Prelude
 
Lighting the Christ Candle
 Do not be afraid, for see-
 I am bringing you good news of great joy.
 To us is born this day in the city of David,
 a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
 This will be a sign for you:
 You will find the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.
 Tonight we light the Christ Candle to symbolize God’s promise fulfilled.
 For a Child has been born to us.
 A Son has been given to us.
 Authority rests upon his shoulders,
 and he is named
 Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 
The Sacrament of Communion*
 The Invitation, Words of Institution, Great Prayer of Thanksgiving,
 Distribution of the Elements
Prayer After Communion
 All glory to you, great God,
 for the gift of your Son,
 whom you sent to save us.
 With singing angels, let us praise your name,
 and tell the earth his story,
 that all may believe, rejoice, and bow down,
 acknowledging your love through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.
 
Blessing
Go now, singing a song to the God of our salvation.
Sing of God’s mighty acts and proclaim God’s glory.
Join the heavenly chorus and sing:
Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth, peace.”  Amen.
 
Postlude
*Those worshiping at home may partake of the elements of bread and juice as available.
​

Prelude
 
Lighting the Advent Wreath, the Candle of Love        Amy, Tim, Brennan, and Lia Moore
 
Hymn          O Come, All Ye Faithful        Text and music: John Francis Wade, 1743
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the King of angels.
O come let us adore him
O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
 
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exaltation,
Sing all ye citizens of heaven above.
Glory to God, glory in the highest!
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
 
Prayer of the Day
We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for your mercy embraces the faithful,
one generation to the next,
and your fidelity, for all ages.
You created the heavens and the earth,
and chose for yourself a covenant people,
bringing them from slavery to a land of their own.
In your servant, David, you established your rule
and promised his throne to the one
who would save your people and reign forever.
And now, the mystery kept secret for long ages
has been revealed to all the earth:
Your own Son, Jesus Christ,
is conceived by the Holy Spirit
in the womb of Mary
and emerges to claim the throne of his ancestor, David.
Though he was killed by the proud and powerful,
you have raised him up,
and with him, the humble of all the earth,
and of his reign there will be no end.
We seek to be his faithful witnesses,
bearing the gospel into the world,
caring for the sick, the weak, the rejected, the mourning, the lonely, and the lost,
and praying as he taught us saying, Our Father…Amen.
 
Scripture Reading              Luke 1:26-38
 
The Morning Message
 
“We are all called to be Mothers of God, for God is always waiting to be born.” These are the words of Meister Eckart, 13th century philosopher.
 
Theologian Nancy Rockwell says, “She enters our Decembers with an angel, gloriously winged, who honors her. The moment is spellbinding. We are entranced by the arrival of this woman, Mary, on the stage of Christmas and in the story of God.”
 
I’ve spent considerable time lately looking at images of Mary-paintings, sculptures, old and archived, new and freshly created in photographs, digital art, and in a gazillion pictures on Pinterest. I’ve researched the Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters, the Met’s museum of medieval art. I was looking for a special sculpture I saw while visiting the Cloisters years ago. It was mounted on a wall. I was surprised by it and stood before it for a long time. Baby Jesus, plump and content, in the arms of his young, laughing mother.
 
There is an endless inventory of human interpretations of the central female figure of the Christian faith, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, the one that some like to call, “the God-bearer.”
 
The images come in all forms and shapes: Mary’s representing the world’s races and cultures. I have a collection of nativity sets. I didn’t unpack all of them this year. There were no little ones visiting this year, no one whose eyes might light up in wonder. No one, asking with their eyes, if it’s ok to touch.
 
But, I did unpack a few. I’m always on alert for new ones or old ones that show up in new places. One day I was browsing the Habitat for Humanity Restore and spied a tiny nativity. I recognized the small unfired clay figures, hand-painted, and distinctively Peruvian. I have a few of the same type at home. I love the simple form and the expressions on the tiny faces. They were a mix of uncertainty and mirth.
 
And that’s one definition of joy for me: uncertainty and mirth. Surprise. Kind of like a bride and groom on their wedding day-excited, eager, a little uncomfortable in their formal clothes, expectations high, taking a courageous step into a season, a lifetime we hope, that is largely unknown. A step that is motivated and empowered and energized by love.
 
