The Order of Worship – December 8, 2024
This is the 345th Day of 2024.
There are 21 days remaining in 2024.
Filled with the Holy Spirit,
we are a people of prayer
committed to love one another
and equipped to share Christ’s love throughout the world.
Advent! – Love
Prelude:
Welcome & Announcements:
This month’s mission focus is Staff Gifts
Bible Study Tuesdays & Thursdays at afaithtalk.com
Five Loaves – No meetings for December.
Call to Worship: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Lighting of the Love Candle
Response: Luke 1:68-79
God’s tender compassion
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of
his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being delivered
from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Praise the Lord!
Opening Hymn: Heralds of Christ…567
Verse 1
Heralds of Christ, who bear the King’s commands,
immortal tidings in your mortal hands,
pass on and carry swift the news you bring;
make straight, make straight the highway of the King.
Verse 2
Through desert ways, dark fen, and deep morass,
through jungles, sluggish seas, and mountain pass,
build now the road, and falter not, nor stay;
prepare across the earth the King’s highway.
Verse 3
Lord, give us faith and strength the road to build,
to see the promise of the day fulfilled,
when war shall be no more, and strife shall cease
upon the highway of the Prince of Peace.
Affirmation of Faith:
The Apostle’s Creed..No. 881
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 Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
dead,
and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at 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 Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri…Page 70
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.
Praise Song: He Has Made Me Glad…2270
I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,
I will enter his courts with praise.
I will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made.”
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
He has made me, made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
He has made me, made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,
I will enter his courts with praise.
I will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made.”
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
He has made me, made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
He has made me, made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart,
I will enter his courts with praise.
I will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made.”
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
He has made me, made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
I will rejoice, for he has made me glad.
I will rejoice, for He has made me glad.
Pastoral Prayer
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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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever. Amen.
Anthem: Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
Offertory
Doxology:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts;
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen
Children’s Moment & Song
Children’s Song:
The Friendly Beasts
Verse 1
Jesus, our brother, strong and good,
was humbly born in a stable rude,
and the friendly beasts around him stood,
Jesus, our brother, strong and good.
Verse 2
“I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
“I carried his mother uphill and down,
I carried his mother to Bethlehem town;
I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.
Verse 3
“I,” said the cow, all white and red,
“I gave him my manger for his bed,
I gave him hay to pillow his head;
I,” said the cow, all white and red.
Prayer for Illumination
Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.
Old Testament Reading: Malachi 3:1-4
The Messenger Refines and Purifies
1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight–indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like washers’ soap;
3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD, as in the days of old and as in former years.
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God
Gospel Reading: Luke 3:1-6
Prepare the way of the Lord
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
Leader: The Word of God for the people of God
All: Thanks be to God
Sermon Text: Philippians 1:3-11
A harvest of righteousness
3 I thank my God for every remembrance of you, 4 always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy 5 for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in God’s grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the People of God.
People: Thanks be to God.
Sermon: “Harvest of Righteousness”
Holy Communion
Invitation
Leader: Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another. Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.
Confession and Pardon
People: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray. Free us for joyful obedience, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
All pray in silence
Leader: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love toward us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: Glory to God. Amen.
The Peace
Leader: Let us offer one another signs of reconciliation and love.
The Great Thanksgiving
Leader: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.People: We lift them up to the Lord.
Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Leader: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ. By the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit. On the night in which he gave himself up for us he took the bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
All: Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and for ever.
People: Amen.
Service of the Bread and Cup
Closing Hymn: Take Time to Be Holy… No. 395 (1, 4) (F)
Verse 1
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
abide in him always, and feed on his word.
Make friends of God’s children,
help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.
Verse 4
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
each thought and each motive beneath his control.
Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love,
thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
Filled Up and Poured Out
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