PRELUDE: Wachet auf (“Wake, Awake”) from. Schübler Chorales) – BMW 645 by J.S. Bach; Aska Enomoto, Junior Bach Festival Gold Medal Winner*
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP, WITH LIGHTING OF ADVENT WREATH by the Erica Magallanes Family
Advent Candle Blessings by Barbara Wallace
The first Advent candle is the candle born of Love. In His love and mercy He saves us. And when he calls us to the feast His banner over us is peace. Our hope and salvation sent down from above, the first Advent Candle is Love. [Alice Carpenter]
PRAYER OF INVOCATION
HYMN: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel [Veni Emmanuel]
PRAYER OF PRAISE
INTROIT: Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding by Christopher Gale
Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding! “Christ is near,” it seems to say. “Cast away the works of darkness, all you children of the day!” Startled by the solemn warning, let the earthbound soul arise; Christ, its sun, all sloth dispelling, shines upon the morning skies. See the Lamb so long expected, comes with pardon down from Heaven. Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, one and all, to be forgiven; so, when next He comes in glory and the world is wrapped in fear, He will shield us with His mercy and with words of love draw near. Honor, glory, might, dominion to the Father and the Son, with the ever-living Spirit while eternal ages run! Amen! [Latin hymn, Trans. Edward Caswall]
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS
SONG OF GRATITUDE: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice [In Dulco Jubilo]
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE LESSON: Matthew 3:1-3
HYMN: On Jordan’s Banks the Baptist’s Cry [Winchester New]
SERMON: “Opening a Way for God”
ANTHEM: Prepare Ye! Traditional Jamaican Folk Song/arr. by Anna Laura Page
Prepare ye the way of God, a path in the wilderness, a highway in desert sand! O, prepare ye the way! Soon the Son will come, shine on everyone, turn the darkest night into broad daylight! Soon the Son will come, holy blessed One. O, prepare ye the way! A voice in the wilderness is crying, “Your sin confess!” You better do as it says! O, prepare ye the way! The valleys are echoing the news of the tiny King, the Savior, the Promised One! O, prepare ye the way! [Jean Anne Schafferman based on Isaiah 7:13-14, 9:6 and 40:3-5; Matthew 1:22-23; Mark 1:22-23; and John 1:23-27]
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
HYMN: Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates [Truro]
BENEDICTION
CHORAL RESPONSE: Prepare the Way of the Lord by Jacques Berthier
Prepare the way of the Lord, and all people will see the salvation of our God. [Taizé Community]
POSTLUDE: In Dir ist freude (“In Thee is Gladness) from Orgelbüchlein – BWV 615 by J.S. Bach; Aska Enomoto, Junior Bach Festival Gold Medal Winner*
*Playing this morning’s voluntaries is organ student Aske Enomoto, age 15. Aske attends The Bishop’s School in La Jolla and has been studying organ with Leslie Wolf Robb of San Diego for nearly nine years. She has received many scholarships since 2016 and has twice been the Gold Medal winner in the Organ division of the Southern California Junior Bach Festival, after performances on the Complete Works Awards Concert here at Covenant in October 2023 and 2025. She was also awarded the Sylvia Barton Memorial Scholarship by that organization.
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