2012 Christmas Celebration

# Magnify, glorify, extol and exalt the Lord

# Magnify, glorify, His holy name for evermore

# Magnify, glorify, extol and exalt the Lord

# Glorify, magnify, His name for evermore

# Hallelujah, Amen

# Hallelujah, Amen

# Hallelujah, Hallelujah

# Amen. #

Well, wasn't that a majestic sound?

The Massed Male Voice Choir of Scotland in full voice.

Welcome to the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling for this special

programme of seasonal words and music to lead us into Christmas Day.

The Church is the second oldest building in Stirling

after the castle.

It was founded in 1129 during the reign of David I

as the parish church of Stirling.

Holy Rude means Holy Cross,

same as Holyrood in Edinburgh, where the parliament is.

Holy Rude is the only church in the United Kingdom

other than Westminster Abbey to have held a coronation

and still be a living church today.

That coronation was in 1567,

when the infant King James VI was crowned here.

Joining me in this historic venue this evening is an all-star cast -

the Massed Male Voice Choir of Scotland

under their Conductor William Barr,

a brilliant young tenor Iain Milne, organist George McPhee,

guitarist Alastair Macdonald, and actress Juliet Cadzow.

And as our special guest we have the Big Noise Orchestra from Raploch,

which of course is right here in Stirling.

Quite a line-up!

So let's begin with one of the great traditional carols,

inviting us all to take part in the Christmas Celebration.

O Come All Ye Faithful, Joyful And Triumphant.

# O come all ye faithful

# Joyful and triumphant

# O come ye

# O come ye to Bethlehem

# Come and behold Him

# Born the King of angels

-#

-O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him

# Christ the Lord!

# God of God

# Light of light

# Lo! He abhors not the virgin's womb

# Very God

# Begotten, not created

# O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him

# Christ the Lord!

# Yea, Lord, we greet Thee

# Born this happy morning

# Jesus for evermore be Thy name adored

# Word of the Father

# Now in flesh appearing

# O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him!

# O come, let us adore Him

# Christ the Lord! #

Four years ago, only one child on the Raploch council estate at the

foot of the Castle here in Stirling was learning a musical instrument.

Then the Scottish Arts Council set up a pioneering musical

education system in Raploch, based on the highly successful

El Sistema project established in Venezuela in 1975.

Now, four years on, there are 450 kids who are not only playing

the instruments, but playing them as part of an orchestra.

The main orchestra is called Big Noise.

Here they are joining in a carol that reminds us

of the place where Christmas, in a sense, began.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem.

Christmas is never where you expect it.

Not in the big house with the fire lit and the presents rustling, nor

when the lights awaken the tree and you should feel something and don't.

Christmas happens in an unimaginable place -

in a city store with canned music,

in the street with a stranger and a white cyclamen,

or when the silence tightens the cry in your throat.

Then Christmas comes, never where you expect it

and always in Bethlehem.

# As I walked down the road at set of sun

# The lambs were coming homewards, one by one

# I heard a sheep bell softly calling them

# Along the little road to Bethlehem

# Beside an open door, as I drew nigh

# I heard sweet Mary sing a lullaby

# She sang about the lambs at close of day

# And rocked her tiny King among the hay

# Across the air the silver sheep bell rang

# "The lambs are coming home" sweet Mary sang

# Your Star of gold, your Star of gold

# Is shining in the sky

# So sleep my little King, go lullaby

# As I walked down the road at set of sun,

# The lambs were coming homewards, one by one

# I heard a sheep bell softly calling them

# Along the little road to Bethlehem. #

This is the only surviving original manuscript

of the world's most popular carol.

It was heard for the first time on Christmas Eve 1818,

when it was performed at Midnight Mass in

St Nicholas Church in the little Austrian village of Oberndorf.

It was sung by the choir director Franz Gruber,

who had composed the tune.

He was accompanied on the guitar by the assistant pastor,

Father Joseph Mohr, who had written the words.

Little did they realise that their simple carol,

with its gently rocking rhythm and simple message,

would wing its way into the hearts of people throughout the world.

Now translated into hundreds of languages,

it is sung by untold millions every Christmas Eve -

in the smallest chapel to the grandest cathedral.

It is, of course, Silent Night.

