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Lord, the kings or whoever they were -
magi, magicians or wisdom seekers,
remind us of the need to seek you
and to discern true wisdom for life.The journey is often long and tortuous,
down many pathways,
but always it leads to the place of submission,
to the vulnerable,
to humility before the surprising face of God.Lead us and our leaders to that place of humility
wherein we acknowledge our need and our lack.Let us be surprised by your presence among us
so that the poor of the earth may be surprised by its richness.Bring low and of no account all that brings people
into imprisonment of body, mind or spirit.Hold back the forces of self-centred manipulation
so that an unjust few may hold on to oppressive power,
locally, nationally and internationally.Break the arrogance of those who believe
that their own good is synonymous with the good of others,
and destroy the selfishness that simply doesn’t care
or can’t be bothered;
rather, let the attitude of a servant be amongst all those
who have any power over the lives of others.Bring into the light of Christ the self deception
that protects human brokenness
whether that is in our own self,
in our church leaders or in the leaders of the nations,
and bring all to bow at the feet of the baby
whose vulnerability shines forth
with the wisdom and the wholesomeness of God.Shut us up Lord,
that we might listen for the weeping around us,
and especially for your weeping,
the keening for those lost in our streets
to drugs and knives and guns.Confound our plans
that we might search more deeply for your guidance:
send us into cul-de-sacs
that we might discover your ways out of our dilemmas:
confuse our theology when it obscures your reality
and freeze our spirituality when it leads us into fantasy.Jesus, be born anew into my heart
and into the hearts of those I know
who claim to belong to you;
then, perhaps,
the prophets’ words will come to pass
and you will reign,
in your church,
in your world,
in your universe,
one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMENBarry Hutchinson 2008
No plane, no car, no train just an animal to travel on.
No map, no mobile phone, no satellite but a star to see and follow.
No knowledge of culture or earthly king but trust in a future one.
No plotting or killing for them just kneeling and worshipping
at the throne on innocence.
A dream for the magi and escape!
A dream for Joseph, escape for his family but not for other twos and under.
Joy of one birth grief over many empty mangers!
No sleigh bells, no carolling, no hope now.
The gold, incense and myrrh carried away with the child.
Gone!Bob Jones 2006
In the secret, shadowed hours
of the night,
Mother and Babe, the only people
in their world,
cocooned
in a womb of love;
He, sucking slowly, steadily
at her breast,
accepting sustenance from her body;
She, worn-weary,
supplying
the satisfying life’s milk
generously,
glorying in the glad glow
of motherhood,
worshipping
the beauty of her boy, new-born,
gift of God,
incarnation of all human love,
in one small life,
adored.© Carol Dixon, December 05
Bethlehem, You chose Bethlehem,
The least of all, it was so small
And insignificant.
O Lord on high, let me be Your Bethlehem.
O Child of God be born in me.
My heart was hard and cold, just like a stone
As was Your manger,
You came as a stranger
And filled it with Your love.
O Lord on high, let me be Your Bethlehem.
O Child of God be born in me.Eileen Heckels 2006
Incarnate Jesus, like Mary
we carry you in our arms at Christmas
but behind the cradle is the cross,
and the gurgling baby becomes
the broken man who gave himself
for us and died that we might live -
showing us that guardian angels
are no guarantee of a smooth path
in our lives, any more than
they were in yours, yet
bearing us up in all our troubles.Help us, like Mary
to carry you always in our hearts
through the joys and pains of life
bringing you to others in their need;
and finally, with all those whose names
are written in the scroll of life,
may we be joined with you,
the saints, and all the heavenly host,
in company with all creation,
to give you praise and honour
in your eternal kingdom of love.Carol Dixon 2006
A star rises in the East.
Born of adversity it promises hope,
affirming the good on earth,
challenging the bad and the second rate.
Born to bring cheer,
it cuts through all
that would cultivate depression and apathy.Born to bring peace,
it cuts through
dishonesty and denial of justice.
It is the star of God’s presence,
calling the wise people of the earth
to follow after its maker
as the Magi begin their long journey to enlightenment.
