Order of Worship: Sunday, December 20, 2020
We have provided the written copy of the sermon (by clicking the sermon title) for those who would like to follow along during the service. To read past sermons, click here.
Pouring of the Water
Welcome and Announcements
Prelude: Carol Medley
Call to Worship:
Friends, let us gather around the good news.
For nothing will be impossible for God.
Then Mary said: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord;
let it be with me according to your word.”
Opening Hymn: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" (Verses 1 and 6)
Prayer of the Day:
Who are we, Lord God,
that you should come to us?
Yet you have visited your people
and redeemed us in your Son.
As we prepare to celebrate his birth,
make our hearts leap for joy at the sound of your word,
and move us by your Spirit to bless your wonderful works.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near,
your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Lighting of the Advent Candle: Love
Let heaven and nature sing.
We light this candle as a sign of love.
A sign of God’s loving favor of Mary.
A sign of a love that makes all things possible.
A sign of love that responds, “Here am I.”
In profound love, let us proclaim, “And heaven and nature sing.”
Let us pray:
God of love,
you came among us calling us to love.
Your love reached out to Mary,
and in your favored one
you brought love to all in Christ our Savior.
Come to us, O God,
and teach us how to love,
that all may see your kingdom come,
one earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Advent Candle Verse: "O Holy Child of Bethlehem"
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us; abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!
Call to Confession
Prayer of Confession:
God of all love,
we rejoice in your sure promise of favor
to send us a Ruler and a Shepherd.
He lifts up the lowly and fills the hungry;
yet we strive to promote ourselves
and guarantee our own welfare.
We have denied his power
and not believed your promise.
In mercy, do not scatter us in our pride;
do not send us away empty.
As with our sister Mary,
teach us to embrace your way with us,
your will for us,
your Spirit in us,
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Assurance of Forgiveness
Hymn of Praise: "Glory be to the Father"
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination:
Our souls magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior.
You have looked with favor upon us by the gift of your Word.
Illumine our hearts and minds by the Spirit,
in the name of the Word made flesh,
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Affirmation of Faith:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended into hell;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of the People:
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Offering
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Closing Hymn: "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (Verses 1 and 4)
Benediction
Postlude: "O Little Town of Bethlehem", C. Uehlein
