Koonung Heights Uniting Church
Service of Worship at Home
Christmas Eve – 24 December 2025 – 11pm or whenever possible
You may like to light a candle during your time of worship.
Feel free to text the Peace to other members of the congregation.
During the service we will share Communion so you may wish to have the elements ready.
Introit: O come, all ye faithful – (TiS 304)
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him born the king of angels:
come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
sing all you citizens of heaven above,
‘Glory to God, glory in the highest’:
come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Lighting the Christ Candle:
We gather on this night,
waiting for good news,
the night when the hour will come
and the season of waiting will be fulfilled.
And as we gather,
we light the Christ Candle,
the light of the world, the light of possibility.
Amen.
Acknowledgement of Country:
This land is God’s land and God’s spirit dwells here.
As we gather for worship tonight,
I acknowledge that we gather on the lands of the
Wurundjeri WoiWurrung people of the Kulin nations.
I pay my respects to their elders, past and present,
and to all future leaders and generations.
In gathering here,
we stand where many have stood before us,
in the presence of God, expectantly waiting.
Call to Worship:
Like the shepherds, we come to the stable,
uncertain of what we have seen and heard,
longing to hear a word of peace and joy.
Like the wise ones, we have journeys to make,
gifts to offer, and hope in our hearts,
that this world can change for the better.
Here, in the stillness of a summer night,
we gather to share the light of Christ,
a light that shines in the nightfall.
We gather in the wonder of this night
to share our joy and thanks for new life.
Lighting the Avent Wreath
Advent, the season of preparing, is nearly over.
Our waiting is nearly finished.
Now is a time of fulfillment and celebration.
In the darkness of night, we give thanks for light.
We light a candle of hope:
hope for ourselves, and for God’s beloved world.
We light a candle of peace:
peace in our hearts, and on earth.
We light a candle of joy:
joy to the world, and within our whole being.
We light a candle of love:
the promise of God’s love for us, and for all creation.
Sign of Peace:
Even as the heavens opened and angels spoke,
the first word they sang was ‘Peace’.
Even as confused shepherds came from their hills and flocks,
uncertain but hopeful, they greeted each other with ‘Peace’.
In the midst of our preparations and excitement,
let us take a moment to great one another with a word of peace:
peace in this place, peace in our homes, peace in this world.
Peace be with you
and also with you.
We Sing: On Christmas Night – (TiS 300)
On Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring:
on Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring:
news of great joy, news of great mirth, news of our merciful King’s birth.
When fear departs before his grace, then life and health come in its place;
when fear departs before his grace, then life and health come in its place;
heaven and earth with joy may sing, as we await the new born King.
And so from darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night;
and so from darkness we have light, which made the angels sing this night:
‘Glory to God and peace descend, now and for evermore. Amen.’
Lessons and Carols – A Tradition:
Lessons and Carols is a tradition that dates back to the 19th century, pairing scripture readings with carols, telling the whole story of God’s loving promise and redemptive world. The traditional template nine lesson template, was popularised by the King’s College, Cambridge in 1918.
The abbreviated version we will share in tonight will help tell the story of God’s interaction with humanity, from the time of creation to the birth of Jesus.
Whether you have never listened to this story before, or have heard it so many times you could recite it word for word, I invite you to listen again and see what you might hear afresh this night.
The First Lesson: Genesis 1:26 – 2:4
26 Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
27 So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. 2 On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
We Sing: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – (Tune TiS 265)
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and fill our lives, all dark and fear dispel,
as once an exiled people you found,
redeemed, restored
and set on holy ground.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to us
and in our hearts will dwell.
O come, O light of Christ, so bright and clear
and lift our spirits by your advent here.
In all who gather, show us your face,
that we may know the warmth of your embrace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanual shall come to us and in our hearts will dwell.
O come, O Wisdom, mind and heart divine,
help us restore a world we’ve let decline.
Enlighten us; your way we would know
and show us where new seeds of hope to sow.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to us and in our hearts will dwell.
O Advent God of hope, joy, love and peace,
in you we pray our sad divisions cease.
Bind us as one, a people of grace,
for at your table each one has a place.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to us and in our hearts will dwell.
The Second Lesson: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness –
on them light has shined.
6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders,
and he is named Wonderful Counsellor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Great will be his authority, and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
We Sing: Once in royal David’s city – (TiS 312)
Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed
where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, despised and lowly lived on earth our Saviour holy.
