The Celebration of the Gospel
December 6, 2015 —Second Sunday of Advent
Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
…The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.
— Luke 3.4,5
_______ We Gather as the Body of Christ_______
GREETING
PRELUDE Wexford Carol Traditional Irish Tune, arr: Mark Hayes
[As we listen to the music we quiet our minds and bodies,
listen for our hearts’ deepest desires,
and become present to the Holy One who is lovingly present for us.]
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE Philippians 1.6, 9-11
[Paul prays that God will continue a process that God has already begun in us: that our love will increasingly overflow so that we may be pure on the day of the Lord’s coming.]
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
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CANDLE SONG The Promises of God (2 Peter 1.19) Steve G-H
Pay attention my friends, to the promises of God
like a candle shining in a dark place,
’till the morning star rises brightly in your hearts,
so that even in the darkness you may walk in the light of God.
RESPONSE
Leader: Holy One, light of our peace, this Advent candle shines to prepare your way.
All: Prepare a way to come to us; redeem us in our darkness.
Prepare your way around us, that the crooked be made straight.
Prepare your way within us, that our rough places be made smooth.
God of grace and love, may all flesh see your salvation. Alleluia!
* SONG Prepare the Way of the Lord Blue hymnal # 207
(10:30) CHILDREN’S TIME
_________ We Attend to the Word_________
(10:30) THE WORD IN SONG Thou Shalt Know Him Mark Sirett.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
God of love, your prophet cries to prepare a way for you. In the wilderness of our hearts, in the rough places of our society, prepare your way with your life-changing Word. Speak to us, and make the crooked straight, for the sake of your mercy. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT Malachi 3.1-4
[God sends a messenger to prepare us for God to come among us. But it will not all be easy. God is coming to purify us. ]
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me,
and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to the temple.
The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight
is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
But who can endure the day of that coming,
and who can stand when God’s chosen one appears?
For God’s messenger is like a refiner’s fire
and like fullers’ soap;
and will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
and will purify the descendants of Levi
and refine them like gold and silver,
until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord
as in the days of old and as in former years.
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GOSPEL Luke 3.1-6
[John the Baptist comes preaching like Isaiah’s “voice crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord!’” The message in Isaiah was a word of hope to people who were in exile: a broad, smooth road through the wilderness, on which God would come to bring them home! It was a message of welcome change and also difficult repentance.]
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, 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, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 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 straight a path for God. 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; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
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SERMON
ADVENT SILENCE
SONG Prepare Your Way in Me Steve G-H
Prepare your way in me, Lord, prepare your way in me.
Make my rough places smooth; the crooked make straight, my Lord.
Lay your hand at my root, that I may bear fruit, my Lord.
Come and empty my heart of all things but you, my Lord.
Guide my feet in your way; fill me with your peace, my Lord.
THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
[Anyone who wishes may share a prayer concern at the microphone.]
PASSING THE PEACE
________We Share at Christ’s Table _______
OFFERING OUR GIFTS
8:15: The Day Of Gladness Now Appears 14th Century tune, harmonized: J. S. Bach
10:30: Headin’ Home John M. Grenfell
- Darkness is a-fallin’, an’ I’m a-headin’ home (repeat)
Feel that night a-comin’—who knows if there’s a mornin’?
Refrain: Lead me home, Precious Love, Lead me home.
- Cold is on the mountain, an’ I’m a-headin’ home (repeat)
Feel that chill a-comin’—an’ will there be a warmin’?
- Stars, they are a-fallin’, an’ I’m a-headin’ home (repeat)
See them stars a-comin’—an’ will they be returnin’?
- I’ll hear children singin’ when I get near to home (repeat)
Hear them voices ringin’? What news are they a-bringin’?
- When I see the baby, I’ll know that I’ve come home (repeat)
Little tiny baby, just lyin’ in the manger.
* COMMUNION SONG People Look East Blue hymnal # 202, v. 1, 4
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is good to give God thanks and praise.
We thank you, God, for you create us in the image of your love.
You set us free from oppression.
You guide us in creating a new realm of justice and mercy.
In the fullness of time you give us Jesus: to change our hearts,
to give us your Spirit, to heal your world.
Therefore with all creation we sing your praise.
[Sung] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of love and God of might,
heav’n and earth are glorious with your presence and your light.
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
We thank you for the gift of Jesus, your Christ, who came among us in your love.
He loved and healed, he taught with prophetic power.
He was crucified, but you raised him from the dead.
He lives among us, giving us new hearts and calling us to new lives.
[…The Blessing and Covenant…]
With gratitude we remember your mighty acts in Jesus Christ.
In praise and thanksgiving we offer ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice,
in union with Christ’s gift for us.
We proclaim with joy the mystery at the heart of our faith.
[Sung] Dying, Christ destroyed our death. Rising, Christ restores our life.
Christ will come again in love. Alleluia! Gloria!
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
[For the food bank offerings] Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of food,
that they may be for those who receive them the body of your love.
[For the communion elements] Pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts of bread and cup,
that they may be for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us, that we may be the Body of Christ,
changed by your grace, filled with your love,
born anew to be your light in the world.
[Sung] Alleluia! Amen. Praise the Holy Trinity.
Honor, thanks and glory be sung to you eternally.
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!
THE PRAYER OF JESUS
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.
SHARING THE HOLY MEAL [Everyone is welcome at the table of Christ’s self-giving love.
The bread is wheat-, soy- and dairy free. We dip the bread in the juice.]
PRAYER OF BLESSING
Gracious God, we thank you for this mystery in which you have given yourself to us. You are born anew in us; so we are made new. Send us into the world to prepare your way in mercy and in peace, in the name of Christ. Amen.
____ We Are Sent in Ministry to the World___
THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD
* SONG I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light Blue hymnal #206, v. 1, 3
* THE BLESSING AND SENDING FORTH
RESPONSE Please stand and sing to your neighbors:
Go in peace, Beloved, God be with you all.
Bear the light of Jesus, love to one and all.
Wait upon your God with patience and with joy.
Christ is coming soon now! Love and joy to all!
POSTLUDE Now Sing And Be Glad! Dietrich Buxtehude
[During the postlude there are people ready to pray with you at the candles in the corners.]