When the Passover was instituted, the Lord specified to Moses, “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD” (Ex. 12:14). That same day, when Moses concluded his instructions for observing the first Passover, he said: “And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses’” (Ex. 12:25–27). Thus, we understand that the celebration of the Passover was not an option. It was not man’s idea but God’s. Remembering God’s saving work was essential to the faith of the generations to come and ultimately to their embracing “Christ, our Passover” (1 Cor. 5:7).
In the same way, the annual celebrations of the saving work of the Lamb of God through his incarnation, death, and resurrection (the gospel) are essential to the spiritual well-being of God’s children and their children’s children. These are, without reservation, the greatest events of world history. As such, they are events that the faithful pastor uses to instill the essentials of the gospel in the lives of his people by the prayerful preparation of sermons and services that evoke the question, “What do these things mean?” to which he then heralds the eternal answers.
In this chapter, we will provide some wisdom for the three singular gospel events of the year. You will note that we have not followed the full liturgical calendar of the traditional Western church year (e.g., we do not treat Lent or Holy Week), though we do include a simple liturgy for the four Sundays of Advent and for Good Friday. Our selection is based on our belief that celebrating the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ is central to the apostolic vision of the gospel.
On Christmas Eve, the eternal Son of God stood poised, so to speak, at the rim of the universe, radiating light. Then he dove headlong through the galaxies and over the Milky Way toward our planet and into the watery warmth of the Virgin’s womb, where he first became a zygote, then an embryo, then a fetus, and then a baby, who would be born of Mary in a barnyard on what we call Christmas Day. Isn’t that the most beautiful story ever told? But today it is lost amid the glittering and plastic sentiment of our culture, which, without the Christ, is a yellow brick road to darkness.
Our task as pastors is to put together services in which the great story is preached in its rich biblical context amid hymns and songs that lift up the glories of the incarnation, so that our children and children’s children will wonder at and understand its meaning. The following resources will aid the busy pastor.
SELECT CHRISTMAS SCRIPTURES
The following Bible passages make excellent preaching texts. They can also be read, directly or responsively, at the various services of the Christmas season.
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Old Testament |
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Numbers 24:15–17 |
Isaiah 11:1–10 |
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Psalm 2 |
Isaiah 40:1–11 |
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Psalm 8 |
Ezekiel 34:22–24 |
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Isaiah 9:1–7 (esp. v. 6) |
Micah 5:2 |
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New Testament |
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Matthew 1:18–25 |
John 1:1–4 |
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Matthew 2:1–11 |
John 1:1–14 |
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Matthew 2:13–23 |
2 Corinthians 8:9 |
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Luke 1:5–25 |
2 Corinthians 9:15 |
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Luke 1:26–38 |
Galatians 4:4–6 |
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Luke 1:39–45 |
Philippians 2:1–8 |
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Luke 1:46–56 |
Colossians 1:15–20 |
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Luke 1:57–66 |
1 Timothy 1:15 |
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Luke 1:67–80 |
1 Timothy 3:16 |
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Luke 2:1–7 |
Hebrews 2:14–18 |
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Luke 2:1–20 |
Hebrews 4:14–16 |
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Luke 2:21 |
Hebrews 10:5–7 |
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Luke 2:22–38 |
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SELECT ADVENT AND CHRISTMAS HYMNS AND SONGS
There is so much high-quality Advent and Christmas music that we can’t possibly list it all here, but we have chosen many of what we consider to be the best hymns and songs.
Classic Advent and Christmas Hymns
“All My Heart This Night Rejoices” (Gerhardt)
“Angels from the Realms of Glory” (Montgomery)
“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” (Wesley)
“Comfort, Comfort Ye My People” (Olearius)
“Gabriel’s Message” (Basque carol)
“Good Christian Men, Rejoice” (Suso)
“Hark, the Glad Sound” (Doddridge)
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (Wesley)
“How Great Our Joy” (Baker)
“Joy to the World” (Watts)
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence” (Liturgy of St. James)
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (15th c. German)
“O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)” (Wade)
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (Latin hymn)
“O Holy Night” (Cappeau)
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (Prudentius)
“On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” (Coffin)
“On This Day Earth Shall Ring” (Piae Cantiones)
“Once in Royal David’s City” (Alexander)
“Rejoice, Rejoice Believers” (Laurenti)
“Savior of the Nations, Come” (Ambrose)
“Silent Night! Holy Night” (Mohr)
“The First Noel” (trad. English carol)
“Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne” (Elliott)
“Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying” (Nicolai)
“What Child Is This?” (Dix)
Recent Advent and Christmas Hymns and Songs
“Anthem for Christmas” (Gaither/Smith)
“Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn” (Haugen)
“Christ the Lord Is Born Today” (Altrogge)
“Exult in the Savior’s Birth” (Carson/Boswell)
“From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable” (Townend)
“Glory Be to God” (Wesley; alt. Kauflin)
“Jesus, Joy of the Highest Heaven” (Getty/Getty)
“Joy Has Dawned” (Getty/Townend)
“O Come, Our World’s Redeemer, Come” (Perry)
“O Savior of Our Fallen Race” (Getty/Getty)
“People, Look East” (Farjeon)
“Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour” (Houghton)
“Wonderful Counselor” (Altrogge)
SELECT CHRISTMAS POEMS
The following represent the finest poems in the English language and are meant for reading at appropriate places in Christmas services and for quotation in total or in part where they serve the text of the sermon. We also recommend that you read this section annually, so that its content will be in your mind as you prepare for the Christmas season.
The four oldest Christmas poems are found in the Gospel of Luke: Mary’s Magnificat (1:46–55), Zechariah’s Benedictus (1:68–79), the angels’ hymn to the shepherds (2:14), and Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis (2:29–32).
“As with Gladness Men of Old” (William C. Dix)
As with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold;
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright;
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.
As with joyful steps they sped
Savior, to Thy lowly bed,
There to bend the knee before
Thee, whom heaven and earth adore;
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.
As they offered gifts most rare
At Thy manger, rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy,
Pure and free from sin’s alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee, our heav’nly King.
Keep us in the narrow way;
And when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need no star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.
In the heavenly country bright,
Need they no created light;
Thou its light, its joy, its crown,
Thou its sun which goes not down;
There forever may we sing
Alleluias to our King!
“Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning” (Reginald Heber)
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!
Say, shall we yield Him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom and offerings divine,
Gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,
Vainly with gifts would His favor secure.
Richer by far is the heart’s adoration;
Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.
“A Christmas Folk-Song” (Lizette Woodworth Reese)
The little Jesus came to town;
The wind blew up, the wind blew down;
Out in the street the wind was bold;
Now who would house Him from the cold?
Then opened wide a stable door,
Fair were the rushes on the floor;
The Ox put forth a horned head:
“Come, Little Lord, here make Thy bed.”
Up rose the Sheep were folded near:
“Thou Lamb of God, come, enter here.”
He entered there to rush and reed,
Who was the Lamb of God, indeed.
The little Jesus came to town;
With Ox and Sheep He laid Him down;
Peace to the byre, peace to the fold,
For that they housed Him from the cold!
“A Christmas Hymn” (Richard Wilbur)
A stable-lamp is lighted
Whose glow shall wake the sky;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
And straw like gold shall shine;
A barn shall harbor heaven,
A stall become a shrine.
This child through David’s city
Shall ride in triumph by;
The palm shall strew its branches,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry,
Though heavy, dull, and dumb,
And lie within the roadway
To pave His kingdom come.
Yet he shall be forsaken,
And yielded up to die;
The sky shall groan and darken,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry
For stony hearts of men:
God’s blood upon the spearhead,
God’s love refused again.
The low is lifted high;
The stars shall bend their voices,
And every stone shall cry.
And every stone shall cry
In praises of the child
By whose descent among us
The worlds are reconciled.
“Descent” (Luci Shaw)
Down he came from up,
and in from out,
and here from there.
A long leap,
an incandescent fall
from magnificent
to naked, frail, small,
through space,
between stars,
into our chill night air,
shrunk, in infant grace,
to our damp, cramped
earthy place
among all
the shivering sheep.