Not in that poor lowly stable, with the oxen standing by,
we shall see him: but in heaven, set at God’s right hand on high,
when God’s children gather round bright like stars, with glory crowned.
The Third Lesson: Luke 1:26-35
– The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
We Sing: No wind at the window – (TiS 287)
No wind at the window, no knock on the door;
no light from the lampstand, no foot on the floor;
no dream born of tiredness, no ghost raised by fear:
just an angel and a woman and a voice in her ear.
‘O Mary, O Mary, don’t hide from my face.
Be glad that you’re favoured, and filled with God’s grace.
The time for redeeming the world has begun;
and you are requested to mother God’s son.
‘This child must be born that the kingdom might come:
salvation for many, destruction for some;
both end and beginning, both message and sign;
both victor and victim, both yours and divine’.
No payment was promised, no promises made;
no wedding was dated, no blueprint displayed.
Yet Mary, consenting to what none could guess,
replied with conviction, ‘Tell God, I say Yes.’
The Fourth Lesson: Luke 2:1-20
– The Birth of Jesus
1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.
The Shepherds and the Angels
8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them,
19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
We Sing: Silent Night – (TiS 311)
Silent night, holy night: all is calm, all is bright
round the virgin mother and child, holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night, holy night: shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from heaven afar, heavenly hosts sing, ‘Alleluia!
Christ the Saviour is born, Christ the Saviour is born.’
Silent night, holy night: wondrous star, lend your light;
with the angels let us sing Alleluia to our King;
Christ our Saviour is born, Christ our Saviour is born.
The Fifth Lesson: John 1:1-14
– The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
We Sing: Joy to the World – TiS 268
Joy to the world! The Lord is come; let earth receive it’s King;
let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth! The Saviour reigns: let us our songs employ;
while fields and streams, rocks, hills and plains repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love, and wonder, wonders of his love.
Reflection:
Luke’s Christmas story begins with an empire. A decree from Caesar Augustus ripples across the known world, reaching even the smallest villages. Governors are named, provinces are counted, taxes are levied. It is, on the surface anyway, a story of power stretching across continents. And yet, within that grand tale, Luke invites us to look closer. Not at palaces or governors’ halls, but at a manger in Bethlehem. One tiny flame flickering in the darkness, so fragile it could be missed. The story is small, but Luke places it in the context of history, prophecy, and hope, showing us that this child belongs to the whole world. The contrast could not be sharper. Caesar rules by decree and army. This child, proclaimed as Messiah, comes in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Power is being redefined, not through domination, but through vulnerability.
At this time of year, when we hear the Christmas story again, we can be less than enthusiastic as we believe we’ve heard it all before. As I’ve engaged with it again this year I’ve been thinking about the actions of the shepherds. When they hear the news of Jesus’ birth they do not immediately run to Bethlehem. They talk; they ask questions. They could have chosen to dismiss the vision, they could have stayed in their field, but they do neither. Instead they decide, together, to go. I think that moment matters, because it reminds us that faith is not only about angel choruses and divine visions. Faith is also about what we do when the music fades. Faith, in part, comes in the questioning, the decisions we make, and the discussions we have. Faith is an active, living conversation with our own hearts, with our neighbours, and with our God.
The nativity is often framed as the beginning of something utterly new, and it is, but it is also part of a much longer story of God’s new beginnings: creation, covenant, prophets, promises. Each time humanity falters, God tries again, and in Jesus, God’s persistence takes flesh. This is love born into the world not as an idea, but as a child. A story told that we must decide to enter. A revelation that changes the world when people choose to let it transform their lives. Perhaps that is what Luke wants us to see most clearly: that God’s story of redemption does not unfold in the corridors of power, but in ordinary places and through ordinary people who are willing to say yes. The divine breaks into human history not with thunder but with the cry of a newborn child.
Like the shepherds, we are invited to listen, to discern, and to go seek the Christ who is still being born among us: in acts of compassion, in movements for justice, in moments of fragile hope that flicker against the darkness. Christmas, then, is not only the memory of what God once did, but the invitation to notice what God is still doing.
This year, we are again invited to hear the Christmas story, and to share it with the world. We can let wonder interrupt our routines. We can go and see for ourselves what God has shown, yes, but most importantly, is still showing day by day. For in every age and in every heart that dares to believe, Christ is born anew this very day.
Amen.
We Sing: Love came down at Christmas – (TiS 317)
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.
Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and neighbours,
love for plea and gift and sign.
Prayers of the People:
Let us pray …
God of star and stable,
you lead us to wonder and to hope,
you gather us to hear your promise of love.
