Service for the
Lord’s Day, December 28, 2008
1st
Sunday after Christmas 10:30 a.m.
GATHER
IN GOD’S NAME
PRELUDE Carol Medley arr. M. Hayes
Joy to the World G. F. Handel/T. Smith
WELCOME, REGISTRATION &
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CARILLON
*CALL TO WORSHIP
from Isaiah 61: 10 (The Message)
I
will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul!
He dressed me up in a suit of
salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom who puts on a
tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara.
For as the earth bursts with spring
wildflowers,
and as a garden cascades with blossoms,
so the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom
and puts praise on display before the nations.
LIGHTING THE CHRIST CANDLE
*HYMN # 53 Once in Royal David’s City
*PRAYER OF WHO WE ARE AND WHOSE WE ARE Litanies
O Comforter of the world’s peoples, we tarry in your
temple, awaiting a sign.
You have long promised that those
who hunger after righteousness shall not taste death
until after their
deliverance. But death swaggers now outside our door, taunting us with
each strike of the clock.
On
this day we, who have seen so much with our eyes, have seen all with our
hearts. We who have seen the dusk of so many old days
have seen the dawn of a new
day. We, O God, have seen our salvation.
We
easily could have not seen. Not
because of tired eyes, but because of weary
spirits. Time violates the heart; the advance of years
breeds the anxieties of age.
Oh, to be children again! To be cradled in the arms of
our fathers, to be lifted by the
arms of our mothers! To be strangers once again in our
parents’ world!
But our childhood has vanished. We were groping for
your new world, O God—but
this is not what we expected.
You sent us no armies of angels to fight our fights, no yellow
brick roads to show us the
way, no earthquakes to topple our great walls of fear. No, to
save us, you sent us what we
had lost: You sent the child into our hearts, and we lifted the
child into our arms and
blessed your name.
This
child is only one of many born among us, only one of many you have called
holy, only one of many we have seen. Yet this child,
whom we have seen with our
hearts, has brought
joy to all the world. O Lord, keep the child within us safe, lest we
destroy the child you sent to save us.
The joy and peace of the Lord
Jesus Christ be with you.
Peace be with
you.
(worshipers
exchange signs and words of the peace of Christ)
LESSON FROM THE OLD
TESTAMENT Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3
(NRSV)
MOMENT WITH THE YOUNG
HYMN # 603
Song of Simeon
LESSON FROM THE GOSPEL
Luke
2: 21-40 (NRSV)
SERMON
“Two
Turtledoves…”
Simeon
And
because of His visitation, we may no longer desire God as if He were
lacking:
our redemption is no longer a question of pursuit but of surrender to
Him
who is always and everywhere present. Therefore, at every moment we
pray
that, following Him, we may depart from our anxiety into His peace.
-W.H. Auden
OFFERING OURSELVES TO THE
ONE WHO IS AND WHO COMES
Call to Respond
OFFERTORY Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion G. F. Handel
Prayer
dedicating ourselves and our gifts to God
PRAYERS OF THANKS AND ASKING, THE LORD’S PRAYER Hymnal p. 16
*HYMN # 603
Song of Simeon
*CHARGE
Later, by Ann Weems
*BLESSING adapted from Luke 2
POSTLUDE
(Please feel free to
leave quietly at beginning of Postlude,
even though some choose to remain seated to
listen.)
|
Liturgists |
Fred Shaffer |
|
Sermon |
Rev. Jonathan C. Siehl |
|
Moment with the
Young |
Hope Boring |
|
Musical
Leadership |
Sarah Shaffer, Choirmaster & Soprano Nancy Deeth, Organ/Piano |
|
Head Usher |
Dick
Dull |