Surprised by Joy: the Shape of My Early Life, is the title of C. S. Lewis’s autobiography.
Lewis’s purpose in writing this book was not primarily historical. It was to identify and describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of, and consequent search for, the phenomenon he labeled, “Joy.”
 
“Joy” was his best translation of the German word, sehnsucht, or longing, in English. This joy was so intensely good and so high up it could not be explained in words. He just knew it when it happened.
 
He says he was struck with what he called “stabs of joy” throughout his life.
Lewis eventually discovers the true nature of joy, born of the unconditional love of God. This discovery leads to an overwhelming conversion experience from atheism to Christianity.
 
Lewis writes that this sense of joy is like a signpost to those lost in the woods, pointing the way, and that its appearance is not as important “when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles.”
 
Lewis’s life was consumed by learning, though he did participate in civic endeavors. He also served in the armed forces as a young man. His mother gave him a love of reading. She taught him Latin at a young age. He was devastated by her death when he was only nine years old.
 
In his late teens, he shed the Christianity in which he had been raised, studied widely, and declared himself to be an atheist. But, still, there was something unresolved troubling him.
 
He continued his quest for joy. He called it the “inconsolable longing for the real Desirable.” As a child, his joy came though reading, writing, and drawing. In his youth, he discovered Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Norse mythology. As he matured, he realized that pleasure did not equate with joy, neither physical nor aesthetic, nor music, poetry, or intellectual gratification.
 
Lewis studied in public and private schools, eventually studying with a private teacher in preparation for Oxford. His teacher, Mr. Kirkpatrick, was an atheist, a rationalist, and a logician. Under his tutelage, Lewis read great works in their original languages.
 
It was a dear friend, Arthur, who urged him to read books written in English. He read the Brontes, Jane Austin, Donne, Milton, Spenser, Yeats, and others, including George MacDonald.
He began to revise some of his worldviews. Ultimately, George MacDonald, the Scottish author and theologian, gave him glimpses of other than the material world, the world that is neither seen nor felt but stirs in the human heart.
 
“Unde hoc mihi.” Unfamiliar with that phrase? Me, too. It’s Latin. I had to look it up and found this meaning: “And whence is this to me?” Or, “And why is this granted to me?”
 
These are the very words exclaimed by Elizabeth upon Mary’s arrival at her home. Surprised by joy. As Mary was surprised, honored, and yet terrified, not quite believing that God should come to her, conceive his Son through her, bear a Savior into the world through her body and through her humility. She asks, “And why is this granted to me?”
 
Lewis writes, “As I was reading, two-thirds into George MacDonald’s autobiography, these words leapt out: “Unde hoc mihi?” And why is this granted to me? In the depth of my intellect, all this was given to me without asking, even without consent.” Just like Elizabeth. Just like Mary.
 
Lewis describes this moment, this epiphany, as “holiness.” He was converted from atheism to belief in God. Lewis said he was the “ most reluctant convert in all England.” He hated authority, he had a deep need for independence, and was unsure of the one he called, “the Transcendental Interferer.”
 
To accept the Incarnation brought God near. He wasn’t so sure he wanted God all that close. But when Lewis finally came to faith, he said he submitted to divine humility, the Incarnation, Emmanuel. God with us. Born in humility and love.
 
I learned of Lewis’s story first in the beautiful and moving movie, “Shadowlands.” Here was a man whose life had been devoted to intellectual pursuits. A bachelor of many years. If he had once believed in God, he had set that belief aside, probably a result of his mother’s death.
 
Like many of us, Lewis may have concluded that getting close to others involved way too much risk, too much pain. But, when God pried his heart open, he found the earthly example of God’s love for us: the love of another. In Lewis’s case, it was Joy Davidman, an American author, whom he married. Their time together was much too short, but, for a time, Clive Staples Lewis knew and lived and celebrated love.
 
C.S. Lewis is often quoted in Christian circles. He was known for his prolific writing in defense of the faith, and, of course, the Narnia stories enjoyed by all ages. The words are beautiful and poignant. I looked for an appropriate quote for this day, the fourth Sunday in Advent, the Sunday of Love:
 
Here is what I found:
“Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.”
The Last Battle” (1956)  I pray that is so for all of you.  Merry Christmas.  Amen.                       
 