# Silent night

# Holy night

# All is calm

# All is bright

# Round yon virgin

# Mother and child

# Holy infant, so tender and mild

# Sleep in heavenly peace

# Sleep in heavenly peace

# Silent night

# Holy night

# Shepherds first saw the light

# Heard resounding clear and long

# Far and near the angel song

# Christ the Redeemer is here

# Christ the Redeemer is here

# Silent night

# Holy night

# Son of God

# O how bright

# Love is smiling from thy face

# Strikes for us now the hour of grace

#Saviour, since thou art born

# Saviour since thou art born. #

The midnight hour has come.

From all of us here in Stirling, may I wish you all wherever you are

a happy and peaceful Christmas.

Last month, I was in China as the Chinese Church celebrated

the printing of the 100 millionth Bible

at the Amity Printing Press in Nanjing.

This occasion marked a significant landmark for Christians in China,

who despite past hardships are today witnessing huge numbers

of people coming to faith and joining the church,

as they are in other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The good news that begins with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem,

when God came to us, a tiny, weak and vulnerable baby

born to his young mother Mary,

that good news of forgiveness, reconciliation

and fullness of life has become rooted in cultures and communities

all around the world, passed on from generation to generation.

This Christmas, as we rejoice once more that God showed his great love

for the world when the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem, we give

thanks in the midst of our troubles and anxieties, that the hope

of salvation offered through Him is a light that shines in the darkness,

news of great joy, not only for us here in Scotland,

but for all the world.

MUSIC: "Joy To The World"

# Joy to the world the Lord is come

# Let Earth receive her King

# Let every heart prepare Him room

# And heaven and nature sing

# And heaven and nature sing

# And heaven and heaven and nature sing

# Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns

# Let men their songs employ

# While fields and floods rock hills and plains

# Repeat the sounding joy

# Repeat the sounding joy

# Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

# He rules the world with truth and grace

# And makes the nations prove

# The glories of his righteousness

# And wonders of his love

# And wonders of his love

# And wonders and wonders of his love

# Joy to the world the Lord is come

# Let earth receive her King

# Let every heart prepare Him room

# And heaven and nature sing

# And heaven and nature sing

# And heaven and heaven and nature sing

# And heaven and heaven and nature sing. #

Once there was a snowman

Who stood outside the door

He wished that he could come inside

And run about the floor

He wished that he could warm himself

Beside the fire, so red

He wished that he could climb

Upon the big white bed.

So he called to the North Wind

"Come and help me, pray

"For I'm completely frozen

"Standing here all day."

So the North Wind came along

And blew him in the door

And now there's nothing left

But a puddle on the floor!

Well, that was great fun.

And I've feeling the Big Noise thought so, too.

But if you're a singer rather than an instrumentalist,

then this next carol is the one for you.

O Holy Night is a perennial Christmas favourite and just about

every singer you can think of has recorded it. Especially the tenors.

But Adolphe Adam's famous melody also has a unique

place in musical history.

When the Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden broadcast

the world's first radio programme on Christmas Eve in 1906,

the first carol to be performed was O Holy Night.

# O holy night

# The stars are brightly shining

# It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth

# Long lay the world

# In sin and error pining

# Till He appeared

# And the soul felt its worth

# A thrill of hope

# The weary world rejoices

# For yonder breaks

# A new and glorious morn

# Fall on your knees

# Oh, hear the angel voices

# O night divine

# O night when Christ was born

# O night divine

# O night divine O night, O night divine

# Led by the light

# Of faith serenely beaming

# With glowing hearts

# By His cradle we stand

# So, led by light

# Of a star sweetly gleaming

# Here came the wise men from the Orient land

# The King of Kings

# Lay thus in lowly manger

# In all our trials

# Born to be our friend

# He knows our need

# To our weakness no stranger

# Behold your King

# Before Him lowly bend

# Behold your King

# Before Him lowly bend. #

O Holy Night.

What a marvellous melody, beautifully sung by Iain Milne.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah foretold that a Messiah would

come from the small and seemingly insignificant town of Bethlehem.

He added that would be highly honoured around the world,

and would be a source of peace.

He's Juliet Cadzow to read a poem on the theme of peace.

It was written by the American poet Maya Angelou,

specially for the 2005 White House Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

It's called Amazing Peace.

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes

And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses

Flood waters await us in our avenues

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow

To avalanche over the unprotected villages

The sky slips low and grey and threatening

We question ourselves

What have we done to so affront nature?

We worry, God

Are you there? Are you there, really?

Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters

Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope

And singing carols of forgiveness

High up in the bright air

The world in encouraged to come away from rancour

Come the way of friendship

It is the Glad season

Thunder ebbs to silence

And lightning sleeps quietly in the corner

Flood waters recede into memory

Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us

As we make our way to higher ground

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper

At first it is too soft

Then only half heard

We listen carefully as it gathers strength

We hear a sweetness

The word is Peace

It is loud now

It is louder

Louder than the explosion of bombs

We tremble at the sound

We are thrilled by its presence

It is what we have hungered for

Not just the absence of war

But true peace

At this Holy instant

We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world

We jubilate the precious advent of trust

We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope

All the Earth's tribes loosen their voices

To celebrate the promise of peace

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Non-believers

Look Heavenward and speak the word aloud

Peace

We look at the world and speak the word aloud

Peace

We look at each other, then into ourselves

And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation

Peace, My Brother

Peace, My Sister

Peace, My Soul.

# This is my song

# O God of all the nations

# A song of Peace

# For lands afar and mine

# This is my home

# The country where my heart is

# Here are my hopes

# My dreams, my holy Shrine

# But other hearts

# In other lands are beating

# With hopes and dreams

# As true and high as mine

# May truth and freedom

# Come to every nation

# May peace abound

# Where strife has raged so long

# That each may seek

# To love and build together

# A world united

# Righting every wrong

# A world united

# In its love for freedom

# Proclaiming peace

# Together in one song

# Proclaiming peace

# Together in one song

# Amen. #

What a sound. 200 male voices in glorious harmony.

But it's not only with the voice that we are asked to offer praise.

The psalmist calls us to

praise Him with the sound of the trumpet,

praise Him with the psaltery and harp,

with the timbrel and dance, with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.

Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.

Yeah, but there was one instrument he didn't mention.

The little drum.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,

during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem

and asked, "Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?

"We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed,

and all Jerusalem with him.

When he had called together all the people's chief priests and

teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied,

"for this is what the Prophet has written.

"But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least

"among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler

"who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them

the exact time the star had appeared.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said,

"Go and make a careful search for the child.

"As soon as you have found him, report to me,

"so that I too may go and worship him."

After they had heard the King, they went on their way,

and the star they had seen in the east

went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and

they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures

and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,

they returned to their country by another route.

# God rest you merry, gentlemen

# Let nothing you dismay

# Remember Christ our Saviour

# Was born on Christmas Day

# To save us all from Satan's power

# When we were gone astray

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# Comfort and joy

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# The shepherds at those tidings

# Rejoiced much in mind

# And left their flocks a-feeding

# In tempest, storm and wind

# And went to Bethlehem straightway

# This blessed babe to find

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# Comfort and joy

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# But when to Bethlehem they came

# Whereat this infant lay

# They found Him in a manger

# Where oxen feed on hay

# His mother, Mary, kneeling

# Unto the Lord did pray

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# Comfort and joy

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# Now to the Lord sing praises

# All you within this place

# And with true love and brotherhood

# Each other now embrace

# This holy tide of Christmas

# All others doth deface

# O tidings of comfort and joy

# Comfort and joy

# O tidings of comfort and joy. #

Thank you for joining us here in this wonderful setting,

and for sharing the first few moments of Christmas with us.

Wherever you are, may it be a happy and peaceful time for you.

From the Church of the Holy Rude here in Stirling,

goodnight and a very Merry Christmas.

# Hark! the herald angels sing

# Glory to the newborn King!

# Peace on Earth and mercy mild

# God and sinners reconciled

# Joyful, all ye nations rise

# Join the triumph of the skies

# With th'angelic host proclaim

# Christ is born in Bethlehem

# Hark! the herald angels sing

# Glory to the newborn King!

# Christ, by highest heaven adored

# Christ the everlasting Lord

# Late in time behold Him come

# Offspring of a virgin's womb

# Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

# Hail the incarnate Deity

# Pleased as man with man to dwell

# Jesus, our Emmanuel

# Hark! the herald angels sing

# Glory to the newborn King!

# Hail! the heaven-born Prince of Peace

# Hail! the Sun of Righteousness

# Light and life to all He brings

# Risen with healing in His wings

# Mild, He lays His glory by

# Born that man no more may die

# Born to raise the sons of Earth

# Born to give them second birth

# Hark! the herald angels sing

# Glory to the newborn King! #

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd