Sunday, December 5th, 2021
Advent 2 - Laying Down the Foundation for Peace
Watch this Service at: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca/live
Leading us today in worship:
Minister: Rev. Christine Smaller
Music Director: Dr. Christopher Burton
Scripture Reader: Jim Oliver
Advent Speakers: Grace Choir
Candle Lighters: Marilyn & Paul Parkin
Leader: regular font ~ All: bold font ~ Sung Words: bold italic font
Please hand sanitize on entry and exit.
Use one of the pew cushions if uncomfortable.
You are welcome to respond in prayers and to sing the hymns while wearing a mask throughout the entire service.
Prelude:
Three Little Preludes ~ J.S. Bach
Advent Candle-Lighting
(The first purple candle – hope – is lit)
(spoken in rhythm)
Speaker 1: ‘Twas the month before Christmas,
and all through God’s place,
the people were running –
not a moment for grace!
Speaker 2: There was so much to be done,
oh yes, so much to do –
carols to be sung,
Christmas cookies to be chewed through!
Speaker 1: The wreath was ready,
candles purple and white
with a touch of a match
to blaze out the Christ light!
Speaker 2: But something was missing,
in all of our rush –
what was it I wondered,
what was it –
All: OH HUSH!
Speaker 1: (long pause) In the silence that fell,
I knew what we’d miss,
in our great to – and fro-ing,
if we didn’t desist….
All: PEACE!
Speaker 2: Peace in our hearts.
All: Peace in our lives!
(The second purple candle – Peace – is lit)
Candle Lighting Hymn: VU 7 Hope is a Star V.1 & 2
1. Hope is a star that shines in the night,
leading us on till the morning is bright.
Refrain:
When God is a child there’s joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.
2. Peace is a ribbon that circles the earth,
giving a promise of safety and worth.
Refrain:
When God is a child there's joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.
Welcome & Territorial Acknowledgement
Call to Worship:
If life was a home, then we would pray—
may love be the foundation.
May God be the cornerstone.
May the Spirit be the windows—ushering light in.
And may hope be the walls—holding us together.
In this hour of worship,
let us work toward building that home together.
We may not know the path ahead,
but God is here, even now.
Let us give thanks for a foundation of love.
Let us worship Holy God.
Candy Cane Blessing
Opening Hymn: VU 44 It Came upon the Midnight Clear
1. 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.
2. Still through the cloven skies they come
with peaceful wings unfurled;
and still their heavenly music floats
o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains
they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er it Babel sounds
the blessed angels sing.
3. Yet with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the angel strain have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not
the love song which they bring.
O hush the noise, and cease your strife,
to hear the angels sing.
4. 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 splendours fling;
and the whole world send back the song
which now the angels sing.
Prayer of Confession:
Holy God,
When John was Born, Zechariah leaned down and whispered words of love into his ear. We know that you do the same for us, day in and day out, yet we fail to hear it.
We forget that in the beginning we were made good.
We doubt that we could possibly be enough.
We hustle for our self-worth
and wear ourselves out aiming for perfection.
We deflect words of praise.
We hide behind shiny first impressions.
Forgive us. Trusting our worth is the hardest job.
Open our ears as you open our hearts,
so that we might rest on the foundation of goodness you have laid for us.
Gratefully we pray, amen.
Words of Assurance:
Family of faith,
No matter how old we get,
God continues to say to us:
“You are loved; you are forgiven.”
That is the foundation of our lives.
That is the truth upon which we build our home.
So breathe deeply. There is grace and peace here.
Join me in proclaiming this good news:
We are loved. We are forgiven. We are claimed.
This is our foundation.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Illumination:
God, who speaks a good news language—
we admit, listening has never been our greatest gift.
We are easily distracted,
our minds run a million miles a minute.
we doubt your faith in us,
and take the easy way out when it comes to hope.
So today we bow our heads and ask for help.
Settle our hearts.
Quiet our minds.
Steady our breathing.
Help us to rest in you.
Help us to listen for your good news.
Gratefully we pray,
Amen.
Readings:
Malachi 3:1-4
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Luke 1:57-80
Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Response:
The Word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Musical Interlude:
All Earth Is Waiting ~ Taulé
Sermon
Laying the Foundation for Peace
Hymn: VU 577 I’ve Got Peace Like a River
1. I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river in-a my soul.
I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river,
I've got peace like a river in-a my soul.
2. I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain,
I've got joy like a fountain in-a my soul.
I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain,
I've got joy like a fountain in-a my soul.
