Christmas

Remembering 200 years of the

Gospel in New Zealand

and Jesus Birth

The Gathering of the Community

Jesus Christ is born today!Good news of great joy to all people. E te whānau a te Karaiti, welcome to this holy table; welcome to you, for we are Christ's body, Christ's work in the world.

Welcome to you, it was for youthat Jesus was born into the world. Rejoice and be glad. Praise God who gives us forgiveness and hope.Amen. Christ is our light, the joy of our salvation.

Praise and glory to Christ,God’s new beginning for humanity making ritual water gospel wine, cleansing all our worship.Love and loyalty to Christ, who gives us the gospel. Praise to Christ who calls us to holiness.

Song of Praise

Christ is the living watercleansing, refreshing, making all things new.

Jesus Christ is the Good News;

of great joy for all peoplebringing a new kind of lovethat sets us free from guilt and fear.

Song of Praise

So now we offer our thanksfor the gift of the infant Jesus;who calls us to share this way of love,with all the people of the earth.

We offer thanks and praise to God;

for the arrival of Jesus,both in Bethlehem and to this land.

Song of Praise

Our thanks for those who told of the birth;and for the invitationto continue the work of sharinggood news of great joy for all people.

Forgiveness

We come seeking forgiveness for all we have failed to be and do as members of Christ's body.

Silence

In God there is forgiveness

Loving and all-seeing God, forgive us where we have failed to support one another and to be what we claim to be. Forgive us where we have failed to serve you;and where our thoughts and actions have been contrary to yours we ask your pardon.

God forgives us; be at peace.Silence

Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is resurrection, reconciliation for all the human race.  We shall all be one in Christ, one in our life together. Praise to God who has created us, praise to God who has accepted us, praise to God who sends us into the world.

Ka mau mai au i te rongopai ki a koutou, meāke puta mai ki te iwi katoa. Nō nāianei hoki i whānau ai he Kaiwhakaora mō koutou i te pā o Rāwiri, arā a te Karaiti, te Ariki. Rūka 2:10-11

I bring you good news of great joy for all people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

Sentence of the Day

Son of God, Child of Mary,born in the stable at Bethlehem,proclaimed on the beach at Oihi,be born again in us this daythat through us the world may knowthe wonder of your love.Amen.

A Collect of the Day

Jesus born this day, we remember the history of your Gospel in our land. We thank you for the faithful witness of Ruatara and Marsden at Christmas time 200 years ago. Grant that, following in their footsteps,we may continue to spreadthe good news of great joy to this land;in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

A Collect for Christmas 2014

Voice 1 (Narrator)On Christmas Eve, 1814, Ruatara, on his own initiative, organised the space where the church service was to be held as an open air church with an improvised reading desk, pulpit, and canoes serving as pews.On Christmas Day, Samuel Marsden led the first on-land Christian missionary service.

The Proclamation Christmas day 1814

Voice 1 (Narrator)

Despite the fact the Marsden may have attempted to preach using what Maori language he had learnt while in Australia, Māori heard Marsden’s sermon through Ruatara’s translation. It is uncertain what the Maori congregation heard and understood, what we can see is the effect the Good News had on the people of this land.

The Proclamation Christmas day 1814

Voice 2 (Commentator) “Christmas morning dawned calm, clear and quiet; the Active lay gently at anchor in the Bay of Te Puna, beneath the rock face of the Rangihoua Pa.” The scarlet Pohutukawa was in bloom on the headland and along the shore, while the calm blue waters washed lazily onto the white sand of the beach. The sky above, vivid blue and cloudless. The area, today known as Oihi Bay, is much as it must have been on that Christmas morning in 1814.”

The Proclamation

Voice 3 (Samuel Marsden)The congregation was made up of hundreds of local Ngapuhi and members of the mission party. “A very solemn silence prevailed–the sight was truly impressive. I got up and began the service with the singing of the Old Hundred Psalm, and felt my very soul melt within me when I viewed my congregation and considered the state they were in.

The Proclamation

Voice 3 (Samuel Marsden)Ruatara and Korokoro acted as Master of Ceremony indicating to Māori how they should behave – when they should stand or sit. After reading the service, during which the natives stood up and sat down at the signal given by the motion of Korokoro’s switch which was regulated by the movements of the Europeans, it being Christmas Day, I preached from the Second Chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel, and tenth verse:

The Proclamation

Voice 3 (Samuel Marsden)“Behold! I bring you glad tidings of great joy.” The Natives told Ruatara that they could not understand what I meant. He replied that they were not to mind that now for they would understand by and by, and that he would explain my meaning as far as he could. When I had done preaching, he informed them what I had been talking about.

The Proclamation

Isaiah 9:2-7

Silence for reflection

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.Thanks be to God.

First Testament Reading

Psalm 97

Psalm of the Day

Titus 2:11-14

Silence for reflection

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.Thanks be to God.