And now, after all,
There he lies
fast asleep.1
“The Girlhood of Mary Virgin” (Dante Gabriel Rossetti)
This is that blessed Mary, pre-elect
God’s Virgin. Gone is a great while, and she
Was young in Nazareth of Galilee.
Her kin she cherished with devout respect:
Her gifts were simpleness of intellect
And supreme patience. From her mother’s knee
Faithful and hopeful; wise in charity;
Strong in grave peace; in duty circumspect.
So held she through her girlhood; as it were
An angel-watered lily, that near God
Grows, and is quiet. Till one dawn, at home,
She woke in her white bed, and had no fear
At all,—yet wept till sunshine, and felt awed;
Because the fullness of the time was come.
“Holy Sonnet 15” (John Donne)
Wilt thou love God, as he thee? then digest,
My soul, this wholesome meditation,
How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
In heaven, doth make his temple in thy breast.
The Father having begot a Son most blest,
And still begetting (for he ne’r begene)
Hath deigned to choose thee by adoption,
Coheir to his glory, and Sabbath’s endless rest;
And as a robbed man, which by search doth find
His stolen stuff sold, must lose or buy it again;
The Son of glory came down, and was slain,
Us whom he had made, and Satan stolen, to unbind.
’Twas much, that man was made like God before,
But, that God should be made like man, much more.
“A Hymn on the Nativity of My Savior” (Ben Jonson)
I sing the birth was born tonight,
The Author both of life and light;
The angels so did sound it,
And like the ravished shepherds said,
Who saw the light, and were afraid,
Yet searched, and true they found it.
The Son of God, the eternal King,
That did us all salvation bring,
And freed the soul from danger;
He whom the whole world could not take,
The Word, which heaven and earth did make,
Was now laid in a manger.
The Father’s wisdom willed it so,
The Son’s obedience knew no “No,”
Both wills were in one stature;
And as that wisdom had decreed,
The Word was now made Flesh indeed,
And took on Him our nature.
What comfort by Him do we win?
Who made Himself the price of sin,
To make us heirs of glory!
To see this babe, all innocence,
A martyr born in our defense,
Can man forget this story?
“In the Bleak Midwinter” (Christina Rossetti)
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breast full of milk, and a manger full of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
“Mary’s Song” (Luci Shaw)
Blue homespun and the bend of my breast
keep warm this small hot naked star
fallen to my arms. (Rest . . .
to come.) Now nearness satisfies
the body of God sweetly. Quiet he lies
whose vigor hurled
a universe. He sleeps
whose eyelids have not closed before.
His breath (so light it seems
no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps
to sprout a world.
Charmed by dove’s voices, the whisper of straw,
he dreams,
hearing no music from his other spheres.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
he is curtailed
who overflowed all skies,
all years.
Older than eternity, now he
is new. Now native to the earth as I am, nailed
to my poor planet, caught that I might be free,
blind in my womb to know my darkness ended,
brought to this birth
for me to be new-born,
and for him to see me mended
I must see him torn.2
“On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” (John Milton)
This is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of Heaven’s eternal King,
Of wedded maid and virgin mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring;
For so the holy sages once did sing,
That he our deadly forfeit should release,
And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.
That glorious form, that light unsufferable,
And that far-beaming blaze of majesty,
Wherewith he wont at Heaven’s high council-table
To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,
He laid aside, and, here with us to be,
Forsook the courts of everlasting day,
And chose with us a darksome house of mortal clay.
“Rejoice and Be Merry” (anonymous medieval hymn)
Rejoice and be merry in song and in mirth!
O praise our Redeemer, all mortals of earth!
For this is the birthday of Jesus our King,
Who brought us salvation—His praises we’ll sing!
“Yet If His Majesty” (Thomas Ford)
Yet if his majesty our sovereign lord [i.e., the king]
Should of his own accord
Friendly himself invite,
And say “I’ll be your guest to-morrow night,”
How should we stir ourselves, call and command
All hands to work! “Let no man idle stand.
Set me fine Spanish tables in the hall,
See they be fitted all;
Let there be room to eat,
And order taken that there want no meat.
See every sconce and candlestick made bright,
That without tapers they may give a light.
Look to the presence: are the carpets spread,
The dazie o’er the head,
The cushions in the chairs,
And all the candles lighted on the stairs?
Perfume the chambers, and in any case
Let each man give attendance in his place.”
Thus if the king were coming would we do,
And ’twere good reason too;
For ’tis a duteous thing
To show all honor to an earthly king,
And after all our travail and our cost,
So he be pleased, to think no labor lost.
But at the coming of the King of Heaven
All’s set at six and seven:
We wallow in our sin,
Christ cannot find a chamber in the inn.
We entertain him always like a stranger,
And as at first still lodge him in the manger.
Other Beautiful Christmas Poems
“BC–AD” (U. A. Fanthorpe)
“Journey of the Magi” (T. S. Eliot)
“O Simplicitas” (Madeleine L’Engle)
“The Risk of Birth” (Madeleine L’Engle)
“What the Donkey Saw” (U. A. Fanthorpe)
Additional note: Among the greatest Christmas poems are hymns, some of which hold up with the best as printed poems quite apart from the music that accompanies the singing of them. In fact, the oral reading of these texts that are usually sung can bring out new meanings and emotional responses. The list of great poetic Christmas hymns includes the following:
“Angels from the Realms of Glory”
“Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
“Joy to the World”
“O Come, All Ye Faithful”
“O Little Town of Bethlehem”
“Silent Night, Holy Night”
ADVENT LITURGY
For ideas for Advent remembrance and celebration, we recommend Bruce Benedict’s amazing website: http://cardiphonia.org/church-year/.
Here is a simple template for involving families, singles, and other groups of the church in leading the church’s focus on Christ through the successive Sundays of Advent. Advent is eschatological in its focus and lifts our eyes beyond the incarnation to Christ’s triumphant, glorious return.
First Sunday of Advent
Directions to the family or group lighting the first candle of Advent: plan to arrive before the prelude and sit near the front. When the pastor announces your names, gather your family/group around the Advent wreath. A microphone will be available, and all speaking participants must use it. A butane lighter for lighting the candle will be there. Check out both the mike and the lighter before the service.
The pastor introduces the lighting of the Advent candle.
Minister: “Advent means ‘coming.’ It is the season of the year, taken up by the four Sundays before Christmas, in which the church prepares to celebrate the two comings of Christ: first, his coming through his incarnation in Bethlehem, and second, his future coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.
“Advent is a time for serious reflection on both comings of Christ.
“Christ has come, and is coming again!
“This morning, [the names of the family or group] will lead us in lighting the first candle of Advent.”
Reader: “As we come to light the first candle of Advent, let us again hear the prophecy of Micah: ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days’ (5:2).”
The candle at the twelve o’clock position is lit.
First speaker: “We light the first candle of Advent to remind us to look up and center our thoughts upon a loving God who sent us his Son, who is coming again.”
The pastor then prays, and when he finishes the family/group returns to their seats.
(Note: all participants are expected to have practiced their parts ahead of time.)
Second Sunday of Advent
Directions to the family or group lighting the second candle of Advent: see First Sunday of Advent.
The pastor introduces the lighting of the Advent candle.
Minister: “Advent (“coming”) means that Christ has come in the flesh and is coming again in his glorious body to take us to be with him. This morning, [the names of the family or group] will lead us in lighting the second candle of Advent.”
Reader: “Let us together hear the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. . . . And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken”’ (40:3–5).”
The candle at the twelve o’clock position is lit.
First speaker: “We light the first candle of Advent to remind us to look up and center our thoughts on a loving God who sent us his Son, who is coming again.”
The candle at the three o’clock position is lit.
Second speaker: “As we light the second candle of Advent, let it remind us that this is a time to look back two thousand years to the moment when God’s great gift came to us in Bethlehem and to look forward to his coming again.”
The pastor then prays, and when he finishes the family/group returns to their seats.
(Note: all participants are expected to have practiced their parts ahead of time.)
