Please join us for our In-Person and Virtual Worship Service today for our 3rd service in Advent.
Please ensure you have read the updated entrance policy if planning to join us in person. https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/port-wallis-news/entrancepolicy
If you know anyone who wants to register for the services, they can signup at https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/virtual as everyone logging in needs their own registration. ALL are welcome!
During Advent ALL virtual services will be held in the same ZOOM webinar room as our regular Sunday Services. However, you will not get the Zoom reminder, so pleae be sure to save one of your weekly reminders with the links. More details are here. https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/port-wallis-news/important-notice-advent-services
Service Documents to view/print at home.
Advent 3 – JOY 12 December 2021
Port Wallis United Church is an open Congregation that affirms you as a child of God,
made in God’s Image, and loved by God.
WORDS OF WELCOME / BIENVENUE / FAILTE / PJILA’DIK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND
We acknowledge that we are meeting in Mi’kma’ki,
the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People.
LIGHTING OF A CHRIST CANDLE (for use at home and together on Sunday morning)
You, O God, are light shining in the darkness of the universe,
guiding us onward from what was to what can be. May this candle, whether lit or unlit,
remind me of your presence and bring me comfort in every day.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Holy God, who is wholly Mystery, is calling us.
With those who have gone before us, with those who are around us,
and with those throughout the world who are with us now,
we will gather with God.
Incarnate God, who is appearing in human flesh, is calling us.
With those who have gone before us, with those who are around us,
and with those throughout the world who are with us now,
we will gather with God.
Inspiring God, who is breathing new life into each of us, is calling us.
With those who have gone before us, with those who are around us,
and with those throughout the world who are with us now,
we will gather with God.
GATHERING MUSIC (tune at # 37 in Voices United)
Gloria, gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, gloria, alleluia! alleluia!
Glory to God! Glory to God! Glory in the Highest!
Glory to God! Glory to God! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Gloria. Music: Jacques Berthier, arr. Darryl Nixon. Music copyright © 1978, 1980, 1981 Les Presses de Taize. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
PRAYER OF APPROACH and the LORD’S PRAYER
Eternal God, You are the Sender of light in the midst of darkness,
the Bringer of joy in the midst of worries,
and the Giver of direction in the midst of confusion. Send your Holy Spirit among us that together we may be guided on your journey home to You.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray before You, saying,
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father….. Notre Père….. Ar n-Athair…. 주님의 기도 Fader vår….
Ons Vader…. Onze Vader… Vater unser… Padre Nostro… Padre nuestro…
主の祈り 主禱文 أَبَانَا Isä meidän Πάτερ ἡμῶν Baba yetu
HYMN # 9 (VU) PEOPLE LOOK EAST THE TIME IS NEAR
People, look east. The time is near Of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able, Trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the guest, is on the way.
Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare, One more seed is planted there:
Give up your strength the seed to nourish, That in course the flow’r may flourish.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the rose, is on the way.
Birds, though you long have ceased to build, Guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the bird, is on the way.
Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim One more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather, Bright as sun and moon together.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the star, is on the way.
Angels, announce with shouts of mirth Christ who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming With the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east and sing today: Love, the Lord, is on the way.
People Look East. Words copyright © David Higham Associates. Harmony copyright © 1928 Oxford University Press. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All Rights Reserved.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Most merciful Redeemer, faithful Friend of all who turn to God,
You lift up the fallen,
heal the broken hearted and restore the penitent,
with tender compassion and greater understanding,
look upon each of us, who turn to You now.
Set us free from the weight of yesterday,
From the burdens we have carried for far too long,
from the sins that have ensnared us for far too long,
and from the personal and private thorns that have stung us for far too long.
Set before us the pathway that leads us home.
Give us courage to begin a new journey,
looking forward to the destination,
and trusting in the previous forgiveness we have experienced from you.
Hear now our silent confession that we make in the Presence of Jesus Christ our Lord.
SILENT CONFESSION and ASSURANCE OF PARDON
LIGHTING OF THE THIRD ADVENT CANDLE ~ JOY
We are the people of God, perfect and imperfect,
Holy creations and wholly belonging to God.
We come with fear and faith, worry and wonder,
And we come with JOY, knowing that we belong to God.
God gives us light, not to be sheltered but to be shared,
So with joyful expectation and joy-filled hearts,
we turn to God who has created a place for us to belong
and is here to greet us with JOY.
Congregational Recitation as the Candle of JOY is lit:
The candle of joy’s light reminds us of home,
from where God is calling for all who would roam
The proud will be humbled; the lowly will rise.
God’s kingdom is one of delight and surprise.