Epistle Reading

Song or Hymn

Gospel

The Holy Gospel according to Luke Chapter 2 beginning at verse 1Praise and glory to God

After the reading, Silence for reflection

This is the Gospel of ChristPraise to Christ, the Word

The Sermon

Behold! I bring you glad tidings of great joy!

The Affirmation of Faith

You, O God, are supreme and holy. You create our world and give us life. Your purpose overarches everything we do. You have always been with us. You are God. You, O God, are infinitely generous, good beyond all measure.

The Affirmation of Faith

You came to us before we came to you. You have revealed and proved your love for us in Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose again. You are with us now. You are God.

The Affirmation of Faith

You, O God, are Holy Spirit. You empower us to be your gospel in the world. You reconcile and heal; you overcome death. You are our God. We worship you.

The Prayers of the People

Let us pray for the Church and the world, giving thanks for God’s goodness.

The Lord’s Prayer

As Christ teaches us we pray Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.

The Lord’s Prayer

Save us from the time of trialand deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yoursnow and for ever. Amen.

Children’s Work and Participation

The children are welcomed back to the service and invited to share their workDecorations are added to the Christmas Tree.

The Peace

Blessed be the babe of Bethlehemwho reminds us of the love of God for all.

The peace of God be always with you.Praise to Christ who unites us in peace.

The Preparation of the Gifts

To you, Lord, belongs the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory and the majesty.All that is in the heavens and the earth is yours, and of your own we give you.

The Great Thanksgiving

Christ is risen!He is risen indeed.

Lift your hearts to heavenwhere Christ in glory reigns.

Let us give thanks to God.It is right to offer thanks and praise.

It is the joy of our salvation, God of the universe, to give you thanks through Jesus Christ.

You called the world into being through your Spirit and your creation has never ceased. In your great love you came in your Son, Jesus revealing your love for all peoples of this world.

You sent your Son to show us the way of love and to be the truth we need to know.You sent your Son to give his life to release us from our sin and guilt.

We give you thanks for the many people who have had a part of making Jesus known in this Land.We welcome you our infant SaviourMay we who have witnessed a new kind of lovelike the shepherds of Bethlehemreturn to our work with joy.

You Holy Spirit continues to fill us with joy and invites us to share our discovery with those we live amongst.

Holy God, holy and merciful, holy and just, glory and goodness come from you. Glory to you most high and gracious God.

Blessed are you, most holy, in your Son, who washed his disciples' feet. 'I am among you,' he said, 'as one who serves.‘

On that night before he died he took bread and gave you thanks. He broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said:

Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you; do this to remember me.

After supper, he took the cup, and gave you thanks. He gave it to them and said: Drink this.It is my blood of the new covenant, shed for you, shed for all, to forgive sin; do this to remember me. Therefore with this bread and wine we recall your goodness to us.

God of the past and present, we your people remember your Son. We thank you for his cross and rising again, we take courage from his ascension; we look for his coming in glory and in him we give ourselves to you.

Send your Holy Spirit, that we who receive Christ's body may indeed be the body of Christ, and we who share his cup draw strength from the one true vine. Called to follow Christ, help us to reconcile and unite. Called to suffer, give us hope in our calling.

For you, the heavenly one, make all things new; you are the beginning and the end, the last and the first. Praise, glory and love be yours, this and every day, from us and all people, here and everywhere. Amen.

Silence

The Communion Te tinana o te Karaiti I whatiia mo tatou.

Christ's body was broken for us on the cross.Ko I ate taro o te ora.

Christ is the bread of life. I maringi ona toto hei murunga hara.

His blood was shed for our forgiveness.Kua ara mai te Karaiti I te mate.

Christ is risen from the dead.

The Invitation Haere mai e te kahui a te Atua,tangohia enei kai rangatira a te Karaiti. Come God's people, come to receive Christ's heavenly food.

Communion All are welcome at the Lord’s table

Prayer After Communion

Blessed be the God who calls us together to witness the birth of Jesus.Praise to God who makes us one people.Blessed be God who has forgiven our sin.Praise to God who gives hope and freedom.Blessed be God whose Word is proclaimed.Praise to God who is revealed as love in the birth at Bethlehem.

Blessed be God who comes to live among us.Praise to God who calls us to live together in peace and love.

Blessed be God who grows beyond childhoodPraise to God, who challenges us to live the love and joy of Christmas in all of our life.

Blessing

May Jesus our infant saviorgive you the joy of the Bethlehem shepherds,the wonder of the worshipping kingsthe excitement of the first congregation at Oihi Beach and the humility and love of the holy family

and the blessing of God our Creator,Redeemer and Giver of lifebe with you always. Amen.

Dismissal

Go in peace and joy.

Go now to share the Good News that today and every day fills us with great joy. Amen. We go in the name of Christ.