2019 Gr 1-3 Arise and Shine Children’s Christmas Service SCRIPT On 5 Risers: 2nd-Nelsen 2nd-Schlichting 1st-Pingel 1st-Boyce Steps: 3rd-Radue tree on top/first step 3rd-Clemens Pre-service Music As We Gather Take notice of the sources of light around you. How does each source serve a different purpose? As you prepare to worship, pray that everyone here will take notice of the many ways Jesus—the Light of the World—shines in our lives. Processional sung by Congregation (organ)... Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful 1. Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him born the king of angels Oh, come, let us adore him, 3. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation, oh, come, let us adore him, Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above! Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest: Oh, come, let us adore him, 2. Highest, most holy, Light of light eternal, oh, come, let us adore him, Born of a virgin, a mortal he comes. Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. Son of the Father now in flesh appearing. Oh, come, let us adore him, oh, come, let us adore him, Oh, come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. Invocation P In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (based on Isaiah 60 and John 1) Call to Worship​ ​ P Arise! Shine! For your light has come. And the glory of the Lord rises upon you. C The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. P Darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples. C The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. P Arise! Shine! For your light has come. C Our Light is Jesus! We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son. Amen. Prayer of the Day P Lord, shine upon all who worship this day, especially the children who lead us. Let them radiate your light through the Gospel message they share. Amen. Message by the Children Introduction by Pastor Have you ever driven through a Christmas light display? Lights surround you—some flashing in coordination to music; some depicting various themes; some outlining trees and buildings with brilliant colors. It’s interesting how crowded these displays can be and yet nobody gets impatient. They forget the stress of the holiday season and pause to be present in the moment, taking in every detail of the display. There are many light displays around, but there is one you don’t want to miss. That is the light of Jesus displayed 1 in many ways, and in every corner of our lives. His rising light shines hope into our despair. His glorious light overshadows our fear with peace. His shining light reveals God’s truth in his Word. His healing light shines into our pain, our grief and our sin-sick lives. His eternal light shines God’s promise of abundant life with him—today and forever. And his reflective light is seen in us as we share his good news with others. So, arise! Shine! Your light has come! Leave all the distractions behind. Enjoy the display of Jesus’ light which our children will reflect. [2nd Gr-N moves next to Christmas tree. The parents are yawning and rubbing sleepy eyes.] Rising Light​ 2nd-Nelsen (Turn on lamp on table) Bella 1. Rise and shine, Mom and Dad! ​ ​. (parent, shielding eyes from light) Isaac 2. ​ Ooh! Bright light! OK. I’m up. Izzy 3. That’s good, because it’s Christmas! We have a lot to do, like open presents, go to church, eat our Christmas dinner, open presents … (parent) Juliet 4. ​ If only you were this eager to wake up on school days! Grayson 5. We don’t have to go out in the cold to wait for the school bus today. Owen 6. Yeah. It’s easy to wake up on Christmas. It’s a day for celebration. And did I mention there are presents to be opened? (parent) Isaac 7. ​You’re right. Thanks for the wake-up call. (proudly) (opening Bible) AJ 8. ​ I was inspired by the prophet Isaiah. ​ ​ We read Isaiah, chapter 60 in school. SCRIPTURE: Pastor: Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Congregation: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you (Isaiah 60:1-2). Liam 9. Isaiah said “wake up” because something exciting was happening. (parent) Juliet 10. ​Isaiah had to wake people up because they had lost hope. Their nation was a mess. Life was so hard that they wondered if God was even with them. Harper 11. It’s like they were stumbling in the dark and couldn’t see God. Connor 12. Kind of like how Mom and Dad were stumbling around in the dark this morning. They couldn’t see our bright, smiling faces and all the wonderful gifts waiting for them under the tree! (pointing to lamp) Joel 13. ​ But when we said, “Rise and shine,” just like Isaiah, they remembered it’s no ordinary day. (parent) Isaac 14. ​Right! Isaiah’s wake-up call reminded people that their lives were not dark and hopeless! God had not forgotten his promises. Landon 15. I get it! Isaiah said, “The glory of God will rise upon you.” He was giving people a sneak peek at Christmas! Gavin 16. Jesus was born on Christmas. He’s the Savior God promised. (turning off lamp) Madeline 17. ​Sometimes it seems I’m in the dark too. When things get tough, I forget that God is with me and cares about me. Aliyah 18. Without Jesus, we’d all be hopeless—worse than standing outside on a cold, dark morning wondering if the school bus will ever come! (parent) Juliet 19. ​But we live in the light of Jesus. Just before his birth, a priest named Zechariah sang a song that describes Jesus as a rising light bringing hope to all people. SCRIPTURE: Pastor: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. Congregation: …because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1:68, 78-79). (turn on lamp) Sienna 20. Well, rise and shine, everybody. It’s Christmas! ​ ​. No need to sit around in the dark! Jesus—our light—has come! 2 Song by Children & Congregation (organ) …The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns (Grades 1-3) ​1. The King shall come when morning Congregation: ​2. Not as of old, a little child dawns To bear and fight and die, And light triumphant breaks, But crowned with glory like the sun When beauty gilds the eastern hills, That lights the morning sky. And life to joy awakes. 3. The King shall come when morning dawns [2nd-N moves back to risers during st. 2, then 2nd-S And light and beauty brings. moves around tree ] Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray: Come quickly, King of kings Glorious Light​ 2nd-Schlichting (shaking a wrapped gift) Blake 21. ​ I wonder what’s in this box? I don’t hear anything moving. I hope it’s not socks, or worse yet, underwear! (to parent) Cooper 22. ​Please, can we open presents now? We’ve been in the dark too long. We need to know what we got for Christmas! (holding up star for tree) Caitlin 23. Don’t forget about our tradition. ​ ​First we put the star on top of the Christmas tree. Then we open presents. James 24. Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s put up that star. (parent) Hunter 25. ​Be patient. Remember, people waited many generations before God put his star in the sky and revealed his gift. Staurt 26. First, the gift had to be delivered … and Jesus wasn’t ordered on Amazon Prime. His delivery came at the end of a long journey! SCRIPTURE: Pastor: In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world … And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. Congregation: While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger (Luke 2 1-7). Nolan 27. That’s when God put the star in the sky to lead people to Jesus. Joshua 28. But first he sent angels to light up the sky for some shepherds sitting in the dark. And let’s just say, they might have appreciated new underwear after that light display! SCRIPTURE: Pastor: In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.