Lord’s Day Worship
Second Sunday of Advent
December 4th, 2022 at 10:30 a.m.
Psalm 118:24
“This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Prelude by June Ruyle, Organist
“On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry”, “Savior of the Nations Come”
“Comfort, Comfort These My People”
“Hark the Glad Sound”
Welcome and Announcements
Missionary Moment
Lighting of the Advent Wreath
Roxanne Martindale and Lori Grace
Entering into Worship
Responsive Reading
Elder Dave Campbell
*1 John 4:7-11
Leader: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
All: Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love.
Leader: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God Sent his only Son into the world,
So that we might live through him.
All: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
*Hymn of Preparation – # 196
“Come, Thou Long - Expected Jesus”
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us;
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art,
Dear Desire of ev’ry nation,
Joy of ev’ry longing heart.
Joy to those who long to see thee,
Dayspring from on high, appear;
Come, thou promised Rod of Jesse,
of thy birth we long to hear!
O’er the hills the angels singing news,
glad tidings of a birth:
“Go to him, your praises bringing;
Christ the Lord has come to earth.”
Come to earth to taste our sadness,
he whose glories knew no end;
By his life he brings us gladness,
our Redeemer, shepherd, Friend.
Leaving riches without number,
born within a cattle stall;
This the everlasting wonder,
Christ was born the Lord of all.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit rule
in all our hearts alone;
By thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Music Leaders – Jean-Paul Muresan, Roxanne Martindale
and Deborah Bunker
Invocation
Congregational Confession of Sin
Leader: Dear Heavenly Father, we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours.
All: Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to You.
Leader: For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Give us clear minds and open hearts so we may witness to You in our world.
All: Remind us to be who You would have us to be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to You and build our relationship with You and with those you have given us on earth.
Private Confession of Sin
Assurance of Forgiveness
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:8-12
*First Reading - Isaiah 9:6-7
Adoration and Praise
*Congregational Response – Hymn # 529
“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav'n, to earth come down:
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown:
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev'ry trembling heart.
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
into ev'ry troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit,
let us find the promised rest:
take away the love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.
Come, Almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be:
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heav'n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.
*Confession of Faith
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;
by whom all things were made;
who for us and for our salvation
came down from heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered and was buried;
and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures,
and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right
hand of the Father;
and he shall come again, with glory,
to judge both the living and the dead;
whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
who with the Father and the Son together is
worshiped and glorified;
who spoke by the prophets;
and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church,
we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins,
and we look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen
*The Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
world without end. Amen, amen.
Offering “The Cross is not Greater than His Grace”
*Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavn'ly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
*Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Word and Sacrament
Pastoral Prayer
*Sermon Text – John 1:1-18
Sermon “Love Came Down at Christmas”
Reverend Dr. John Kelley
Communion Hymn # 210 vv. 1, 2
“Silent Night! Holy Night!”
Silent night! Holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant, so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.
Silent night! Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight!
Glories stream from heaven afar,
heav'nly hosts sing alleluia;
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Holy Communion
God’s Blessing on His People
*Congregational Response Hymn # 210 vv. 3, 4
“Silent Night! Holy Night!”
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love's pure light
radiant beams from thy holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Silent night! Holy night!
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
with the angels let us sing
alleluia to our King;
Christ, the Savior, is born!
Christ, the Savior, is born!
*Benediction
*Postlude by June Ruyle, Organist
“Jesus, Lead Thou On”
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Sermon Notes
John 1:1-18– December 4th, 2022
“Love Came Down at Christmas”
Reverend Dr. John Kelley
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