Sources used
The Book of Alternative services
The NRSV Bible
Liturgies for the Journey of life (By Dorothy McRae-McMahon)
thebigandthesmall (website/blog)
Click Link to the Service Here
Welcome
Here, among our everyday places, here among our ordinary lives, is the emerging of grace. Watch, watch for the signs of the Holy. In this time, in every time, we hold our breath in awe for the wonder of Christ.
Gathering Song
Gathering (inspired by Psalm 146 and Luke 1:46-56)
Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God.
And our spirits rejoice in you.
We will praise you as long as we live.
We will sing praises to you our whole lives long.
We will not trust in the powerful of this world,
But will trust in you–Creator of heaven and earth,
the One who gives food to the hungry,
the One who enacts justice for the oppressed.
Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God
As we worship you in this place,
As we light these candles in hope, peace, joy and love.
Prayer of the Day together
Holy God of Joy, we rejoice in the reality of who you are. We live within the joy of your love for us. Our contentment comes and goes. Our happiness ebbs and flows. Our feelings depend upon our circumstances, our physical health, our brain chemistry. But our joy is deeply rooted in our identity as your beloved children. And we give you thanks. Amen.
Candle Lighting ADVENT 4 - LOVE (Based on Psalm 89)
We light our first Advent candle, a symbol of Hope.
Light first candle
We light our second Advent candle, a symbol of Peace.
Light second candle
We light our third Advent candle, a symbol of Joy.
Light third candle
We light our fourth Advent candle, a symbol of Love.
Light fourth candle
Like a fourth candle lit in the darkness, Love increases the more it is shared.
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever.
In a world where love can sometimes be seen as weakness, and hatred as strength, in a year when we have felt far away from those we love, God, remind us that your steadfast love is established forever.
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever.
God, we trust that you are with us, that your faithful love is as firm as the heavens.
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever.
Let our mouths proclaim your faithfulness to all generations, let us proclaim the truth to the ends of the earth, we have love because God is with us!
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever.
Candle lighting Song
Collect
Heavenly Father, who chose the woman Mary, full of grace, to be the mother of our Lord and Saviour, now fill us with your grace, that we in all things may embrace your will and with her rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
A Reading from the second book of Samuel (7.1–11, 16)
Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church R: Thanks be to God
Psalm 89.1–4, 19–26 Refrain: I will keep my love for him for ever
I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: “I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.” ’
I will keep my love for him for ever
Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: ‘I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him; my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
I will keep my love for him for ever
The enemy shall not outwit him, the wicked shall not humble him.
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
I will keep my love for him for ever
I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!”
I will keep my love for him for ever
A Reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans (16.25–27)
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever! Amen.
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church R: Thanks be to God
Gradual Hymn
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Luke (1.26–38)
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
The Gospel of Christ R: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ
The Homily
An Affirmation of Faith
We believe in God who lives and speaks in sunsets,
in love wrapped gifts, and fleeting butterflies;
in people weeping softly for stillborn dreams and hopes they never conceived.
We believe in God, indwelling wholly, in suffering and celebration.
We believe in Christ, harbouring our humanness,
who took nourishment from a woman’s breasts;
who climbed trees, skinned knees;
who laughed and cried, loved and wept, bled and died.
We believe in the Christ, sanctifying life and death.
We believe in the Spirit, mystically joining us to peoples everywhere;
who intercedes with sighs and groans too deep for words;
a shared consuming struggle bending our will to God.
We believe in the Holy Spirit incorporating us into Christ.
We believe in the church, being and becoming,
Chosen as God’s presence in the world despite its frailty,
Its foolishness, its failings.
We believe in the church, seeking, however imperfectly,
to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Amen
Prayers of Intercession A Prayer for use with the Magnificat
(inspired by Luke 1:39-56)
Great God of the prophets and truth-tellers,
Great Voice of Truth who speaks through unexpected voices,
Great Power of the Universe who works mighty deeds from fragile possibilities,
we gather here to know Your presence and to listen for Your truth.
We listen in Your presence. We listen for You.
Let our listening reach to hear the voice of young Mary.
Let us listen for her voice,
the voice of an adolescent girl in an insignificant village
in a marginal province, far from the centers of power.
Extend our listening to hear her where she may be speaking today:
an adolescent girl in a village in rural China
whose parents really wanted a boy;
a girl in a remote native village in Latin America leading the singing in a small church;
a 14-year-old working for a tiny wage in a crowded factory somewhere
making our high-priced running shoes;
a 15-year-old helping her village in West Africa recover from civil war;
a high school student in a U.S. city resisting a culture of violence daily to attend school.
We listen in Your presence. We listen for You.
Extend our listening, God, to hear the song of truth and hope You are putting in their mouths.
Extend our listening, God, to sense the motion of a future You are moving in their midst, a future world put right.
Extend our listening, God,
that we may receive and affirm and listen with the eager ears of elderly Elizabeth, wise with years of waiting.
We listen in Your presence. We listen for You
Let us listen fully and deeply for the hope You are preparing.
Let us greet Your hope with the Elizabeth’s joy greeting Mary.
Let us feel the future moving in us as well.
Let us listen fully and deeply for the hope You are preparing in us.
Let us listen deeply to the truth speaking in us.
Let us listen fully to the hope You place in us.
Extend our listening
to the deepest reaches of our own souls, God of Truth.
Extend our listening through the cares that each of us brings on our hearts this morning.
Extend our listening through the financial worries and the preoccupations with our health,
our concern for loved ones whose lives are straying out of control,
our angers and aggravations, our inundation with activity.
Extend our listening into all that we bring today to hear there the transforming truth about our lives.
Extend our listening until we listen with all that we are, our whole beings.
Extend our listening until we hear with Your whole voice.
Extend our listening until we become the voice that speaks as Mary to say,
“My soul magnifies God and my spirit rejoices.”
May the listening of our souls enlarge Your listening until we truly hear You from unexpected places
in the farthest reaches of the earth and the most remote territories of our own souls.
Extend our listening that we may magnify You.
Let us bring our offerings to God – the offering of our hope, talents and gifts
Offering Hymn
Prayer over the Gifts
Gracious God, by the power of the Spirit who sanctified the mother of your Son, make holy all we offer you this day. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Closing Hymn
Blessing and Dismissal
Rejoice in Bethlehem, two thousand years ago.
Go in peace to love and serve the world. And may your waiting be in hope,
Each day lived in faith and the love in Christmas be moving toward you. Amen
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