II. RESPONSES (all standing).

Leader: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

All: Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Leader: It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High.

All: For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting: and his truth endureth to all generations.

III. HYMN (all standing). TUNE: NUN DANKET. No. III.

Now thank we all our God,

With hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom his world rejoices. Who from our mother's arms Hath blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.

Oh, may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts

And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in his grace,

And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God,
The Father, now be given,
The Son, and him who reigns
With them in highest heaven;
The One Eternal God,

Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,

And shall be evermore.

IV. COLLECT (in unison, all seated with heads bowed).

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving kindness to us and to all men. We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life: but above all, for thine everlasting love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ: for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful: and that we may show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honor and glory world without end. Amen.

V. (Thanksgiving Proclamation by the President of the United States and the Governor of the Commonwealth.)

VÍ. NATIONAL HYMN (all standing) with Trumpets accompanying. TUNE: NATIONAL

HYMN. No. 110.

God of our fathers,

whose almighty hand

Leads forth in beauty

all the starry band

Of shining worlds

in splendor through the skies,

Our grateful songs

before thy throne arise.

Thy love divine

hath led us in the past,

In this free land

by thee our lot is cast;

Be thou our ruler,

guardian, guide, and stay, Thy word our law,

thy paths our chosen way.

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From war's alarms,

from deadly pestilence,

Be thy strong arm

our ever sure defense;

Thy true religion

in our hearts increase, Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

VII. RESPONSIVE READING (all seated).

Refresh thy people

on their toilsome way, Lead us from night

to never-ending day;

Fill all our lives

with love and grace divine,

And glory, laud,

and praise be ever thine.

Leader: God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us;

All: That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy salvation among all nations.

thee.

Leader: Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise

All: O let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for thou shalt judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations upon earth.

thee.

Leader: Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise

All: The earth hath yielded her increase: God, even our God, shall bless us.

him.

Leader: God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear

All: Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it, thou greatly enrichest it;

Leader: The river of God is full of water: thou providest them grain, when thou hast so prepared the earth.

All: Thou waterest her furrows abundantly; thou settlest the ridges thereof:

Leader: Thou makest it soft with showers; thou blessest the springing thereof.

All: Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

Leader: They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the hills are girded with joy.

All: The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, they also sing.

VIII. HYMN (all standing). TUNE: ST. GEORGE'S WINDSOR. No. 7.

Come, ye thankful people come,

Raise the song of harvest-home:

All is safely gathered in,

Ere the winter storms begin.

God, our Maker, doth provide

For our wants to be supplied: Come to God's own temple, come, Raise the song of harvest-home.

All the world is God's own field,
Fruit unto his praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown:
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

IX. OFFERING (to be given to a deserving charity). Special music.

X. ADDRESS: "THE SPIRIT OF THANKSGIVING."

Page Seventy-two

Leader: The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of her, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him shall ye hearken.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign:

Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel-Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

All: Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. 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.

Leader: But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

III. SELECTION BY MALE QUARTETTE OR CHOIR. TUNE: OH, HOLY NIGHT. No. 45. Oh, holy night, the stars are brightly

shining;

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

Long lay the world in sin and sorrow pining,

Till he appeared and the soul felt its

worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks anew the glorious

morn;

Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices,

Oh, night divine, or night when Christ
was born;

Oh, night divine, oh, night divine.
God's precious gift, each heart and voice

rejoices;

Page Seventy-three

O Heavenly Father, Thou who didst send thy Son into the world in the likeness of a little child, that by his life of increase in stature, wisdom, love, and power, he might give us courage to begin as children the obedience that alone leads at last to the measure of the stature of his fulness. Accept our thanks for all that this gift means to us. We rejoice because of his never-failing guidance, his strong sure hand outstretched to hold us to the way of righteousness. In this Christmas season, may we find joy in giving of our best to others, to the giving of ourselves in glad service, to the spreading of good will, cheer and peace and thus continue to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Leader: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying—(Response by all or by male choir, all standing "Gloria in Excelsis," No. 135).

VIII. OFFERING: Special music.

Page Seventy-four

TUNE: CAROL. NO. 17.

XII. BENEDICTION (all seated with heads bowed).

Silent prayer, followed by

Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

NEW YEAR

Leader: Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. All: This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Page Seventy-five