Hymn      O Come, All Ye Faithful
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus to thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
 
Blessing
Go now, and celebrate God’s love all your days.
Give to Christ Jesus the obedience of faith,
offering yourself as the servant of the Lord
and allowing God’s Word to be fulfilled in you.
And may the only wise God establish you forever.
May the mysteries of Christ be conceived within you.
And may the Holy Spirit strengthen and encircle you.  Amen.
 
Postlude
 
Announcements
A Service of Communion and Light will be held Christmas Eve, December 24, from 7-8PM at the sanctuary entrance. You may come any time during that hour. The Communion elements will be distributed in sealed containers for purposes of health and safety. Please wear your mask and maintain a safe distance from other worshipers.       
 
May the blessings of hope, peace, joy, and love be yours this Christmas and always.
                                                   Cinda Harkless
​

Prelude
 
Lighting the Candle of Joy
   Robin McComas, Charles and Barrett Seay, with Ellis Ciccolella recording
 
*Hymn           People, Look East, verses 1-3          Eleanor Farjoen, 1881-1965
1. People, look east. The time is near of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
trim the hearth and set the table.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the guest, is on the way.
 
2. Furrows be glad, though earth is bare,
one more seed is planted there.
Give up your strength the seed to nourish,
that in course, the flower may flourish.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the rose, is on the way.
 
3. Birds, though you long have ceased to build,
guard the nest that must be filled.
Even the hour when wings are frozen,
God for fledging time has chosen.
People, look east and sing today:
Love, the bird, is on the way.
 
Prayer
We come, O God, with thanksgiving and praise. Our anticipation grows as we approach the day of Jesus’ birth. Open our hearts that we may truly receive the gift of your Son, and know the joy of abundant life with you. Through Christ, who comes to make all things new.  Amen.
 
Scripture Reading              Luke 1:39-56
The Morning Message       Mary’s Song
 
Once upon a Sunday, in a Pentecostal church, which is typically a little more lively than a Presbyterian church, the preacher got so wound up with the Holy Spirit, joy and excitement just poured out from her and spilled onto the congregation. She was so full of the Spirit, in fact, that she had some left over, and when she stepped down out of the pulpit, she twirled around on the red carpet a few times, pumped her arms in the air, and shouted, “Yes, Lord! Woo-hoo! Woo-hoooo! A-men!”
 
W. H. Auden once wrote, “When grace strikes you, you have to sing and dance.” I can agree with that.
 
Today is the third Sunday in Advent. Gaudete Sunday, the Sunday of joy. It provides us a reprieve from the quiet reflective days of Advent and cracks the door on what lies ahead. I don’t plan to dance down the aisle at the end of the service, but, I do wonder if we might be missing out on occasions of unrestrained joy.
 
There seems to be a shortage of joy these days. We are living through a grim time, aren’t we? I don’t have to name all the issues that are complicating life right now. We are all too well aware of them. Ed and I stayed up way too late Tuesday night after we heard news of the explosion at the former Dupont plant. That plant is very close to Cedar Grove, where my husband grew up and where his brother lives. They were on the phone with each other at midnight… because that’s what you do when tragedy strikes so close to home. Just checking in gives us a sense of the peace that passes understanding, even in the throes of tragedy.
 
Episcopal priest, Barbara Brown Taylor, writes, “Joy doesn’t depend on what’s going on in the world. This is what makes joy different from happiness, pleasure, or fun. All of those depend on positive conditions…good health, good job, happy family, lots of toys. But the only condition for joy is the presence of God.”
 
“Joy happens when God is present and people know it, which means that it can erupt in a depressed economy, in the middle of a war, in an intensive care waiting room…or on a Sunday morning at 11:30.”
 
Think about when you have witnessed this type of joy. It can happen in some unlikely places.
Do you remember the Iran hostage crisis? Several American diplomats were taken hostage and subjected to unknown conditions. Attempts to free them had failed. But on Christmas Day, the Rev. William Sloan Coffin, of the Riverside Church in New York City, was granted permission to visit the men and women held captive.  Seated at a piano, Bill Coffin led the hostages in singing Christmas carols. As they recalled the words to familiar carols, the expressions on their worn and weathered faces softened. As they sang about peace on earth and good will to all, they bore witness to Christian hope. They would still be hostages the next day, but that night, it seemed possible that they might sleep in heavenly peace.
 
