Friday, December 25, 2009 – 1:00 p.m.

Gathering in Silence

Call to Prayer

Lighting of Candle

Invitation – Please introduce yourself and the musician

Good afternoon, and on this Christmas Day. We welcome you to this sacred place, and thank you for joining us in worship. Each day in this Temple dedicated to the pursuit of peace, we pray to God for peace in our world. On this day of our Savior’s birth we pray for world peace. We pray, that for this one day, people may reach out to their neighbor and embrace them as family. We pray that war and violence will be halted so that all may remember the birth of the one who came to teach us the ways of peace. And perhaps this one day of peace may touch our hardened hearts and soften them that we may know the ways of peace throughout the rest of the year.

Come, let us enter into this worship with joy and celebration as we pray for peace in our time, and for the whole human family.

Scripture Reading - Please announce the scripture reference Isaiah 61:8-11

For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples:

all who see them shall acknowledge

that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me… with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Prayer for Peace - Please state by whom the prayer was written by -

Hiroshi Yamada, Independence, Missouri

Dear Lord God:

After a year's journey we have once again gathered before you to celebrate the birth of your Son, Jesus Christ.

As we look back at this passing year, the joy and thanksgiving overflow from our hearts. Some of us that are here may have come through pain and grief. Some may have had a year better than past years. Others of us may have had the happiest and the most fulfilling year. Regardless of the kind of journey we may have had, we are all grateful that you have had us gather before you in this beautiful sanctuary to jointly experience your presence.

Today a joyful noise is being heard in many parts of the world. The children are singing the carols in the choirs. The youths are playing the Christmas pageant at the churches. Santas are in the towns. We see the joy and twinkle in the children's eyes and happiness glows in their mothers' faces, as they gather by the Christmas tree.

O Lord, we are so grateful for this joy, happiness, and peace we are experiencing. We pray that the children's eyes will not be clouded by the fears of wars and that the tears of sadness will not be shed on their mothers' faces. Our memories are still so vivid that we cannot forget—the tears of innocent children crying for hunger and thirst, the pains in mothers' faces with no milk in their bosoms to feed the babies. We have seen scarcity in the midst of affluence. Tragedy in the midst of peace.

We shall remember, O Lord, these cries as those of our own children and these pains as those of our own companions, even in the midst of our celebration. You sent us your Son, because you loved the world, you loved us all, that we all would have life, and not perish. And so today, O Lord, we return our thanks to you in our commitment and services to those who are bruised and afflicted so that they may be freed from bondage.

Bless and guide us as we continue our journey into the new year. We pray these things in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hymn - Please announce the hymn number - Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

Hymns of the Saints #252

Prayers of the People - Please state, “Please join us now, praying the Prayers of the People. During the moments of silence, you are invited to pray silently or meditate.”

God is great! God is so good! We praise you and thank you for the plan of our salvation, and the plan for all humankind to live at peace, one with another.