Prelude

Away from the manger they ran for their lives
The tiny boy Jesus, a son they must hide
A dream came to Joseph, they fled in the night
And they ran and they ran and they ran

No stars in the sky but the Spirit of God
Led down into Egypt from Herod to hide
No place for his parents no country or tribe
And they ran and they ran and they ran

Stay near us LORD Jesus when danger is nigh
And keep us from herods and all of their lies
I love the LORD Jesus, the Refugee King
And we sing and we sing and we sing
And we sing and we sing and we sing

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia  

Reprised from “Away in A Manger” by Liz Vice, Wen Reagan, Bruce Benedict, Greg Scheer, Lester Ruth © 2018;
Used by permission, CCLI# 220360

Welcome

Call to Worship & Greeting

Rejoice in the Lord always. Philippians 4:4-5
I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near.
We rejoice in the hope of Christ’s coming.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 13:14
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Amen.

Song

The King shall come when morning dawns and light triumphant breaks,
when beauty gilds the eastern hills and life to joy awakes 

not, as of old, a little child, to bear and fight and die,
but crowned with glory like the sun that lights the morning sky. 

Oh, brighter than the rising morn when he, victorious, rose
and left the lonesome place of death, despite the rage of foes— 

oh, brighter than that glorious morn shall this fair morning be
when Christ the King in beauty comes and we his face shall see. 

The King shall come when morning dawns and light and beauty brings.
Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray: come quickly, King of kings. 

Text: Greek; tr. John Brownlie, 1907, alt., P.D.
Tune (MORNING SONG): Sixteen Tune Settings, Philadelphia, 1812; Kentucky Harmony, 1816, P.D.

Advent Candle Lighting

Song

Text: Psalteriolum Cantionum Catholicarum, Köln, 1710; tr. Composite, P.D.
Tune (VENI EMMANUEL): French processional, 15th c., P.D.; arr. Evangelical Lutheran Worship
© 2006 Augsburg Fortress; All rights reserved, OneLicense.net 734287-A

Confession & Assurance

Call to Confession Romans 13:11

You know what time it is,
how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us now
than when we first believed;
the night is far gone, the day is near.
Let us then lay aside the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.

Come, let us confess our sins before almighty God.

Prayer of Confession

Lord, we have lost track of time, and not kept watch for you.
We have occupied ourselves with our own concerns,
not waited to discern your will for us,
not noticed the needs of the people around us,
and not acknowledged the love that has been shown to us.
Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of watchfulness.

In Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit,
please occupy the center of our lives,
that we may wait to know your will,
attend to the needs of others,
and watch and work for your coming.
Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Surely God’s salvation is at hand for those who fear him. —based on Psalm 85:9-13
Steadfast love, faithfulness, and righteousness go before him.

In Christ, God’s salvation is at hand for you,
his faithfulness draws near to you,
and his righteousness dwells within you.
Thanks be to God!

The Peace

The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
    we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
    and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
    “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us,
    and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

Song

We invite you simply to listen to this version of Rejoice, Rejoice Believers by the St. Olaf choir, and reflect on the lyrics below the recording.

Rejoice, rejoice, believers, and let your lights appear;
the evening is advancing, and darker night is near.
The Bridegroom is arising and soon is drawing nigh.
Up, pray and watch and wrestle; at midnight comes the cry. x2

The watchers on the mountain proclaim the Bridegroom near;
go forth as he approaches, with alleluias clear.
The marriage feast is waiting; the gates wide open stand.
Arise, O heirs of glory; the Bridegroom is at hand.

The saints, who here in patience their cross and sufferings bore,
shall live and reign forever when sorrow is no more.
Around the throne of glory the Lamb they shall behold;
in triumph cast before him their diadems of gold.

Our hope and expectation, O Jesus, now appear;
arise, O Sun so longed for, o'er this benighted sphere.
With hearts and hands uplifted, we plead, O Lord, to see
the day of earth's redemption that sets your people free!

Text: Laurentius Laurenti, 1700, tr. Sarah Borthwick Findlater, 1854, alt., The Hymnal, 1982, P.D.
Tune (HAF TRONES LAMPA FÄRDIG): Swedish; arr. Henry V. Gerike (b. 1948) © 2006 Concordia Publishing House

Children’s Time: Advent Stories

Parents, if you would like, this is a good place to pull up the video linked here. Each week, Beth Cooke will tell an Advent Story in a creative way, and there will also be a link to a coloring page after the video.

Prayer of Illumination

Lord God, —based on Psalm 85:8
help us turn our hearts to you
and hear what you will speak,
for you speak peace to your people,
that we might respond with joy,
through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.

8 For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    to sprout up before all the nations.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

Song

Prayers of the People

Gracious Father, King of Kings,

We do rejoice, and lift up our voices and our hearts, for you are King;

you rule o’er the earth and heaven;
your kingdom cannot fail;
the keys of death and hell are yours;
and you gather all your saints to our eternal home.
And so we give you thanks.

You are King over

plagues and pestilence,
death and disease,
addiction and anger,
danger and despair.
So good Lord, deliver us.

You are King over

Satan and sin,
blind eyes and hardened hearts,
toxic systems and warped values,
unchecked greed and unguarded lips.
So good Lord, deliver us.

You are King over

our homes,
our neighborhoods,
our schools,
our churches,
our places of work and rest.
So good Lord, open our eyes to your work in these places.

And in all of these places, may we, your people

bring good news to the poor;
bind up the brokenhearted;
proclaim liberty to the captives;
open the prisons;
and proclaim your jubilee and your judgment.
So good Lord, empower us.

Empower us until that day when the archangel shouts, and the trump sounds,

“Rejoice!”

For that day, we watch, we wait, we hasten, we sing:

Hallelujah! Christ is King!
Amen.

Offering

In addition to our various funds (General, Building, Mission, Benevolence, Christian Education), online giving is also now available for today’s special offerings (Cornerstone Youth Ministries & Grand Valley State University Student Ministries) through the Give button below.

God’s Parting Words

In this season of Advent, it should come as no surprise that the exhortations below, which send us out into the world, come only after the sure and certain confidence that God is coming again (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). In light of Christ’s coming arrival, this is our call:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 
give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 
Do not quench the Spirit. 
Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything;
hold fast to what is good; 
abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely;
and may your spirit and soul and body
be kept sound and blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The one who calls you is faithful,
and he will do this. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Postlude

Someday soon this will all be over
This will all be over someday soon
Someday soon we’ll be getting together
We’ll be getting together someday soon

And we will gather ‘round the table
We will laugh and we will sing
While our children play together
Hear the music down the street
There’ll be no more fear of sickness
There’ll be no more suffering
Someday soon, someday soon

Someday soon every prayer will be answered
Every prayer will be answered someday soon
Someday soon all our tears will be wiped away
Joy will come with a new day someday soon

Chorus

There’ll be no more loneliness, someday soon
There’ll be no more pain, no death, someday soon
There’ll be no anxiety, no worries, someday soon
You and I will all be free, someday soon

Text and Tune: Russ Mohr, © 2020