Tag: Advent

Order of Service

Prelude
Call to Worship & lighting of the Advent candle
Prayers of Adoration and Confession
Declaration of Grace and the Lord’s Prayer
Children’s time
Hymn 122: “Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel” (vs. 1,3,5,6,7)
Responsive reading: Psalm 146: 5-10
Gloria Patri
Isaiah 35: 1-10
Matthew 11: 2-11
Hymn 507: “Break now the bread of life”
Sermon: “Joy in believing”
Hymn 665: “Lord Jesus, you shall be my song” (vs. 1-2 Fr; 3-4 Eng.)
Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 118: “Hark the glad sound”
Benediction
“Go now in peace”
Postlude

Dear friends,

This Sunday, we welcome the Rev. Linda Faith Chalk to lead us again in worship.

Our gospel lesson this week is taken from Matthew 3:1-12, where John the Baptist prepares the way for our Lord. Before John the Baptist came onto the scene, paved the way, and pointed people to the promised Messiah, there was a 400 year gap of silence in Israel, where they were left without a prophet, and under a cloud of darkness (this is known as the intertestamental period; between the last book of Malachi (5th century BC), to the preaching of John the Baptist in the first century). Out of the darkness came light.

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” – Matthew 3:1-3

The time of waiting was over, and the promised One, Jesus Christ, the light of the world was finally here!

Join us as we light the candle of peace, and think about what kind of peace Jesus brings us for today and for the future.

Order of Service

Prelude
Call to Worship & lighting of the Advent candle
Hymn 128: “There’s a voice in the wilderness calling”
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Declaration of Grace and the Lord’s Prayer
Responsive reading: Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19
Gloria Patri
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Romans 15: 4-13
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 3: 1-12
Children’s story
Hymn 115: “Hail to the Lord’s anointed”
Sermon: Popularity is not at the top of the list
Confession of Faith – The Apostles’ Creed
Hymn 151: “Lo how a rose e’er blooming”
Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 126: “On Jordan’s bank”
Benediction
Go now in peace
Postlude

Dear friends, 
 
This Sunday, we welcome Edythe Arnott to lead us in worship.

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. The word advent comes from the Latin term adventus, meaning “arrival” or “coming”, with a particular emphasis on something great and important. But the term is marked with a deeper, fuller and richer meaning. The term adventus was also a ceremony in ancient Rome, in which an emperor was formally welcomed into a city either during a progress (a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant) or after a successful military campaign. 

This word advent is fitting, for Jesus Christ our risen Lord has conquered death, and in Him we are made victorious (1 Corinthians 15:57), and in this season of Advent, we not only hope and anticipate for His second coming, but we also prepare for the celebration of His birth (his first coming). The celebration of Advent can trace its roots all the way back to the fifth century AD. 

Join us as we light the candle of hope, and think about what kind of hope Jesus brings us for today and for the future.

Order of Service

Prelude
Call to Worship
Lighting of the Advent candle
Hymn 124: “People in darkness”
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Declaration of Grace and the Lord’s Prayer
Responsive reading: Psalm 122
Gloria Patri
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 2: 1-5
New Testament Reading: Matthew 24: 36-44
Hymn 416: “Blessed Jesus, at your word”
Sermon: “Ready for Advent”
Hymn 661: “We give thee but thine own”
Offertory
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 110: “Come, thou long-expected Jesus”
Benediction
Postlude