Fourth Sunday in Advent
The Presbyterian Church, 142 N. 4th. Street, Coshocton, OH 43812
Pastor Karen Crawford
Mark Wagner, Organist
April King and John, Mason, Jacob and Jonah Gano, Liturgists/Candle Lighters
Prelude: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming….arranged, Michael Bedford
Greeting/Announcements
Hymn: Prepare the Way …Michael Burkhardt
Lighting the Advent Wreath: April King; John, Mason, Jacob and Jonah Gano
Light one candle for love.
Hymn: Prepare the Way …Michael Burkhardt
Opening Sentences and Gathering Prayer: Jonah Gano and April King
An angel spoke to Mary: “Do not be afraid!”
The child she carries will be God’s son, and the world will never be the same.
An angel spoke to Mary: “Do not be afraid!”
God was with her, and God is with us, drawing us into worship and praise.
Hymn: Love Has Come…. Ken Bible
Love has come: a light in the darkness! Love shines forth in the Bethlehem skies.
See, all heaven has come to proclaim it; hear how their song of joy arises:
Love! Love! Born unto you, a Savior! Love! Love! Glory to God on high.
Love is born! Come, share in the wonder. Love shines forth in the Bethlehem skies.
See the glow in the eyes of his mother; what is the name her heart is saying?
Love! Love! Love is the name she whispers. Love! Love! Jesus, Emmanuel.
Love has come: and never will leave us! Love is life everlasting and free. Love is Jesus within and among us. Love is the peace our hearts are seeking. Love! Love! Love is the gift of Christmas. Love! Love! Praise to you, God on high!
Call to Confession/Prayer of Confession/Assurance
An angel spoke to Mary: “Do not be afraid!” And yet, O Lord, we find ourselves paralyzed by fear of what we do not know. Forgive us of our sins, O Lord, and give us the faith of Mary to respond to your grace with lives of grateful praise. Let us hear the good news that she first heard: Light is breaking. Love is coming. The world is about to turn! Amen.
Hymn: Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming… Arr. by Norlan Bewley
Time with Children and Youth
Meet Our Church Family: Judy Addy talks about our needlepoint Christmas ornament tradition at The Presbyterian Church.
The ornaments are made by volunteers for our church families and are usually passed out at our Christmas Eve service. This year, the ornaments will be delivered to members’ homes.
Prayer for Illumination and Readings: Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:46-55
This is the gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ!
Solo: Sweet Little Jesus Boy… Robert MacGimsey (Debbie Clark, soloist; Alice Hoover, piano)
Reading: Luke 1:26–38 with Pastor Karen
And the Word became flesh and lived among us. Thanks be to God!
Message: Light One Candle for Love
Hymn: My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout… Rory Cooney
Sung by the congregation of First Plymouth Church, Lincoln Nebraska, led by the Wartburg Choir on November 4, 2018. Arrangement by John Ferguson. Tom Trenney, organist. Used with permission.
My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great,
and my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the ones who wait.
You fixed your sight on you servant’s plight, and my weakness you did not spurn,
so from east to west shall my name be blest. Could the world be about to turn?
Refrain: My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.
Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me,
and your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be.
Your very name puts the proud to shame, and to those who would for you yearn,
you will show your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn.
Refrain
Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
till the spear and rod can be crushed by God who is turning the world around.
Refrain
Affirmation of Faith: Adapted from the Confession of 1967, 9.19
Out of Israel, God in due time raised up Jesus. His faith and obedience were the response of the perfect child of God. He was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel, the beginning of the new creation, and the pioneer of the new humanity. He gave history its meaning and direction and called the church to be his servant for the reconciliation of the world.
Prayers of the People
Watching and waiting for the coming of Christ, we pray for the promise of a new creation, saying: Come quickly, Lord; our hope is in you. With expectation, we pray for the church . . .Fill our mouths with the song of your unending love. May we never stop proclaiming your faithfulness from one generation to another. Come quickly, Lord; our hope is in you.
With expectation, we pray for the world . . Come and dwell among all the people of the world. As you made your home with your people in ancient times, make your home among us now. Come quickly, Lord; our hope is in you.
With expectation, we pray for this community . . .By your power at work in us, use usto bring healing and freedom, liberation and comfort, and to share the good news that you walk in our streets. Come quickly, Lord; our hope is in you.
With expectation, we pray for loved ones . . .Remember those who are hurting or searching. Even when they feel that all is lost hold their desires and dreams in your heart. Come quickly, Lord; our hope is in you.
God our hope, as the promised day approaches, fill us with the joy of your Holy Spirit and strengthen us to serve you faithfully; through Christ, who is coming to reign and taught us to pray…
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.
Invitation to the Offering
Offertory: Bring a Torch, Jeannette Isabella….arranged, Alfred V. Fedak
Today’s offertory and postlude come from An Advent Christmas Suite, Alfred Fedak is organist at Westminster Presbyterian Church on Capitol Hill in Albany, NY. His arrangements of these “Christmas hymns” have some unusual harmonies and rhythms to remind us that we are still in the season of preparation and waiting, even though we know Christmas is near. This year, Advent is even more symbolic of the world we are living in. Take heart that this is only a season. Just as the music eventually finds its way to a harmonious ending chord, we will one day be allowed to worship together again.
Prayer of Thanksgiving/Dedication
Holy God, your love is magnified in the gift of your Son, whom you so freely share with us. Bless these gifts that we offer to lift up the lowly and fill the hungry in your coming reign of justice and peace; in Christ’s name. Amen.
Hymn: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear… Edmund Hamilton Sears
It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to all, from heaven’s all gracious King”:
The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come, with peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats o’er all the wary world:
above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.
For lo, the days are hastening on, by prophets seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold,
when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.
Charge and Benediction
Postlude: God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen…arranged, Alfred V. Fedak
Sharing God's Love and Grace 