Barry Hutchinson 2004
Father, into our chaos
speak your peaceFather, no more than you, we long for peace in our world,
for peace with justice and fairness for all;
for peace which actively seeks the good of all
and which protects all from violence and exploitation.
We long for peace which is founded upon your nature of peace
and which is based in the values of your selfless kingdom;
we long for peace which only you can bring into our world
but which you call us to work towards with you.
So hear our cries for peace, Father,
and use the prayers and the pray-ers in the answering of them.Remember those countries where war and discord reigns supreme:
Father, into our chaos
speak your peaceRemember those situations of conflict within our own country
Father, into our chaos
speak your peaceRemember those people who need peace in their own personal conflicts:
Father, into our chaos
speak your peacePray for peace and reconciliation in the divided Church of Christ
Father, into our chaos
speak your peacePray that this church might find ways to bring the blessings of peace here in your own neighbourhood through your witness here.
Father, into our chaos
speak your peacePray for your own peace and promise yourself to do all that will help you to become more peaceful……
…and then perhaps you would make your response to God’s word to you today.Father, accept all our prayers in the name and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ who lived and died and lived again that we might be born anew into your peaceful Kingdom of Love. AMEN
Barry Hutchinson 2006
I’m a shepherd. A modern shepherd! I’ve got several hundred sheep, all with identification numbers registered with the European Community, a quad bike for getting round them and a post graduate qualification in Sheep-herding and lambing management. And let me tell you, that’s not an easy course to get into!
I’m nothing like the old boys with their distinctive walk, their sticks the wrong way round and an approach to the care of sheep that owes more to superstition than to science!
But there are some things that don’t change. At lambing time I still spend all night, every night out in the field with barely a moment to myself and it is at that time that I need all the help I can get.
And that’s when they tell the stories, about cold winters, and wet winters, about dogs they have known, and difficult ewes. How a real shepherd never deserts his flock no matter what. Each story outdoing the last and all helping to keep you awake and to pass the night.
But, when they get to know you and to trust you. There’s another story they tell. About one time when shepherds did desert their flock. About shepherds out one night, who left their sheep. Shepherds who were called to a stable. Shepherds who came to assist and witness, not the birth of a lamb, but the birth of a baby. And they tell you of angels and of singing, and of something even more important than sheep! They tell you how it was shepherds who were the first to see the Saviour of the world in his mother’s arms. Witnesses to the birth of Christ.
And that’s why although I’m a modern, high-tech, scientifically trained, college educated shepherd, when my time comes, I’ll be buried with a tuft of wool in my hand, just like the old boys, so when I get to heaven’s gate I can say “ Look, Lord, I too am a witness to your birth!”
James Breslin 2006
Written for the University of Northumbria Carol Service
Click here for a Nativity Play by Shirley Coyne and Family - 2004
Click here for Hannah Middleton's serialised telling of the story for children - 2004
By dint of getting called obstruct names
culled from theology textbook indexes,
God had been turned into a boring old man.
But lo! here, God is a baby,
Which suddenly makes God younger
Than we are.
A child is always a stranger.
Newborn, God has yet more surprises in store for us.
A child, God is alive.
Each time she used to see me, my grandmother would say:
"My! But hasn't he changed!”
Now if God is a little child, we too
are going to have to get used to saying,
each time He comes to meet us:
"But hasn't He changed!"This poem was published in the St Columba's, North Shields magazine, The Square, in February 2004 It read " Translated from a poem in the December newsletter of the Reformed Church, Lyon, Pastor Anne Faisandier. Greetings to you all. I.McG." I have not been able to find out more about it.
- John Durell 2004
Suggested Tune: Gwalchmai
Chorus:
Christ the child, your praise we sing: Alleluia!
Come to earth your love to bring: Alleluia!
Christ the man, the church bells ring: Alleluia!
Crucified, yet risen king: Alleluia!
God of Heaven on earth was born:
Fragile baby.
Angel choirs proclaimed that dawn:
Blessed baby.
Prophets told the holy plan:
Special baby.
Strangers found the little man:
Holy baby.Christ the King revea1ed below:
Glorious Saviour!
