“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world
in a conspiracy of love.”
~ Hamilton Wright Mabie
*Carol
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
Our Christmas Offering/Offertory
*We invite everyone to rise (as you are able) during these times
The Hands That First Held Mary’s Child
Entering In
Prelude
Hymn of Longing
#211 v.1 UMH
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Carol
Opening of Worship
Let all Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
*Carol
Megan Barrera
Call to Worship & Greetings
May God’s Love and Light be with you.
And also with you.
*Carol
Unison Prayer of the People
Let us pray;
O God of love, you have brought us together and
blessed us with your very self. Open our eyes to
the light of Christ which glows in the darkness of
a world engulfed in apathy, pain, and loss; a
world separated from you. Speak to us now, that
we may hear the good news of your saving love.
Bring us into the wonder of your presence. Fill
us with that light and carry it out with us into
our lives. Amen.
Robyn Firth
Kaleigh Guin
Introduction to Tonight’s Worship
*Carol
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Word of Purpose
Titus 2:11-14 (CEB)
Carol
Carol
#234 v.1, 3 UMH
Benita Crow
#230 v.1, 3 UMH
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Word of Promise
Luke 2:1-7 (CEB)
Rafael Roig
What Child is This?
Word of Announcement
Luke 2:8-14 (CEB)
Dan Forrest
#245 v.1, 2 UMH
The First Noel
Word of Adoration
Luke 2:15-20 (CEB)
Harold Sloan-Marrero
#238 v.1, 2 UMH
Angels We Have Heard On High
The Lighting of the Candles
O Holy Night
Adolphe Adam /arr. Phil Bracken-Tripp
Bobby Lopez-Trigo/Megan Barrera
#218 v.1, 2 UMH
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Lighting of the Advent Candles #240 v.1, 3 UMH
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
#219 v.1, 2 UMH
ElizaBeth Guin
As O Holy Night is sung and the lights are dimmed,
Pastor Glenn will light a candle from the Christ Candle.
The Pastors will then light the candles
of the worshipers on the ends of each row.
Remember that the lighted candle remains upright,
and the unlit candle is tipped to be lighted.
Adults are asked to help children with their candles.
Carol
Silent Night, Holy Night
#239 v.1, 2 UMH
The Light Shines in the Darkness
*Carol
Joy to the World
#246 v.1, 2, 4 UMH
*Benediction
Merry Christmas from all of us at the
St. John’s Community
Our Staff
Rev. Dr. T Glenn Bosley-Mitchell
Senior Pastor
Rev. Gaye Bosley-Mitchell
Worship Pastor
Harold Sloan-Marrero
Director of Media
Scott Bracken-Tripp
Director of Music
Juvenal Correa-Salas
Parish Musician
Warren Werner
Parish Sexton
Cynthia Rodriguez
Director of MASJ
Dr. Carol Hoffman-Guzman
Executive Director of ASJ
Phil Bracken-Tripp
Artistic Director of ASJ
A very special thanks to CarolAnn Casey for her generous
donations of the beautiful poinsettias that adorn our historic
sanctuary on this blessed of nights.
ABOUT THE ST. JOHN’S
ON THE LAKE COMMUNITY
WORSHIP SERIES AND
SPECIAL SUNDAYS
UPCOMING EVENTS
AT ST. JOHN’S
FROM THE ST. JOHN’S
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
The last Friday of
every month at the
parsonage.
This informal “Happy Hour” kind
of gathering, gives us a time to
get to know each other better,
but in a less-intimidating setting.
It is a great way to get to know the Pastors and for the Pastors to
better get to know all of us (it’s hard to remember names and make
a connection with everyone on a hurried Sunday morning). So come
one and all and let’s just have a drink and socialize!
Our Mission
The mission of St John’s on the Lake is to reclaim Christianity as a
faith of extravagant love and grace, radical inclusion and hospitality,
and relentless compassion and companionship.
Welcome to St. John’s on the Lake
We invite you to explore who we are, both here, and in person—
extending an invitation to you to join us for worship, a study
opportunity, or a service activity—and to be blessed by God’s grace in
our midst.
Our vision is to be an inclusive, vibrant, alive, supportive community
of faith. As is true of any South Florida congregation you can
expect a diverse, culturally rich, intriguing community comprising of
Miami Beach natives, long-time Miami residents, new transplants,
snowbirds, and vacationing guests! We are young and old; straight,
gay, and transgendered; economically fortunate and economically
struggling; Latino/Euro/African/Native Americans and immigrants
from around the world; religious, agnostic, seeking, and skeptical
spiritualties.
Many people think of church-goers as condescending, stuffy,
standoffish, and resentful of newcomers. You certainly won’t find
those folks at St John’s! We are always interested in new friends, as
well as being a warm welcome to those here for only a short time. We
are small, but loving! We want to you feel comfortable and to enjoy
worship with us.
We know that coming to a church for the first (or second or third)
time may be a frightening experience. We have all experienced that
feeling of dread when you walk through the doors into the unknown.
We assure you that we understand (we were all there once ourselves)
and we bend over backwards to make you feel safe and welcome.
We never call upon you, make you stand and identify yourself, or walk
around shaking hands with perfect strangers while everyone around
you is laughing, hugging, and acting like they’ve known each other
all their lives! Once you are here you will find a haven of hospitality,
beauty, and inspiring worship.
