no matter there place in culture.

And the message is good news!

• Turn on the news-look at the paper. Economy shot. People shot.

Old Anne Murray song

I rolled out this morning, kids had the mornin' news show on. Bryant Gumbel was talkin' 'bout the fighting in Lebanon. Some senator was squawkin' 'bout the bad economy, it's gonna get worse you see, we need a change in policy.

There's a local paper rolled up in a rubber band, one more sad story's one more than I can stand.Just once how I'd like to see the headline say "Not much to print today, can't find nothin' bad to say", because, nobody robbed a liquor store on the lower part of town. Nobody died, nobody burned a single buildin' down. Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain, we sure could use a little good news today.

• We sure could--and we've got it! The best news!
• Savior born-a deliverer
• Christ the Lord-Messiah has come
• Born in Bethlehem. Born to give us life!!
• In him was life, and the life was the light of men!!
• Good news!!