Pow'r in word and deed did show:
Loving Saviour.
Resurrection victory:
Risen Saviour .
From sin's chains we now are free:
Praise the Saviour!Andrew Atkinson 2004
Chorus:
Jesus was born here on our earth
To show us God with a human face
Jesus came to share our birth
Brinign light to the human race.The Lord of Heaven, he comes to us,
A simple babde in a stable born,
The Lord of Love, he lives in us,
Our saviour God, this Christmas morn.Jesus was born here on our earth
To show us God with a human face
Jesus came to share our birth
Bringing light to the human race.The Lord of Life, Emmanuel,
God with us as a lowly king,
The Prince of Peace, the mighty God,
Christ is born, his praises sing.Jesus was born here on our earth
To show us God with a human face,
Jesus came to share our birth
Bringing light to the human race.Repeat chorus
Carol Dixon 2004
Children's activity with Hannah Middleton 2004
Twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are,
up above the sky so high
like a diamond in the sky:
Twinkle twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are.
Long ago your shining light
filled the glowing sky, so bright
waking shepherds from their sleep
in the hills beside their sheep,
twinkling as the angel band
sang goodwill to every land.In the eastern desert night
wise men saw your glimmering light,
travelling on from east to west
guiding them upon their quest
to locate a new born king
for whom precious gifts they bring.
Twinkle twinkle little star
now I know just who you are
shining on the darkest night
filling all the world with light
telling how God's son was born
on our earth on Christmas morn.Carol Dixon (v 2-4) 2004
God of Bethlehem, who was seen at Christmas,
Coming in poverty and in humility,
We bring our gifts of worship to the King.
Lord, may we share in your human life.God of this place, who is seen at Christmas,
Coming in love and in power,
We bring our gifts of worship to our King.
Lord, may we share in your risen life.God of all creation, who will be seen at Christmas,
Coming in glory and in majesty,
We bring our gifts of worship to the King of all the world.
Lord, may we share in your heavenly life.Saviour, we praise you and we thank you
For the wonderful gifts you give us,
For your guiding word through each new day,
For your life of love among us, evermore. AmenAndrew Atkinson 2003
Hi God,
It's me Nolan Young from the Boys Brigade.
We had a party tonight with a pass the parcel game.
We had to think about the wrappings.
We had stars because the wise men followed the star.
We had new born baby paper because Jesus came as a
baby.
We had birthday paper and said happy birthday because
of Jesus.
Then we saw brown paper.
It was kind of boring and the boys laughed.
Then my mam said it was because Jesus was born in a
poor family.
Then the leaders said be quiet because we should think
about it.
And we did.
Then we had newspaper and everyone put their hands up
and said "because we spread the news of Jesus"
Then it was a box of celebrations chocolates, because
it is happy when Jesus is born.
And we liked that best because we shared the prize.
But I think the brown paper was nice because Jesus was
poor and they told us to be quiet and think, because
we don't do that a lot.
I hope that lots of people get presents in brown paper
and then they will think about Jesus.
My mam says it does not matter because Jesus loves
every kind of wrapping paper.
But I pray for brown paper so that poor people can
smile because God loves them.
I really believe in
Jesus and I liked the chocolate, thank you God. Amen.Nolan Young (age 8) 2003
God thought about the world. He said
"The world is full of woe, the woe must go!"
He sent a Son so the woe could go
And a star appeared in the Eastern sky.
The wise men followed the star so far.
They knelt by the baby; they gave him gifts
Of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.Thomas Preece (age 7) 2003
For after The Magnificat
and before a dialogue between Mary and Joseph one night after Christmas, or some other such place.
And so, someone who should never have been remembered by anyone, was chosen to become the mother of God on earth, the God bearer. In a little village with nothing to recommend it, in the far back of beyond, little people going through the ordinary rounds of life, were being selected to change the world and to challenge all that the current culture had been built upon.
Miles away from all political and religious manoeuvring, barely touched by civilisation, Joseph and Mary are forced to travel to places they would prefer not to go, to do things they would have preferred not to do. Touched by God, yet barely able to articulate anything, needing a later scribe to put their experiences into words, they plough on from one little village to another – ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events, almost without knowing it……
Makes you wonder doesn't it? You might say that they moved from one isolated little island to another…………… and if God is the same now as he was then……… who knows what might happen in the future?
