Lessons: Paul
Psalm: JoAnn
Prayers of the People: Hannah
FLOWERS:
Buzz Johanson by Lisa Dever
This bulletin includes the order of service for the Season of Advent. The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Lighting of the Advent Wreath
The lighting of the second candle: Peace
O God of Peace, come~
Form us into your Peace-makers.
Enable us to look within ourselves,
to make straight our crooked hearts,
to patiently and lovingly await changes
in ourselves and others.
As you gather us tenderly,
and hold us close,
may we also show that same compassion
to the world.
Fill our hearts with your peace,
and our lives with your love,
that these may flow from our lives
and into our world.
We ask this through Christ,
our Savior and our peace, Amen.
Opening Hymn
Call to Worship and Confession of Sin
Wherever you are, God invites you to hear Her Word of liberation and to celebrate Her feast of communion. Bring your dreams and your musings, your fears and your anger, your trauma and your despair. Come from your sofas, your desks, your porches, your kitchen tables, so that your individual places become God’s beloved community, the living, breathing Body of Christ.
Jesus welcomes everyone to God’s table. Are you ready to meet God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
We’re ready! Loving God, you bring order out of chaos in the world and in our lives. Meet with us in Christ today, change us and send us out to fill your world with love and light and laughter, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In this season of waiting, we come together to experience the grace of God. The only requirements for our participation are our openness and sincerity. As we begin, we come together as a people to confess our sins to God because we all fall short of God’s plan of perfect love. We do not confess to abase ourselves or to avoid punishment. We confess to free our own hearts and minds, so we may remove the barriers between ourselves, our God, and our brothers and sisters.
Lord Jesus, for the wrong things we’ve done, we are sorry. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, for the wrong things we’ve said, we are sorry. Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, for the wrong things we’ve thought, we are sorry. Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
May the God of love bring us back to life, forgive us our sins, and assure us of eternal love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For forgiving us, Lord Jesus: Thank you. For giving us a fresh start, Lord Jesus: Thank you. For helping us next time things are hard, Lord Jesus: Thank you.
Joy to the World. Amen.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Collect of the Day
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Ministry of the Word
Old Testament
A reading from Isaiah 40:1-11
1-2 “Comfort, oh comfort my people,”
says your God.
“Speak softly and tenderly to Jerusalem,
but also make it very clear
That she has served her sentence,
that her sin is taken care of—forgiven!
She’s been punished enough and more than enough,
and now it’s over and done with.”
3-5 Thunder in the desert!
“Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road straight and smooth,
a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
clear out the rocks.
Then God’s bright glory will shine
and everyone will see it.
Yes. Just as God has said.”
6-8 A voice says, “Shout!”
I said, “What shall I shout?”
“These people are nothing but grass,
their love fragile as wildflowers.
The grass withers, the wildflowers fade,
if God so much as puffs on them.
Aren’t these people just so much grass?
True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.”
9-11 Climb a high mountain, Zion.
You’re the preacher of good news.
Raise your voice. Make it good and loud, Jerusalem.
You’re the preacher of good news.
Speak loud and clear. Don’t be timid!
Tell the cities of Judah,
“Look! Your God!”
Look at him! God, the Master, comes in power,
ready to go into action.
He is going to pay back his enemies
and reward those who have loved him.
Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock,
gathering the lambs in his arms,
Hugging them as he carries them,
leading the nursing ewes to good pasture.
Psalm
We follow the responsive recitation method for the Psalm, where the leader alternates verses with the congregation. The items in bold italics are intended for audience response.
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
1-2 God, you smiled on your good earth!
You brought good times back to Jacob!
You lifted the cloud of guilt from your people,
you put their sins far out of sight.
8-9 I can’t wait to hear what he’ll say.
God’s about to pronounce his people well,
The holy people he loves so much,
so they’ll never again live like fools.
See how close his salvation is to those who fear him?
Our country is home base for Glory!
10-13 Love and Truth meet in the street,
Right Living and Whole Living embrace and kiss!
Truth sprouts green from the ground,
Right Living pours down from the skies!
Oh yes! God gives Goodness and Beauty;
our land responds with Bounty and Blessing.
Right Living strides out before him,
and clears a path for his passage.
Epistle
A reading from 2 Peter 3:8-15a
8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.
10 But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a raging inferno, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.
11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.
* * *
14-16 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, who was given much wisdom in these matters, refers to this in all his letters, and has written you essentially the same thing. Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. Irresponsible people who don’t know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it.
The Gospel
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Mark 1:1-8
1-3 The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you;
He’ll make the road smooth for you.
Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!
4-6 John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins. People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life. John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey.
7-8 As he preached he said, “The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out.”
Sermon – The Rev. Fletcher Harper
The Prayers
A Celtic Creed
We believe in God above us, maker and sustainer of all life, of sun and moon, of water and earth, of male and female.
We believe in God beside us, Jesus Christ, the word made flesh, born of a woman, servant of the poor, tortured and nailed to a tree. A man of sorrows, he died forsaken. He descended into the earth to the place of death.
On the third day he rose from the tomb. He ascended into heaven, to be everywhere present, unleashing a universal realm of love that will come on earth.
We believe in God within us, the Holy Spirit of fire, life-giving breath of the Church, Spirit of healing and forgiveness, source of resurrection and of eternal life. Amen.