Closer to home, it was about seven years ago, when I answered the phone and my daughter was on the other end telling me that I had gotten my wish at long last: she was pregnant. Ed was outside retrieving our mail from the mailbox. It’s across the street from our house…and he heard me whooping and hollering so loudly that he said he knew without asking what caused my joyous outburst.
 
You know what happened next: this news was too good to keep to ourselves… we had to tell someone! And so we did. When grace strikes you, you just have to sing and dance, call your family, and rush out to buy life-sized teddy bears!
 
When Mary found out she was to have a baby, she started singing, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” When she reached her cousin, Elizabeth’s home, she was awed by the mystery of it all, and she intones the song attributed to Hannah, one of the mothers of the Hebrew faith, when she learned she would bear a son, Samuel.
 
Mary praised God for finding her worthy of the privilege of bearing this child, for bringing down the powerful, lifting up the lowly, and filling the hungry with good things… all game-changers in Mary’s day and in ours.
 
When God’s presence breaks in, we can’t ignore it. We open our mouths and notes pour out. I was teaching a first grade Sunday School class years ago. When it was time for class to end, the older sister of one of my students came into the room to retrieve her brother. She was singing the sweetest tune. I asked her what it was she was singing. She replied, “I don’t know. I just heard it in my heart.”
 
Pure joy. The same joy that prompted unrestrained song from an aged Hannah, a shocked Zechariah, a teenaged Mary, barren Elizabeth, angels in the cold dark night, Simeon and Anna upon Jesus’ presentation in the temple…
 
…You and me and believers everywhere when we are given the word that singing is not a danger to our health any longer.
 
Then we might just dance down the aisle, singing with all that’s in us, “My soul magnifies the Lord!”
 
 
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
Gracious God, we give thanks today for the gifts of love and life,
for the gift of joy that transcends this season and sustains us year-long,
for the gift of comfort when our joy is dimmed,
for the gifts of mercy, healing, and wholeness,
for the gifts of patience and serenity,
for the gift of hope as we prepare our hearts for the Savior’s birth.
As Christ has come to change our world,
we pray that he may be born in us afresh,
and that through the ministry and mission of the faithful of this age
the world may be re-shaped and renewed, and we may see your kingdom emerge among us.
Comfort your people who are in any distress, including those we name in our hearts, strengthen all caregivers, enable the faithful to persevere, enlighten those who govern that they may protect and provide for the local and global community.
Usher in your peace, that passes all understanding, and keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, in whose name we pray, saying, Our Father…Amen.
 
Hymn            People, Look East, verses 4 and 5
4. Stars, keep the watch, when night is dim,
one more light the bowl shall brim,
Shining beyond the frosty weather,
bright as the sun and moon together.
People, look east, and sing today:
Love, the star is on the way.
 
5. Angels, announce with shouts of mirth,
 Christ, who brings new life to earth.
Set every peak and valley humming,
with the word, the Lord is coming.
People, look east, and sing today:
Love, the Lord, is on the way.
 
Blessing
Go now, for you are chosen and sent in the Spirit.
Pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances.
Keep what is good, avoid every kind of evil.
To all in need bear witness that the time is come when yhe Sovereign Lord will save his people.
And may God who gives peace make you holy in every way.
May Christ Jesus clothe you with salvation and victory.
And may the Holy Spirit speak through you with the good news of life everlasting.  Amen.
Postlude
 
Announcements
Weather permitting, and in observance of health and safety precautions, we will hold a Christmas Eve Service of Communion and Light, Thursday, December 24th.  You may come to the sanctuary entrance of the church anytime between 7 and 8PM to receive the Sacrament of Communion and celebrate the birth of the Lord of Love.
 
Please remember to return your pledge card. This helps us prepare the budget for 2021. We are thankful for all gifts given to support the ministry and mission of Kuhn Memorial.                                            

​Prelude
 
Lighting the Candle of Peace           Vince and Brenda Keys,
                                                          Annie Kendrick and Brooks,
                                                          Elliot Keys with Josh Keys recording
                                                          Greensboro, North Carolina
Today we light the candle of peace.
We all hope for peace. As you read your Sunday paper, notice all the places, near and far, consumed by fear, where struggle is the people’s daily bread, and there is no real rest from labor.
Consider all the people of the world in need of God’s peace. How might you be an agent of peace?
 
