Sunday, December 24, 2023  

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Today’s Hymn

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!

True God from true God,
Light from light eternal,
born of a virgin, a mortal he comes;
very God, begotten, not created!
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

Sing, choirs of angels;
sing in exultation;
sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all
glory in the highest!
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father,
now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord!

John Francis Wade’s “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
trans. Frederick Oakeley
from Glory to God: The Presbyterian Hymnal

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Reflection

Perhaps there is no other night when we are as clear that we are singing with the angels than on Christmas Eve. All of heaven celebrates the choice of God to dwell with us. We adore this child who is called savior, shepherd, Christ, Lord, and Emmanuel.

That’s a lot to put on a baby lying between the star and the straw. He was born in the Bethlehem night and breathed the same air you and I breathe. He learned what it is to be hungry and disappointed, to know what it is for your back to hurt and your heart to break. Christ the Lord took on skin because God could not bear to be away from this world that God loves.

That is why the angels are singing, and why we join them to sing, “Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

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Prayer
God of unending love, you did not have to come to us. But you have chosen to humble yourself to live where we live. Fill us with joy this day as we rest in the sure and certain comfort that your love has called us by name. In the name of Christ, the human one, we pray. Amen.

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Written by Tom Are Jr., Interim Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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