Order of Service/ Advent 3 / December 15, 2024

 *Gathering Hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (#1VU|vs. 5,6)

Welcome & Land Acknowledgement

Advent Candle-Lighting with Call to Worship

  All Sing: VU 7 “Hope Is A Star” verse 3

One: On this third Sunday of Advent, we come with joy as a community of faith.

All: We watch, we wait, we wonder.

One: May we bask in the joyful moments that are ours when we take time to notice joy – in the beauty of nature, in the beauty of a single snowflake with its intricate, always - unique pattern, or in the many snowflakes that comprise the softly falling snow, or in the play and laughter of children.

All: We embrace joy as we anticipate the birth of Jesus, Mary’s new boy.

One: As we light the third candle in our wreath, we take a moment to breathe in the Spirit of joy.

All Sing: VU 6 “A Candle is burning” verse 3

*Irma Nadeau. Gathering ACE 2024-2025. Page 73.

Opening Prayer

God of joy, on this third Sunday of Advent, may we bask in the joy of the season, the joy we find in relationships, the joy of gathering in our community of faith and being with those we love, and the joy that awaits us in the coming of Jesus. Amen.

*Irma Nadeau. Gathering ACE 2024-2025. Page 73.

*Opening Hymn A Light Is Gleaming (#82 VU | vs. 1&2)

Prayer of Confessional and Renewal (Unison)

God of joy and renewal, we confess that we often turn away from your path. We hear the call to change direction, but we resist the transformation you offer. Forgive us, O God. Give us the courage to start again, to follow your way of love, and to live with generosity and grace. Restore in us the joy of your salvation that we may walk in the light of your presence, this Advent season and always. (a time of silent confession) Amen.

Words of Assurance

One: Be glad and rejoice with all your heart! In God’s boundless love, you are forgiven and made whole. God's grace empowers us to start anew, embracing healing, justice, and peace for all.

All: We rejoice in the forgiveness and renewal God offers us. Thanks Be to God. Amen.

Announcements and Minute for Mission

Time for God’s Children Story of a Carol: The First Nowell (VU 91)

Prayer for Illumination

Proclaiming the Scriptures

Philippians 4:4-7 Rejoice in God always! Again, I say, rejoice!

Isaiah 12:2-6 (VU p.880) Proclaim God’s deeds to the nations.

Luke 3:15-18 John proclaims the good news to people.

This is the Good News from the Bible.

  Thanks be to God.

Anthem

Sermon

*Hymn I Come with Joy (#477 VU|vs. 1,2,5)

*Offering

*Offertory Hymn (#55 VU | v. 4, In the Bleak Midwinter)

What can I give him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

if I were a wise man, I would do my part;

yet what I can I give him -- give my heart.

*Offertory Prayer (Unison)

So often, when we present our offerings to you, O God, we do so out of a sense of duty and of responsibility. On this Sunday of joy, however, we want to celebrate how you bless us each day. By sharing our abundance – no matter how insignificant it may seem to us – our spirits dance in celebration of how your purpose, through what we give, changes lives. Bless us by changing our lives too, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

*Gord Dunbar. Gathering ACE 2024-2025. Page 33.

Prayers of the People and Lord’s Prayer

*Closing Hymn In the Darkness Shines the Splendour (#92 VU)

*Commissioning

One: We have prayed that God’s kingdom will come.

  All: May this prayer bring us joy in this week.

One: We have prayed that we will be empowered to act on God’s will as it is enacted in heaven.

  All: May this prayer carry us in joy in this week.

One: We have held the world in prayer.

  All: May these prayers encourage us to work for joy throughout this week.

One: We have received words of promise: “I am with you.”

  All: May these words empower us to live in joy this week, for the sake of God’s kingdom, in the memory of Christ, for the good of the world. Amen.

* Heather Sandilands, Gathering ACE 2024/2025. Page 34.

*Commissioning Song Prepare the Way of the Lord (#10 VU)

Prepare the way of the Lord! Prepare the way of the Lord! Make a straight path for him, make a straight path, prepare the way of the Lord! (x2)

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