Download PDF
WORSHIP DECEMBER 21 2014
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
THE GATHERING Drew Stockstill
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
THE PRELUDE Prelude from Suite in G Major J.S. Bach
Elisabeth Copeland, Cello
THE LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH Patrick Gilbert and Brent Drone
* Unison Prayer:
God of grace, ever faithful to your promises, the earth rejoices in the hope of
our Savior’s coming and looks forward with longing to his return. Prepare our
hearts to receive him when he comes, for he is Lord of all time and space. Amen.
*THE PROCESSIONAL HYMN 7 Lord Christ, When First You Came to Earth
THE CALL TO CONFESSION
THE PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Eternal God, even as we seek you, we remember that we could not do so if you had not already sought us. All faith comes as a gift from you. We are grateful. But we confess sometimes following our calling seems difficult. Sometimes there are easier paths to follow. And sometimes we take the wrong route. We begin to think that our faith is our own doing and that our good works merit righteousness. Forgive us, we pray, when we forget our place as your beloved children responding to your gracious mercy. Forgive us, renew us, and send us once more to proclaim your saving grace. We ask this and all our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
A MOMENT OF SILENCE (for examination of conscience and personal prayers of confession)
THE ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Leader: God so loved the world that he sent his only son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.
People: Indeed, God sent the son not into the world that the world might be condemned but so that the world through him might be saved.
Leader: Believe the promise of the Gospel:
People: In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. - John 3:16-17
* THE CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (Hymn 12)
Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim one more light the bowl shall brim, shining beyond the frosty weather, bright as sun and moon together. People, look east and sing today: Love the star is on the way.
*THE PEACE OF CHRIST
(Children ages 2-10 are invited to leave after the Peace of Christ for special classes. Fours & fives in Room 011; K-1st grade in Room 001; 2nd-3rd grade in Room 003; 4th-5th grade in worship).
THE CONCERNS OF THE CHURCH
(Visitors and members are invited to sign the blue friendship register pad and pass it down the pew.)
THE EPISTLE LESSON Romans 16:25-27 (page 155 in the pew Bible, NT)
THE ANTHEM Angelus ad virginem arr. David Willcocks
sung in Latin
The angel came to the virgin in her chamber, dispelling the fears of the virgin, and said: ‘Hail! Hail, queen of virgins; the Lord of earth and heaven you will conceive and bear, chaste, the salvation of men; you have been made the gates of heaven, the cleanser of crimes.’ ‘How shall I conceive when I have known no man? And how shall I break what I have vowed with a firm mind?’ ‘The Holy Spirit by grace will accomplish all these things; do not be afraid, but rejoice, safe because your chastity shall remain untouched within you by the power of God.’ To this the noble virgin replied and said to him: ‘I am the humble handmaiden of almighty God. With you, the heavenly messenger, I agree, and with so great a mystery, And wish to see accomplished what I hear; I am ready to obey the will of God.’ Accordingly, mother of the Lord, you who brought back peace to the angels and to man, when you bore Christ; beseech your son that he might show mercy upon us, and blot out our sins: and that he might help us to enjoy a blessed life after this time of exile.
THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 1:26-38 (page 53 in the pew Bible, NT)
THE SERMON “An Auspicious Start” Baron Mullis
*THE HYMN 9 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
*THE APOSTLES’ CREED
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.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND 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.
THE OFFERTORY Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming arr. Cathy Moklebust
Handbell Choir (Jeff Peters, director)
Elisabeth Copeland, cello; Ellery Koelker-Wolfe, viola;
Alex Page, violin; Ellen Stockstill, violin
*THE DOXOLOGY AND PRAYER OF DEDICATION (Hymn 592)
*THE HYMN 5 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
*THE CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
*THE CHORAL RESPONSE Savior, Again To Thy Dear Name We Raise Edward Hopkins
*POSTLUDE Magnificat Primi Toni Dietrich Buxtehude
*(The asterisk indicates parts of the worship when the congregation is invited to stand as they are able.)