Sung response ( # 6 in Voices United)
A candle is burning, a candle of joy,
A candle to welcome brave Mary’s new boy,
Our hearts fill with wonder, and eyes light and glow,
As joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow.
A Candle Is Burning. Words copyright © Sandra Dean 1986. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
First Testament: Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20
Responsive Lesson ~ Isaiah 12: 2 – 6
Reader, Congregation, Choir (and Congregation)
Come, shout aloud and sing for joy!
The Holy One is among us!
Surely the LORD is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The LORD and none other is my strength and inspiration;
God has become my salvation.
With joy, I will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And the thirst of my soul will be quenched.
Come, shout aloud and sing for joy!
The Holy One is among us!
In that day you will say:
“Give praise to the LORD, proclaim God’s Holy Name;
make known among the peoples of the earth what God has done.
Come, shout aloud that the Name of God is to be exalted.
Come, shout aloud and sing for joy!
The Holy One is among us!
Sing to the LORD, for God has done glorious things;
let the works of the LORD be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel who is among you.”
Come, shout aloud and sing for joy!
The Holy One is among us!
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen.
Epistle Lesson: Philippians 4: 4 – 7
Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 39 – 45 (The Baby leaped for Joy)
A TEACHING TIME (a time of learning for younger folk)
TEACHING PRAYER
In peace, dear God, I come to You through Jesus Christ who makes me new
And while I run or play or rest, be with those whom I love best,
Guide me in your Holy Way, as You walk with me each day, AMEN.
HYMN # 12 (VU) SHE WALKED IN THE SUMMER
She walked in the summer through the heat on the hill.
She hurried as one who went with a will.
She danced in the sunlight when the day was done.
Her heart knew no evening Who carried the Son.
Fresh as a flower at the first ray of dawn,
She came to Her cousin whose morning was gone.
But there leapt a little child in the ancient womb
And there leapt a little hope in every ancient tomb.
Hail, little sister, who heralds the spring.
Hail, brave Mother, who carries the King.
Hail to the moment beneath Your breast.
May all generations call You blessed.
When you walk in the summer through the heat on the hill,
When your wound with the wind and one with His will – be brave
with the burdens you are blessed to bear, for it’s Christ that you carry
everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.
She Walked in the Summer. Words and Music: Miriam Therese Winter. Accompaniment by Nan Thompson. Words and music copyright © 1968 Medical Mission Sisters. Accompaniment copyright © 1995 Nan Thompson. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
REFLECTION
STATEMENT OF FAITH
We are not alone. We live in God’s world.
We believe in God:
Who has created and is creating,
Who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
To reconcile and make new;
Who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the Church;
To celebrate God’s Presence,
To live with respect in creation,
To love and serve others,
To seek justice and resist evil,
To proclaim Jesus,
Crucified and risen, our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
ANTHEM ~
OFFERTORY PRAYER
Almighty and ever-present God,
receive the gifts we offer, both visible and invisible,
and use them and us
for Your Glory and the good of all people.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
PASTORAL PRAYER
HYMN # 8 (VU) LO, HOW A ROSE E’ER BLOOMING
Lo, how a rose, e’er blooming, from tender stem hath sprung,
of Jesse’s lineage coming as seers of old have sung.
It came a blossom bright, amid the cold of winter when half spent was the night.
Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind,
with Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright she bore for us a Saviour when half-spent was the night.
PARTING PRAYER (in unison)
Bless to us, O God, this day,
The doors we open, the thresholds we cross, and all the roads that lie before us.
Go with us always as we go and,
at the close of our day, welcome us home.
EXTINGUISHING OF THE CANDLE
We are reminded that the Light of Christ is not in candles nor institutions
but within each of us. We are the Light of the World
BENEDICTION
May the blessing of the Maker be yours,
Encircling us, above us and within us.
May the blessing of the Son be yours,
The Wine and the water, the Bread and the stories,
to feed us and remind us.
May the blessing of the Spirit be yours,
The wind and the fire, the still small voice of calm,
to comfort us & disturb us.
May the blessing of God, Three-in-One and One-in-Three,
be yours, this day and every day,
To protect us, defend us, encourage us and strengthen us.
And may we bless each other,
A blessing rooted in our common pilgrimage,
the blessing of a friend.
EXCHANGING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST
Mention someone’s name and hold them in your heart.
CHORAL PRAYER (Singing – Tune is at # 298 in Voices United) (Canada)
When you walk from here,
When you walk from here,
Walk with Justice, walk with Mercy,
And with God’s Humble Care. Linnea Good 1991
Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE,
License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
We will continue with the Virtual service option using the same links and registration process as we have in place now. Register at www.portwallisunitedchurch.ca/virtual
We now require “Proof of Vaccination” and a “Government issued ID” for IN-Person Worship Services.