:: Download the 12.4.2016 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 12.4.2016 Bulletin
:: Download the 12.4.2016 Sermon Audio
image :: The Recall Of The Gleaners, Jules Breton (1859, French)
Preparation for Worship on Dec 4, the Second Sunday in Advent :: Favor
“Herein is wonder of wonders: He came below to raise me above, was born like me that I might become like Him. Herein is love; when I cannot rise to Him, He draws near on wings of grace, to raise me to Himself. Herein is power; When Deity and humanity were infinitely apart, He united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreated and the created. Herein is wisdom; when I was undone, with no will to return to Him, and no intellect to devise recovery, He came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost, as man to die my death, to shed satisfying blood on my behalf, to work out a perfect righteousness for me.” (Puritan Prayer)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for December 4 include ::
:: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Latin antiphons, 12th century) CHART [bandcamp track=134275884 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Creator of The Stars of Night (7th Century Latin Hymn) CHART [bandcamp track=2507463581 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Let Me Find Thee (Joachim Neander, 1679) CHART [bandcamp track=1585737294 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (John Newton, 1774) CHART [bandcamp track=3647467981 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Behold Our God (Baird & Altrogge, 2011) CHART [bandcamp track=4160179747 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]:: Doxology (Thomas Ken, 1709) CHART [bandcamp track=2257784892 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=short]
Call to Worship :: Isaiah 64:1-4
Oh, 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.
Declaration of Faith :: The Nicene Creed, 325AD
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by Whom all things were made; Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; Who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Confession of Sin
Lord, You alone are full of grace and truth, but we have not kept watch for You. We have occupied ourselves with our own concerns. We have sought our own glory above Yours. We have not waited to find Your will for us. We have not noticed the needs of others around us. We have not acknowledged Your favor and the love that You have shown us. Forgive us for our sins against You. Heavenly Father, help us to yield to the wisdom of Your ways; Lord Jesus, lead us to live in light of Your coming; Holy Spirit, give us faith to see that You are truly among us; Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: Zephaniah 3:14-15
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, He has turned away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.
Gospel Reading :: Luke 1:67-79, Zechariah’s song as he waited for the Savior, “Benedictus”
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Sermon :: Ruth 2:2-3
2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the clan of Elimelech