Third Sunday of Advent
Directions to the family or group lighting the third candle of Advent: see First Sunday of Advent.
The pastor introduces the lighting of the Advent candle.
Minister: “As the Christmas tract Christmas Is a Promise says: ‘Every Christmas is still a “turning of the page” until Jesus returns. Every December 25th marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment of the ages, that draws us closer to our heavenly home. Every Christmas carol is a beautiful echo of the heavenly choir that will one day fill the universe with joy and singing. Each Christmas gift is a foreshadowing of the gifts of golden crowns to be cast at the feet of the King of kings.’
“This morning, [the names of the family or group] will lead us in lighting the third candle of Advent.”
Reader: “Let us together hear the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone’ (9:2).”
The candle at the twelve o’clock position is lit.
First speaker: “We light the first candle of Advent to remind us to look up and center our thoughts on a loving God who sent us his Son, who is coming again.”
The candle at the three o’clock position is lit.
Second speaker: “As we light the second candle of Advent, let it remind us that this is a time to look back two thousand years to the moment when God’s great gift came to us in Bethlehem and to look forward to his coming again.”
The candle at the six o’clock position is lit.
Third speaker: “As we light the third candle, let it remind us that Christmas is a time to look within ourselves and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.”
The pastor then prays, and when he finishes, the family/group returns to their seats.
(Note: all participants are expected to have practiced their parts ahead of time.)
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Directions to the family or group lighting the fourth candle of Advent: see First Sunday of Advent.
The pastor introduces the lighting of the Advent candle.
Minister: “Christ has come in the flesh, and so now we are ‘waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13). This morning, [the names of the family or group] will lead us in lighting the fourth candle of Advent.”
Reader: “Let us together hear the words of praise from Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, for the coming Messiah: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David’ (Luke 1:68–69).”
The candle at the twelve o’clock position is lit.
First speaker: “We light the first candle of Advent to remind us to look up and center our thoughts on a loving God who sent us his Son, who is coming again.”
The candle at the three o’clock position is lit.
Second speaker: “As we light the second candle of Advent, let it remind us that this is a time to look back two thousand years to the moment when God’s great gift came to us in Bethlehem and to look forward to his coming again.”
The candle at the six o’clock position is lit.
Third speaker: “As we light the third candle, let it remind us that Christmas is a time to look within ourselves and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.”
The candle at the nine o’clock position is lit.
Fourth speaker: “As we light the fourth candle, let it remind us that the message of Christmas calls us to open our hearts to Christ and give him glory, honor, and love until his great return.”
The pastor then prays, and when he finishes, the family/group returns to their seats.
(Note: all participants are expected to have practiced their parts ahead of time.)
The Christ Candle (Lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Sunday)
Directions to the family or group lighting the third candle of Advent: see First Sunday of Advent.
The pastor introduces the lighting of the Christ candle.
Minister: “Tonight/Today, [the names of the family or group] will lead us in lighting the Christ candle.”
Reader: “On this Christmas Eve/Christmas Day, let us together hear the prophecy of Christ from the Law of Moses: ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel’ (Num. 24:17).”
The candle at the twelve o’clock position is lit.
First speaker: “We light the first Advent candle to remind us to look up and center our thoughts on a loving God who sent us his Son, who is coming again.”
The candle at the three o’clock position is lit.
Second speaker: “As we light the second Advent candle, let it remind us that this is a time to look back two thousand years to the moment when God’s great gift came to us in Bethlehem and to look forward to his coming again.”
The candle at the six o’clock position is lit.
Third speaker: “As we light the third candle, let it remind us that Christmas is a time to look within ourselves and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ.”
The candle at the nine o’clock position is lit.
Fourth speaker: “As we light the fourth candle, let it remind us that the message of Christmas calls us to open our hearts to Christ and give him glory, honor, and love until his great return.”
The Christ candle, the candle at the center of the wreath, is lit.
Fifth speaker: “As we light the Christ candle, let it remind us of the night of Christ’s birth, when he veiled his glories, taking the form of a servant. May it also cause us to look forward to the day of his coming again, when he will return in all his glory.”
Congregational response: “God our Father, on this night/day, we are reminded afresh of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sustain our faith and fix our eyes on him until the Day dawns and Christ the Morning Star rises in our hearts. To him be the glory both now and forevermore. Amen.”
The pastor then prays, and when he finishes, the family/group returns to their seats.
(Note: all participants are expected to have practiced their parts ahead of time.)
EVENING CHRISTMAS SERVICES
The four Sunday evenings of Advent provide prime opportunities to focus on the incarnation. Some larger churches use two consecutive evenings for a grand Christmas pageant that serves the surrounding communities. Others use several evenings for distinctly different Christmas services, such as a children’s Christmas program/musical, a sing-along Messiah, a traditional service of lessons and carols, or Christmas Communion. Most churches, however, choose to do only one or two of these. Then, on Christmas Eve, some churches offer an early-evening family Christmas service, followed at midnight by a candlelight service to welcome in Christmas Day.
How are we to respond to this array of options? Certainly not like the man who got on his horse and “rode off in all directions.” Pastors and their leadership are responsible to choose only those Christmas services that best serve their local churches. Three factors determine the best choice(s): context, resources, and the gospel. A new urban church full of twentysomethings is not the right context for a children’s Christmas program, but such a service would be very appropriate in a suburban church. A large-scale Christmas pageant might work in certain older middle-class contexts, but would be a turnoff in another place. And, of course, resources are always a consideration. For example, a trained choir is necessary to do a classic service of lessons and carols.
But the overriding consideration is: how does this service focus on the gospel of the incarnation of Messiah Jesus? Happily, this question is not answered primarily by resources or context, though contextualizing (knowing where you are and to whom you are ministering) is always a consideration. This said, the pastor must make sure that the gospel is central in all services. For example, if hosting a sing-along Messiah, it would be a disservice to the gospel to imagine that visiting non-Christian music lovers will understand the gospel simply from hearing Handel’s magnificent, Scripture-infused text. Rather, the responsible thing to do would be to take ten minutes to give a winsome, articulate introduction to The Messiah, providing Handel’s history and purpose, and walking the audience through the prophetic texts of the great oratorio, giving their gospel sense. Then the choir and soloists can sing it to the hearers’ hearts!
Likewise, the traditional service of lessons and carols is simply nine Scripture readings/lessons (four from the Old Testament and five from the New Testament) interspersed with traditional Christmas choral music and hymns. Again, a pointed gospel explanation and a prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to do his work may well be a prelude to a work of Christmas grace. Here it must be said that if the music is too heavy for the context in which you serve, the nine lessons could prove to be a fine template for a more contemporary version, say, the Scriptures and songs of the incarnation.
This kind of gospel care must be given to everything—right down to the cute first-graders wearing shepherd costumes, halos, and sheep’s ears as they sing about the Christmas star. All is good and well if it is part of a service where the “good news of great joy that will be for all the people” is preached. If not, a pastoral miniword to all may be in order.
The possible orders for the various Sunday evening Christmas services are too many to list. Moreover, you want to choose and design your own services to fit your context and the needs of your people. We have provided the extended sections of “Select Christmas Scriptures,” “Select Advent and Christmas Hymns and Songs,” and “Select Christmas Poems” in this section, along with an “enrichment” section on “Poetry to Enhance Preaching and Worship” and a chapter on “The Historic Christian Creeds,” so that you will have a fine Christmas treasury from which to create meaningful services.
We have, however, included several sample orders of service for Christmas Eve candlelight services, including the College Church Christmas Eve service for 2006 (see the first sample in the next section), my (Kent’s) last service as pastor there. Though the service is traditional and may not be an appropriate template for more contemporary candlelight services, it is well-constructed and utilizes the resources that we provide in this chapter. The reader will note that the Advent wreath’s Christ candle was lighted by my pastoral colleagues and that the congregation’s affirmation of the Nicene Creed was interspersed with the singing of “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” making a very powerful affirmation of the incarnation.
