Advent 4,
December 19th, 2021
LOVE
Prelude: Hail Mary: Gentle Women. By, Carey Landry
Hail Mary full of grace, the lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women and blest is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinner now and at the hour of death. Amen.
Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star, so strong and bright,
gentle Mother, peaceful dove, teach us wisdom; teach us love.
You were chosen by the Father; you were chosen for the Son. You were chosen from all women and for women, shining one.
Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star, so strong and bright,
gentle Mother, peaceful dove, teach us wisdom; teach us love.
Blessed are you among women,
blest in turn all women, too.
Blessed they with gentle heart.
Gentle woman, quiet light, morning star, so strong and bright,
gentle Mother, peaceful dove, teach us wisdom; teach us love.
Acknowledgement
Welcome Gathering Song: O Little Town of Bethlehem. CP120
Oh little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by; yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.
For Christ is born of Mary;
and, gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep
their watch of wondering love. O morning stars, together
proclaim thy holy birth, and praises sing to God the King,
and peace to all the earth.
How silently, how silently
the wondrous gift is given
as love imparts to human hearts
the blessings of Gods heaven!
No ear may hear his coming;
but in this world if sin,
where meek souls will receive him, still
the dear Christ enters in.
O holy child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out or sin and entre in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel.
Gathering (inspired by Psalm 146 and Luke 1:46-56)
Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God. And our spirits rejoice in you. We will praise you as long as we live. We will sing praises to you our whole lives long. We will not trust in the powerful of this world, But will trust in you–Creator of heaven and earth, The One who gives food to the hungry, the One who enacts justice for the oppressed. Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God As we worship you in this place, As we light these candles in hope, peace, joy and love.
Prayer of the Day together Holy God of Joy, we rejoice in the reality of who you are. We live within the joy of your love for us. Our contentment comes and goes. Our happiness ebbs and flows. Our feelings depend upon our circumstances, our physical health, our brain chemistry. But our joy is deeply rooted in our identity as your beloved children. And we give you thanks. Amen.
~ written by Joanna Harader, and posted on Spacious Faith
Candle Lighting ADVENT 4 - LOVE (Based on Psalm 89) (thebigandthesmall (website/blog)) We light our first Advent candle, a symbol of Hope. Light first candle We light our second Advent candle, a symbol of Peace. Light second candle We light our third Advent candle, a symbol of Joy. Light third candle We light our fourth Advent candle, a symbol of Love. Light fourth candle Like a fourth candle lit in the darkness, Love increases the more it is shared. I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever. In a world where love can sometimes be seen as weakness, and hatred as strength, in a year when we have felt far away from those we love, God, remind us that your steadfast love is established forever. I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever. God, we trust that you are with us, that your faithful love is as firm as the heavens. I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever. Let our mouths proclaim your faithfulness to all generations, let us proclaim the truth to the ends of the earth, we have love because God is with us! I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever. Candle lighting Song: Hope Shines, Week 4. MV220
Hope shines as the solitary star, faith is the inner light. You and I together mirror the Light of Lights, and illumine the pathway home.
Peace shines as the solitary star, faith is the inner light. You and I together mirror the Light of Lights, and illumine the pathway home.
Joy shines as the solitary star, faith is the inner light. You and I together mirror the Light of Lights, and illumine the pathway home.
Love shines as the solitary star, faith is the inner light. You and I together mirror the Light of Lights, and illumine the pathway home.
Collect
Heavenly Father, who chose the woman Mary, full of grace, to be the mother of our Lord and Saviour, now fill us with your grace, that we in all things may embrace your will and with her rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen
The Proclamation of the Word
A Reading from the Prophet Micah 5:2-5a But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church Thanks be to God
Canticle: Tell Out, My Soul. CP362
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice; tender to me the promise of his Word; in God my Savior shall my heart rejoice.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name! Make known his might, the deeds
his arm has done; his mercy sure, from age to age the same; his holy name- the Lord, the mighty One.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might! Powers and dominions lay their glory by; proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight; the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.
Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word! Firm is His promise, and his mercy sure. Tell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord To children's children and for evermore!
A Reading from the letter to the Hebrews 10:5-10 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)." When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church R: Thanks be to God
Gradual Hymn: Heavenly Message. CP269
Heavenly message, brought by an angel,
come to lift the hopes of the earth;
bringing to Mary humble and lowly,
God’s invitation to give the Christ birth.
Mary we hail you, full of God’s favour,
blessed are you, and blessed your son;
he will be called the child of the highest,
Saviour of al, the holy one.
Mary replied to Gabriel’s message,
“I am the servant, maid of the Lord.
Let it be done just as you have spoken.
My soul rejoices in God’s saving word.”
Mary we hail you, full of God’s favour,
blessed are you, and blessed your son;
he will be called the child of the highest,
Saviour of al, the holy one.
In the beginning, when God had spoken,
through God’s own Word all things come to be;
now by that Word, embodied through Mary,
God’s glory blazes, that our eyes may see.
Mary we hail you, full of God’s favour,
blessed are you, and blessed your son;
he will be called the child of the highest,
Saviour of all, the holy one.
