Matthew Starner

Merry [two days after] Christmas! It always amazes me how fast Christmas comes and goes and that all the plans and preparations for Christmas are over. I hope your celebrations of Christ’s birth were filled with his Spirit!

I’m going to cover all three Christmas worship services in this edition, so hold on and prepare for lots of Christmas music!

First up, the Christmas Eve Family Service at 6:30pm.

We designed this service for families and children. We kept it short, entertaining and fun. We used a skit we found here and adapted it to fit the number of kids we had. It was simple, effective and free – all very important!

• Joy to the World, arranged by Don Chapman
• Angels We Have Heard on High, arranged by Don Chapman
• Skit: Just a Little Christmas
• Music during the skit: Away in a Manger, Silent Night, The First Noël, Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
• Homily and Prayers
• Go Tell it on the Mountain, my arrangement

The second service was what we call Carols By Candlelight at 10:00pm.

We’ve done a candlelight service since our very first Christmas Eve and it’s been a huge hit every year, and this year was no exception! We fill the room with hundreds of candles and our worship team along with several orchestral instruments join us in leading some beautiful Christmas music interspersed with readings and meditations on the Christmas story.

• Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy) by Chris Tomlin
• Angels We Have Heard on High by Chris Tomlin
• Reading of the angel’s visit to Mary
• What Child is This by Third Day
• Reading of the angel’s visit to Joseph
• Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground) by Chris Tomlin
• Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Chris Tomlin
• Reading of the angel’s visit to the shepherds
• Homily
• Silent Night arranged by Rory Noland
• Prayers
• O Holy Night by Chris Tomlin

We started big, loud and upbeat at the beginning, but by the time we got to “Emmanuel” with the quiet and the candlelight filling the room, you could feel the emotion building. By the time we got to the big crescendo in “O Holy Night” I found myself moved to tears. The sound of all the voices singing passionately together in that moment was absolutely beautiful. I’ve always loved the candlelight service and I think this year we outdid ourselves!

And last but certainly not least: Christmas Day!

We weren’t sure what to expect this year since we’ve never had a Christmas Day service. But with Christmas falling on a Sunday, we were going to find out! I was pleasantly surprised that we had a good crowd on Christmas Day. We kept the service simple and short and had a bunch of warm cinnamon rolls, coffee and hot cocoa on-hand.

• O Come, All Ye Faithful, my arrangement
• Good Christians All Rejoice, my arrangement
• Joy to the World, Don Chapman’s arrangement
• The Message
• Go Tell it On the Mountain, my arrangement

Wow! Lots of Christmas music, lots of services, but it was all great! Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year and it’s largely because of the music.

This blog is part of the Sunday Setlists Blog Carnival over at TheWorshipCommunity.com. Stop by and see what other churches did this Christmas.