Music for Gathering - Jennifer Brown
Meet Me at the Baptismal Font - Pastor Tucker
Affirmation of Faith - The Nicene Creed - UMH 880
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
through Him, all things were made.
For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and became truly human. For our sake, He was crucified
under Pontius Pilate; He suffered death and was buried.
On the third day, He rose again in accordance with the scriptures;
He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead
and His Kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the is worshiped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets. We believe
in the one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen!
Welcome and Announcements - Pastor Tucker
Advent Hymn - Come, Thou Long–Expected Jesus - UMH 196
Lighting the Candle of Peace
In a world of war, violence, and abuse,
where families live in shelters,
children grow up in fear,
and senior adults suffer needlessly,
we call upon You, O God, to come!
In a world where peace seems to be so far away,
we call upon You, Prince of Peace, to come
In this season of Advent, we wait
for the coming of PEACE into our world.
We await the birth of Emmanuel, God with us,
who comes into our lives in a new way.
Come, Messiah; come and save us!
Light the Candle of Peace
Let us pray …
Dear God, we pray for the peace
that only You can bring through Your Son,
Jesus the Messiah. May we walk
in the path of peace and be instruments
of His peace to others. Amen!
Congregational Response (Tune: Away in a Manger)
A candle is burning, a candle of PEACE
A candle to tell us that conflict must cease.
For Jesus is coming to show us the way,
A message of peace, humbly laid in the hay!
Pastoral Prayer - Pastor Tucker
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven: holy is Your Name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us away from the time of trial and deliver us from evil, for the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours, now and forever. Amen!
A Reading from the Psalter - PS 85
God, You smiled on Your good earth! You brought good times back to Jacob!
You lifted the cloud of guilt from Your people, You put their sins far out of sight!
I can’t wait to hear what He’ll say. God’s about to pronounce His people well, the holy people He loves so much, so they’ll never against live like fools
See how close His salvation is to those who fear Him? Our country is home base for Glory!
Love and Truth meet in the street; Right living and Whole living embrace and kiss!
Truth spouts green from the ground, Right Living pours down from the skies!
Oh yes! God gives goodness and beauty; our land responds with bounty and blessing.
Right Living strides out before Him, and clears a path for His passage.
Congregational Response
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the
beginning, is now and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen!
Hymn - Take My Life, and Let It Be - UMH 399
Scripture - Mark 1:1 – 8 - Pastor Tucker
1-3 The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God begins with the fulfilment of this prophecy of Isaiah — ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’. ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’.
4-5 For John came and began to baptize men in the desert, proclaiming baptism as the mark of a complete change of heart and of the forgiveness of sins. All the people of the Judean countryside and everyone in Jerusalem went out to him in the desert and received his baptism in the river Jordan, publicly confessing their sins.
6-8 John himself was dressed in camel hair, with a leather belt round his waist, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. The burden of his preaching was, “There is Someone coming after me who is stronger than I — indeed I am not good enough to kneel down and undo His shoes. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Sermon - Coming Soon: People Get Ready - Pastor Tucker
Hymn -What Child Is This - UMH 219
Benediction
Music for Departing