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UPCOMING SUNDAY WORSHIP:
View a PDF of the Worship bulletin here.
December 3, 2023
First Sunday of Advent
We Come Together as God’s People
Prelude Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 J.S. Bach
“Savior of the Nations, Come” (1685-1750)
Dr. John Allegar, organ
Advent Overture Patrick L. Pauloski
Second Winds; Patrick Pauloski, conductor (b. 1993)
Welcome Rev. Christopher A. Henry
Choral Call to Worship This is the Day Jacobus Gallus [Handl]
Sanctuary Choir and Second Winds, Dr. Michelle Louer (1550-1591)
and Patrick Pauloski, conductors
This is the day the Lord hath made.
* Call to Worship Rev. Hannah G. Ostlund
One: Advent is a season of waiting.
All: But we do not wait alone.
One: God is with us.
All: We gather with those who have seen the signs,
heard the whispers, felt the tugs in their hearts.
One: God is birthing hope into this waiting world!
* Prayer of Adoration
* Processional Hymn #11 O Lord, How Shall I Meet You? VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN
Lighting of the Advent Candle Barbara Steel and Harper Sundheimer
One: We light this candle as a symbol of the hope we have
in the promise of God’s kingdom.
We wait for the coming of hope into our world.
We await the birth of the Christ Child,
the coming of God into our lives in a new way.
All: We wait filled with hope,
knowing your light will shine in the darkness.
One: Lord, we wait. Come soon and fill us with your life. Amen.
Invitation to Confession
Prayer of Confession
Holy and loving God, forgive us.
We have dwelt in darkness and preferred it to the light.
We have been proud of our accomplishments and despaired over our failures.
Open a path in the wilderness of our lives.
Give us a new beginning in this Advent season.
Refine us and prepare us to receive the gift of your grace.
For your love’s sake, hear our prayer. (Silent Prayer)
Assurance of God’s Grace
* Response of Praise Gloria in excelsis Deo French Carol
* Passing the Peace of Christ
* Hymn #9 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel VENI EMMANUEL
We Experience God’s Word
The Word with Children
Prayer for Illumination Everett Elliott
First Scripture Lesson Isaiah 40:1-11 (p. 653)
Anthem Comfort, Comfort Ye My People arr. David Ashley White
(b. 1944)
Comfort, comfort ye my people,
speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
comfort those who sit in darkness
mourning 'neath their sorrows' load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem
of the peace that waits for them;
tell her that her sins I cover,
and her warfare now is over.
Hark, the voice of one that crieth
in the desert far and near,
calling us to new repentence
since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God away;
let the valleys rise to meet him
and the hills bow down to greet him.
Make ye straight what long was crooked,
make the rougher places plain;
let your hearts be true and humble,
as befits his holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord
now o'er earth is shed abroad;
and all flesh shall see the token
that the word is never broken.
Text: Isaiah 40:1-5; vers. Johann G. Olearious, 1671, tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Second Scripture Lesson Mark 1:1-3, 9-13 (p. 910)
Sermon Rev. Christopher A. Henry
Mark’s Messenger
“The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
(Mark 1:1)
Moment of Silent Meditation
We Give Thanks to God
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Rev. Benjamin K. Davison
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.
Invitation to Discipleship and Generosity
Offertory The people that walked in darkness (from Messiah) G.F. Handel
Kyle Forehand, baritone (1685-1759)
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
– Isaiah 9:2
* Doxology OLD HUNDREDTH
* Prayer of Dedication
We Go Forth to Serve
* Closing Hymn #13 Prepare the Way BEREDEN VÄG FÖR HERRAN
* Charge and Benediction
* Choral Benediction Rejoice! Rejoice! VENI EMMANUEL
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Postlude Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 661 J.S. Bach