SAMPLE CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICES
Sample Christmas Eve Candlelight Service #1
Prelude
Norm Ruiz, guitar
Introit
“O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Robin Wiper, soprano
Processional Hymn
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (congregation standing)
Invocation
Pastor Todd Wilson
Christmas Carol Sing
“Angels We Have Heard on High”
“Joy to the World”
“Away in a Manger”
Christmas Anthem
“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”
Chancel Choir, Michael Praetorius
The Christmas Narrative
Luke 2:1–20, pastoral staff
The Lighting of the Christ Candle
Pastoral staff
A Christmas Prayer
Pastor Bruce Wilson
“Mary, Did You Know?” Robin Wiper, soprano, Norm Ruiz, guitar
Affirmation of the Incarnation
(Note: this was printed on an insert, but is included here for easy reference.)
Choir: “Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!”
Congregation: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, all that is, seen and unseen.”
Choir: “O that birth, forever blessed, when the virgin full of grace,
By the Holy Spirit conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!”
Congregation: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.”
Choir: “O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing,
Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring, evermore and evermore!”
Congregation: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”
All: “Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!”
Christmas Message
“Incarnation’s Night,” Pastor Kent Hughes, Hebrews 10:1–7
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Chancel choir, Norm Ruiz, “Peace, Peace”
The pastors will bring the light from the Advent Christ candle to each row. As the flame is passed, please tip the candle that is being lighted. Please do not tip the lighted candle.
When all the candles have been lighted, the congregation will sing “Silent Night.” When we come to the final lines, which begin, “Son of God, love’s pure light . . .” we will lift our candles high and extinguish them together at the song’s conclusion.
Hymn
“Silent Night”
Benediction
Pastor Hughes
Choral Response
“How Great Our Joy” (Arranged by John Rutter)
Postlude
“Carillon on a Ukrainian Bell Carol,” H. E. Singley, piano
Gerald Near, organ
Sample Christmas Eve Candlelight Service #2
Gathering in Christ’s presence.
Prelude
The prelude music is listed on the back of the bulletin.
Entrance Hymn
“O Come, All Ye Faithful,” bulletin insert (congregation standing)
Welcome
Dr. Nick Perrin
Lighting of the Advent Candle
The James family lights the Christ candle
Choral Song
“Sussex Carol” (English carol, arr. Lau), choir
Christmas Carols
Bulletin insert:
“Once in David’s Royal City” (v. 1 solo, vv. 2–5 all)
“Angels We Have Heard on High”
“Joy to the World”
Luke 1:26–38, Lily O’Donnell
Vocal Solo
“O Holy Night,” Grace Canfield
The Birth Story
Brad Alstadt
Luke 2:1–20 (children third grade and under are invited to the steps)
Christmas Hymn
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly,” bulletin insert
Christmas Reflection
“A Glorious Humility,” Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Carol and Candle Lighting
“Silent Night,” bulletin insert (congregation standing)
For candle lighting: (a) Hold lighted candles upright, and tip the unlit candle to the lighted one; (b) on the final verse, when we sing, “love’s pure light,” please raise your candle up until the end of the song; and (c) wait for the pastor to blow out his candle before you blow out yours.
Postlude
“Joy to the World”
Sample Christmas Eve Candlelight Service #3
Instrumental Prelude
“O Holy Night” (solo)
Opening Prayer
Worship through Singing and Scripture
All congregational:
“Joy Has Dawned”
“What Child Is This?”
Scripture: Luke 1:28–56
“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
Scripture: Matthew 1:18–25
“O Little Town of Bethlehem”
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel”
Scripture: Luke 2:1–7, Galatians 4:1–7
“Hallelujah! What a Savior”
Prayer of Thanksgiving
“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly”
Worship in the Word
Sermon
“The First Noel”
“Silent Night, Holy Night”
Closing Prayer
SAMPLE CHRISTMAS SUNDAY SERVICES
As these services fall on the Sunday prior to Christmas (or on Christmas Day), they demand celebrative care as to the choice of the Scripture reading(s) and the hymns and carols. A good rule of thumb is to include the reading of the nativity in Luke 2 in addition to the text that is being preached that morning. In a similar vein, the grand, well-known Christmas hymns and carols should be chosen, and the most singable of them. This particular morning is one of those that non-churchgoers frequent, and the unfamiliar may add to their discomfort. Preachers, our task of making the Christmas gospel clear is a privilege and our burden!
Sample Christmas Sunday Service #1
Prelude
Daniel and Barbara Fackler
Is Est Ne, arr. Fackler
Welcome
Pastor Bruce Wilson
Carol Sing
“Angels from the Realms of Glory”
“What Child Is This?”
“The First Noel” (congregation standing) (verses 1 and 2 all; verse 3 women; verse 4 all; verse 5 men; verse 6 all)
Christmas Creed
Pastor Jay Thomas
John 1:1–5, 14:
Minister: “In the beginning was the Word,”
Congregation: “And the Word was with God,
And the Word was God.”
Minister: “He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through Him,”
Congregation: “And without him was not any thing made that was made.”
Minister: “In him was life,”
Congregation: “And the light was the light of men.”
Minister: “The light shines in darkness,”
Congregation: “And the darkness has not overcome it. . . .”
Minister: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,”
Congregation: “And we have seen his glory,
Glory as of the only Son from the Father,
Full of grace and truth.”
Hymn
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Christmas Interviews
Mrs. Diane Jordan
Christmas Prayer
Wendell Hawley
Tithes and Offerings
Pastor Kent Hughes
Offertory
Mrs. Robin Wiper
“Some Children See Him,” words: Hutson, music: Burt
Scripture Reading
Pastor Todd Augustine with daughter Eleah (congregation standing)
Luke 2:1–20
Reader: “This is God’s Word.”
Congregation: “Amen.”
Sermon
“The Nativity”
Pastor Kent Hughes
“Angels We Have Heard on High” (congregation standing)
Benediction
Pastor Chuck King (congregation standing)
Postlude
Debbie Hollinger, piano; Carol Medley, arr. Mark Hayes
Sample Christmas Sunday Service #2
Prelude
“Angels We Have Heard on High” (arr. D. Wischmeier),
D. Wischmeier, organ
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” (arr. Smith),
B. Thompson, piano; D. Wischmeier, organ
“Silent Night” (arr. Smith),
B. Thompson, piano; D. Wischmeier, organ
Welcome
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (traditional),
Andy Peterson, French horn
Hymn of Adoration
“How Great Our Joy” (congregation standing)
Lighting of the Advent Candles
Ed and Edith Blumhofer
Revelation 1:12–16; 21:23–25
Prayers with the Lord’s Prayer
Pastor Donald Limmer
Christmas Carols
“The First Noel”
“What Child Is This?”
The Collection
Pastor Donald Limmer
“My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord” (R. Thompson),
Gretchen Canfield, vocals; Beth Jones, piano
Scripture Reading
Angela Walters
Luke 1:46–55 (congregation standing)
Gloria Patri
“Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen. Amen.”
Scripture Teaching
“Magnify God,” Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Song of Response
“The Song of Mary,” bulletin insert
Benediction
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Postlude
“Joy to the World” (arr. D. Wischmeier), D. Wischmeier, organ
Sample Christmas Sunday Service #3
Welcome
Pastor Garrett Nates
Prelude
“Christmas Morn Is Dawning,” arr. Morten J. Luvas
“Angels from the Realms of Glory”
Pastor James Seward
John 1:1–4 (congregation standing)
Advent Reading and Candle
Reading by the Charlie Warner family:
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. (Isa. 9:2)
It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” . . . O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD. (Isa. 2:2–3a, 5)
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David . . . that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. . . . [T]he sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:69–69, 74–75, 78b–79)
At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. (Eph. 5:8–10)
And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. (Rev. 21:22–25)
No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev. 22:3–5)
Advent Prayer
Pastor Kent Hughes
“Once in Royal David’s City”
Anthem
“Carol of the Holy Child,” Jerry and Jane Sundberg,
arr. Mary E. Caldwell
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory
Christmas music, A. Schoenberg; Jonathan Blumhofer, Diane Johnson, violins; Pippa Downs, cello; Elaine MacWatt, piano; H. E. Singley, organ
Scripture Reading
Pastor Todd Wilson
Luke 1:46–55 (congregation standing)
Sermon
“Song of the Incarnation, 2”
Pastor Kent Hughes
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
Benediction
Pastor Kent Hughes
Postlude
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” Henry Kihlken
Sample Christmas Sunday Service #4
“Good Christian Men Rejoice,” Heinrich Suso, 1328;
trans. John M. McNeale, 1855
Welcome
Pastor Carey Hughes
Nicene Creed
“Joy to the World”
Announcements
Pastor Carey Hughes
Congregational Prayer
Scripture reading
Luke 1:67–79
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
“O Come All Ye Faithful”
Sermon
Dave Hammond
“Angels We Have Heard on High”
Benediction
Pastor Carey Hughes
GOOD FRIDAY
When Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take up your bed and walk” (Mark 2:9), it required a mere exercise of Jesus’s creational power. He healed the man with the ease of omnipotence. Power went out from Jesus without affecting the infinity of his power. It was easy! But the hardest thing of all was to say, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5), because that meant his death on the cross.
