Third Sunday of Advent

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, humanity will have discovered fire.” ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

PRELUDE: God Rest Ye Gentlemen
Arranged by Dan Coates
(c) 2015 Alfred Music
GREETING

PSALM 27 Liz Carey
(from Christine Robinson’s Psalms for a New World)

You are my light and my salvation
Whom then shall I fear?
You are the strength of my life
of what shall I be afraid?

Trials, enemies, changes, difficulties—
they rise up and they resolve
Therefore—
I will trust you
I will wait for you
I will seek you.

PRAYER

Ever-present Spirit of Creation, help us to wait with hope and eager expectation. Help us to trust in your presence and your call to us. May we find ways to let go of the urge to try and control our own lives, and to know the benefit of centered patience in these uncertain times. May we have the eyes to see all the marvelous things that are happening in our lives, even as we wait, and to appreciate the gifts through which we are called toward your loving light. Help us to cling to that love through the hard moments of our waiting, to bring peace into each situation, and to stay on the path even in the troubling moments. For you are a patient spirit and we would be your patient people as well. Amen

HYMN #44 O Little Town of Bethlehem
John & Bella Cummings

INTRO

SCRIPTURE: Luke 1:39-56 Gloria Bordeaux-Pacholec

HYMN #56 The First Noel
Tanya Blansett & Ethan McCabe

SERMON

PRAYER MUSIC: Whiter Than Snow
by William G. Fischer, James Koerts, arr.
(c) 2012 Alfred’s Sacred Performer

PASTORAL PRAYER

QUESTION and BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: O Come All Ye Faithful
by Cindy Berry, arr.
(c) 2013 Alfred’s Sacred Performer