We held virtual worship on the first Sunday of Advent- November 29, 2020 at 10:00am. You may watch a recording on our Facebook page by clicking here, or you may watch below.
CALL TO WORSHIP
What are you waiting for?
For the kids to come home, for the dryer to finish, for the check-out line to move.
What are you waiting for?
For the phone to ring, for the text to come, for the mail to arrive.
What are you waiting for?
For a word of hope, for a smile, for an outstretched hand.
What are you waiting for?
For a vaccine, for a real hug at church, for singing out loud, for the masks to come off.
What are you waiting for?
For a chance to love, for a chance to live, for a chance to make a difference.
What are you waiting for?
For You, Jesus, to be born again in our hearts and our lives.
Come, O Come, Emmanuel!
LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE Maren Tirabassi
In our homes
we gather around wreaths
to pray our lost hopes,
broken peace, limited joys,
and love so hard to find and share,
in this season of coronavirus.
We affirm that our candles mean
we claim the power to call this season Advent
when God’s light comes into the world
and nothing can overcome it.
We light the candle of hope in the face of …
[for example: of Covid-19 wildfires, hurricanes,
closed businesses, lost pollinators, missing singing …]
God’s hope shines on hopelessness,
and brightens the path toward peace.
Emmanuel, God-With-Us, be with us in the week to come,
lighting hope on the wick of our lives so that we may shine on our world. Amen
YOUNG PEOPLE’S MESSAGE Danielle Sturgeon & Family
HEBREW SCRIPTURE Isaiah 2:1-5
This is what Isaiah ben-Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
In the last days, the mountain of YHWH’s Temple will be established as the most important mountain and raised above all other hills – all nations will stream toward it.
Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us climb YHWH’s mountain to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that we may be instructed in God’s ways and walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will be given from Zion and the word of YHWH from Jerusalem. God will judge between the nations and render decisions for many countries. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation will not raise the sword against another, and never again will they train for war.
O house of Leah and Rachel and Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of YHWH!
REFLECTION Swords Into Plowshares Mitchell & Barb
MUSIC Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
PRAYER FOR THE WEEK Cheryl Lawrie, modified
We are entering the time of Advent,
in preparation for Christmas.
Advent, O God, reminds us
that if You are to be born again
in the most ordinary parts of our world and our lives
then we need prepare for it.
We need to make space in our lives
where love might be born
where You might be born.
We your people gather in this tiny corner of a harsh and dark world
with people of ten thousand other traditions
who gather in ten million other tiny corners
and call you by ten billion different names.
Teach us, empower us, grace us to practice being ready
in the faith that Love will come
embodied in a Beloved Community, a blessed Kin_dom come.
Help us enter this time of Advent. Amen.
SHARING PRAYERS
LORD’S PRAYER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates music & photos
by Kathryn Parker