In the garden of Gethsemane, the prospect of the cross was so horrific that Jesus “began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.’ And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. And he said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will’” (Mark 14:33–36). And when the hour came, he did it by dying the lowest death of all, “even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).
In retrospect, the apostle Paul described what took place in just fifteen Greek words: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus was sinless through all his thirty-three years; he “knew no sin.” And he remained sinless when he became sin for us. So Christ became sin while remaining inwardly and outwardly impeccable.
During those three dark hours of Good Friday, his heart, so to speak, became a sea surrounded by the festering mountains of our sin, into which flowed all our evils. There the loathsome mass of our corruption poured over him. There our sins were focused on Christ as he bore the fiery wrath of God, having become a curse for us (see Gal. 3:13). Jesus, in full, lucid consciousness, writhing like a serpent in the gloom of Good Friday, took your sins and mine with a unity of understanding and pain that none can fathom. And he did it willingly, so he could say, “Son [or daughter], your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5).
On Good Friday, Jesus did the hardest thing ever done in time or eternity for you and me! His death means that he is committed to forgiving you if you turn to him.
These words bear the essence of a brief sermon prepared for the observance of the Lord’s Table at a Good Friday Communion service. Our experience has been that such services have been extraordinary occasions for a powerful, saving focus on Christ’s substitutionary death and atonement on the cross. And for this reason, it is regrettable that many evangelical churches ignore Good Friday. Likely this is due to an aversion to any association with the liturgical churches’ traditional Holy Week nexus of Ash Wednesday-Maundy Thursday-Good Friday, or with the liturgical calendar in general. These aversions must be overcome because the death of Christ is central to Paul’s definition of the gospel: “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, . . . he was buried, . . . he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3–4).
In terms of the Savior’s gospel chronology of birth, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ was incarnated in Bethlehem; thirty-three years later, he was crucified and buried in Jerusalem; and three days later, he was resurrected in Jerusalem. Good Friday, if you will, is the bleak launching pad for the explosive victory of Easter Sunday. Therefore, to give Good Friday (the hardest thing ever done in time or eternity) a mere passing nod on the way to celebrating the glorious resurrection is pastorally irresponsible.
Several things can be done to elevate the observance of Good Friday, and none of them contains elements that appeal to the flesh. They are: 1) announce the service as a solemn preparation for the joys of Resurrection Sunday; 2) maintain a fitting reverence throughout the service; 3) choose a text to preach that focuses on Christ’s atoning death and labor hard over it, asking God to first plow your own heart and then the hearts of your people; 4) choose well from the treasury of Christian hymns and songs that speak of Christ’s death; 5) include several readings from both Testaments; 6) do not approach the Lord’s Table perfunctorily, but rather slow it down so the people can reflect on what Christ has done and on the state of their own hearts (here it is effective to “set the Table” by using a bell or chime to slowly toll the thirty-three years of Christ’s life); and 7) at the benediction, ask the congregation to refrain from greeting one another or have unnecessary conversation as they depart.
At College Church in Wheaton (which I, Kent, pastored for nearly three decades), the ministry of this service was remarkable, as families went home to have significant spiritual discussions involving all their school-age children. Many came to regard the Good Friday service as a significant spiritual event in their year. The 6 p.m. service grew to fill the building, and an 8 p.m. service was added, which again filled the church. We also discovered that people from other churches that did not have Good Friday services attended because the solemn worship and time for serious reflection met their unrequited spiritual needs. The service was also effective in evangelizing unbelieving Roman Catholics.
As with the Christmas services, we here include some resources to aid in your planning of Good Friday services.
SELECT GOOD FRIDAY SCRIPTURES
Old Testament
The texts listed here are full chapters, but they contain sections that will make excellent Good Friday texts.
Genesis 22
Exodus 12
Psalm 22
Isaiah 53
(Compare Luke 22:14–15 and 1 Cor. 5:7)
In the upper room, Christ directed his disciples to Isaiah 53 by quoting its final verse, indicating that he himself “was numbered with the transgressors,” thus alerting them to the fact that every line of Isaiah 53 referred to him (Luke 22:37; cf. Isa. 53:12b).
New Testament
The four Gospels contain the primary texts in their individual accounts of Jesus’s crucifixion and burial. These accounts should be searched in full for texts. Indeed, whole sections can be skillfully summarized into brief, pointed sermons. The outtakes from these chapters are suggestive, not determinative.
|
Matthew 26:26–29 |
Mark 15:33–34 |
|
Matthew 26:36–46 |
Mark 15:42–47 |
|
Matthew 27:15–23 |
Luke 22:7–23 |
|
Matthew 27:32–44 |
Luke 22:39–46 |
|
Matthew 27:45–54 |
Luke 23:26–43 |
|
Matthew 27:57–61 |
Luke 23:44–49 |
|
Mark 14:3–9 |
Luke 23:50–56 |
|
Mark 14:32–42 |
John 19:1–16 |
|
Mark 15:1–15 |
John 19:17–30 |
|
Mark 15:16–32 |
John 19:31–42 |
Other New Testament texts include:
|
Mark 10:45 |
Galatians 3:10–14 |
|
John 3:14–18 |
Colossians 1:15–20 |
|
John 10:11–18 |
Colossians 1:19–23 |
|
John 12:24, 32–33 |
Colossians 2:13–15 |
|
Romans 3:22b–26 |
Hebrews 2:9–17 |
|
Romans 4:25a |
Hebrews 10:1–10 |
|
Romans 5:6–11 |
Hebrews 13:10–13 |
|
Romans 8:32 |
1 Peter 1:18–19 |
|
1 Corinthians 1:22–24 |
Revelation 1:1–18 |
|
2 Corinthians 5:21 |
Texts that speak of our sins being laid on Christ or his bearing our sins include:
|
Isaiah 53:6, 12 |
Galatians 3:13 |
|
John 1:29 |
Hebrews 9:28 |
|
2 Corinthians 5:21 |
1 Peter 2:24 |
SELECT GOOD FRIDAY HYMNS AND SONGS
Classic Good Friday Hymns
“Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended” (Heermann)
“Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?” (Watts)
“King of My Life, I Crown Thee Now” (Hussey)
“My Song Is Love Unknown” (Crossman)
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” (Bernard of Clairvaux)
Recent Good Friday Hymns and Songs
“Amazing Love, O What Sacrifice” (Kendrick)
“Beneath the Cross of Jesus” (Getty/Getty)
“Gethsemane” (Getty/Townend)
“His Robes for Mine” (Anderson)
“Lamb of God” (Paris)
“Let Us Draw Near” (Clarkson)
“Man of Grief and Man of Sorrows” (Kendrick/Getty)
“My Jesus Fair” (Anderson)
“On the Cross” (Baker)
“The Look” (Newton; alt. Kauflin)
“Through the Precious Blood” (Altrogge)
Again, the following represent the finest poems and are meant for reading in appropriate places in Good Friday services and for quotation, all or in part, where they serve the text of the sermon.
