We welcome everyone to our In-Person and Virtual Worship Service this Sunday with Communion.
If you know anyone who wants to register for the virtual services, they can signup at https://portwallisunitedchurch.ca/virtual as everyone logging in needs their own registration. ALL are welcome!
Masks/vaccinations are highly encouraged for in-person services
Service Documents to view/print at home.
View the entire list of Advent Services here.
Advent 1 27 November 2022
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.
WELCOME / BIENVENUE / FAILTE / PJILA’DIK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LAND
LIGHTING OF THE TABLE CANDLES
God of Radiance, may these candles remind us of your Light
shining in the darkness, leading us the Christ,
the Light of the World, in whose Name we gather, Amen.
GATHERING MUSIC (tune # 82 In Voices United)
A light is gleaming, spreading its arms throughout the night
Living in the Light!
Come share its gladness, God’s radiant love is burning bright,
Living in the Light!
LIGHTING OF THE FIRST ADVENT CANDLE – HOPE
Hope admits that we are not there yet. We are pilgrims on the journey to our destination.
Hope means that something good is within our reach
but we are not there yet.
Hope calls out to us, encouraging and beckoning, envisioning a future that is not here yet.
Hope offers us a foretaste of what can be, inspiring us on a journey to a reality that is not here yet.
We are a people of hope.
In the future lies the certainty of a baby,
not here yet but on the way.
We are pregnant with possibilities, dreaming of what can be, preparing for what is not here yet.
We are God’s People – we are a people of Hope.
We light this Advent Candle – a symbol of HOPE.
INTROIT (# 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!
PRAYER OF APPROACH
God of ancient Wisdom, incarnate in Jesus Christ, may our hearts fill with hope at the thought of your Advent. Send Your Spirit among us until every breath we breathe, every thought we have, and every word we speak points to the wonder of your presence in Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
HYMN # 883 (VU) COMFORT! COMFORT
SCRIPTURE LESSONS: Isaiah 40: 1–5 and Luke 2: 41-52
DECORATING THE TREE WITH CHRISMON
The word “Chrismon” is a combination of the words “Christ” and “monogram”. It refers to special Christmas tree ornaments that display the Christmas story. These would include a globe, candy cane (Shepherd’s crook), star, tinsel, angel, candle, manger, sheep and other aspects of the Christmas Story. Chrismons are used to tell the Christmas Story using visual aids.
Each Ornament is explained and with our ornament, we are invited to come and decorate the Tree.
HYMN ~ The Chrismon Song – The Holly and the Ivy
SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION
OFFERING PRAYER
Let us bring all our offerings to God.
These are the labours of our hands, the skill of our imaginations and the outpouring of our souls and bodies.
Use these gifts for your glory and the good of your people.
In Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
It is indeed right at all times and in all places to give You thanks. We bless You for the offerings that decorate the Christmas Tree, the hands that have made them and the hand that instructed their making. With the entire Church on earth and in heaven, we join our voices with the heavenly chorus and sing,
Holy, Holy, Holy LORD, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your Light,
Glory to You our God!
Blessed is HE, blessed are we, blessed are all who come.
Hosannas ring, Archangels sing, Blessed are all who come.
Holy, Holy, Holy LORD, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your Light,
Glory to You our God!
Jesus held in his hands the elements of Communion that decorated the Table before him. He took the bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” When the supper was ended he took a cup, again He gave You thanks and praise then He gave it to the disciples and said to them, “This is the cup of a new beginning. It is poured out for you for the forgiveness of all that is past. Do this in remembrance of me.”
In his Hands He held the entire story of Salvation, spread out before his disciples, in the simple offerings of Bread and Wine.
We proclaim the mystery of our faith:
Christ has become incarnate in Jesus.
Jesus Christ died.
Christ is arisen.
Christ will come again and we await his coming with hope.
God of Mystery and Majesty, send your Holy Spirit on these elements of bread and wine that they may become for us vehicles of grace through which Christ meets us.
We remember your Church, scattered on the face of this earth – gather her in unity and preserve her in truth.
We remember those who have gone before us into your Kingdom and who are with us now at this Banquet Feast.
Through Christ, in Christ and with Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all Glory and Honour us yours, Almighty God, now and forever! AMEN!
THE LORD’S PRAYER
HYMN # 25 (VU) LO, HE COMES WITH CLOUDS
COMMISSIONING and BENEDICTION
CHORAL PARTING PRAYER (MV # 214)
May God’s sheltering wings, Her gathering wings protect you,
May God’s nurturing arms, His cradling arms, sustain you,
And hold you in Their love! And hold you in God’s love.
May God’s Sheltering Wings. Words and Music: Judith Snowdon Words and music copyright © Judith Snowdon 2004 All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission under License # A-734202. All rights reserved.
ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE CHURCH COMMUNITY