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image:  A Poor Man’s Memory, George Christakis (2012)

O Come, O Come Emmanuel (12th Century Latin Antiphon)

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All Who Are Thirsty (Brown & Robertson, 2008)

Love Came Down At Christmas (Rossetti, 1885; Mejias 2009)

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God Is Love Let Heaven Adore Him

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Why So Heavy, O My Soul? (Caswall, 1873; Wells, 2009)

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None Other Lamb

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Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robinson, 1758; Nettleton, 1825) ; Pete Gretz, guitar (2012)

Preparation for Worship

Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Charles Wesley, 1739

Call to Worship for the Second Sunday in AdventIsaiah 65: 17-19,24-25

“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

Presentation of New Members & The Sacrament of Baptism

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 42:1-4

 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.  In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.

We Confess Our Sin Together

Our gracious Father, You sent Your Son to die and rise to new life in order that death might be brought to an end and that we too might live a new life. Yet we have too often chosen death over life. In our thoughts, words, and deeds we have rebelled against You and Your intentions for us. In so doing, we have broken our fellowship with You, whose love is better than life and whom to know is life itself. In so doing, we have hurt others, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes deliberately, and have diminished their lives. In so doing, we have damaged ourselves who were created to reflect Your beauty. Father, forgive us our sin for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

God Declares Our Forgiveness — Hebrews 2:14-15

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death— that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

Sermon — Mark 5:21-43

²¹ And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²² Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. ²⁵ And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?'” ³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Songs of Praise

Benediction

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image:  The Queensboro Bridge, Edward Hopper (1913)

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (18th Century English Carol)

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Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Charles Wesley, 1745)

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All Things New (Horatius Bonar, 1846)

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This Is The Christ (Martin Luther, 1539)

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Jesus Lover of My Soul (Charles Wesley, 1740)

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Dayspring (Charles Wesley, 1740)

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Preparation for Worship

“A legion of demons has been, as I believed, cast out of me. I would prefer merely to forget all of this that I have known and simply rest at the feet of the Savior. But lo it is said to me, so strongly as to compel me against my will, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you’.”   —Gregory the Great, 6^th century

Come, Desire of nations, come!
Fix in us Thy humble home:
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head;
Adam’s likeness now efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.”   –Charles Wesley, 1739

Call to Worship for the Second Sunday in AdventIsaiah 64:1-4

O, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before You! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make Your name known to Your enemies and cause the nations to quake before You! For when You did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled before You. Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

Mission Update  Northside Church of Richmond

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 65:1-6

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay.”

We Confess Our Sin Together adapted from Protestant Reformation confessions by Guy de Brès & John Calvin

Lord, You created man from the dust of the earth and made and formed him in Your image and likeness— good, just, and holy; we were able by our own will to conform in all things to Your perfect will. But when we were in honor we did not understand it, and we did not recognize our excellence. We subjected ourselves willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, listening to the word of the devil. For we transgressed the commandment of life, which we had received, and by our sin we separated ourselves from You, our true Life, and we corrupted our entire nature. So we made ourselves guilty and subject to physical and spiritual death, we became wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all our ways. We forfeited all the excellent gifts which we had received from Your hand, and we retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make us inexcusable. Moreover, all the light in us is turned to darkness, as the Scripture teaches us: “The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not receive it.” Here John calls all of us “darkness.”

Lord, have mercy upon us; Christ, have mercy upon us; Lord, have mercy upon us.

God Declares Our Forgiveness — Colossians 1:12-14

Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.  In Him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Sermon — Mark 5:1-20

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ² And when Jesushad stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷ And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Musical Offering — “This is the Christ” (Martin Luther, 1539)

Songs of Praise

Benediction

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