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The Word Made FleshA pageant for Advent, by Margaret Pritchard Houston, inspired by “People, Look East,” by Gretchen Wolff PritchardLonger versionAt the beginning, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Sheep, Cows, and donkeys are seated among the congregation. If possible, the children playing Angels are seated in the quire – the imagery is therefore of the space behind the altar as heaven and the nave as earth, with the chancel being the meeting point. However, if the kids playing angels are very young, they’ll be seated with their families for the first part too.The PROPHETS (youth group) are scattered around the church.Reader 1 (God/Gabriel) is at the back of the church.Readers 2 and 3 are among the congregation, ready to go to the legilium.At the front of the church is a “garden” – you can create this with a few potted plants, some stuffed animals (try to include both predators and prey), some blue and green fabric to be earth and water, or you can make it very elaborate. Bear in mind it will need to be removed fairly easily. It should be in the place where later in the service your stable will be.The celebrant begins with words of welcome.OPENING: Gathering, The Fall, ConfessionScripture included in Advent Prose: Psalm 13:1; Psalm 44:23-24; Psalm 22:1; Jeremiah 31:15; Psalm 137:2-4Cantor: Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessAll: drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessCantor: Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: the holy city is a wilderness: Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation: Our holy and our beautiful house where our fathers praised thee.Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessAll: drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessProphet 1: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Prophet 2: Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever!Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?Cantor: Behold, O Lord, the affliction of thy people,and send forth Him who is to come;send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth,from Petra of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion:that He may take away the yoke of our captivity.Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessAll: drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessProphet 3: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Prophet 4: A voice is heard in Ramah –lamentation and bitter weeping.Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.Prophet 5: On the willows of Babylon, we hung up our harps.For there our captors asked us for songs,and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?The following overlap, repeating, rising in speed and urgency:Prophet 1: How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?Prophet 2: Lord, why do you forget our affliction and oppression?Prophet 3: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?Prophet 4: Lamentation and bitter weeping –Prophet 5: How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?When they finish, silence for a moment.Cantor: Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, my salvation shall not tarry: why wilt thou waste away in sadness? why hath sorrow seized thee? Fear not, for I will save thee: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousnessAll: drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness.Reader 1 goes to the lectern or pulpit.Reader 1: I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I am. I was. I will be.Reader 2 goes to the legiliumReader 2: A reading from the book of Genesis.Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was … to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.The Prophets begin to dismantle the garden scene, which continues throughout the rest of the reading, done silently and slowly, like stripping the altar on Maundy Thursday. When they are done, they scatter to the four corners of the church – north, east, south, west.Reader 2: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle,and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go,and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever” — therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.HYMN (Congregation):O come, O come EmmanuelRedeem thy captive IsraelThat into exile drear is goneFar from the face of God’s dear Son.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.O come, thou Root of Jesse! DrawThe quarry from the lion’s claw;From those dread caverns of the grave,From nether hell, thy people save.Rejoice! Rejoice ...Priest: When the Lord comes,he will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness,and will disclose the purposes of the heart.Therefore in the light of Christ let us confess our sins.Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nationsinto the peace of your kingdom:Lord, have mercy.AllLord, have mercy.You come in word and sacramentto strengthen us in holiness:Christ, have mercy.AllChrist, have mercy.You will come in glorywith salvation for your people:Lord, have mercy.AllLord, have mercy.May almighty God,who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,grant you his pardon and peaceThat you may be ready to meet Christ when he comes again in glory.AllAmen.HYMN (congregation):O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright!Pour on our souls thy healing light;Dispel the long night’s lingering gloom,And pierce the shadows of the tomb.Rejoice! Rejoice ...O come, Desire of nations! ShowThy kingly reign on earth below.Thou Corner-stone, uniting all,Restore the ruin of our fall.Rejoice! Rejoice ...LITURGY OF THE WORDPoetry: “I said to my soul …” is from Four Quartets, by TS Eliot; “He shall come like last leaf’s fall” is “Advent Calendar” by Rowan Williams.Scripture: Isaiah 43:1b, 3a, 5-6; Isaiah 61:1, 2b, 3b-4; Isaiah 11:1-3a, 6, 9; Baruch 5:1-6; Isaiah 2:2a, 2c, 3-4; Isaiah 40:1-5Reader 3: I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope,for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith,but