05C*
A Call to Worship
Christmas Eve/Day (i) Year C 2012
Psalm 96

Come, let us gather to worship with our praises our Holy and Glorious God!
We come, to celebrate together the coming of the Lord, our Redeeming God.

Come, let us gather to worship God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things!
We come, to sing and bless the name of the Lord, the King of all creation.

Come, let us gather to worship the splendour and majesty and of our God!
We come, to share together how our Unshakable God has blessed us each
day, and we join with all the creation to glorify and honour our Revered God. Amen.

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Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Christmas Eve/Day (i) Year C 2012
Psalm 96

We come together as a community of faith, to share with each other
the wonders of our Glorious God; to give thanks, and to offer our joint
songs of praise. We come to share with each the good news of our
personal experiences of our saving God; and to be encouraged to
share further the news of God’s justice given so impartially; and of
God’s great mercies to all creation. We come, to help each other set
right our priorities, so that we can let go of the “little gods” within our
lives, and so that we can place God as the central factor in our living.

Inspirational God, all creation joins with us in this recognition of our
God who is beyond space and time; who is beyond language and
national pride and ideologies; and who is beyond all the diversity of
culture and traditions – all the things we use to separate ourselves
from our brothers and sisters, and even from our Father God. We also
rejoice that we are a part of a world community, where it is possible
to honour and praise God at any time and in any place, regardless of
our circumstances. Wherever we are in the world, we can praise God
and find moments of time and space to celebrate the God of the world,
the God of the universe. Great is the Lord God, and worthy of all praise.

Beckoning God, you call us together to worship and praise your glory!
All creation joins with humanity in an eternal hymn of thankfulness for
life itself - that undefined reality of being alive - with the added potential
for continuing renewal; and for creation of future generations of people,
and the countless wonders and diversity of all the created universe.
Let all the earth and all the heavens us sing a new song to the Lord our
God, as we need a new song to express the reverent awe we bring today. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Christmas Eve/Day (i) Year C 2012
Psalm 96

With so many new options in the media, in social networking,
and with the internet with its various applications - publishing
the “Good News” about how wonderful is our God has never
been easier! Health professionals, law enforcement agencies
and educators have so many new tools to help make their work
much more effective; but have you and I made the most of this
medium to “Sing a new song to the Lord?” I believe that many
things will change in the way we worship God, but I also believe
that some things will never change; for example, joyfully singing
God’s praises and praying together with like-minded people will
always be effective and inspirational to each of the participants!



How wonderful it is to be part of a huge crowd of people all praising
God! That remains for me one of the main highlights of my time in
the “world church”, where no matter what language people spoke,
the message was always the same. With one voice we could all say
and sing: “Sing to the Lord....; bless his name! Great is the Lord,
who is most worthy of praise!..... O nations of the world, recognise
the Lord; recognise that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give glory
to the Lord.... Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice!”



“The Lord made the heavens!” I do not think I will ever become tired
of looking at the night sky, as to me, it is a constant source of wonder.
The Psalmist sang: “Let all the earth tremble before him...” but in the
night sky, all the stars and planets seem to have their own way of dancing,
as they shimmer, waver and sparkle in the night skies; and as they send
out their timeless and wordless message of God’s creative powers.

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from the ‘New Living Translation’, © 1996. Copyright. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering for the Revised
Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: christmasdayic_2012.pdf

© 2012 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year C