The Service in PDF format is at: November 29, 2020 Service
Video of service is at: Facebook Video
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT
November 29, 2020
THEME: Welcome to the first day of the new year! “Pastor, it’s not January 1st yet!?!” you might be thinking. It is actually the first day of the Church year—it’s Advent! We will be going through a series to start the year titled, “Stop, Look, and Listen.” Today we begin with “Stop!” As we hear from the prophet Isaiah today, there is a special need for us as God’s people to stop what we are doing so that we may, by the power of the Holy Spirit, recognize once again what is right and good for ourselves each day we live.
RINGING OF THE BELL
OPENING SONG “Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” LBW 34
Previously Recorded
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel.
Oh, come oh come, great Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel
Oh, come, strong Branch of Jesse, free
Your own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell your people save
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel
Oh, come, blest Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by your advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel
Oh, come, O King of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel
INVOCATION AND CALL TO WORSHIP
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: Amen.
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH
L: On the four Sundays in Advent, we light a new candle each week. We mark the four candles with these four words: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus Christ is the hope of all nations.
C: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we hope.
Time for silence as the first candle is lit.
WE CONFESS OUR SIN…
L: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
C: If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in the darkness,
L: We lie and do not live by the truth.
C: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
L: We have fellowship with one another,
C: And the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from sin.
L: Let us confess our sins to God, our merciful Father.
Silence for reflection
L: Heavenly Father,
C: we have sinned against you by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have run from your ways and embraced the darkness of this present evil age. Forgive us for the sake of Jesus your only Son and our only Savior.
…HEARING GOD’S FORGIVENESS
L: Friends in Christ, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In Jesus’ name, you are forgiven and loved with an everlasting love!
C: Amen.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
The Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 1:16-18
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
The Gospel Lesson: Mark 1:1-10
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
L: Thankful for the unfading Light of Christ who has come to save us, let us pray for the Church in all places, for the world, and for the confession of the Gospel, that by his light we may go into all the world saying,
C: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.”
L: Lord of Light, you know that we lose heart, we dwell in the darkness and live in the valley of the shadow of death. Point us to Jesus, whose resurrection announces that,
C: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.”
L: Lord of Light, give us your Holy Spirit, that by him we may be strengthened in our praying, encouraged by his wisdom and sustained in faithful supplication for those who stand in need our prayers (especially…). May these people, too, confess that,
C: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”
L: Lord of Light, you healed the sick, cured the lame, gave sight to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and delivered those who were held in bondage by the devil. Give to our church the zeal and boldness to reach out into our world and say,
C: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”
L: Lord of Light, you were born among us as the Light of the world. Shine in our hearts during this Advent season. Savior, Light of the world, we entrust to you all for whom we pray, commending them to you, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
CLOSING SONG: “Carol For Advent”
Previously Recorded
Words By: Don Besig & Nancy Price, Music by Don Besig, ©MCMXCI by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
Amid the winter’s cold embrace, clothed in a shroud of white,
An anxious world in silence waits through the dark of night.
As the lonely song of a dove echos across the sky above,
we can feel the moment is near; soon the Child of Peace will appear.
What child is this the world awaits with quiet expectation?
When will He come, the promised one, to bring us peace and salvation?
Raise, raise your prayers on high. Prepare His way, the time is nigh
Come, come Emanuel, O Child of Love and Peace
The air grows colder, the light grows dim, dark’ningthe sky above.
But soon the chill of the winter wind will warm with God’s gift of love.
And a star will brighten the sky; songs of joy will Echo on high.
We will know the moment is here; the Child of Love and Peace will appear.
DISMISSAL
L: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!
C: Thanks be to God!