Welcome to New Hope United Methodist Church December 21, 2014

Today: ♫ Caroling, 4:30 p.m. – meet in parking lot Youth Group, 5:30 p.m. Monday: Prayer Meeting, 7 p.m. – All are welcome Wednesday:Candlelight Christmas Eve Services, 5 & 7 p.m. Mark Your Calendar! 100 th Anniversary Homecoming! May 17 th, 2015

Meditation

Musical Prelude In the Bleak Midwinter (arr Larry Shackley)

Choral Introit Until Jesus Comes Choir

Lighting the Advent Candle Nell, Doug and Tracey Sullivan Light One Candle for Waiting Children’s Choir

Call to Worship Canticle of Mary Hymnal # 234 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

Call to Worship The glory of the Lord shall be revealed; all flesh shall see it together. One:My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, Many: my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, who has looked with favor on me, a lowly servant. One:From this day all generations shall call me blessed:

Call to Worship (cont) Many: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is the name of the Lord, whose mercy is on those who fear God from generation to generation. One:The arm of the Lord is strong, and has scattered the proud in their conceit. Many: God has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.

Call to Worship (cont) One:God has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich empty away. Many: God has come to the aid of Israel, the chosen servant, remembering the promise of mercy, the promise made to our forebears, to Abraham and his children for ever.

O Come, All Ye Faithful Hymnal # 234 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, to Bethlehem.

Come and behold him, Born the King of angels; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal, lo, he shuns not the Virgin’s womb;

Son of the Father, begotten, not created; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation; O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!

Glory to God, all glory in the highest; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

See how the shepherds, summoned to his cradle, leaving their flocks, Draw nigh to gaze;

we too will thither bend our joyful footsteps; O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Opening Prayer O Holy God, our very waiting in Advent is itself a confession: If we are waiting for Emmanuel, we are not yet with you; if we are waiting for Jesus, we need a Savior; if we are waiting for a Messiah, the proud are still powerful, the mighty are still exalted, the hungry stand unheard at the door;

Opening Prayer (cont) if we are waiting for your incarnation in human form, we confess that we have not known you in our sister, we have not loved you in our brother, we have not served you in our neighbor. In the stillness of Advent love and light, hear our deepest confession; heal us and make us new through the good tidings of your presence in our lives. Amen.

Special Music Silent Night Children’s Chime Choir

Children’s Time Chris Roehl

In the Bleak Midwinter Hymnal # 221 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago

Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there, cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;

But his mother only, in her maiden bliss, worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what I can I give him: give my heart.

Offertory O Come, All Ye Faithful (arr Jerry Ray)

Traditional Praise Response Hymnal #95 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Prayers of the People Responses: Joys: Thanks be to God! Concerns: Lord, have mercy. Silent Prayer

Hymnal #895 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

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, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Gloria Patria Hymnal #70 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

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.

Special Music Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine Chime Choir

Luke 1:26-28 NIV In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:29-32 NIV Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.

Luke 1:26-35 NIV The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Luke 1:35-38 NIV So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Luke 2:1-4 NIV In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David,

Luke 2:4-7 NIV because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Special Music Selections from Go Tell It! (Jack Schrader) Overture / Still, Still, Still Mary Did You Know? / Silent Night Choir

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Hymnal #218 Used By Permission. CCLI License #

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 men, 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 weary world;

above its sad and lowly plains, the bend on hovering wing, and ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,

look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing!

For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophet 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 send back the song now the angels sing.

Benediction