“Christianity’s goal is not escape from this world. It
loves this world and seeks to change it for the better.”
-Marcus Borg-
Difficult Questions??
Ever get the feeling that you can’t ask difficult questions at church?
But if we can’t ask the tough, keep-you-awake-at-night questions
within our faith communities, then what good is church? Join us in
January as we explore some difficult questions often raised.
- Jan 10 “Does Jesus have a God-complex?”
We discuss the Baptism of Jesus
• “Did Jesus understand himself to be God?”
• “Do people have to choose to follow Jesus to go to heaven?”
• “What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire?”
• “Do Christians have to be baptized?” Why do some sprinkle and
others immerse? Which one is right?”
- Jan 17 “Why do some Christians hate so much?”
Jesus announces good news to the poor
• “It seems like many people who work for social justice are nonChristian. Does it really take being a Christian to be Christlike?”
• “Why do some Christians believe Jesus wants us to be rich?
Where does that come from? Wasn’t Jesus poor? Didn’t he tell
rich people to give everything away?”
• “Some Christians use their faith to oppose abortion, while
supporting the death penalty or advocate for gun rights while
others support women’s health/choice, opposed capital
punishment and urge gun control. Which is the right good news?”
- Jan 24 “Real Miracles are party tricks?” Jesus celebrates a Wedding at Cana and turns water into wine
• “Did Jesus really turn water into wine?” “Doesn’t this seem like a
trick?”
• “Did Jesus really perform miracles?”
• “Doesn’t this mean that Jesus is ok with drinking?”
• “Wasn’t Jesus just being rude to his mother?”
- Jan 31 “Not a hometown hero?”
After proclaiming good news for the poor, Jesus is run out of his home
town:
• “Didn’t Jesus insult the Jews in Nazareth?”
• “Did Jesus study other religions?”
• “Who do people of the Jewish faith believe Jesus was? A
prophet? Just a man?”
• “Why don’t they believe he was the Messiah?”
• “It seems like there’s a lot of conflict between Christians and
Jews. Wasn’t Jesus Jewish? Aren’t Christians technically Jewish
too?”
These events will be
missional in nature.
They will focus on either service
to our community or social
justice. These are the kind of
“roll up your sleeves and make
the world a better place” kind
of events. Join us for street/canal cleanups, feeding the homeless,
bringing coffee and doughnuts to the day-workers as they line up for
work, attending rallies to further LGBT rights or Economic Justice
awareness, etc.
Para el nuevo año 2016 la Iglesia Unida de Cristo, localizada en
Miami Beach, comenzará a celebrar servicios de adoración en
español. Somos una Iglesia progresista que sigue las enseñanzas
de Jesús como inspirador de nuestra fe y de nuestra vida. Todos
somos invitados y bienvenidos. No importa cual sea tu historia de
vida. Estamos seguros de que tienes muchas cosas para aportar y
compartir. Nuestros servicios tendrán tiempo de meditación, músicas
de alabanzas, oraciones y un espacio para compartir nuestros
pensamientos y puntos de vista. Te estamos invitando a vivir esta
aventura de la Fe y esperamos contar con tu presencia, apoyo y
oraciones. Les deseamos a todos una muy Feliz Navidad y muchas
bendiciones para el nuevo año. Para más información por favor visite
www.laiglesiaunida.org.
These are Field Trips
and “Just Fun”
gatherings.
There is no deeper agenda than
enjoying each others’ company
and having a good time with a
great group of folks. We’ll do
things like museum visits, pool parties, and visit local attractions.
These are perfect if you’re the kind of person who likes to have fun
but needs an “invitation” to get out of the house!
This is where the
“spirit” part of the
“spiritual journey”
comes in.
These are gatherings designed
around stretching, growing, and
simply engaging our spiritual
practices. They might be Bible Studies, Book Studies, Theological
discussions, special worship events, etc. Some will pop up
throughout the year, and others will be regularly scheduled. Every 3rd
Wednesday, we will gather for some kind of spiritual formation event
at the church. We will also, at least monthly, gather at a local bar/
restaurant for “Theology on Tap”—an opportunity to talk about a faith
topic and share a drink together.
For more information on all of our events, and for
times and locations, please visit our website at
www.stjohnsmiami.org and sign up for our electronic
newsletter “The Wave” for constant updates and
alerts!
Come and experience a contemporary worship service, with a
progressive message. No Reservations: Mosaic at St. John’s on
the Lake, seeks to bring a meaningful message with contemporary
Christian feel and mainstream music. If you would like to know what a
deconstructed, post-denominational service feels and looks like, then
we invite you to come and experience this new emerging Christian
community. Worship Gathers the second Sunday of every month at
7:00 p.m. For information please visit www.noreservationsgroup.org.
Arts at St. John’s is proud to join with Outre Theatre and LLF
Productions to present a full-length musical starring Carbonell Award
winners Reggie Whitehead and Ann Marie Olson. The Journey: The
Story of Your Life runs January 21 through January 30, 2016, with
performances at 7 pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
General admission tickets are $28, seniors and students are $20, VIP
tickets are $38. Tickets can be purchased online at artsatstjohns.org
or by calling 305-613-2325.