The first “Good Friday poems” are found in the Bible: they are Psalm 22 and the song of the suffering servant in Isaiah 53. Good Friday poems include:
“The Agony” (George Herbert)
Philosophers have measured mountains,
Fathomed the depths of the seas, of states, and kings,
Walked with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them: Sin and Love.
Who would know Sin, let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skin, his garments bloody be.
Sin is that press and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruel food through ev’ry vein.
Who knows not Love, let him assay,
And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike
Did set again abroach, then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as blood, but I, as wine.
“Good Friday” (Christina Rossetti)
Am I stone and not a sheep
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
To number drop by drop Thy blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
Not so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;
Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horror of great darkness at broad noon—
I, only I.
Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.
“He Bore Our Griefs” (Jacob Revius)
No, it was not the Jews who crucified,
Nor who betrayed you in the judgment place,
Nor who, Lord Jesus, spat into your face,
Nor who with buffets struck you as you died.
No, it was not the soldiers fisted bold
Who lifted up the hammer and the nail,
Or raised the cursed cross on Calvary’s hill,
Or, gambling, tossed the dice to win your robe.
I am the one, O Lord, who brought you there,
I am the heavy cross you had to bear,
I am the rope that bound you to the tree,
The whip, the nail, the hammer, and the spear,
The blood-stained crown of thorns you had to wear:
It was my sin, alas, it was for me.
(Translated by Henrietta ten Harmsel)
“Holy Sonnet 11” (John Donne)
Spit in my face, you Jews, and pierce my side,
Buffet, and scoff, scourge, and crucify me,
For I have sinned, and sinned, and only He,
Who could do no iniquity, hath died.
But by my death can not be satisfied
My sins, which pass the Jews’ impiety.
They killed once an inglorious man, but I
Crucify him daily, being now glorified.
O let me then His strange love still admire;
Kings pardon, but He bore our punishment;
And Jacob came clothed in vile harsh attire,
But to supplant, and with gainful intent;
God clothed Himself in vile man’s flesh, that so
He might be weak enough to suffer woe.
“In Evil Long I Took Delight” (John Newton)
In evil long I took delight
Unawed by shame or fear,
Till a new object met my sight,
And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree,
In agony and blood,
Who fixed His languid eyes on me,
As near His cross I stood.
Sure, never to my latest breath,
Can I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with His death,
Though not a word He spoke.
My conscience owned and felt the guilt,
And plunged me in despair,
I saw my sins His blood had shed,
And helped to nail Him there.
A second look He gave, which said,
“I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid;
I die that thou mayest live.”
Thus, while His death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue,
Such is the mystery of grace,
It seals my pardon, too.
With pleasing grief and mournful joy,
My spirit now is filled,
That I should such a life destroy,
Yet live by Him I killed.
“Now Goeth Sun under Wood” (medieval, anonymous)
Now goeth sun under wood,
Me reweth, Mary, thy fair rode.
Now goeth sun under tree,
Me reweth, Mary, thy son and thee.
Glosses: pun on sun and son; me reweth means “I pity”; rode means “face”
From Paradise Lost, Book 3 (John Milton)
And now without redemption all mankind
Must have been lost, adjudged to death and hell
By doom severe, had not the Son of God,
In whom the fullness dwells of love divine,
His dearest mediation thus renewed:
“Father, thy word is passed, man shall find grace;
And shall grace not find means, that finds her way . . . ?
Behold me then, me for him, life for life,
I offer; on me let thine anger fall;
Account me Man; I for his sake will leave
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off, and for him lastly die
Well pleased; on me let Death wreak all his rage.”
“Redemption” (George Herbert)
Having been tenant long to a rich lord,
Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,
And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancel the old.
In heaven at his manor I him sought;
They told me there that he was lately gone
About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.
I straight returned, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts;
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of thieves and murderers; there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.
“The Windhover” (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
The Good Friday aspect of the following poem is implied rather than explicit. The ostensible subject of the poem is the speaker’s catching sight of the motion of a kestrel (a small hawk) on an early morning walk. The bird first masters the morning wind in a spiral ascent; then the bird submits to the wind, plummeting downward (probably in pursuit of prey). The principle that this motion embodies (what Hopkins called the inscape or individuating principle of something) is strength that stoops to conquer (the bird is even more impressive when submitting to the wind than when mastering it). The supreme example of this principle is the atoning death of Christ. There are two hints in the poem that Hopkins intends us to see this analogy or application—the inscription (“To Christ our Lord”) and the last line, with its christological imagery of gall and gashing gold vermilion.
To Christ our Lord
I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-
dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding
Of the rolling level underneath him steady air, and striding
High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing
In his ecstasy! then off, off forth on swing,
As a skate’s heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding
Rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding
Stirred for a bird,—the achieve of; the mastery of the thing!
Brute beauty and valor and act, oh, air, pride, plume, here
Buckle! AND the fire that breaks from thee then, a billion
Times told lovelier, more dangerous, O my chevalier!
No wonder of it: sheer plod makes plough down sillion
Shine, and blue-bleak embers, ah my dear,
Fall, gall themselves, and gash gold-vermilion.
SAMPLE GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES
Sample Good Friday Service #1
Prelude
“Lamb of God, Pure and Sinless,” piano, H. E. Singley;
organ, Edwin T. Childs
“Jesus, Priceless Treasure”
“My Faith Looks Up to Thee,” arr. Mark C. Jones
Responsive Call to Worship
Minister: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone . . .”
Congregation: “This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
Minister: “Lift up your hearts.”
Congregation: “We lift them up to the Lord.”
Hymn
“King of My Life, I Crown Thee Now” (congregation standing)
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” arr. Gilbert Martin
CHRIST’S REJECTION
Reading
Pastor Jim Johnston
Matthew 26:36–46
Anthem
“Alone You Go Out, O Lord”
Reading
Pastor Randy Gruendyke
Matthew 26:57–64
Anthem
“Gladsome Radiance,” Sergei Rachmaninoff
CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION
Responsive Reading
Matthew 27:11–26 (congregation standing)
Pastors Niel Nielson and Dave White and congregation
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said, “You have said so.”
But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?”
But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.
Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. . . .
Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?”
And they said, “Barabbas.”
Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
They all said, “Let him be crucified!”
And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?”
But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”
And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.
Hymn
“Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended”
Reading
Pastor Dave White
Matthew 27:27–38
Philippians 2:8: Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Hymn
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”
Reading
Pastor Clem Escudero
Matthew 27:39–45
Anthem
Tenebrae Factae Sunt, G. Palestrina
Reading
Pastor Garrett Nates
Matthew 27:46–54
Anthem
“Christ, We Do All Adore Thee”
Remembrance: The Lord’s Table
Communion meditation: Pastor Kent Hughes
Chimes toll thirty-three times, representing the thirty-three years of our Savior’s sinless life on earth.
Nicene Creed
Pastor Niel Nielson (congregation standing)
Words of Institution
THE BREAD
“Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts”
THE CUP
“Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?”
Reading
Pastor Dave White
Hymn
“My Song is Love Unknown” (congregation standing)
Benediction
Pastor Kent Hughes
The service ends in quiet and darkness.
The congregation departs in silence.
Resurrection is coming!
Sample Good Friday Service #2
Prelude
“Come, Ye Disconsolate,” Emily Gerdts, vocals; Randy Benware, piano
Invocation
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Opening hymn
Bulletin insert
“My Song Is Love Unknown” (congregation standing)
Scripture Readings
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Matthew 26:57–68; 27:27–31, 45–54
Meditation on the Cross
George Ridgeway
Song on Meditation
“Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted,” bulletin insert
The Lord’s Supper
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
“Let Thy Blood in Mercy Poured,” bulletin insert
“Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed,” I. Watts and H. Wilson; arr. R. Smith
“Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed,” I. Watts and G. Wilbur
Chimes ring thirty-three times, remembering Jesus’s thirty-three years of sinless life on earth.
As a sign of respect, the congregation is asked to leave in silence.
Sample Good Friday Service #3
Prelude
“O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus,” Russell Callender, organ
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” arr. J. J. Bach; Russell Callender, organ
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Scripture Reading
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Matthew 27:45–46 (congregation standing): “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’”
Minister: “Blessed be the Lord, the great God.”
