We just read this in our home, and we hope you will too. Use the free download link at the end to print out a copy for your family.
A Liturgy for Setting Up a Christmas Tree
LEADER: O Immanuel, we would find in our traditions
these reminders of the wonders of your love:
First, let this fragrant tree, cut down
and then raised beneath our roof,
remind us how once upon a time,
the High King of Heaven consented to
be cut off from the glories that were his birthright,
and descended instead to
dwell with us in a broken world,
beset by harm and evil.
PEOPLE: Praise to you, Immanuel!
Next, let the hard wood of the trunk
and the outstretched branches remind
us how that same Heavenly King who
had entered our world on that distant
night, would soon act to redeem his
creation and his people in it,
though it would require the stretching out of his
arms upon a cross of wood—
his death for our life.
Praise to you, Immanuel!
Then, let these evergreen boughs
be a reminder of his mighty triumph
over death and hell, of his resurrection
unto a life eternal which will never fade—
an eternal life which he has also secured
for us. There is no greater gift!
Praise to you, Immanuel!
Finally, as we drape the branches of
this Christmas tree in glittering finery
and sparkling lights, let us imagine
Christ our King, seated upon his heavenly throne,
arrayed in the royal raiments of
his glory. And when at last we set the
star atop the tree, let us imagine Christ crowned
in his splendor, and all creatures
in heaven and on earth bowing before
him, crying “Holy! Holy! Holy!”
Glory to you, Immanuel!
Worthy are you, O Lamb of God,
to receive all glory, honor, and praise!
Glory to you, Lord Christ!
Copyright © 2017
Douglas McKelvey
“SO CHRIST, HAVING BEEN OFFERED ONCE TO BEAR THE SINS OF MANY, WILL APPEAR A SECOND TIME, NOT TO DEAL WITH SIN BUT TO SAVE THOSE WHO ARE EAGERLY WAITING FOR HIM.”
–HEBREWS 9:28
Download a printable version of this liturgy here: Setting Up a Christmas Tree
Pete Peterson is the author of the Revolutionary War adventure The Fiddler’s Gun and its sequel Fiddler’s Green. Among the many strange things he’s been in life are the following: U.S Marine air traffic controller, television editor, art teacher and boatwright at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch, and progenitor of the mysterious Budge-Nuzzard. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Jennifer, where he's the Executive Director of the Rabbit Room and Managing Editor of Rabbit Room Press.
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