December 22, 2024 Order of Worship
A Wreath of Carols (Margaret Sandresky) – Geoffrey Liu
Welcome
The First Noel – UMH #245, vss. 1-4
Advent Candle Lighting – Make Room for Love
Taryn Pfeifer and Christian Spencer-Smith, Wade and Lyanna
Pastor: This Advent season we are making room for God in our lives which means we’ve got to make room for Love. Love isn’t something we give or get but something we nurture and grow. Because you can’t give away something that you do not already have, Love can only be shared when it exists in our own hearts, our own lives. Trust, respect, kindness, and affection all grow from the vulnerable yet powerful roots of Love. Jesus is God’s Love made real in this world. Jesus is God’s gritty, dangerous, wild-eyed, justice-seeking love in this world. As we draw near to Christmas, we make room for Jesus by making room for Love!
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Advent Candle Lighting (ACL) Leader: In the Bible, God loves. That’s just who God is and just what God does. The creator of the heavens and the earth, the God of our ancestors and guarantor of all future hope, is seeking you in love. God will not stop until you and all people everywhere are held close in love. All people everywhere and the creation itself are the focus of God’s affection. Hear the prophet Zephaniah: The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; God will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.[1]
ACL Leader: Our lips shout for joy!
People: We sing our praise to you, O God!
ACL Leader: Thanks to your steadfast Love, we have nothing to fear.
People: Because of your forever-faithfulness, we can risk serving and sharing with others!
ACL Leader: Love is an offering of our most vulnerable and powerful selves that we freely give to the world and to others. Love is gritty and real and dangerous which makes it powerful to change lives and change the world. If you want to see God’s love look at Jesus.
ACL Leader: As we relight the first candle, the Candle of Hope,
People: We claim Hope for ourselves and give Hope to the world!
ACL Leader: As we relight the second candle, the Candle of Peace,
People: We promise to reconcile, to work for right relationships with all people and all of creation!
ACL Leader: As we relight the third candle, the Candle of Joy,
People: We set our minds on doing everything that we do, God, for you with Joy and wonder!
ACL Leader: As we light the fourth candle, the Candle of Love,
People: We covenant to be vulnerable and real with you and one another. And, we promise to work for justice and mercy each day with Love!
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Time with Young Disciples – Stephanie McIlwain Miller
African Noel – Sanctuary Choir
Scripture Reading – Steve Anselmi
Introduction to the scripture reading: Mary – the mother of Jesus – visited her cousin, Elizabeth – the mother of John the Baptist, while they were pregnant. Both pregnancies were fantastic – meaning they were unexpected and largely unbelievable to everyone but God and these two women. But believing in the fantastic is what changes lives and changes the world. Luke gives us a glimpse of their visit in our Gospel reading today…
Luke 1:39-55
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant.
Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name;
indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away empty.
He has come to the aid of his child Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Message – Promises Kept in Love – Pastor Jim
Love Has Come – W&S #3059
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Offering Our Gifts to God – I Wonder as I Wander (arr. Fred Gramann) – Handbells
Doxology (UMH #221, vs. 4)
Prayer of Dedication
Pastor: All that we have, we have from you, Creator and Preserver of all.
People: Accept these gifts which we now offer. Help us to make the whole of life an offering and every thought a prayer.
Hark the Herald Angels Sing – UMH #240
Blessing
A Scandinavian Alleluia – Sanctuary Choir
In dulci jubilo BWV 729 (setting by J. S. Bach) – Geoffrey Liu
[1] Zephaniah 3:17
Resources for Worship
Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy is by Jim Head-Corliss for worship at Kent UMC, December 22, 2024.