Hear these words of scripture from the prophet Isaiah:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.       Isaiah 11:6
 
And these words from Second Peter:
In accordance with God’s promise
we wait for new heavens and a new earth
where righteousness is at home.        2 Peter 3:13
 
Let us pray for God’s peace:
Almighty God, you have made us and all things to serve you.
Now prepare the world for your rule.
Come quickly to save us,
so that wars and violence shall end,
and your children may live in peace,
honoring one another with justice and love;
through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.  Amen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hymn            O Come, O Come, Emmanuel      
    Text: Latin prose, pre- 19th century; Music: Plainsong, adapt. Thomas Helmore, 1852
1 O Come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
   that mourns in lonely exile here
   until the Son of God appear.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
 2 O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
   who ordains all things mightily;
   to us the path of knowledge show;
   and teach us in her ways to go.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
5 O come, thou Key of David, come,
   and open wide our heavenly home;
   make safe the way that leads on high,
   and close the path to misery.
   Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
 
Prayer of the Day
May this eternal truth be always on our hearts:
That the God who breathed this world into being,
placed the stars in the heavens,
and designed a butterfly’s wing…
is the God who entrusted his life
to the care of ordinary people
and became vulnerable that we might know
how strong is the power of Love…
a mystery so deep it is impossible to grasp,
a mystery so beautiful it is impossible to ignore. Amen.
 
Scripture Readings      Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
The Morning Message
 
I read a story this week that captured the scripture readings in just the right way for us today.
The Rev, Nathaniel Phillips, of the Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan* writes that one summer he led a mission trip to his hometown in Maine. His group had a day off and they were headed to the beach for a day of rest, relaxation, and fellowship.
 
He writes, “My wife is there, too, with my five-year-old daughter and our baby who is just a few weeks old. My wife is driving our car to the lake and I am guiding the group so I am in the church van. I am riding as a passenger, offering directions to the driver on our way through town to the lake. We will have a picnic there, we’ll play Frisbee, we’ll swim.”
 
They must be much hardier than this preacher. Have you been to Maine? Even in the summer, it’s sweater weather.
 
Phillips continues with his story: “As this is my hometown, I’ve seen the Farmington roadside go by thousands of times, and I tell our driver to stay straight on Route 4 until we hit the next town. All the familiarity seeps in, I am drifting…”
 
“As we pass the diner, my eyes lock on the spinning blue lights of a police car. And there, in front of the diner, I see my wife. She is running with purpose around our car to the backseat where I know our three-week-old baby girl is strapped in. The police car is behind hers and the officer stands, looking helpless, next to the car. An ambulance brackets our vehicle from the front. Panic shoots through me. “That’s my wife,” I say to nobody in particular.
 
We need to turn around. We need to turn around!
 
The most dreadful possibilities race through his mind in the seconds it takes to turn around and go back to the scene. Was there an accident? Did the baby choke on something? And he prays, please God, let everything be OK.
 
And by turning around, they became fully informed about what had happened.
 
He says this incident reminds him of how we receive the good news about our lives and faith. People tend to talk about choosing to embrace the Christian faith, or any other faith, as though it is an intellectual exercise.
 
Our Reformed and Presbyterian understanding is that we don’t get to choose whether God loves us, but we do get to chose whether we will turn around from whatever path we are on, like Phillips turned the church van around that day in Maine, and live into that marvelous love of God.
 
We don’t get to decide whether God loves this or that person, whether or not they are worthy of love, but we do get to help the world turn around and live into that love. Living into God’s love should take us down the road that leads to peace. Going down that road often calls for change.
 
This is John’s message in the gospel text. He calls the people to repent, turn around, for the kingdom of heaven is near. 
This account is also found in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew uses the Greek word, metanoia, which is translated “repent.” Meta means change and nous means mind. So, John is calling us to change our minds…go in another direction.
 
This idea of turning around is not new to our New Testament characters. In Hebrew, we find the word, shuv. It is translated “repent,” and it, too, means to turn around, to change our ways.
 
Last week Ed and his brother were watching a basketball game. Their team was lagging behind. They were headed toward a loss when they should have been winning considering the team they were playing. I heard one of the spectators shout at the television, “You’ve got to turn this around, boys!”
 
