Christmas Day Service

Christmas Day Service

25/12/25

Call to Worship

The light has come. The word is spoken. The promise is fulfilled.

May we let the light shine within us,

May we let the word sing through us,

May we let the promise grow in our lives,

as we worship on this holy night.

Hymn 312: Away in a manger

Christmas Nativity Part 1 Video 1 & 2

Hymn 309: Still the night 

Christmas Nativity Part 2 Video 3 & 4

Prayer

May this special day, become the start of many special days,

days when we feel God’s love and care close to us.

May we in turn show God’s love and care to others, in the way that we treat them.

Amen.

Hymn 315: Once in royal David’s city 

Benediction

Christmas Nativity Part 1

It’s nearly Christmas, so it seems only fitting that we hear the Christmas story.

Now the important thing to remember...is that the greatest gift we get at Christmas,

is knowing God’s love and care for us.

That was why God sent Jesus, to tell us the truth that we are loved.

But as we will hear, not everyone was happy about it.

Let’s start with Humphrey the camel (VIDEO 1)

Humphrey was exhausted.

She sat in the stable with her hay and blanket, surrounded by her children who were all snuggling up together to keep warm.

She felt that she deserved her rest.

She had travelled with the three kings over the desert, carrying all their tents and food and spare clothes,

they travelled at night because they were following a star that they thought would take them to see a new baby king.

But not any old baby king, this was the king of kings, the one who would tell the world of God’s love and care.

It isn’t easy following a star, often they all look alike, and if a cloud hides the star then it is difficult to guess where it might be.

But for months and months they followed the star.

Then they came to Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel.

More importantly, the palace of King Herod, because we all know that kings are born in palaces.

The only trouble was that King Herod didn’t know anything about this, and wasn’t happy that there might be another king trying to take over his kingdom.

Herod found out that a special king would be born in Bethlehem, so he sent the wise men there with instructions to come back and tell him where the new king was, so that he could give the new king a present too...actually it was all a lie, he just wanted to find out where baby Jesus was born so that he could kill him.

And finally they got to the stable in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, and they gave gifts of GOLD and Frankincense and myrrh.

But they also noticed that the baby looked cold.

So they looked at Humphrey, who looked warn, and then looked back at baby Jesus who looked cold, and then looked back at Humphrey, who looked warm.

And Humphrey thought to herself, ‘I have my blanket to keep me warm, I have my hay to keep me warm, I have my children to keep me warm. I’m not giving him my children, or my blanket....but I suppose i could give my hay.

So baby Jesus had some hay to keep him warm.

Later Humphrey was woken up by the noise of sheep invading the stable.

It seems that that night there were shepherds in the fields round Bethlehem that had been visited by angels telling them that God’s son had been born in Bethlehem, God’s son who would tell the world about God’s love and show the world God’s love.

Well the shepherds found that hard to believe.

But the angels said that it was true, and the proof was that they would find the baby in a stable of all things.

Well the shepherds had to see this for themselves, but they couldn’t leave the sheep out there to be stolen by robbers or eaten by lions, so they brought the whole flock along with them.

It was all very noisy.

Until they looked at baby Jesus, who looked a bit cold, and then looked at Humphrey, who looked warm, and then looked at baby Jesus, who looked cold, and then looked at Humphrey again.

And Humphrey thought about it and said to herself, ‘I have my blanket to keep me warm, I have my children to keep me warm. I’m not giving him my children,...but I suppose i could give my blanket.

So baby Jesus had some hay and a blanket to keep him warm.

Eventually the shepherds left with all their sheep and things quietened down again.

But Mary and Joseph were struggling to sleep with all these important people visiting them.

And they looked at their baby, and talked about how chilly he looked. But then they talked about what an important baby Jesus would be. That God had sent his only son to help the world.

To teach the world about God’s love, show the world God’s love...and how hard that would be.

And as Humphrey heard this, she thought to herself, ‘If God is giving his son so the world will find hope, then maybe I could give my children to keep baby Jesus warm

And so baby Jesus had some hay, a blanket, and the warmth of the camels to keep him warm that night.

Christmas Nativity Part 2

The thing is, we like a happy ending, but the truth of our life is that our stories don’t stop, they carry on.

And that was the case with this Christmas story. There is a tale of what happened after...a tale we often forget, and yet we remember it on our Christmas trees. (VIDEO 2)

While Humphrey slept, the wise men slept too, only their dreams weren’t so good.

As they slept an angel told them in a dream that Herod was going to try to kill baby Jesus.

So when they woke up they fled home by another route.

But when Herod found out the wise men had scarpered, he was furious, and sent out his soldiers to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem.

Well Joseph and Mary heard about this and started to run.

But it’s difficult to move fast when you have a new baby.

So they hid in a cave outside Bethlehem, which seemed a good idea, until the soldiers started to hunt outside Bethlehem, and then they realised that they were trapped in the cave, and if the soldiers entered the cave then they would see baby Jesus and kill him.

They didn’t know what to do, they needed a miracle.

And the miracle came in the form of a spider.

The spider made a web across the entrance of the cave.

And when the soldiers came near the entrance of the cave the saw the spider’s web, and the spider.

They were too scared to move the spider in case it bit them, but they didn’t want to admit that.

So instead they said that because the spiders web was there, it was proof that no one had entered the cave in ages, so they didn’t need to search inside the cave.

Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph were kept safe, and we remember that spider every year in the pretend webs, or tinsel, that covers the Christmas tree.

Christmas Nativity Part 3

(VIDEO 3)Here’s the thing to remember this Christmas, when you see a nativity scene, don’t think of it as a toy, or as decorations, remember that they are there to remind us that each one has their, and their story is alive.

And what is more, you are part of that story.

Let me explain...

(VIDEO 4) While all the humans slept, the donkey, the sheep and Humphrey woke up for a wee while.

And they started to talk, and they started to talk about which of them was the most important in the Nativity story.

Well Humphrey the Camel said that he was the most important one, because he had to travel for months, carrying the wise men and their tents and food and spare cloths. If it wasn’t for her then there would be no wise men in the story.

At which point donkey said that he was by far the most important one because he had to carry Mary to Bethlehem and everyone knows that Mary was far more important in the story than the wise men.

At which point the sheep said that they were both wrong, it was obvious that she was the most important one. Because she was the only one mentioned in the Bible.

The camel that carried the wise men wasn’t mentioned in the Bible; the donkey that carried Mary wasn’t mentioned in the Bible. But the sheep were mentioned in the Bible.

And they looked it up...and sure enough, it says, ‘While shepherds watched their flocks by night.’

The only trouble was that none of them could read, so they argued about it for a long time.

You see the real truth is, the most important person in the Christmas story is...YOU.

The Bible says, ‘For God so loved the world...loved you...that he gave his only Son. So that whoever believed in his message, and lived by his message, would find eternal life.’

You are so important, that God sent his son to tell you about his love for you, and to show you his care for you.

But that truth is not just for Christmas day, that truth is for every day.

So until next time, look after yourself, and look after others.

And have a good Christmas.

Let us pray, (on first sheet)