05B*
A Call to Worship
Christmas Eve (i) Year B 2014
Psalm 96

The Almighty God who daily gifts us with surprises – we praise your Holy Name!
Together, let us “Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord..!”

Creating God of the universe, who daily blesses us – we sing of your great glory!
“O praise the Lord, all you nations… Acclaim the Lord, all you peoples, Alleluia!”1

Great is the Lord God, who is always and forever worthy of and reverent worship;
Glory, “...honour and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary...”
“...Worship the Lord in all his holy splendour. Let all the earth tremble before him.
Tell all the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’..Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!”
Amen.



Psalm 96

1 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!
2 Sing to the Lord; praise his name.
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.
3 Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
4 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 The gods of other nations are mere idols,
but the Lord made the heavens!
6 Honour and majesty surround him;
strength and beauty fill his sanctuary.

7 O nations of the world, recognize the Lord;
recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong.
8 Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
9 Worship the Lord in all his holy splendour.
Let all the earth tremble before him.
10 Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.
He will judge all peoples fairly.

11 Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!
Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
12 Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!
Let the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he is coming!
He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with his truth.


Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Christmas Eve (i) Year B 2014
Psalm 96

Surprising God, you have called us together to worship and praise you.
Today you have gifted us with a totally new experience of you, and we want
to tell others about it and share God’s surprises with them! So, we consciously
and deliberately come to offer our thanks and praises to the Lord God, who
continues to act to renew and redefine all creation - every new day and night;
and who also daily renews and redefines our personal life and our experiences
of relationships, creation, life and living. We give our thanks for this great miracle
of God’s love, grace and mercy, and for this small glimpse of God’s great glory.
“O praise the Lord, all you nations… Acclaim the Lord, all you peoples, Alleluia...!”1

The Almighty God, we praise your Holy Name, and we come to worship you
in response to your invitation to sing of your glory! We come to revere and
recognise that God’s “honour and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill
his sanctuary...”
and as we worship you within our own sacred space, we want
to “sing a new song” about a completely new experience of our God! The songs
of our past life and faith journey are not related to today, so we sing a new song!
“O praise the Lord, all you nations… Acclaim the Lord, all you peoples, Alleluia!”1

We come today with our hearts and minds filled thanks and praise for our God!
Holy God, the Hope of all who come to you in prayer and praise, the psalmist
invites us to become actively involved in this new and intimate relationship with
our God – and we are urged to sing, praise, proclaim, publish and tell everyone
the good news of God’s new day, and our God-given opportunity to share God’s
news of a new beginning for all creation. Lord, we come in eager anticipation of
the continuing self-revelation of our God to people whose hearts and minds yearn
to know more of God; so that they can learn more of God’s grace-inspired actions.
“You are holy, you are whole. You are always ever more than we ever understand.
You are holy, you are wholeness, you are present, let the cosmos praise you, Lord!”2
“O praise the Lord, all you nations… Acclaim the Lord, all you peoples, Alleluia!”1 Amen.



A Personal Meditation
Christmas Eve (i) Year B 2014
Psalm 96

Psalm 96 is a psalm of hope, because when the people gathered for the anointing
of the new King David, this was a sign to them all of a new beginning for the people
of Israel under the reign of a God-empowered king; and the eternal hope that God
would continue to do all that God had promised for and with God’s especially blessed
people. It is also a psalm where the eternal and holy reign of God the King is praised
and celebrated, because God the King reigns over of all people, time and outer space,
lands and oceans - and all who live therein. Although Psalm 96’s celebration was enacted
about three thousand years ago, the relevance of our hope in the eternal reign of God
is a current as today’s radio and television news bulletins. The Psalmist expressed this
hope with positive actions and a summons: “...Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the
whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim
the good news that he saves.... God is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other
nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens...!”
No god can make that claim!

Creative pause: “The Lord reigns! ....He will judge all peoples fairly.”


In his book “The Poems of Robert Browning” there is the poem “The Wall” that shared
something of Browning’s intense grief after the death of his beloved wife Elizabeth, That
poem includes these words: “…Hold on, hope hard in the subtle thing that's spirit: tho'
cloistered fast, soar free…”
Browning hoped that life would eventually improve for him,
although it meant “holding on and hoping hard” to all that separated him from his beloved,
and that his grief would not last forever. The concept of being able to “Hold on, hope hard...”
applies to many things in life – in our faith, in our relationship, and in our everyday living;

Creative pause: “Hold on, hope hard…”


God spoke to Noah with this special message: “….I am giving you a sign of my covenant
with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow
in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth….”
3 This promise
of God’s became very special in my family, when my younger daughter was diagnosed with
breast cancer, and I bought for us both hanging rainbow “mobiles”, as a constant reminder
of God’s many promises. That is when “Hold on, hope hard...” also became relevant to us!

Creative pause: Claiming God’s promises, especially in times of stress.


1 From “Together in Song” #54
O sing a new song to the Lord,
© 1991 Words for the “Response”
by Christopher Wilcock SJ
Used by permission
Word of Life International Licence #2425

2 From “Together in Song” #753
You are holy, you are whole
© Words by P.G. Harling
Used with permission
Word of Life International Licence #2425

3 Genesis 9: 12-13 (NLT)



Acknowledgements:
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

*Revised Indexing Scheme from 'Consultation on Church Union' (COCU).

I acknowledge and give heartfelt thanks for the theological inspiration available from the writings of
Professor Walter Brueggemann; and through the resources from the internet and “The Text this Week” (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditations are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2014 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

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