the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.Three candles on the Advent wreath are lit.With love and compassion,Allcome, Lord Jesus.With judgement and mercy,Allcome, Lord Jesus.In power and glory,Allcome, Lord Jesus.In wisdom and truth,Allcome, Lord Jesus.Let us pray.God for whom we watch and wait,you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:give us courage to speak the truth,to hunger for justice,and to suffer for the cause of right,with Jesus Christ our Lord.Prophets slowly return, starting at “I will bring your offspring …” and stand in front of Reader 1.Reader 1: Fear not, for I have redeemed you.I have called you by name, you are mine …For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour …Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold;bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth.As each prophet speaks, they return to their corner of the church.Prophet 1: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed meto bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;… to comfort all who mourn … to give them a garland instead of ashes,the oil of gladness instead of mourning,… They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations;they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.Prophet 2: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord …The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them …They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.Prophet 3: Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on for ever the beauty of the glory from God.Put on the robe of the righteousness from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting.For God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven.For your name will for ever be called by God, “Peace of righteousness and glory of godliness.”Arise, Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about towards the east,and behold your children gathered together from the rising to the setting sun, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them.For they went out from you on foot, led by enemies;but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne.Reader 1: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to herthat her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned,that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.A voice cries:Prophet 2 walks up the aisle, speaking these words by heart, if at all possible, while unfurling a fabric “path” towards the manger, which the shepherds will later follow.Prophet 2: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”Reader 1: He will come like last leaf's fall.One night when the November windhas flayed the trees to bone, and earthwakes choking on the mould,the soft shroud's folding.He will come like frost.One morning when the shrinking earthopens on mist, to find itselfarrested in the netof alien, sword-set beauty.He will come like dark.One evening when the bursting redDecember sun draws up the sheetand penny-masks its eye to yieldthe star-snowed fields of sky.He will come, will come,will come like crying in the night,like blood, like breaking,as the earth writhes to toss him free.He will come like child.HYMN (Congregation)Wake, O wake! With tidings thrillingthe watchmen all the air are filling,arise, Jerusalem, arise!Midnight strikes! No more delaying,'The hour has come!' we hear them saying,'where are ye all, ye virgins wise?The Bridegroom comes in sight,raise high your torches bright!'Alleluia!The wedding song swells loud and strong:go forth and join the festal throng.2 Zion hears the watchmen shouting,her heart leaps up with joy undoubting,she stands and waits with eager eyes;see her Friend from heaven descending,adorned with truth and grace unending!Her light burns clear, her star doth rise.Now come, thou precious Crown,Lord Jesus, God's own Son!Alleluia!Let us prepare to follow there,where in thy supper we may share.GOSPEL: ANNUNCIATION AND NATIVITYPoetry: Gabriel’s words in this scene are a very slightly cut down version of the poem “Gabriel’s Annunciation,” by Jan Richardson. The poem at the nativity with the line “haphazard by starlight” is “BC-AD” by UA Fanthorpe.All Biblical text is from Luke – the reader announces this in two scenes, but not for the Magnificat.Enter Gabriel (Reader 1) and Mary. Mary to be doing household work and Gabriel standing to the side, during the hymn. Reader 3 goes to the legiliumReader 3: A reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke.In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. And the virgin’s name was Mary.Reader 1: For a momentI hesitatedon the threshold.For the spaceof a breathI paused,unwilling to disturbher last ordinary moment,knowing that the next stepwould cleave her life:that this daywould slice her storyin two …Reader 3: And the angel came to her, and said: “Hail, O favoured one, the Lord is with thee!”Gabriel glitters Mary, who reacts in frozen fear/astonishment. Mary stays frozen. Gabriel turns to the congregation.Reader 1: The artists would laterdepict the scene:Mary dazzledby the archangel,her head bowedin humble assent …Yet I tell youit was I who was dazzled,I who found myself agape… that the woman before me—blessed and full of gracelong before I called her so—shimmered with how completelyshe inhabited herself,inhabited the space around her,inhabited the momentthat hung between us.I wanted to save herfrom what I had been sentto say.Reader 3: And the angel said, “do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. For behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son. He shall be great, and shall be called the son of the most high … and of his Kingdom, there will be no end.”Mary relaxes, then puts out her arms in questioning pose.And Mary said, “how can this be, for I have no husband?”And the angel said, “the holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born of you will be called Holy, the Son of God.”More glitter. Reader 1: Yet when the time came,when I had stammeredthe invitation(history would not