PRELUDE: The Old Year Now Has Passed Away (BWV 614) by J.S. Bach
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
PRAYER OF PRAISE
HYMN: Our God, our Help in Ages Past [St. Anne]
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
INTROIT: Carol for a New Year by Howard Helvey
Ring out the old, ring in the new, ring, happy bells across the snow: the year is going, let him go; ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out a slowly dying cause, and ancient forms of party strife; ring in the nobler modes of life, with sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out old shapes of foul disease, ring out the narrowing lust of gold; ring out the thousand wars of old, ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, the larger heart, the kindlier hand; ring out the darkness of the land, ring in the Christ that is to be. Ring in the Christ! [Alfred Tennyson]
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE LESSON: Isaiah 43:18-21
ANTHEM: See, I Make All Things New by Alfred V. Fedak
Behold, behold! I am doing a new thing. Now it breaks forth: do you not perceive it? I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. See, I make all things new! I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers through the desert. To the thirsty I give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing upon your children. Behold! See, I make all things new! [Isaiah 43:19-20, 44:3; Revelation 21:6]
SERMON: “Entrusting the Unknown to a Known”
HYMN: In the Bulb There is a Flower [Promise]
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
HYMN: May the God of Hope Go with Us [Argentina]
BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE: Lord, Alert our Eyes by Carol Doran
Lord, alert our eyes to probe with Isaiah’s deeper sight where today upon this globe you are sowing deeds of light. Ease our yearning for the past ‘till by faith at last: “Here and now, in clear, plain view, God is doing something new!” [Thomas H. Troeger, based on Isaiah 43:16-25]
POSTLUDE: In Thee is Gladness (BWV 615) by J.S. Bach
If you would like to make a pledge to enable Christ mission through Covenant in 2024, please click on the following link to complete a pledge commitment: https://forms.gle/f69M4FiPKzikfFd3. Thank you!
Many thanks to Michael Finley, Mary Lou Fourtane, Shelley Hellen, Jesse Gayer, Evelyn Haesloop, Margaret Hullett and Adele & Rob Langworthy for the poinsettias that have beautified the Chancel during the Advent & Christmas season.
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