Sunday Worship Prayers - Advent 2 - Second in Advent - Dec 4

Approaching God

Welcome and announcements

Prelude

Call to Light the Advent Wreath

Family: Today - the second Sunday in Advent - we hear about Isaiah's
vision of a new and transformed world.
Congregation: A world where all creatures live together in harmony and peace.

Family: We wait with hope for this vision to become reality.
Congregation: The God of hope fills us with joy and peace in believing. We light the candle of hope.

(The first purple candle is relit)

Family: We proclaim our belief in God's faithfulness in keeping promises, as we light the candle of peace.

( A second purple candle is lit)

Family:  God of all faithfulness - Isaiah's vision paints a picture of a world shaped in accordance with Your will and Your design.

Congregation:   He tells of One so enlightened by your Spirit that he would open eyes and ears and hearts to a new understanding of your will and your design for the world. Isaiah described the one for whom the people waited - the Messiah .

Family:  We wait also, but we wait in the joyful knowledge that the Messiah has come in the form of your beloved Son.

Congregation:   We wait in faith, praying that through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus - Prince of Peace - will be born anew in our hearts and in our lives. Amen

First Hymn:

           

Prayers of Adoration and Confession

Guide:              Everlasting Lord and God of all the Universe, who calls us each by name, we offer You our devotion and pledge to You our hearts. Almighty Father, who helps the powerless and supports the weak, we worship Your holy ways and glorify Your loving deeds.

People:           Merciful Lord, we know that we are utterly dependent upon You to sustain our lives, yet we humbly confess that we often take You for granted and frequently try to cast You aside. When we take Your name in vain, or choose to neglect our neighbor's need, or decide to hate our enemies, please forgive us. When we place ourselves at the center of our lives, or selfishly seek to satisfy our sinful desires, or forget to honor Your Son, pardon our mistakes. Hear us now as we humbly confess our faults to You alone.

- Silent Confessions -

Guide: Loving Father, left to ourselves, we would do nothing about our need to repent, nor would we change our lives. You Son Jesus challenges our ways and offers us the opportunity to be forgiven of our sins and restored to Your favor. Therefore, in His precious Name, we make these confessions and continue to pray in His own words, saying, “Our Father, Who art in heaven...THE LORD’S PRAYER”  (debts/debtors)

           

Promise of the Gospel:

Guide: Christ came into the world, to reconcile all things to Himself, and to witness to God's everlasting grace. He alone is the Savior of our souls and the Redeemer of the Earth. Let us rejoice and be glad in Him, both now and forever. Amen.

Gloria Patri(sung in unison): Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.

Family Sermon (parents and all children, including Elementary school students come forward)

           

Encountering God

Choir Anthem

Prayers for Health and Healing

Pastor:             Give ear to our words, O Lord, consider our feelings and prayers. Listen to our cries and pleas for help, for You are our King and God.

People:           This morning, O Lord, we lay our requests before You and wait in expectation. We have come into Your house seeking mercy; in reverence we bow before Your presence and ask for healing.

Pastor:             Help us to release our prayers to You and to put all that concerns us into Your hands. Lead us O Lord, in Your righteousness. Make plain Your ways before us, as we pray for our loved ones and ourselves. Heal us from all that harms us in body, mind, heart, and soul.

Silent Prayers for others and ourselves. A candle is lit.

Pastor:             We will take refuge in the Lord and be glad. May He bless us with His favor and love. In Christ's Name, we pray. Amen.

(Healing prayer based on words & phrases from Psalm 5)

           

Singing of ‘Jesus Draw Me Close.’

Prayer of Illumination

Reader:           Holy Spirit, may God speak to us through these sacred words. May we become familiar with His ways and honor the teachings of His Son. In Jesus' Name, we pray.  Amen.

Scripture Readings

The Message & The Apostles' Creed

Serving God

Offering & Offertory

Dedication (unison): Lord Jesus, You call upon us to do everything in a fit and orderly way. We bring before You our tithes and offerings, praying that they may be given to Your service and dedicated for Your work by this congregation. Take these gifts, and our lives, for the glory of God's Kingdom and the life, ministries and missions which You ask us to undertake, accomplish and fulfill.  In Your Holy Name, we give and pray. Amen.            

Communion

Closing Hymn:

Benediction(unison): May our Lord Jesus Christ bring us closer to the Father of all compassion; may the Holy Spirit lead us each day to the One, Triune and Everlasting God of all comfort, joy, and love, both now and forever. Amen.          

Doxology         May God's Blessing & Postlude