PRELUDE: The King Shall Come by Gilbert M. Martin
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
CALL TO WORSHIP
PRAYER
HYMN: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear [Carol]
PRAYER
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH: Peace
INVITATION: Hope Is a Star
Choir: Hope is a star that shines in the night, leading us on till the morning is bright. Peace is a ribbon that circles the earth, giving a promise of safety and worth.
Congregation: When God is a child there’s joy in our song. The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong. And none shall be afraid, none shall be afraid.
RESPONSIVE LITANY: Peace
Leader: In this season of Advent, we remember that Christ is coming to bring us peace. For a world overrun with meaningless war
People: Christ is coming to bring us peace.
Leader: For brothers and sisters divided by anger
People: Christ is coming to bring us peace.
Leader: For a world bound up in political turmoil
People: Christ is coming to bring us peace.
Leader: For those of us battling inner turmoil
People: Christ is coming to bring us peace.
CANDLE LIGHTING
All singing: When God is a child there’s joy in our song. The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong. And none shall be afraid, none shall be afraid.
PRAYER
SCRIPTURE LESSON: Matthew 3:1-12
HYMN: Listen to Him Who Comes to You
SERMON: “Disturbing Peace”
ANTHEM: Lo, How a Rose/The Rose arr. by Craig Hella Johnson; Desiree Flores, alto solo
Choir: Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung.
Solo: Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed;
Choir: Of Jesse’s lineage coming as men of old have sung.
Solo: Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed;
Choir: It came, a floweret bright,
Solo: Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need;
Choir: Amid the cold of winter
Solo: I say love, it is a flower, and you its only seed.
Choir: When half-spent was the night.
Solo: It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance; it’s the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance; it’s the one who won’t be taken who cannot seem to give; and the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.
Choir: This flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Solo: When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long;
Choir: Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere.
Solo: And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong;
Choir: True Man, yet very God,
Solo: Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow;
Choir: From sin and death He saves us
Solo: Lies the seed that with the sun’s love, in the spring becomes the rose. [Amanda McBroom]
Choir: And lightens every load. [Michael Praetorius]
CELEBRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION
INVITATION AND WORDS OF INSTITUTION
PRAYER
RECEPTION
PRAYER
HYMN: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing [Mendelssohn]
BENEDICTION
RESPONSE: There’s A Voice in the Wilderness by Henry Hugh Bancroft/arr. by Anne Krentz Organ
There’s a voice in the wilderness crying, a call from the ways untrod: Prepare in the desert a highway, a highway for our God! The valleys shall be exalted, the lofty hills brought low; make straight all the crooked places where the Lord our God may go! O Zion, give voice to good tidings, ascend to the heights and sing! Proclaim to the desolate people the coming of their king. The works of pride all perish, like flowers they shall decay; the power and pomp of nations shall pass like a dream away. But your word, O God, is faithful, your arm, O Lord, is strong; you stand in the midst of nations, and you will right the wrong. You will feed your flock like a shepherd, the lambs you’ll gently hold; in pastures of peace you’ll lead them, and bring them to your fold. [James Lewis Milligan]
POSTLUDE: People, Look East by Wayne Wold
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