3. I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean,
I've got love like an ocean in-a my soul.
I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean,
I've got love like an ocean in-a my soul.
Prayers of the People The Lord’s Prayer:
As a child turns to a loving caregiver who watches over them, we turn in prayer to you O God, who are our heavenly parent, our mother,
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 trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Passing the Peace:
The Peace of Christ be with you all.
And also with you.
Everyone is invited to share the peace of Christ by offering a message in the chat box.
You may also wish to think of someone you would like to pass the peace to this week.
Music while we share the Peace of Christ:
Improvisation on a Hymn ~ C. Burton
Invitation to the Offering:
Zechariah gave one of the greatest gifts he could give to his son.
He gave him a foundation of love—words of purpose, pride, love, and belonging.
So, in turn, remembering that joyful day,
we try to make a similar impact by giving what we can.
And we pray that the gifts we give now—
our time, our money, our talents—
will be infused by the Spirit to make a more purposeful world of love and belonging that we can be proud of.
So let us give now.
Let this be the foundation—the very start—of a better world.
Prayer of Dedication:
Holy God,
You are our home.
You and your goodness are the place we return to, the place we long to lay our head.
So today as we offer you these gifts, we pray that you would take this offering and turn it into ministry.
Use these gifts to transform the world we live in to better reflect the home you have envisioned for us—a home of peace, a home built on the foundation of love.
Gratefully we pray, amen.
Offerings may be placed in the offering plate at the back of the sanctuary as you leave the service.
Donate online: www.graceunitedthornbury.ca, select “Give”
or contact the office by email: accounting@graceunitedthornbury.ca
or phone: 519-599-2438 to arrange a cheque pick-up, or an e-transfer
Mail: Grace UC, 140 Bruce St. S. PO Box 219, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0
Care, Prayer, Share
Announcements:
“Bubble Up”- as numbers in attendance increase... if you choose, you are welcome to sit with others in your bubble giving us greater capacity. If you prefer not to be on camera during the service, please let the tec team know.
Closing Hymn: VU 38 Angels We Have Heard on High
1. Angels we have heard on high
sweetly singing o'er the plains,
and the mountains in reply,
echoing their joyous strains.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
which inspire your heavenly song?
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ whose birth the angels sing;
come, adore on bended knee
Christ, the Lord, the newborn King.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
4. See him in a manger laid,
whom the choirs of angels praise;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
while our hearts in love we raise.
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Commissioning and Benediction
Advent Sung Blessing: VU 964 Go now in peace
Go now in peace, go now in peace.
May the love of God surround you everywhere,
everywhere you may go. (Sing 2x)
Postlude:
Feuillet d'album ~ Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
******
RESOURCES USED (all with permission):
Prayers and Liturgies:
- Advent Candle Lighting Liturgy: Written by Richard Bott. Gathering, Advent / Christmas / Epiphany 2015-2016, page 60. Used with permission.
- Call to Worship: Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC1 sanctifiedart.org.
- Prayer of Confession & Words of Assurance: Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC| sanctifiedart.org.
- Prayer of Dedication: Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed | A Sanctified Art LL sanctifiedart.org.
- Pastoral Prayer: C. Smaller
Hymns and Sung Responses:
- “Hope is a Star:” Words: Brian Wren 1985. Music: Joan Collier Fogg 1987. Words and music copyright © 1989 Hope Publishing Company One License #608577
- “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear:” Words: Edmund Hamilton Sears 1849, alt. Music: Richard Storrs Willis 1850 Public Domain
- “I’ve Got Peace Like a River:” Words: African-American spiritual. Music: African-American spiritual. Public Domain
- “Angels We Have Heard on High:” Words: French trad.; trans. James Chadwick 1860. Music: French carol melody; arr. Edward Shippen Barnes 1937. Public Domain.
- “Go Now In Peace:’ Words and music copyright © 1976 Hinshaw Music, Inc. One License #608577
Scripture Passage from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
Prelude: Three Little Preludes. J.S. Bach
Interlude: All Earth Is Waiting Words: Catalonian, Alberto Taulé 1972; English trans. Gertrude C. Suppe 1987, alt. Music: Alberto Taulé 1972, harm. Skinner Chavez-Melo Words and music copyright © 1993 Centro de Pastoral Liturgica. Translation copyright ©1989 The United Methodist Publishing Harmony copyright ©1989 Skinner Chavez-Melo. Used by permission of Juan-FranciscoChavez
Passing of the Peace: Improvisation on a Hymn C. Burton
Postlude: Feuillet d'album Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
