Fourth Sunday of Advent Worship Service | 12-22-24

December 22, 2024 Advent

+ Gathering +

INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO TODAY’S WORSHIP:

Welcome, brothers and sisters, in the mighty name of God, in the saving name of (+) Jesus, and in the strong name of the Spirit. One woman had remained childless for too many years. The other is betrothed but still a virgin. Now both wombs are miraculously pregnant with the promise of new life. And so is the world. And so, by God’s grace, are you. For you have found favor with God. The invitation to soul and mind and body to accept the mystery and the word of God, as well as the opportunity to become a servant of God and a bearer of good news, are yours. Listen from your heart. Dance from the depths of your soul. Nothing will be impossible with God. God is working salvation among us in Jesus! Surrender to the surprise!

OPENING SONG: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” Green #34

OPENING VERSES, LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH, AND PRAYER:

L Not in the mighty places of power and prestige,

but in little Bethlehem, in a room out back, in a feed trough:

C The Messiah is coming!

L Not born in nobility and wealth and too much fancy privilege,

but of Mary and Joseph, a virgin village girl and a man who planed wood:

C The Messiah is coming!

L Not announced by prophets, priests, and kings,

but by two common women who were the first to know:

C The Messiah is coming!

L Nothing will be impossible for God,

but when and where we least expect it:

C Look among the straw and the stars to see God’s promise born among us!

L The Spirit and the church cry out:

C AMEN! Come, Lord Jesus!

L All those who await his appearance pray:

C AMEN! Come, Lord Jesus!

L The whole creation pleads:

C AMEN! Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!

[Four candles are lit on the Advent wreath. Sometimes the first is called the Candle of Hope, the second is called the Candle of Peace, and the third is called the Candle of Joy.]

L The fourth Advent candle is sometimes called the Candle of Love.

There is no greater power than love. It is stronger than rulers and empires, stronger than grief or despair, stronger than our sins and failures, stronger even than death. God’s love will not fail. We pray together…

C O Lord, bless us as we light four candles of this Advent wreath.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!

For the Lord elevates the lowly and releases the captive, feeds the hungry and scatters the proud.

O Lord, help us to risk yes and to say yes to your birth in our lives and our world.

We renounce evil; we claim your love; we choose to be set free and made whole.

Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Hallelujah!

+ Holy Word +

FIRST READING: Micah 5:2-5a
[A ruler from Bethlehem – help and hope from an unlikely place.]

5:2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

5:3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.

5:4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth,

5:5 and he shall be the one of peace.

SONG SELECTION ALL SAINTS CHOIR

SECOND READING: Hebrews 10:5-10
[The greatest sacrifice ever – Jesus Christ gave his own body.]

10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;

10:6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

10:7 Then I said, ‘See, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”

10:8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),

10:9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

10:10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

GOSPEL VERSE: “We need to hear from You, we need a word from You.

If we don’t hear from You, what will we do?

Wanting You more each day, show us Your perfect way.

There is no other way that we can live.

GOSPEL READING: Luke 1:39-55
[Two miraculous pregnancies – God in the midst of it all, bursting forth with promise!]

1:39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

1:40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

1:42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

1:43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

1:44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

1:46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,

1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name;

1:50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.

1:54 He has come to the aid of his child Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

THE SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil

SONG RESPONSE: “Hush, Hush, Somebody’s Callin’ My Name”

Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name. Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name.

Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name. O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do?

Sounds like Jesus, Somebody’s callin’…

Soon one morning, Somebody’s callin…

I’m so glad, got me religion on time…

I’m so glad, trouble don’t last always…

Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name…

THE PRAYERS… THE GREAT O ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT

[The GREAT O ANTIPHONS are a series of seven brief Advent prayers that are traditionally chanted or sung from December 17 to December 23, one for each day until Christmas Eve. The precise origin of these texts is unknown.

However, by the 8th and 9th centuries, the church in Rome and monastic communities throughout western Europe were using them at evening worship services during the season of Advent. These ancient prayers beautifully express the Christian church’s profound longing for her long-expected Savior. Each antiphon begins with the acclamation “O”, addresses Jesus Christ by one of the Messiah titles derived from the Old Testament, and ends with a heartfelt appeal to “come” and save us in some particular way. The sequence of these antiphons is precise, progressing from before the creation of the universe, through the messianic prophecies of Israel, and culminating with the incarnation and birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Around the 12th century the GREAT O ANTIPHONS were collected into a Latin verse hymn, which was later translated by the English hymn writer John Mason Neale, finally becoming the beloved Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.]

(sing at beginning) “OH… HEAR US. OH, HEAR US. OH… HEAR US, LORD. HEAR US, LORD… HEAR US.”

L O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You create the universe and hold all things together with strength and sweetness.

C (say) O come to teach us the way of truth.

(sing) “HEAR US, LORD… HEAR US.”

L O Adonai, ruler of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the law on Mount Sinai.

C (say) O come and stretch out your mighty hand to redeem us.