recordthe sweat on my brow,the pounding of my heart;would not notethat I saidDo not be afraidto myself as much asto her)it was shewho saved me—her first deliverance—her Let it benot just declarationto the Divinebut a word of solace,of soothing,of benedictionfor the angelin the doorwaywho would hesitateone last time—just for the spaceof a breathtorn from his chest—before wrenching himself awayfrom her radiant consent,her beautiful andawful –Mary: YES.Reader 3: And the angel departed from her.Gabriel leaves. Pause. Mary goes to the legilium, if needed, or she can have memorised this. A few more lights are turned on.Mary: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,Women and children in congregation: For he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.Mary: Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;Women and children in congregation: for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.Mary: His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.Women and children in congregation: He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.Mary: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,and lifted up the lowly;Women and children in congregation: he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.Mary: He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”All: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever, AMEN.HYMN (Congregation)1 Of the Father's heart begottenere the world from chaos rose,he is Alpha: from that Fountain,all that is and hath been flows;he is Omega, of all thingsyet to come the mystic Close,evermore and evermore.2 O how blest that wondrous birthday,when the Maid the curse retrieved,brought to birth mankind's salvation,by the Holy Ghost conceived,and the Babe, the world's Redeemer,in her loving arms received,evermore and evermore.3 This is he, whom seer and sybilsang in ages long gone by;this is he of old revealèdin the page of prophecy;lo! he comes, the promised Saviour;let the world his praises cry!evermore and evermore.During the hymn, Joseph is glittered and joins Mary. The two of them walk down the outside aisle of the church, to the back. Donkeys, cows, sheep, shepherds, and angels get in place. Reader 1 brings out the manger.Angels are on the chancel, beside the altar. Shepherds are by the Christmas tree, with sheep (any way of getting them elevated?). Donkeys and cows are by the manger.Mary and Joseph (and a donkey, if possible) come up the aisle and onto the chancel.Reader 2: In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled … and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to the city of David, Bethlehem, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.Rest of the lights in the church are turned on. Reader 1 gets the baby from parents and places it in the manger. Since Reader 1 is now going to be occupied more than a few feet away from the manger, there should be another adult on hand to guard for baby Jesus diving head-first out of the manger.HYMN (Congregation) Away in a manger, asleep on the hay,I will watch over you at the end of the day,The stars in the bright sky shine down where you lie,As angels sing ‘Glory be to God on high’.”“My spirit rejoices, for news of your birthLike wildfire will spread over all of the earth;A light in our darkness, a hope for the poor,God’s gift to all people of life evermore.”“Your name shall be Jesus, for this holy nightIs fulfilment of promise through God’s saving might;But now sleep in peace, as I sing lullaby,I will stay by your side til your dawning is nigh.”– Lyrics adapted by Ruth and Robb Sutherland Reader 3: And there were in that same region, shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.Reader 1 glitters shepherds. Sheep are allowed to go bonkers, run around, bleat, etc.Shepherd 1: What’s that?!!Shepherd 2: It’s a demon!Shepherd 3: A monster!Shepherd 4: It’s a judgement on us!Shepherd 5: Heaven save us!Reader 1: Don’t be afraid.Shepherds calm down a bit.I bring you good news of a great joy. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.Shepherd 1: You expect us to believe that?Shepherd 2: Yeah, really?Shepherd 3: How do we know?Reader 1: This will be a sign for you. You shall find the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.During this next line, the angels run, skip, jump, cartwheel, whatever, from the chancel to the shepherds.Reader 2: And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:Angels: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace!Angels return to chancel in whatever way they like.Reader 2: When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another:Shepherd 4: Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.Shepherd 5: Great idea. Don’t forget the sheep. All of them.Reader 2: So they went with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger.Shepherds and sheep go down the side aisle to the back, then up the centre aisle during the carol:CAROL (Pageant People) – sheet music, backing tracks, etc, can be found here: came down that we may have loveHe came down that we may have loveHe came down that we may have loveAlleluia forevermore! (Why did he come down?)He came down that we may have peaceHe came down that we may have peaceHe came down that we may have peaceAlleluia forevermore! (Why did he come down?)He came down that we may have joyHe came down that we may have joyHe came down that we may have joyAlleluia forevermore!Reader 1: This was the moment when Before Turned into After, and the future's Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.This was the moment when nothing Happened. Only dull peace Sprawled boringly over the earth.This was the moment when even energetic Romans Could find nothing better to do Than counting heads in remote provinces.And this was the moment When a few farm workers and three Members of an obscure Persian sectWalked haphazard by starlight straight Into the kingdom of heaven.Leader: May the God of peace make you completely holy, ready for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of the Lord be always