But it's no good wondering and speculating, there's a baby to be born and he has to be born in a particular place according to the prophets - and so we move on to Bethlehem, to find a place in the straw amongst the animals and there he is, disappointingly ordinary and commonplace. Just another baby with a slim chance of living; just as smelly and demanding as any other baby fighting for life in a tough world.
Barry Hutchinson 2003
It should have been so special: the son of God
- announced by an angel heralding his greatness –
growing within her womb; recognised by an unborn child
who, at her greeting, jumped for pure, pre-natal joy.But then came pointed looks, Joseph's unspoken doubts,
the heavy, sluggish journey to a southern city
- bursting at the seams with teeming humanity - culminating
in doors shut in their desperate faces, frantic arguing,
and the eloquent exhaustion in her pleading eyes.And now it had come to this: the outhouse of an inn,
blood and sweat and straw; the child, tearing
his way into the world – from darkness into light;
between her pains she watched the cross beam
up above her head, studying its rough-hewn shape.A strange beginning for the chosen one of God,
coming to life in squalid poverty and deprivation,
in a land oppressed by power of arms; where citizens
- herded like the cattle whose stall she borrowed –
were numbered for a foreign ruler's whim.Such an ordinary birth: and yet she knew
as he was born, the world would never be the same again.Carol Dixon 2003
You came as a baby, Lord,
as a little helpless child
who relied on a human family
to care for him.You cried because you were hungry,
because you were homeless,
because you were a stranger
far away from home.You still cry with hunger, Lord,
in the voices of the many starving;
your tears still flow: for the homeless,
the lonely and the forgotten;
you still rely on human families
to care for you.And so this Christmas, Lord, we pray:
help us to be the kind of people
who look for you in the world,
and joyfully discover you
as we care for one another.Carol Dixon
Dear God,
As the darkness comes this Christmas eve,
We look forward to the candles and the carols which
draw us to the midnight worship.
As the gifts lay under the tree,
We look forward to the joy and jubilation which draw
us to the family togetherness.
As the children close their eyes full of expectation,
we look forward to the celebrations,
which draw us to the birth of a new day.
But what we look forward to most of all,
is the gift of your presence with us on Christmas day,
and every day.
Thanks be to God. AmenMandi Young
Step softly
Step softly into your weeping world,
Incarnate God;
Steep it in your love.
Bring light into broken lives,
Warmth into frozen hearts,
Healing to all who are hurting,
Hope to those at war,
May your peace pervade every place.
Help us to approach this new year
filled with the joy of your companionship
as we step out in faith with you,
ready to face the future,
whatever it may hold.Carol Dixon 2003/04
Past, Present, Future
God of past, present and future;
God who comes to us in Jesus;
in form of a child,
helpless and weak,
we come in our helplessness.I bring to you my past,
with its pains and joys
and ask to look upon it
with the compassion of your Holy Spirit.I bring to you the present moment
in its transience and wonder
and ask to experience it
with the wisdom of your Holy Sprit.I bring to you my future,
a place of hope and hesitation
and ask to see it
with the clarity of your Holy Spirit.God of past, present and future,
we bring ourselves;
all that we have been; all that we are;
all that we shall be,
in Jesus' name. AmenRuth Crofton 2003/04
This prayer can be used for a group, or for individuals. The use of ‘us' and ‘we' to begin and end, remind us that we are always part of a larger group, be it people around us, praying with us, or the wider church, or humanity itself.
Give us the vision
for the coming years,
as we look to the future
- to overcome our fears,
and boldly take a stand
as we seek to make
each land,
a kingdom fit for you.Give us the vision
for the church, your bride,
to be pure, strong and holy
- to overcome our pride,
and humbly understand
we receive with
open hand,
the power from you.Give us the vision
for our exploited earth
as we watch our planet
suffering, and see
the peoples' hurt;
spur us on at your command
until each and every land
gives glory to youCarol Dixon 2003/04
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