SERVICE FOR THE LORD’S DAY
4th Sunday of Advent
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
December 20, 2020 Ten Thirty in the morning
Minister: The Reverend Aaron Ochart
Liturgist: Lorraine Hicks
Please silence all cell phones..
Bold face indicates congregational participation.
GATHERING
WORDS OF WELCOME
MINUTE FOR MISSION Joy Gift Offering
PRELUDE Walcha F Major
ADORATION
CALL TO WORSHIP (responsive) Luke 1:26-49
One: There are many kinds of love in this world:
Many: Between parents and children, with extended family, for friends we have known all our lives,
One: romance pressured by the season, and the selfless kindness of strangers.
Many: We’re all looking for love.
One: The angel called on Mary to bring God-with-us into the world, to love and nurture Jesus.
Many: The conversation started with, “Do not be afraid!”
One: O, make us brave to say it!
Many: Love requires courage.
(Light the first, second, third, and fourth candles.)
One: “Happy is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill the promises he made to her.” (Luke 1:45, CEB)
Many: Our in-breaking God is love.
HYMN 13 “Prepare the Way” Bereden
CONFESSION
CALL TO CONFESSION
SILENT CONFESSION
PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Merciful God, in your gracious presence we confess our sin and the sin of this world. Although Christ is among us as our peace, we are a people divided against ourselves as we cling to the values of a broken world. The profit and pleasures we pursue lay waste the land and pollute the seas. The fears and jealousies that we harbor set neighbor against neighbor and nation against nation. We abuse your good gifts of imagination and freedom, of intellect and reason, and have turned them into bonds of oppression. Lord, have mercy upon us; heal and forgive us. Set us free to serve you in the world as agents of your reconciling love in Jesus Christ.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
GLORIA PATRI 579
PROCLAMATION
FIRST LESSON Romans 8:18-25
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
MESSAGE FOR THE CHILDREN
ANTHEM “Angel Song” Patricia Mock and Jon Paige
Angels soar into the night singing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Fill the earth with heav’nly light singing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Tell the news to ev’ry nation. Celebrate what God has done!
Shepherds listen to the call, bringing glory to the newborn King!
Lift your voices one and all singing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
All the world as one rejoices, lifting carols of joy and praise!
Fill the earth with joyful noises. Glory to the King! Glory to the King! Glory to the newborn King!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
All creatures greet your Lord, singing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Songs of joy have been restored! Singing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
Come and join the celebration. Come and raise your voice as one!
This our cry of jubilation! Glory to the King! Glory to the King! Glory to the newborn King!
SECOND LESSON Luke 1:26-45
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, favored 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 favor 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 forever, 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. 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.”
L: The Word of the Lord.
P: Thanks be to God.
SERMON “Manifesto” Rev. Aaron Ochart
RESPONSE
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
Q1. What is the main purpose for humanity?
- The main purpose for humanity is to glorify and enjoy God forever.
Q2. What rule has God given to tell us how we may glorify and enjoy God?
- The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to tell us how we may glorify and enjoy God.
Q3. What do the Scriptures mainly teach?
A. The Scriptures mainly teach what we are to believe about God, and what duty God requires of us.
Q6. How many Persons are there in the Trinity?
A. There are three Persons in the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
Q14. What is Sin?
- Sin is any lack of obedience to, or violation of, the law of God.
Q18. What does this state of sin mean for humanity?
A. This state of sin means that humanity: bears the guilt of Adam and Eve’s first sin, lacks the righteousness that God intended for us, and that human nature has been corrupted; along with all actual transgressions which result from our fallen nature.
Q21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and human, in two distinct natures, and one Person forever.
Q30. How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
Hymn 23 “Angels We Have Heard on High” Gloria
PARTING PRAYER Prayer of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32)
Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. Amen.
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “Improvisation on O Come, O Come Emanuel”