:: Download the 11.30.2014 Worship Study Guide and Sermon Notes
:: Download the 11.30.2014 Bulletin
:: Download the 11.30.2014 Parent Bulletin
:: Download the 11.30.2014 Sermon Audio
image :: Angel Appears to Joseph in a Dream, Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1645)
Preparation for Worship on the First Sunday of Advent :: Joseph, Waiting Interrupted
“We who must die demand a miracle.
How could the Eternal do a temporal act,
The Infinite become a finite fact?
Nothing can save us that is possible:
We who must die demand a miracle.” (W.H. Auden)
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs for November 30 include:
:: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (Charles Wesley, 1744) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3505305395 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=366056780]
:: Creator of The Stars of Night (7th Century Latin Hymn) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2254475816 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=2507463581]
:: In The Bleak Midwinter (Christina Rossetti, c.1872) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3373596575 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=4215802200]
:: How Long, Oh Lord / Psalm 13 (Isaac Watts, 1719) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3240358148 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=231763990]
:: Veiled in Darkness Judah Lay (Douglas Rights, 1915) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=3593495658 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=1487871416]
:: Let Me Find Thee (Joachim Neander, 1679) CHART [bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2800896556 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 artwork=none track=1585737294]
Call to Worship :: Malachi 3:1-2
“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears?
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which Your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in His glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through Him who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Declaration of Faith :: from the Belgic Confession (1561), Article 18
We profess that God fulfilled the promise that He had made to the early fathers by the mouth of His holy prophets when He sent His only and eternal Son into the world at the time set by Him. The Son took the “form of a servant” and was made in the “likeness of man,” truly assuming a real human nature, with all its weaknesses, except for sin; being conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He not only assumed human nature as far as the body is concerned but also a real human soul, in order that He might be a real human being. For since the soul had been lost as well as the body, He had to assume them both to save them both together. In this way He is truly our Immanuel— that is: “God with us.”
Old Testament Reading :: Micah 5:2-5
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace.
Confession of Sin
Lord God, every day we are reminded that we fall short of Your glory: You are strong; we are blown about by every whim. You call for justice; we play favorites and prefer man-made comfort. You are holy through and through; our best efforts are marred by sin and cannot save us. Oh how we need a Savior to ransom us from bondage to sin! Thank You for providing exactly what we need in Jesus. Oh how we need continued renewal in Your image! Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to continue Your work in your Church. Forgive us our sins, and lead us to rest in Your grace. Amen.
Words of Encouragement :: based on Isaiah 40:1-2
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Your warfare is ended; Your sins are pardoned; The penalty for your rebellion is paid.
Sermon :: Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.