South Stormont Pastoral Charge

One common misunderstanding about the Christian faith is that God’s love is conditional. Many think that people must be good enough to be accepted by God. However, the Bible teaches the opposite. God’s love is not based on what we do. God loves us even before we know God, and with that love, God never gives up on us, even when we have no room for God. When God created the world, it was dark, chaotic, and empty. But God spoke, "Let there be light!" And with those words, the world began to fill with beauty, life, and harmony. God did not create the world because humanity deserved it, but because God so loved the world. God’s love always comes first. Later, when the Hebrew people were enslaved in Egypt, they cried out to God, and God heard them. From a burning bush, God called Moses to liberate them. This act of salvation was not because the people followed God’s commands perfectly, but because God loved them unconditionally. God’s mercy and love came first before they did anyth...

  * Indicates please stand, in body or in sprit *Gathering Hymn O Come, All Ye Faithful (#60 VU|vs. 1-4) Welcome & Announcements Lighting Advent & Christ Candles One: On Christmas Eve, the eve of Jesus’ birth, we light each candle. We light the candle of hope as we embrace the light brought into this world by the Christ child. <The first candle is lit.> All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 1 One: We light the candle of peace that brought to us by the Prince of Peace. <The second candle is lit.> All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 2 One: We light the candle of joy as we delight in welcoming baby Jesus. <The third candle is lit.> All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 3 One: We light the candle of love as we celebrate God’s great gift of love, the birth of Jesus on this holy night. <The fourth candle is lit.> All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 4 One: We bring together the light of all the candles to light the Christ candle in c...

  *Gathering Hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (#1 VU|vs. 1&7) Welcome & Land Acknowledgement Advent Candle-Lighting with Call to Worship All Sing: VU 7 “Hope Is A Star” verse 4 One: On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we come with love as a community of faith. All: We watch, we wait, we wonder. One: When we feel God’s unfailing love, we are able to give love to - and receive it from - our families, our friends, our community of faith, and, yes, even those we find hard to love. There is enough love for all. All: We experience God’s love in the greatest gift for all of us, in the birth of Jesus, who is bringing love to the world. One: As we light the fourth candle in our wreath, we breathe in the Spirit of love. All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 4 *Irma Nadeau . Gathering ACE 2024-2025. Page 73-74. Opening Prayer God of love, we give thanks for your unfailing love and for the gift of love in the human relationships that give our lives meaning. May we come to the manger fil...

  In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” In the Gospel of Luke, Mary has a key role in the story of Jesus’ birth and early life. God’s plan to save the world was made possible through the courageous choices of people like Mary. Even though she was a young, poor girl, she trusted God’s hope, allowing God’s presence to come into the world. One day, in the small village of Nazareth, an angel named Gabriel...