Let Heaven and Nature Sing!

Welcome to a creation-centered Advent and Christmas service! For 25 years, the Campus Choir has sung the traditional Lessons and Carols service, which begins with a reading from Genesis 3 about the fall of Adam and Eve. Tonight, however, we begin not with Genesis 3, but with Genesis 1, the account of divine creation. Here Christmas is understood more broadly, not only as the undoing of the fall, but as a step in the restoration and completion of all creation.

True, we've had hints of this creational theme before. "Joy to the World" doesn't mention a word about the manger, but sings rather of "fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains" repeating the sounding joy, while Christ comes to spread blessings "far as the curse is found." But then, how often haven't we sung that on automatic pilot, not realizing the profundity of the message we've been singing?

It turns out that "Joy to the World" is not alone. Once we start with this creational motif, we hardly know where to stop. Isaiah's prophecies and hundreds of carols and anthems have painted a picture of Christmas with rich, creational details: with stars moving around in the heavens, with animals gazing on the newborn Christ-child, with carols chock-full of fish, flowers, and mountains, of sight, sound, and fragrance.

This come as no surprise once we remember that Christ is the "firstborn of all creation," the One "through whom all things were created," the One in whom "all things hold together." Our Lord is ushering in a kingdom that extends to the farthest reaches of the cosmos! And so, at Christmas, with great joy, we pray not only for God to "bless all the dear children in your tender care," but also for God to "carpet with green the whole new earth" and to "redeem the rainbows in the skies!"

Tonight we join with all the angels who sing creation's story. May God's Spirit move among us and open our hearts to the music of the spheres that echoes our Creator's praise.

Following this service, we invite you use these texts as a guide to your personal and family Advent worship. Reading one lesson per day, beginning on December 17, will bring you to the final reading from John 1 on Christmas Day. Also, consider framing the cover of this program for use in your home or workplace.

Organ Voluntary: 

"O Come, O Come Immanuel," arr. John Ferguson 
"Of the Father’s Love Begotten," Gerald Near

Choral Prayer: "Christ, Mighty Savior," Richard W. Dirksen

Processional Hymn: "At the Name of Jesus"

Psalter Hymnal 467 
Stanzas 1 and 2: all 
Stanza 3: choir 
Stanza 4: all 
An Additional Stanza: choir 
Stanzas 5 and 6: all

Bidding Prayer:

Pastor: Beloved in Christ, as we await the great festival of Christmas, we prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning. We have gathered to hear, in readings from the holy scriptures, how the prophets of Israel foretold that God would visit and redeem his waiting creation. We rehearse again the account of the loving purposes of God from the glorious creation of the world, through the first days of our disobedience, to the glorious recreation brought us by our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, through whom all things were made. We rejoice, in carols and hymns, that the good purpose of God is being mightily fulfilled: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and creation itself is being renewed.

But first, we pray for the world which God so loves, for those who have not heard the good news of God, or who do not believe it; for those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death; and for the Church in this place and everywhere, that it may be freed from all evil and fear, and may in pure joy lift up the light of the love of God. These prayers we humbly offer as we meditate on each of the readings from holy scripture, and also now, in the words that our Lord Jesus Christ taught us.

All: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. 
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen!

God's Greeting and Congregational "Amen"

I. All Things Are Made through Christ