Order of Worship: Sunday, December 6, 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 the Water
Welcome and Announcements
Prelude: Carol Medley
Call to Worship:
In the wilderness, prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed.
Opening Hymn 97: "Watchmen, Tell Us of the Night" (Verses 1 and 3)
Prayer of the Day:
God of peace,
you promised comfort for your people
and peace for the land.
By your Spirit,
fill us with your shalom,
that we may worship you fully
and give glory to your name,
through Christ our Savior,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Lighting of the Advent Candle: Peace
Let heaven and nature sing.
We dare to light a flame of peace.
A flame that spreads a light of comfort for all God’s people.
A flame that prepares the way of peace, the way of the Lord.
A flame that lifts up the valleys and flattens the mountains
so that all can see the way of peace together.
In daring peace, let us proclaim, “And heaven and nature sing.”
Let us pray:
God of peace,
come to us with the might of Christ,
who taught us the strength of peace.
Come to us and gently lead us,
gather us as lambs in your arms,
carry us close to your heart,
that we may know true peace,
on 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:
Merciful God,
you come to us in Christ asking us to acknowledge sin,
turn to you, and receive the forgiveness and peace you offer.
We confess that our pride keeps us from receiving your peace,
failing to understand the depth of our brokenness
and our need for your mercy.
Forgive us our pride, Holy One,
and give us the courage to repent,
that we might receive the only comfort
we can know in life and in death –
we belong, body and soul, to you.
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:
God of peace,
grant us vision to see your Spirit
alive and at work opening our eyes
to your will and way in this text.
We pray in the name of 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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Offertory Music (11:00): “People Look East”, Owen Sower
Closing Hymn 265: "Jesus Shall Reign" (Verses 1, 4, and 5)
Benediction
Postlude: The Advent of Our God, George Brandon
