Candle Lighting for Christmas Eve 2020

 

THE ANIMAL CANDLE

1: The first thing we will add to our creche scene are the animals: sheep, an ox, a donkey
2: This might seem odd because the Christmas story never actually mentions animals but if there was a manger we feel there must have been animals.
1: The animals remind us of some thing else. They remind us that Christmas is Good News for the whole earth,
2: Long before Jesus was born Isaiah shared God’s promise of a peaceful kingdom, a place where all animals and all people would live safely together.

1: At Christmas time we remember that promise. We hope following Jesus will make it come true.
2: So we light our first candle, the candle for the animals and the promise of peace.
(Candle is lit)

THE PARENTS CANDLE

1: If you have a baby, you must have some parents. So the next thing we will add to our creche scene are Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents.
2: IT must have been a little scary for them, having a baby and not sure what would happen next.
1: Jesus came as a surprise to Mary and to Joseph. Not every set of parents has an angel explain why they are having a baby right now.
2: But I bet they had hopes for what would happen next. I think most parents have hopes for what their baby will do.
1: And Mary and Joseph knew Jesus was a special baby. That could have made them very hopeful
2:So we light our second candle, the candle for the parents and the hope they had,
(Candle is lit)

THE ANGEL CANDLE

1: Time for another figure to join our creche scene. This time we add the angel hovering over top of the stable. It is hard to imagine Christmas without angels.
2: Already we have heard about two angel visits. One in Joseph’s dream and this time when Mary is told that she is having a baby.
1: There is another angel visit to come, another message from God to build the story about Jesus being born.
2: All these messages. God must really want people to know about Jesus. God must love people a lot to make sure they know that Jesus is coming.
1: That is what the story tells us. God loves the world so much that Jesus comes to help us learn how to love each other as much as God loves us
2: SO we light our candle for the angel, who brings us Good News about God’s love.
(Candle is lit)

THE SHEPHERD CANDLE

1: Here they come, running in from the fields, the shepherds. They are excited to join our creche scene.
2: This is the big part of the story. Apart from Mary and Joseph, the shepherds were the first people to know that Jesus was born.
1: The story tells us how excited they were. Imagine what it would have been like to be there.
2: I bet they were talking REALLY fast as they told Mary and Joseph what the angel had told them.
1:And I think they were really loud as they went around telling everybody else about baby Jesus. They must have sounded so happy.
2: So we light our candle for the shepherds, and we think about the joy they mus have felt on that special night.
(Candle is lit)

THE CHRIST CANDLE

1: Our creche is almost finished. Only one character to add. But this is the most important character. Jesus, the baby in the manger.
Without Jesus there would be no Christmas. His birth is the reason for the season. Jesus comes into our lives, into our world bringing peace and hope and joy and love. John calls Jesus the light that shines in the shadows and the shadows can never out it out. Even this year, when Christmas is so different because of the changes Covid has made in our lives, the light shines and can not be overcome.
We light our last candle, the candle for the Baby Jesus, the light of the world.
(Candle is lit)