Watchword for the Week
Be strong; do not fear! Here is your God.
(Isaiah 35:4)
(Moravian Daily Texts 2016)
ORGAN PRELUDE
WELCOME and CALL to WORSHIP
(Based on Isaiah 35)
The wilderness and the desert will rejoice
and flowers will bloom in the wilderness.
Everyone will see the Lord’s splendour
and the majesty and power of our God.
Then the blind will be able to see,
and the deaf will be able to hear.
The lame will leap and dance like deer, and
those who cannot speak will shout for joy!
Streams of water will flow though the desert
and dry land will be filled with springs.
A highway shall be there,
called “The Holy Way.”
The unclean shall not travel there,
but it shall be for God’s people.
Those whom the Lord has rescued will return;
they will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
singing and shouting for joy!
Hymn 241 * Isaiah the prophet has written
People’s Choice Hymns are marked with an asterisk (*)
(Three Advent candles are carried into church lit)
ADVENT CANDLE PRAYER
On this third Sunday of Advent, we light three
candles. The first two we light for peace and hope.
We wait now in peace and hope.
Today we light the third candle for joy,
joy that Christ is coming as light in our lives.
Strengthen our hearts
as we wait for you with joy!
God is a God of justice who feeds the hungry
and includes the outcast. God lifts up the lowly
and puts down the mighty.
Strengthen our hearts as we wait for you with joy!
We join our hearts with the desert gushing forth with life. We share with Mary who sings with joy for the child, who is to come.
Strengthen our hearts as we wait for you with joy! Help us share that joy wherever we go. Amen.
WORDS of ASSURANCE
Friends, God loves each one of us. Even in our
brokenness and imperfection, God never leaves
nor gives up on us. May we sing praises, as
does Mary, assured of this truth: we are forgiven
and cherished by our God through and through!
Thanks be to God. Amen.
CHILDREN’S TIME
Chorus
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. (3x)
Let it shine; let it shine; let it shine.
Jesus is the light, I’m gonna let it shine. (3x)
Everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine. (3x)
SHARING GOD’S PEACE
(Children may join the Kids’ Church programme)
Hymn 311 * Jesus is born
(Hymn of the Month, December 2016)
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Epistle: James 5:7-11 NT p. 293 (291)
Gospel: Luke 1:46-55 NT p. 74
People may stand for the Gospel reading.
The word of God: Thanks be to God!
Hymn (eg 588) Magnificat (Taizé)
Magnificat, Magnificat,
Magnificat anima mea Dominum.
Magnificat,Magnificat,
Magnificat anima mea!
SERMON Rev. Dr. Robert Haworth
Hymn 472 * Come, thou long-expected Jesus
(Offerings are gathered and brought forward)
DEDICATION PRAYER
Eternal God, let us live in your eternal light, that we may abound in joy and act for justice in our world. We offer ourselves and our gifts, to serve you in your church and in the world. Strengthen our hearts to prepare for your coming to us in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS (See Notices overleaf)
PRAYERS for OTHERS
Response: Eternal God, you call us:
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who
trespass against us. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
Hymn 303 * It came upon the midnight clear
(Tune: Carol – PH 129)
BLESSING and Threefold Amen (No. 819)
ORGAN POSTLUDE
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