As we gather, we offer our concerns and our dreams, our hopes and fears …
(time of silence)
Like the shepherds who sought the stable, we seek your promise of peace.
We pray for people broken by violence,
those who live with fear, and those who live without hope.
We remember places of unrest in our world, and we pray for your courage and peace …
(time of silence)
Like the wise ones who dedicated their gifts, we remember those in need.
We pray for those who are lonely, hungry or forgotten;
for those who are ill in body and spirit; for those who are confused or afraid.
We pray for your joy and love, for all your people, especially those we remember now …
… (time of silence)
Holy One, you came as a child, offering renewal of spirit and of living.
May our prayers be a new beginning: for healing, truth and trust.
May we embody love that is forgiving, compassionate, and gracious.
May we send back the angels’ song of peace and joy.
We pray all these things in the name of the One who slipped into skin to be with us,
Amen.
Christmas Communion:
Invitation
Jesus was born into a world that told him right away,
‘There’s no room for you here.’
Mary and Joseph were turned away
from every door,
so Jesus was born in a stable instead of a house,
He was laid in a manger instead of a crib.
Jesus was born into a world
that loves to turn people away –
a world with shut doors and closed hearts.
A world that loves to say, ‘There’s no room for you.’
Friends, that will not happen to you here, because Jesus spent his life making room.
He made room for tax collectors and children.
He made room for 5,000 people to sit down and eat together.
He made room for Samaritan women, Jews and Gentiles.
He made room for the sick, for the outcast, for the unclean.
Jesus was always pulling up a seat, saving space, making room for people,
and he has made room for you.
So come to this Table.
Come with your faith and your doubt,
your questions and your hopes,
your grief and your love.
Just come, because there is room for you here.
This is Christ’s table and all are welcome.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Holy God,
We have been waiting a long time for this night –
for the joy and the quiet of Christmas Eve,
for the sound of the angel chorus, for the old familiar songs.
We have been longing for the peace and hope of this night,
and now we’re finally here.
So, in between our joy and our weariness, God,
we ask that you would make room.
Pour yourself into the cracks of our hearts –
carve out space for your love in the centre of our beings
so that no matter where we go we might trust the angels’ song when they say,
‘Be not afraid,’ and, ‘Joy to the world!’
Until then, until the day when joy overpowers weariness,
until the day when there is room for all at every table,
until your promised day, we will continue to pray as your son taught us to pray, saying:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name;
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever.
Amen.
Invocation
Compassionate God,
let your Spirit come upon us now.
Bless us, and this bread and wine, that it might renew and sustain us.
Amen.
Distribution
We take this bread and take this cup so that we can all share in the life of Christ.
So in the meal tradition of Jesus we break and share bread, and drink wine,
pledging ourselves to allow the spirit and faith that moved in Jesus,
to move freely in our lives.
As Jesus took the bread, blessed it and broke it,
we share the bread which sustains the life of God in us.
As Jesus did, we take a cup and remember the life that Jesus gave for us.
The bread of life. The cup of hope.
As we eat and drink together, may we know the blessing of your Spirit,
and know that you are the God of new beginnings.
Prayer
God of angel choruses and teenage mothers,
tonight we wanted to be here.
Tonight, we needed to be here
worshipping together on this joy filled Christmas Eve.
For when we gather around this Table
we remember the ways that you always make room for us.
You are always pulling up chairs,
welcoming the children, the tax collectors, and the outcast.
At your dinner party, no one gets turned away.
Help us to carry that inclusive spirit into the rest of our lives.
Amen.
We Sing: Born in the night – (TiS 323)
Born in the night, Mary’s child,
a long way from your home;
coming in need, Mary’s child,
born in a borrowed room.
Clear shining light, Mary’s child,
your face lights up our way;
light of the world, Mary’s child,
dawn on our darkened day.
Hope of the world, Mary’s child, you’re coming soon to reign;
King of the earth, Mary’s child, walk in our streets again.
Blessing:
From this house to yours may you share in the gifts of this season.
May love, the promise of generations, attend you.
May joy, the gift of life together, fill you.
May peace, the desire of neighbour and nations, find you.
May hope, the horizon of faith, sustain you.
As you leave this night, go in peace,
and know that the God of light,
hope, peace and joy goes with you.
Amen.
Thanks to all those who have assisted in preparation for this liturgy with encouragement, prayers and conversation. I have also utilised the following resources:
Spill the Beans (Issue 57).
‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ – Words © Susan Wickham 2021