Riverside will not be gathering on Sunday, December 25, for worship. Instead we will be serving at the Greater Lafayette Christmas Day Dinner or worshiping with our famlies. This page is intended to be a place for resources to help you worship with your families on Christmas Day. If you have ideas or resources that you would like to share, please include them in the comments.
The resources have been organized in much the same way that our Sunday gatherings are arranged. They are centered on worshiping God through music, the Bible, and prayer. It is unlikely that you will be able to use all of these resources. Choose the ones that you believe will be best for your family.
Christmas Songs:
Away in a Manger http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDRWBumrDw0
Go Tell It on the Mountain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEaQKuId9sQ
O Come All Ye Faithful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTe28e4Rk-Y
Joy to the World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEcqoZe9fu0
Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 97:1-12
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:15-20
Prayer:
Walter Russell Bowie: A Christmas Creed
I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.
I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small.
I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ from my life today.
I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.
I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible:
I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother’s arms, whose modest home in Nazareth had love for its only wealth, who looked at persons and made them see what God’s love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.
I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.
I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.
Family Prayer:
Your family can share special requests or prayers for loved ones that you are not able to be with for Christmas because of distance or death. Then you pray one of the following prayers together.
O God,
by your heavenly star,
you guided those who were wise
to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
May your blessing come to rest on our home and all of us.
Make our lives wise with your wisdom,
true to your teaching,
and enlivened by your love.
May your Word made flesh
make his home among us. Amen.
O God,
bless our family
and all its members and friends;
bind us together by your love.
Give us kindness and patience
to support each other;
and wisdom in all we do.
Let the gift of your peace
come into our hearts
and remain with us.
May we rejoice in your blessings
for all our days.
Amen.
When Opening Gifts:
Before opening gifts you can consider a prayer like the following.
Let me just for a moment, Lord, hold this time in my heart. It is about mysteries and gratitude, unknowing and wrong sizes, snippets of ribbon and screams of delight. Help me to remember the immense love you have for each of us in this room. With each gift that is opened, no matter how perfect or not, let me feel again the many ways you gift us each day, especially with your presence in our hearts and the presence of each other in our lives.