The Gospel
The Lord be with you And also with you
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Luke (1.26–38)
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
The Gospel of Christ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ The Homily An Affirmation of Faith (Liturgies for the Journey of life (By Dorothy McRae-McMahon)) We believe in God who lives and speaks in sunsets, in love wrapped gifts, and fleeting butterflies; in people weeping softly for stillborn dreams and hopes they never conceived. We believe in God, indwelling wholly, in suffering and celebration. We believe in Christ, harbouring our humanness, who took nourishment from a woman’s breasts; who climbed trees, skinned knees; who laughed and cried, loved and wept, bled and died. We believe in the Christ, sanctifying life and death. We believe in the Spirit, mystically joining us to peoples everywhere; who intercedes with sighs and groans too deep for words; a shared consuming struggle bending our will to God. We believe in the Holy Spirit incorporating us into Christ. We believe in the church, being and becoming, Chosen as God’s presence in the world despite its frailty, Its foolishness, its failings. We believe in the church, seeking, however imperfectly, to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. Amen
Prayers of Intercession A Prayer for use with the Magnificat (inspired by Luke 1:39-56) Great God of the prophets and truth-tellers, Great Voice of Truth who speaks through unexpected voices, Great Power of the Universe who works mighty deeds from fragile possibilities, we gather here to know Your presence and to listen for Your truth. We listen in Your presence. We listen for You. Let our listening reach to hear the voice of young Mary. Let us listen for her voice, the voice of an adolescent girl in an insignificant village in a marginal province, far from the centers of power. Extend our listening to hear her where she may be speaking today: an adolescent girl in a village in rural China whose parents really wanted a boy; a girl in a remote native village in Latin America leading the singing in a small church; a 14-year-old working for a tiny wage in a crowded factory somewhere making our high-priced running shoes; a 15-year-old helping her village in West Africa recover from civil war; a high school student in a North American city resisting a culture of violence daily to attend school. We listen in Your presence. We listen for You. Extend our listening, God, to hear the song of truth and hope You are putting in their mouths. Extend our listening, God, to sense the motion of a future You are moving in their midst, a future world put right. Extend our listening, God, that we may receive and affirm and listen with the eager ears of elderly Elizabeth, wise with years of waiting. We listen in Your presence. We listen for You Let us listen fully and deeply for the hope You are preparing. Let us greet Your hope with the Elizabeth’s joy greeting Mary. Let us feel the future moving in us as well. Let us listen fully and deeply for the hope You are preparing in us. Let us listen deeply to the truth speaking in us. Let us listen fully to the hope You place in us. Extend our listening to the deepest reaches of our own souls, God of Truth. Extend our listening through the cares that each of us brings on our hearts this morning. Extend our listening through the financial worries and the preoccupations with our health, our concern for loved ones whose lives are straying out of control, our angers and aggravations, our inundation with activity. Extend our listening into all that we bring today to hear there the transforming truth about our lives. Extend our listening until we listen with all that we are, our whole beings. Extend our listening until we hear with Your whole voice. Extend our listening until we become the voice that speaks as Mary to say, “My soul magnifies God and my spirit rejoices.” May the listening of our souls enlarge Your listening until we truly hear You from unexpected places in the farthest reaches of the earth and the most remote territories of our own souls. Extend our listening that we may magnify You.
~ written by Dr. Susan M. (Elli) Elliott, December 12, 2004.
The Peace
Offering Hymn: There was A Child in Galilee. MV134
There was a child in Galilee who wandered wild along the sea.
A holy child, alone was she, and they called her Dreaming Mary.
And she dreamed, rejoicing in her saviour; she dreamed of justice for the poor.
She dreamed that kings oppressed no more when she dreamed, that Dreaming Mary.
One holy day an angel came with voice of wind and eyes of flame.
He promised blessed would be her name when he spoke to Dreaming Mary.
Then she spoke, rejoicing in her saviour. She spoke of justice for the poor.
She spoke that kings oppressed no more when she spoke, that Dreaming Mary.
And did she dream about a son? And did he speak, the angel one?
We only know God’s will was done, in the son of Dreaming Mary.
Then she prayed, rejoicing in her saviour. She taught him justice for the poor.
She taught that kings oppressed no more when she taught, that Dreaming Mary.
Then Jesus grew in Galilee, they wandered wild along the sea.
Now he calls to you and me to dream with Dreaming Mary.
And we dream, rejoicing in our saviour. We dream of justice for the poor.
We dream that kings oppress no more as we dream with Dreaming Mary.
Prayer over the Gifts Gracious God, by the power of the Spirit who sanctified the mother of your Son, make holy all we offer you this day. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen Eucharistic Prayer (Anglican Eucharistic Liturgies pg 301)
The Lord is here
God’s Spirit is with us
Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to offer thanks and praise
It is the joy of our salvation, God of the universe,
to give you thanks through Jesus Christ.
You said, “Let there be Light”;
there was light.
Your light shines in our darkness
For you the earth has brought forth life in all its forms.
You have created us to hear Your word,
to do your will
and to be fulfilled in your love.
You sent your Son to be for us
the way we need to follow
and the truth we need to know.