Congregation: “Amen. Amen.”
First Reflection
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Hymn to Christ
“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”
Scripture Reading
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Matthew 27:47–49 (congregation standing): “And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, ‘This man is calling Elijah.’ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’”
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God!”
Second Reflection
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Hymn to Christ
“What Wondrous Love Is This?”
The Breaking of the Bread
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Hymn to Christ
“Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted”
Scripture Reading
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Matthew 27:50–53 (congregation standing): “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
Minister: “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.”
Congregation: “As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever will be, world without end. Amen.”
Third Reflection
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
Hymn to Christ
“Fairest Lord Jesus”
Minister: “When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said . . .”
Congregation: “Truly this was the Son of God!”
Bells
Chimes toll thirty-three times, each stroke symbolizing one year of Jesus’s life on earth.
Silence
In reverence for the death of our Lord, the congregation is asked to exit in silence.
Sample Good Friday Service #4
Opening Prayer
Worship through Singing and Scripture
“Gethsemane” (choir)
Scripture reading: Isaiah 53
“Lamb of Glory” (choir)
“How Deep the Father’s Love For Us” (congregation)
Scripture reading: Psalm 22:1–8, 19–24
Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4), verses 2 and 7 (4, English translation, soloists and choir)
Scripture Reading
Luke 23:33–45
“Kyrie eleison (It Is Finished!)” (chamber choir)
“The Perfect Wisdom of Our God” (congregation)
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Worship in the Word
Communion
“Here is Love (Grace Takes My Sin)” (congregation)
“My Jesus, I Love Thee” (congregation)
Closing Prayer
Welcome and Call to Worship
Pastor Carey Hughes
“The Power of the Cross,” Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
“When I Survey,” Watts/Mason
“O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” text P. Gerhardt;
music J. S. Bach
Old Testament Scripture Reading
Isaiah 53
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
Prayer
“Behold the Lamb,” Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend
New Testament Scripture Reading
Mark 15:21–32
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
Sermon
Pastor Brian Hoch
Communion
Pastor Carey Hughes
Please leave in silence, reflecting on the powerful significance of Christ’s death on the cross and the anticipation of His glorious resurrection.
EASTER
According to Philippians 2, Christ’s downward self-humiliation was due to his own eternal resolve. First, there was his humility in heaven—“who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 6). Christ viewed his equality with God as qualifying him for his humble descent to save his people. Second, there was his humility in his incarnation—“but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (v. 7). Jesus fully identified with the human race and donned a towel as he took on the appearance and being of a slave. Third, there was his humility in death—“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). Nothing could be lower.
Of course, as we know from the flow of the text, Christ’s self-humiliation was followed by his grand resurrection and exaltation by God the Father. So the down, down, down of Christ’s humiliation was followed by his soaring resurrection.
To get a feel for this, picture the gears of a catapult being ratcheted down ever tighter with the three movements of his self-humiliation, so that the final groaning click of the gears creates explosive tension (infinite spiritual compression). Thus, we have the explosive moment on Easter morning when Jesus came right through his graveclothes in the sacred body of his humiliation, glorious and radiant. And in the following moments, as Matthew records, “there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it” (Matt. 28:2). Look, world—Jesus has risen from the dead!
Following the pattern of this chapter, below are some resources to help you and your church celebrate that crowning day.
SELECT EASTER SCRIPTURES
Old Testament
Genesis 22:1–19. Cf. Hebrews 11:17–19.
Exodus 3:6. Cf. Matthew 22:23–33; Mark 12:18–27; Luke 20:37–38; Acts 3:13–16.
Psalm 16:1–11. Cf. Acts 2:22–33.
Hosea 6:2. Cf. Luke 24:46 and 1 Corinthians 15:4, which both say that the Old Testament Scriptures prophesied that Christ would rise on the third day. And Hosea 6:2 is the prophecy: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.” This prophecy was given to sinful Israel, but there is nothing in their long history to correspond to it, except that when Christ rose from the dead on the third day, he raised with himself believing Israel (cf. Gal. 3:29; 6:16).
New Testament
Each of the four Gospels devotes a chapter to the resurrection narrative: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20. Before acceding to other preachers’ suggestions as to textual divisions, read them through, making the natural homiletical divisions yourself. Of course, each chapter can be preached in its entirety if the preacher has a good eye to economy of time. The following list also includes other key New Testament Easter texts:
Matthew 22:23–33; Mark 12:18–27; Luke 20:37–38. Cf. Exodus 3:6.
Matthew 27:51–54
Mark 16:1–20
Luke 24:1–53
John 5:25–29
John 11:1–44, esp. vv. 21–27
Acts 2:22–33. Cf. Psalm 16:1–11.
Acts 3:12–26
Acts 13:26–41
Romans 1:1–4
1 Corinthians 15:1–58
Philippians 3:10–11
Colossians 3:1
1 Peter 1:3–5
Revelation 1:9–18
Revelation 5:1–14
SELECT EASTER HYMNS AND SONGS
Classic Easter Hymns
“Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands” (Luther)
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (Wesley)
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” (Bridges/Thring)
“The Day of Resurrection” (John of Damascus)
“The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns” (Thomas Kelly)
“Thine Be the Glory” (Budry)
Recent Easter Hymns and Songs
“All Praise to Thee” (Tucker)
“Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen” (Brokering)
“Behold Our God” (Baird/Baird/Altrogge/Baird)
“Christ Is Risen” (Maher)
“Christ Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed” (Getty/Getty/Cash)
“Hail the Day” (Wesley; adapted Cook/Cook)
“In Christ Alone” (Getty/Townend)
“Jesus Lives” (Romanacce/Kauflin)
“See What a Morning” (Getty/Townend)
SELECT EASTER POEMS
“Angels, Roll the Rock Away” (Thomas Scott)
Angels, roll the rock away,
Death, yield up the mighty prey:
Glowing with immortal bloom.
Hallelujah.
’Tis the Savior, angels, raise
Fame’s eternal trump of praise;
Let the earth’s remotest bound
Hear the joy-inspiring sound.
Hallelujah.
Now, ye saints, lift up your eyes,
Now to glory see him rise,
In long triumph up the sky,
Up to waiting worlds on high.
Hallelujah.
Heaven displays her portals wide,
Glorious Savior, through them ride;
King of glory, mount thy throne,
Thy great Father’s and thy own.
Hallelujah!
Praise him, all ye heavenly choirs,
Praise and sweep your golden lyres;
Shout, O earth, in rapturous song,
Let the strains be sweet and strong.
Hallelujah.
Every note with wonder swell,
Sin o’erthrown, and captived hell;
Where is hell’s once dreaded king?
Where, O death, thy mortal sting?
Hallelujah.
“Easter” (Gerard Manley Hopkins)
Break the box and shed the nard;
Stop not now to count the cost;
Hither bring pearl, opal, sard;
Reck not what the poor have lost;
Upon Christ throw all away:
Know ye, this is Easter Day.
Build His Church and deck His shrine;
Empty though it be on earth;
Ye have kept your choicest wine—
Let it flow for heavenly mirth;
Pluck the harp and breathe the horn:
Know ye not ’tis Easter morn?
Gather gladness from the skies;
Take a lesson from the ground;
Flowers do ope their heavenward eyes
And a Spring-time joy have found;
Earth throws Winter’s robes away,
Decks herself for Easter Day.
Beauty now for ashes wear,
Perfumes for the garb of woe,
Chaplets for disheveled hair,
Dances for sad footsteps slow;
Open wide your hearts that they
Let in joy this Easter Day.
Seek God’s house in happy throng;
Crowded let His table be;
Mingle praises, prayer, and song,
Singing to the Trinity.
Henceforth let your souls alway
Make each morn an Easter Day.
“Easter Hymn” (Henry Vaughan)
Death and darkness, get you packing:
Nothing now to man is lacking.
All your triumphs now are ended,
And what Adam marred is mended.
