Order of Worship for Sunday, December 24th 2023

Leader: Stop. Listen. Pay attention. Love is coming near.
People: We wait in the love of the coming Messiah that transforms us.

Leader: The Hope Bringer, Peace Maker, Joy Sustainer grows in a womb, preparing to be born among us.
People: We wait in the love of the coming Messiah that transforms us.

Leader: With Mary, we long for the coming of the Child who will transform the world, bringing justice where injustice reigns, fullness where hunger persists, and favor to the ones the world calls lowly.
People: We wait in the love of the coming Messiah that transforms us.

Leader: So let us join our voices and our lives in magnifying God, our Savior!
People: We come to wait and to declare the coming of the Love that transforms us! Amen.

Opening Hymn:

In the Bleak Midwinter UMH 221 Vs 1-3

The Lighting of the Advent Candle

Reader 1: When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, announcing God’s plan for her to conceive and give birth to the Messiah, “Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34) And yet, only a few months later, Mary sings to Elizabeth,

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name (Luke 1:46-49).

Reader 2: We, like Mary, hear God’s call to be part of making God’s dream for our salvation and flourishing a reality, and we question, “How can this be? I am only…” Yet, like Mary, the “onlys” that make us hesitate are gifts God can and will use as God’s love transforms us into bearers of good news.

Congregation: We wait as people who have encountered divine Love that disrupts the status quo and ushers us into abundant life marked by mutual love and peace that flows from the flourishing of all people.

Reader: 1 We light these candles as signs of our shocking hope, our just peace, our fierce joy, and the love that transforms us. May Love grow within us, transforming us into bold witnesses of God’s salvation with our voices and our lives. Amen.

Congregation: Come, Lord Jesus. In your love we will trust and not be afraid.

Sung Response:

O Come, O Come, Emanuel UMH 211 Vs.6,7

Leader: Every notion we have about power, success, wealth, and achievement, God takes and tosses out the window. More importantly, God comes to us, to upset our notion that we have to save ourselves. In Jesus, God comes to us, removing our sin, our failures, our expectations, so we might have new life. Please join me as we pray, saying,

People: We confess we are not the people you hope us to be, Advent God. The very ones you favor, we too often ignore or ridicule. The ones you knock off their pedestals, we admire and emulate. We are so focused on having more and more, we risk being sent away empty.

Forgive us, Mighty God, and look with grace upon us. We would live secure in your love; we would be the ones of peace for our world, we would seek to do your will, as did Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, in whose name we pray.

Leader: Even now—yes, even in this very moment, God comes to us, bringing hope, bringing forgiveness, bringing grace as freely offered gifts to us.

People: May we open our hearts to the God who is with us, and receive the gifts which have been offered to us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Almighty and Loving Creator, we come together with hearts full of trust. Though the future remains veiled in uncertainty, we gather our strength and place our trust in You. As we offer our gifts today, may they be seeds sown for Your kingdom, embodying the courage to face the unknown with love. Grant us the wisdom to use our resources to bring about positive change and to embrace a future where Your love and grace prevail. Amen.