These are our traditional Christmas Eve services with communion, carols, and the lighting of candles.  The Rev. Dr. Carol Cavin-Dillon, our Senior Minister, reads the scripture and delivers a sermon, "A Holy Different King" – This Christmas Eve some of us come filled with joy, but others may be feeling the weight of some burden.  We at West End UMC are beginning reading the New Testament, and so the story we read for this service is the account of the birth of Jesus in Matthew, the first gospel in the New Testament, and we may have noticed that the familiar story of the announcement to the shepherds is not part of it, nor is the birth in a manger.  Whereas the story in Luke is quiet and intimate, the account in Matthew is somewhat tense because Herod the Great hears of the birth of a king of the Jews and, as Herod has always sought to elevate himself and his power, there is clear tension as Herod seeks to eliminate this potential king.  The emphasis in Luke is that Jesus comes from humble beginnings and is always looking to lift up the poor, meek, and lonely.  In Matthew, there is conflict between the world of Herod and the world of Jesus.  Sometimes we experience that kind of tension, but Carol gives us a definition of “evangelism” as inviting others to notice God’s kingdom among us.