Prayers of the People
Intercessor: God of many names, God beyond all names; the beginning and the end of every story, the meaning of every life; infinite Mystery both hidden and revealed.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: Blessed are You who join us together in the communion of Christ’s Body. Renew and energize your holy Church, in this congregation and throughout the world, that we may manifest your steadfast love in our common life of praise and service.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: O perfect Wisdom, direct and rule the hearts of the leaders and shapers of society. Raise up prophets of righteousness and peace, and empower your people for the holy vocation of repairing the world. May we entrust all our labors to the work of justice.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: O Deliverer, You unlock every door and make a way where there is no way. Set free all who are afflicted or distressed in body, mind or spirit. Resurrect their hope, grant them peace and refreshment, and restore their joy.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: O Compassionate One, hold us in your mercy: heal the sick, mend the broken, protect the vulnerable, shelter the refugee, strengthen the weary, rescue the lost, and give courage to all who struggle. We remember those who need your help, especially (those on the prayer list), and those we now name silently or aloud [pause]. Please comfort them in their time of need.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: O Lover of souls, when we wander far away, lead us back to You; when we refuse your embrace, do not give up on us; when we forget You, never forget us. We remember those who have died, silently or aloud [pause]. Let those we hold in our hearts be with You in Your heavenly kingdom.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: O Desire of every heart, the answer to every longing: You are the strong force that never lets us go.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Intercessor: God who has come, God who does come, God who is yet to come: Make us an Advent people, ready and alert to welcome and receive You in the stranger’s face, the loving act, the moment of grace, the presence of healing, the birth of possibility, the gift of wonder. Let every heart prepare You room.
Hear us when we pray to you.
Priest: God, You show us the face of divinity, and reveal the fullness of our humanity. Come: renew your creation, restore us all in Christ, and enable us to become who we are, your faithful and loving people. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The Peace
Announcements
The Holy Communion
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2
During the Offertory, a hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung.
Doxology
(Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748), para. of Psalm 117; Music: Old 100th, melody from Pseaumes octante trois de David, 1551, alt.; harm. after Louis Bourgeois (1510?-1561?); Licensed for Use: CCLI Copyright License 20716203; CCLI Streaming License 20716210
Representatives of the congregation bring the people’s offerings of bread and wine, and money or other gifts, to the deacon or celebrant. The people stand while the offerings are presented and placed on the Altar.
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Now let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
How good it is to give thanks and praise.
It is good to give our thanks and praise. It is a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, God Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. You create the world from chaos. By simply speaking, you set the cosmos into motion, and create all things from the dust of stars.
Blessed are you, O God, Creator of heaven and earth.
God of many blessings, you called out a people and then a family to be a blessing to all the people and families of the earth. You gave them land, and promised to make them a great nation so that all of the nations of the world could be blessed.
Blessed are you, God of Abraham and Sarah.
God of salvation, when the people were but slaves in Egypt you called upon your servant Moses. You gave him the power to speak salvation to the Pharoah, and led your people out of slavery. You led them over the water, and helped them Passover into freedom. When the people were hungry, you gave them food from the sky. When the people were thirsty, you brought forth water from the rocks. When the people were disordered and chaotic, you gave them the Law.
Blessed are you, God of our salvation.
You anointed prophets, who spoke the truth to power, and called the people to remember who and whose they were. The prophets warned the people of the consequences of injustice and false worship. When the people fell into exile, the prophets spoke words of hope and restoration when all around them, there was nothing but despair.
A voice is crying out: “Clear the Lord’s way in the desert! Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God!
You promised the coming of an anointed one, who would lead the people to peace and righteousness. You promised that out of Bethlehem would come the Prince of Peace. You promised the coming of your Realm, when “swords would be beaten into plows, and spears into pruning hooks.”
“Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”
And so, in hopeful anticipation, we give thanks to you, God of Creation, God of Abraham and Sarah, God of the Prophets, God of hope and deliverance, God of us all. We join in praise and come together to sing of the saints of glory.
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord. God of power and might, heaven and earth are shining bright with the glory of your light. Blessed is the coming one, Christ Emmanuel your son. Glory in the highest. Holy God, your name is blessed.
Holy are you, and holy is your Son Jesus Christ, who is the Word made flesh, the one to whom John pointed in the wilderness, born to us in a manger when there was no room in the inn, who came to show us the way to your love. He proclaimed good news to the poor. He restored the sight to the blind. He called the children to his side, taught the women, ate with sinners, and called out the religious leaders blinded by the letter of the Law.
Holy are you, and Holy is your Son Jesus Christ.
Jesus was betrayed by those who loved him, persecuted by those who feared him, crucified by those who thought that his death would be the end of him. On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
“Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And when the supper was over, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples and said:
“Drink from this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
And so, in remembrance of these mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood. Make us a people secure in what has come, and hopeful for what is yet to be. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world. Keep us vigilant in our Advent waiting until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
And now, in the words that Jesus taught us, we pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven. hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kindgom come.
Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Breaking of the Bread
Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
Therefore let us keep the feast.
These are the gifts of God for you, the people of God.
The congregation receives communion.
(AT THE COMMUNION: We encounter the Real Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this Sacrament of Holy Communion. All who desire a closer relationship with God are encouraged to come forward: for a Blessing or, if you are baptized, for the Bread and Wine. NOTE: Until all restrictions have been lifted, only the bread is offered for communion.)
(Please wait for an usher until forming a distanced line in the aisle and come forward to receive from the priest.)
Prayer after Communion
Gracious God, you are the author and giver of all good things. We give you thanks for the gift of life, for the meal we shared, and for reconnecting us as your people. Keep us nourished by this meal and this community. Keep us grounded in the ways in which you feed us, and in the ways we are all hungry. We pray these things through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Blessing
Closing Hymn
Dismissal
Portions written by Robb McCoy, at http://www.fatpastor.me”
More Light Sunday 2021 at https://mlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/MLP_Sunday_2021_Order_worship.pdf