Culham College: This is Christmas

9 Readings for a Christmas Act of Worship: 1st Reading

Strolling in the garden one evening, the man and his wife felt chilly as they had not done before. Then they heard the voice of the Lord God and were terribly embarrassed. They tried to avoid him by hiding in the trees, but the Lord God called out to the man, 'Where are you?'

The man said, 'We knew you must be here in the garden; everything sounded so different. We were worried and didn't want you to see us, because we had no clothes on.'

'Who gave you the idea that there was anything wrong with that?', asked the Lord God. 'Have you been eating from the tree I told you not to touch?'

'The woman you gave me for company - she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it', the man complained.

God turned to the woman. What have you done?', he said.

The woman said, 'It was the snake; he talked me into it; he said the fruit was delicious, so I just had to have a taste.'

The Lord God told the snake:

For what you have done you are condemned
to be beneath all other creatures;
belly-creeper, dust-eater, life-long.
Between you and the woman I decree hatred;
till you and a child of hers fight
and wound each other:
his heel, your head.

He told the woman:

In living and life-giving you shall have pain
- and in loving,
for your desires and your man
shall master you.

He told the man:

Because you have heeded the wrong voice
and eaten the wrong food,
the soil and your work to plough and plant it
shall be hard,
your bread earned with your sweat;
till you become again
the dust you once were.

Genesis 3:8-19

1st Reading (based on Genesis 3:8-19)
2nd Reading (based on Isaiah 7:10-17)
3rd Reading (based on Isaiah 9:2-7)
4th Reading (based on Luke 1:46-55)
5th Reading (based on Luke 1:68-79)
6th Reading (based on Luke 2:1-7)
7th Reading (based on Luke 2:8-20)
8th Reading (based on Matthew 2:1-12)
9th Reading (based on Luke 2:23-35)
Alternative 9th Reading (based on John 1:1-18)