Order of Worship

Opening Voluntary – “Prelude in C Major, BWV 553” by J. S. Bach (spurious)

Welcome/Greetings

Choral Introit

*Opening Hymn #89 – “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”           HYMN TO JOY

Lighting of the Advent Candle  ~Joy~   Carol and Mike Provenzano

As we anticipate Christ’s coming, our hearts are filled with joy.

*Call to Worship

L:  We gather today in great hope, longing to see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.

P:  The Almighty has done great things for us.  Holy is God’s name.

L:  May our worship strengthen our hands, make firm our trembling knees, and unburden our fearful hearts.

P:  The Almighty has done great things for us.  Holy is God’s name.

L:  Knowing that God is near, let us be patient with the times and with one another.

P:  The Almighty has done great things for us.  Holy is God’s name.

L:  To all who ask about our hope, let us tell the good news of what we have seen and heard.

P:  The Almighty has done great things for us.  Holy is God’s name.

*Opening Prayer

Joyful and patient God, you break into our Advent busyness with your extravagant promise of glory and joy.  Fire up our imaginations with holy trust in your goodness.  Inspire us with patience that sees beyond our habitual longing for past glories and understandings.  Move us beyond our too familiar criticisms of one another and of ourselves.  Open our eyes and help us see your compassion, already at work in our world:  healing, restoring, strengthening, and telling the good news that you are near.  Make us signs of your everlasting joy for your people and for all the world We pray in the name of Jesus, whose nearness we proclaim. Amen.

Prayer of Confession

Advent God, we yearn to rejoice, as we tell of Jesus coming into our world.  We long to see your promise of mercy, justice, and restoration, fulfilled for all people everywhere.  In our yearning, we discover that our hands are weak, our knees are feeble, and our hearts are full of fear.  Stuck in old stories and remembered glories, we grow critical of one another and of ourselves.  We even wonder whether Jesus is near.  Then our desire to rejoice sputters in frustration and impatience.  Restore us, yearned-for God, for your joy is not our accomplishment, but your gift.  Set us on the Holy Way of Advent, forgiven, strengthened, and healed, rejoicing in your glory and majesty.  Amen.

Words of Assurance

Advent People of God, as those ransomed by the Lord, walk the Holy Way, where no traveler goes astray.  Come, rejoicing and singing, knowing that sorrow and sighing shall flee and that God’s everlasting joy shall surround and hold you.

Passing of the Peace of Christ

Beloved people, as those who are called to rejoice while we await the coming of our Lord, share God’s peace and be at peace with one another.

Children’s Message              Rev. Eumin Kim

Scriptures

Old Testament – Isaiah 35:1-10

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.  Like the crocus, ² it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.  The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.  ³ Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; ⁴ say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”  ⁵ Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.  ⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.  Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  ⁷ The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.  In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.  ⁸ And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way.  The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.  ⁹ No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.  But only the redeemed will walk there, ¹⁰ and those the Lord has rescued will return.  They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

L:  The Word of God, For the People of God.  P:  Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading – Luke 1:46b-55

⁴⁶ And Mary said:  “My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.  ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.  ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful ⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

 L:  The Word of God, For the People of God.  P:  Thanks be to God.

*Hymn before Sermon #3105 – “In Christ Alone”  (Worship and Song Hymnal – Green)

Sermon – “The Pathway to Eternal Joy”         Rev. Eumin Kim

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Invitation to Tithes and Offering

With rejoicing and patience, we not only wait for the coming of God’s kingdom, we work to make God’s kingdom known.  May the gifts we offer today reflect our trust in God, who promises and gives us more than we can even imagine.

Chancel Choir – “Wexford Carol” arr. Anna Laura Page

*Hymn No. 95 – Presentation of the Offering

*Prayer of Dedication

Generous God who calls us to rejoice, you fill the hungry with good things and you help your people in need.  Receive the gifts we offer, we pray, and make them, and us, joyful and patient signs of your coming justice and glory.  Amen.

*Closing Hymn #707 – “Hymn of Promise”       PROMISE

*Dismissal with Blessing

Closing Voluntary – “Fugue in C Major, BWV 553” by J. S. Bach (spurious)