Prelude

Stay with us, Lord Jesus, stay with us.
Stay with us, it soon is evening.
Stay with us, Lord Jesus, stay with us,
it soon is evening, and night is falling.

Jesus Christ, the world's true light!
Shine so the darkness cannot overcome it!
Stay with us, Lord Jesus, it soon is evening.
Stay with us, Lord Jesus, for night is falling.
Let your light pierce the darkness
and fill your church with its glory.

Stay with us, Lord Jesus, stay with us.
Stay with us, it soon is evening.
Stay with us, Lord Jesus, stay with us,
it soon is evening, and night is falling.

Welcome

For many, the approach of Christmas is a time of expectation and joy. But not for all. For some, this season is a harsh reminder of loves lost and joys unfulfilled: the first Christmas after the death of a loved one, or yet another Christmas lived under the shadow of depression. This year, personal and corporate losses have multiplied. We cannot avoid it.

We gather, then, at the close of this Advent season to name these things before God in a spirit of somber remembrance. We come feeling that the world is cold as stone, that loneliness and loss overwhelm us, and that our hearts cry out: “Help us…”

If the world is about to turn (Mary’s Magnificat), then it is God who will have to do it. We gather, then, to remember that he does, and in the most paradoxical way: a helpless babe born in a cold, stone room, without the joyous welcome we typically imagine; a helpless babe born into a family that was poor, tired and frightened; a helpless babe born into a struggling world, a world questioning and crying out, “Why?” A helpless babe born for people like you.

Opening Scripture

LORD, you are the God who saves me;
   day and night I cry out to you.
May my prayer come before you,
   turn your ear to my cry.
I am overwhelmed with troubles,
   and my life draws near to death.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
   I am like one without strength.
—Psalm 88:1-4

You are invited to light the Christ candle.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in a land of great darkness a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, 
and the government shall be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.
—Isaiah 9:2,6,7

We gather in your presence, God,
in our need, and bringing with us the needs of the world.
We come to you, for you come to us in Jesus,
and you know by experience what human life is like.
We come with our faith and with our doubts;
we come with our hopes and with our fears.
We come as we are, because you have invited us;
and you have promised never to turn us away.

Song

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me. 

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me. 

I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me. 

Text: Henry F. Lyte, 1847, alt., P.D.
Tune (EVENTIDE): William H. Monk, 1861, P.D.

We Remember and Seek Comfort:
A Litany of Remembrance

The First Candle

Remembering Those Who Have Been Loved and Lost

We light the first candle and remember those persons
who have been loved and lost.
We pause to remember their names, their faces, their voices.
We give thanks for the memory that binds them to us in this season.
Lord, surround us all with your eternal love.

Words of Comfort: Psalm 103:13-18

As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
For he knows how we were made;
    he remembers that we are dust.

As for mortals, their days are like grass;
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
    on those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.

The Second Candle

Remembering Other Occasions of Loss

We light the second candle mindful of many sources of loss and grief:
in this season of pestilence, we grieve the loss of jobs and health,
of strain on relationships, and lost time with families and friends.
We miss gathering regularly with our church family,
and many of the activities that bring joy and meaning to our lives.

As we gather in our pain, we offer it to you, God,
asking that into our open hands you will place the gift of peace.
Hold us, help us, heal us, O God

Words of Comfort: Psalm 139:11-12

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

The Third Candle

Acknowledging Our Pain

We light the third candle to acknowledge the pain of our loss this Christmas season.
We pause to remember the past weeks, months and for some of us years of difficult times. 
We bring the sense of isolation, depression, frustration,
loneliness, and weariness that is building inside of us.
In the poignancy of memories,
we feel all the grief, the sadness, the hurts, and the fears,
and we entrust them to Christ, the suffering servant who is victorious over death itself.
We remember that the dawn overcomes the darkness.

Words of Comfort: Psalm 34:19

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord rescues them from them all.

The Fourth Candle

Gratitude for Those Who Have Journeyed With Us

We light the fourth candle to remember all who have shared in our sorrow.
We thank you, Lord, for their compassion and for their presence with us
in times when our hurt went deeper than words could express.
We remember that you, Lord, sent your Holy Spirit
to sympathize with our weakness and to carry our sorrows.
We light this fourth candle as a symbol of hope and promise.
We thank you for those who held us and pointed to your light.

Words of Comfort: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 
who comforts us in all our affliction,
so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Meditation

The God of All Comfort

Bearing the Light

All of our loss and pain surround the Christ candle. “Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa 53:4). Christ is your comfort. Reflect for a moment. Having received the comfort of Christ, to whom can you extend it? Who needs to hear and receive the good news, that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not, cannot, and will not overcome it?

Prayer of Saint Augustine

Watch now, dear Lord, with those who wake or watch or weep tonight;
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

 Tend your sick ones, O Christ,
rest your weary ones,
bless your dying ones,
soothe your suffering ones,
shield your joyous ones,
and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

Song

Blessing

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.
—2 Corinthians 1:3-4

May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that you may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
—Romans 15:13

Postlude

Our heartfelt and sincere thanks to Beth Cooke for planning and writing this service, and to Bob Keeley for all his work on the music, to lead us so deeply and meaningfully into God’s comfort and God’s hope in the midst of the pain of this season.