PRAYERS FOR CHRISTMAS DAY

"O God the Father, I praise You for the gift of Your Son, who was born in poverty & lowliness in Bethlehem so that I mighty enjoy the riches of Your grace & the exaltation of sonship with You.

"O God the Son, I adore You for humbling Yourself to be my Savior, for bearing my sins in Your own body, & for rendering to my Father in heaven a perfect satisfaction for my sins.

"O God the Holy Spirit I glorify You for having made my heart a home for the Savior of the world & for bringing the eace of forgiveness to my soul through faith in Him who s the Prince of Peace.

"O blessed Trinity, on this holy day give me a humble & contrite heart that I may joyfully claim the babe of Bethlehem as my Lord & my God. Remove from me the tattered robes of my own righteousness, & adorn me with the spotless garment of Christ's righteousness.

"Use every gift received this day from loving friends to remind me of the gift of a Savior so that my heart may rejoice & my tongue can sing, 'Glory to God in the highest!'

"Help me to cradle the Christ Child in my heart, O Holy Spirit, & give me the grace & strength to love & adore Him all the days of my life. Amen."  My Prayer Book

"Lord God, gracious Father, who in the fullness of time sent Your Son to become man, to assume human flesh like mine & become my Brother, I thank You for Your truth & Your fatherly goodness in giving us this Savior. By His birth, death, & resurrection, we are delivered from sin, death, Satan, & hell. I beseech You, keep me until the end in true knowledge of my Redeemer, that with the holy angels, I may rejoice at His nativity & on the Last Day when He comes again, I may behold Him, together with You & the Holy Spirit, in glory & majesty, world without end. Amen."  Lutheran Book of Prayer

A CHRISTMAS HYMN *

* Welcome to Earth, O Noble Guest," St. 1 & 5, LW #38

"Welcome to earth, O noble Guest, Through Whom this sinful world is blest! You turned not from our needs away! How can our thanks such love repay?

"O dearest Jesus, holy Child, Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled, a holy shrine, within my heart, That You & I need never part."