In his coming among us,
the day of our deliverance has dawned,
and through him you will make all things new
when he comes in power and majesty to judge the world
You send your Holy Spirit
to strengthen and to guide,
to warn and to revive your Church.
Therefore, with all your witnesses
who surround us on every side,
countless as heaven’s stars,
we praise you for our creation
and our calling,
with loving and with joyful hearts as we sing
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth of your glory are full. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one, who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth of your glory are full. Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed are you, most holy, in your Son;
On that night before he died
he took bread and gave you thanks.
He broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said:
Take, eat, this is my body which is given for you;
do this to remember me.
After supper, he took the cup,
and gave you thanks.
He gave it to them and said:
Drink this. It is my blood of the new covenant,
shed for you, shed for all, to forgive sin;
do this to remember me.
Therefore, with this bread and wine
we recall your goodness to us.
God of the past and present,
we your people remember your Son.
We thank you for his cross and rising again,
we take courage from his ascension;
we look for his coming in glory
and in him we give ourselves to you.
With thanksgiving and hope we say:
Glory to you, Lord Christ;
your death we show forth;
your resurrection we proclaim;
your coming we await;
Amen! Come Lord Jesus.
Send your Holy Spirit,
that we who receive Christ’s body
may indeed be the body of Christ,
and we who share his cup
draw strength from the one true vine.
Called to follow Christ,
help us to reconcile and unite.
Called to suffer,
give us hope in our calling.
For you, the heavenly one, make all things new;
You are the beginning and the end, the last and the first,
to who we bring our songs of everlasting praise.
Blessing, honour and glory be yours,
here and everywhere,
now and forever. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer:
As our Saviour taught us, let us pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be 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.
Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory are yours.
Now and forever. Amen.
The Breaking of the Bread
God of promise, you prepare a banquet for us in your kingdom.
Happy are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.
The Communion
The gifts of God for the People of God.
Thanks be to God.
Communion Song 1: The Promise. Music, Ron Klusmeier Words, Ian Macdonald
Your promise is given, A child of peace.
In Bethlehem’s manger, Our growing release.
Sing to the world Love and justice wont cease.
Child of the manger, Hope and mystery born,
Flesh of our spirit, by your Spirit formed;
Lost in the laughter of shepherd and kings,
Growing to offer The song God’s heart sings.
Child we would pray for, Our dark changed to light;
Faith for the journey, From blindness bring sight.
All we would pray for, From darkness to dawn,
Visions of mercy To move us along.
Child we would offer Our night changed to day
Turn love into courage. Let joy find a way.
Let love be courage Your joy light our way.
Communion Song 2: I Hear Mary Singing. By, Jim Manley
I hear Mary singing
And her song is gentle and blow
But the words that she sings
Are the down fall of kings
And give hope to the poor
and the low.
I hear Mary singing
And her soul magnifies the Lord
And her anthem of praise
to the Ancient of Days
is as sharp as a two-edged sword.
The proud shall be scattered
the mighty dethroned
the rich sent empty away
the poor shall be lifted
the hungry fed with good things
from God on that day
I hear Mary singing
Through the years and centuries long
And I must confess
To a certain distress
When I listen to the words of her song.
I hear Mary singing
There is fire in her song and her eye
And the child she will give to the world
Soon will live out the truth of her lullaby.
The proud shall be scattered
the mighty dethroned
the rich sent empty away
the poor shall be lifted
the hungry fed with good things
from God on that day
Prayer After Communion
All your works praise you, O Lord.
And your faithful servants bless you.
Gracious God we thank you for feeding us
with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.
May we, who share his body, live his risen life;
we, who drink his cup, ring life to others;
we, whom the Spirit lights, give light to the world.
Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,
so that we and all your children shall be free,
and the whole earth live to praise your name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Blessing
Announcements
Closing Hymn: Canticle of the Turning. MV120
My soul cries out with a joyful shout that the God of my heart is great, And my spirit sings of the wondrous things that you bring to the one who waits. You fixed your sight on the servant's plight, and my weakness you did not spurn, So from east to west shall my name be blest. Could the world be about to turn? Refrain: My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, For the dawn draws near, And the world is about to turn.
Though I am small, my God, my all, you work great things in me. And your mercy will last from the depths of the past to the end of the age to be. Your very name puts the proud to shame, and those who would for you yearn, You will show your might, put the strong to flight, for the world is about to turn.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, For the dawn draws near, And the world is about to turn.
From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone. Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne. The hungry poor shall weep no more, for the food they can never earn; These are tables spread, ev'ry mouth be fed, for the world is about to turn.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, For the dawn draws near, And the world is about to turn.
Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast: God's mercy must deliver us from the conqueror's crushing grasp. This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise that holds us bound, 'Til the spear and rod be crushed by God, who is turning the world around.
My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, For the dawn draws near, And the world is about to turn. The Dismissal
Rejoice in Bethlehem, two thousand years ago. Rejoice in the life that was conceived, lived and given for us. Go in peace to love and serve the world. And may your waiting be in hope, Each day lived in faith and the love in Christmas be moving toward you. Amen
Postlude: Rachel C. Solo.