with you.AllAnd also with you.Leader: Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.The real baby is returned to parents, and replaced with a doll.THE EUCHARISTChildren return after the peace to sit on the chancel and get a front-row seat to the Eucharist.HYMN (Congregation sings the refrain, soloists – both children and adults – sing the verses)Tomorrow shall be my dancing dayI would my true love did so chanceTo see the legend of my playTo call my true love to my danceRefrain: Sing O, my love, O my love, my love, my loveThis have I done for my true love.Then was I born of a virgin pureOf her I took fleshly substanceThus was I knit to human natureTo call my true love to my dance.RefrainIn a manger laid and wrapped I wasSo very poor this was my chanceBetwixt an ox and a silly pour assTo call my true love to my dance.RefrainThen on a cross hanged I wasWhere a spear to my heart did glanceThere issued forth both water and bloodTo call my true love to my danceRefrainThen down to hell I took my wayFor my true love’s deliveranceAnd rose again on the third dayBack to my true love and the danceRefrainThen up to heaven I did ascendWhere now I dwell in sure substanceIn glory at the Father’s right handThat all may come into the dance.RefrainThe Lord is hereAll His Spirit is with us.Lift up your hearts.All We lift them to the Lord.Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.All It is right to give thanks and praise.It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to givethanks to you.And now we give you thanksbecause you sent Jesus to redeem us from sin and deathand to make us inheritors of everlasting life;that when he shall come again in power and great triumphto judge the world,we may with joy behold his appearing,and in confidence may stand before him.Therefore, joining our voices with angels and archangels, we sing:All Holy, holy, holy Lord,God of power and might,heaven and earth are full of your glory.Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.Hosanna in the highest.Loving God, send your Holy Spiritthat these gifts of bread and wine may be for us Christ’s body and his blood.On the night before he died, when darkness had fallen, Jesus took bread.He gave thanks, broke it, and shared it with his disciples, saying:This is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.After they had eaten, he took the cup of wine,gave thanks, and shared it with his disciples, saying:This is my blood, poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.So Father, with this bread and this cupwe celebrate his love, his death, his risen life.As you feed us with these gifts, send your Holy Spirit,and change us more and more to be like Jesus our Saviour.Help us, Father, to love one another,as we look forward to that day when suffering is ended,and all creation is gathered in your loving arms.And now with St. George, St. John the Baptist, Mary, and all your saintswe give you glory, through Jesus Christ, in the strength of the Spirit,today and forever.All Amen.As our Saviour Christ has taught us, we are bold to say:All Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thykingdom come; thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven. Give usthis day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as weforgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not intotemptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, thepower, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.We sing:Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace.The priest says the invitation to communion:Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,All We proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.Children receive communion, then sing (from the chancel, on either side of the altar, leaving room for a server/priest to pass by). Space here for more instrumental accompaniment:Soloist: And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)All pageant people, including any teenagers who want to join:And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)Mary, Joseph, Animals, Prophets, Shepherds:Angels:And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)Post-communion prayer:We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;kindle in us the fire of your Spiritthat when your Christ comes againwe may shine as lights before his face;who is alive and reigns now and forever. Amen.We sit for the notices, and then stand to receive God’s blessing.Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,scatter the darkness from before your path,and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;and the blessing of God AlmightyFather, Son and Holy Spirit,be with now and remain with you always. Amen.CLOSING – prophesy of Jesus’s coming againText of the final reading is from several different places within Revelation.The real baby is given to Mary again.On the second refrain, the pageant people go down the aisle. Reader 1 goes to the balcony, where there is extra glitter. Prophets and angels get glitter and place themselves strategically around the church.HYMN (Congregation)Go, tell it on the mountainOver the hills and everywhereGo, tell it on the mountainThat Jesus Christ is born!The shepherds feared and trembledWhen lo, above the earthRang out the angel chorusThat hailed our Jesus’ birthGo, tell it ... etc.And lo, when they had heard itThey all bowed down and prayedAnd travelled all togetherTo where the babe was laidGo, tell it ... etc.Down in a lowly mangerThe little babe was bornAnd God sent many angelsThat blessed Christmas morn!Go, tell it ... etc.Reader 1: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let those who hear say, “Come.” And let those who are thirsty come; let all who desire take the water of life without price. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon!”Reader 1, Prophets, and Angels glitter the entire congregation.All: AMEN. Come, Lord Jesus!Deacon: May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.All:Amen. ................
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