Graves are beds now for the weary;
Death a nap, to wake more merry;
Youth now, full of pious duty,
Seeks in thee for perfect beauty;
The weak and aged, tired with length
Of days, from thee look for new strength;
And infants with thy pangs contest,
As pleasant, as if with the breast.
Then unto him who thus hath thrown
Even to contempt thy kingdom down,
And by his blood did us advance
Unto his own inheritance—
To Him be glory, power, praise,
From this unto the last of days!
“An Easter Hymn” (Richard Le Gallienne)
Celestial spirit that doth roll
The heart’s sepulchral stone away,
Be this our resurrection day,
The singing Easter of the soul:
O Gentle Master of the Wise
Teach us to say, “I will arise.”
“Easter Song” (George Herbert)
I got me flowers to strew thy way,
I got me boughs off many a tree;
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought’st thy sweets along with thee.
The Sun arising in the East,
Though he give light, and the East perfume,
If they should offer to contest
With thy arising, they presume.
Can there be any day but this,
Though many suns to shine endeavour?
We count three hundred [365], but we miss:
There is but one, and that one ever.
“Sonnet 68” (Edmund Spenser)
Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day
Didst make thy triumph over death and sin,
And having harrowed hell, didst bring away
Captivity thence captive us to win;
This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin,
And grant that we for whom thou didst die,
Being with thy dear blood clean washed from sin,
May live for ever in felicity.
And that thy love we weighing worthily,
May likewise love thee for the same again,
And for thy sake that all like dear didst buy,
With love may one another entertain.
So let us love, dear love, like as we ought:
Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.
“Seven Stanzas at Easter” (John Updike)
“The Stone Has Rolled Away” (Chad Walsh)
SAMPLE EASTER SERVICES
Sample Easter Service #1
Prelude
“Thine Is the Glory, Risen, Conquering, Son”
“The Strife Is Over,” arr. C. Kohlmann
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” arr. C. Kohlmann
“Easter Song”
Welcome
Pastor Andrew Fulton
Minister: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; the Lord has risen!”
Congregation: “He has risen indeed!”
Minister: “The Lord has risen!”
Congregation: “He has risen indeed!”
Minister: “The Lord has risen!”
Congregation: “He has risen indeed!”
Minister: “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? Death has been swallowed up in victory!”
Congregation: “Christ has risen indeed!”
Minister: “Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.’”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Minister: “The Lord has risen!”
Congregation: “He has risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Introit and Invocation
Andy Nussbaum
“Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!” choir and organ
Hymn of Adoration
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”
The Apostles’ Creed
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father;
from there he will come to judge
the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of the saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers
Dr. Nick Perrin
Hymn to Christ
Bulletin insert
“See What a Morning”
The Collection
Pastor Andrew Fulton
“An Easter Fanfare,” choir, instruments, and piano
Scripture Reading
Rhett Austin
Matthew 27:62–28:15 (congregation standing)
Gloria Patri
“Glory be the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
World without end. Amen. Amen.”
Scripture Teaching
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell
“Behold Him That Was Crucified”
Hymn of Response
Bulletin insert
“Jesus Is Lord” (congregation standing)
Benediction
Pastor Douglas O’Donnell (congregation standing)
Postlude
“Thine Is the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son,” organ
Prelude
“In Christ Alone” (J. S. Bach), orchestra
Christ lay in bonds of death, sacrificed for our sins.
He is now arisen and has brought life to us;
therefore we shall be joyful, praise God and be thankful to Him
and sing hallelujah. Hallelujah!
(Martin Luther)
Fanfare
Brass ensemble
Hymn
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (congregation standing)
Acclamation
Pastor Jay Thomas
Minister: “The Lord is risen!”
Congregation: “The Lord is risen!”
Minister: “The Lord is risen! Alleluia!”
Congregation: “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Doxology
Lasst Uns Erfreuen (congregation standing)
The Apostles’ Creed
Pastor Bruce Wilson
Minister: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell.”
Congregation: “I believe on the third day he arose again from the dead.
He rose again! Alleluia!”
Minister: “He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God,
the Father Almighty.
He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic [universal] church,
the communion of saints, and the forgiveness of sins.”
Congregation: “I believe in the resurrection of the body;
the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.
Because he lives, we too shall live.
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
All: “Amen!”
Eye-Opener
Testimony of new life by Keith Conley
Hymn
“Thine Is the Glory, Risen, Conquering Son”
Congregational Prayer
Pastor Kent Hughes
Tithes and Offerings
Offertory anthem:
“Achieved Is the Glorious Work,” chancel choir; orchestra
Achieved is his glorious work.
Our song must be to the praise of God!
Glory to His name forever!
He sole on high exalted reigns.
Alleluia!
Scripture Reading
Pastor Todd Augustine
John 11:21–27
Sermon
“I Am the Resurrection”
Pastor Kent Hughes
Hymn
“I Know That My Redeemer Lives” (congregation standing)
Response of Praise
“Hallelujah Chorus” (from Messiah by George Frideric Handel)
The congregation is invited to sing or listen with joy!
Minister: “The Lord is risen!”
Congregation: “He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
Postlude
Tocatta (from Suite op. 5)
Sample Easter Service #3
Sunrise Service
Quem Quaertis
The congregation gathers at the entrance to the church.
Minister: “Whom do you seek?”
Women: “Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, died, and was buried.”
Minister: “He is no longer in the grave. He is risen, just as he said. Go tell the others!”
Women: “Alleluia! The Lord is risen!”
All: “The Lord is risen! Alleluia!”
The doors are opened, and all process with joy into the church.
Choral Fanfare and Processional
“Joy to the Heart”
Processional Hymn
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” (congregation standing)
Acclamation
Pastor Todd Wilson, congregation (standing)
Minister: “The Lord is risen!”
Congregation: “He is risen indeed!”
Minister: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
Congregation: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes!”
Minister: “Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures . . .”
Congregation: “. . . he was buried, and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures.”
Minister: “Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
Congregation: “For as by man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.”
Minister: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. This is the day that the Lord has made.”
Congregation: “Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
Minister: “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.”
Congregation: “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Minister: “The Lord is risen!”
Congregation: “He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!”
Doxology
Last Uns Erfreunen (congregation standing)
Hymn
“In Christ Alone,” words by Stuart Townend, music by Keith Getty
Easter Prayer
Pastor Kent Hughes
Offertory anthem:
“See What a Morning (Resurrection Hymn),” Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Congregation joins on final stanza
Scripture Reading
Pastor James Seward
John 11:21–27
Message
“I Am the Resurrection”
Pastor Kent Hughes
Hymn
“I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” arr. Edwin T. Childs
(congregation standing)
Acclamation and Benediction
Minister: “The Lord is risen!”
Congregation: “The Lord is risen indeed! Hallelujah!”
Postlude
Toccata (from Suite op. 5)
Sample Easter Service #4
Prelude
“Were You There?” (orchestra)
Call to Worship
“Christ Is Risen, He Is Risen Indeed!” (congregation)
Welcome/Body Life
Worship through Singing and Giving
Adoration: “Christ Is Risen,” choir and orchestra; “Behold Our God,” congregation
Confession: “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy,” congregation
Scripture Reading
Revelation 1
Prayer and Offering
Assurance of Grace: “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come,” choir; “Before the Throne of God Above,” congregation
Response: “Be Thou My Vision,” congregation
Worship in the Word
Sample Easter Service #5
“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” Charles Wesley
“Thine Be the Glory,” text Edmund L. Budrey; music G. F. Handel
Pastor Carey Hughes
Scripture Reading
Luke 24:1–12
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
Confession
Offering
“How Great Thou Art,” stringed ensemble
“Come People of the Risen King,” Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend
“Christ Is Risen, He is Risen Indeed,” Keith and Kristyn Getty and Ed Cash
Scripture Reading
1 Peter 1:3–9
Minister: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”
Congregational Prayer
Sermon
Pastor Carey Hughes
“Resurrection Hymn,” Stuart Townend and Keith Getty
Baptism
“In Christ Alone,” Stuart Townend and Keith Getty
Benediction
Pastor Brian Hoch
1 Luci Shaw, Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
2 Used by permission of the author, Luci Shaw.