Indeed, they needed to change their strategy before they were defeated. Apparently that was the message they heard in the locker room at half time. Because when they took the floor for the second half, they turned the game around and won it.
 
We aren’t all basketball players. But we all make decisions every day that define our lives. What kind of emotional climate do we set for the day? What face will we wear when we greet the other people who live in our home? How will we approach the day’s tasks? How will we respond to an emergency? Or a disappointment?  Or the governor’s press briefing?  I usually appreciate those press briefings. A few days ago, he referred to the residents of West Virginia as frogs and that we are “proud of our pond.” I’m still thinking about that one…
 
Most of us will not make the decisions the governor faces each day. But we will be affected by his choices. We all hope he takes us down the road that leads to success in all the ways that impact our lives as West Virginians. This year, the decisions have been critical life or death choices. Sometimes those choices produce anxiety and sometimes they are more reassuring. We receive them with a sense of peace.
 
The bottom line is we are always on a quest for peace. When we lay our heads on our pillows at night, we don’t want to toss and turn, worrying about the day’s events, the day’s choices. We want rest. We need peace.
 
What are some ways we can find peace now, today? I can only speak for myself. I’ll crack the door on the climate in our house. I have been known to wait until everyone goes to bed and then clean the house, or do the laundry or some other task because it is unacceptable to me to go to bed if there are dishes in the sink or crumbs on the floor. I am as addicted to neatness as some are to alcohol. I have learned that they are both destructive. Both are methods that are meant to ease anxiety. But, in reality, both rob their practitioners of peace.
 
Frederick Buechner reminds us that, “The real turning point in our lives is less likely to be the day we win the election or get married, than the morning we decide to mail the letter or the afternoon we watch the woods fill up with snow. The real turning point in human history is less apt to be the day the wheel is invented or Rome falls, than the day a child is born in a stable.”
 
Can you imagine, if we had been in that church van in Maine the day Nathaniel Phillips saw his wife’s car surrounded by emergency vehicles? We, too would have been compelled to stop and turn around. We would have turned around for that baby.
 
And we would have found what Nathaniel did that day: that the baby had worked herself up into such a lather that his wife was concentrating more on taking care of the baby’s needs than the speed she was driving. We’ve probably all been there. She was near the diner when a police officer pulled her over. She pulled into the diner parking lot right behind an ambulance already parked there. Apparently the EMTs were taking their breakfast break.
 
Nathaniel was compelled to turn around so he could be with his wife and children that morning in Maine. He had to turn around.
 
So, what about us? Can we turn around from whatever is distracting us to be fully present for the baby in the manger? When will we stop, turn around, and think about the life of that baby? WE we consider how he grew in wisdom and stature, accepted his mission from God, his father, and eventually exchanged his swaddling clothes for a robe that was gambled over and a crown of thorns on the head his mother had kissed?
 
These things he did for us. These things he did for love. These things he did to bring us peace. And even if we don’t choose him, he chooses us. His arms are always open. In them we will always find peace.
 
May it be so for all of us.  Amen.
 
Pastoral Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer
O God, our Peace,
On this Sunday of preparation, this Sunday that celebrates your peace,
help us so to live that peace may be found in our lives, homes, workplaces, and our church.
May we do our part to usher in peace in the world and in the Village of Barboursville.
Where we have sinned, move us to repentance,
and help us to muster the courage to make amends with those we’ve harmed in thought, word, or deed. Where others have sinned against us, may we find a sense of forgiveness and trust that you will reconcile all things in your time.
We pray for all those who face violence daily, for all in need, for those near and far away who are sick or troubled, for all suffering due to the pandemic, for those who mourn, for all leaders everywhere, that they may seek the welfare of the city, nation, and the world.
Make us all new in the One to whom John pointed, Jesus, our Savior and friend,
praying as he taught us, saying, Our Father…Amen.
 
Hymn       O Come, O Come, Emmanuel  
   6 O Come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
     thy people by thine Advent here.
     Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
     and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
     Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
   7 O come, Desire of Nations, bind
     all peoples in one heart and mind;
     bid envy, strife, and discord cease;
     fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
     Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
 
Blessing
Go now: wait and work for the coming of the Lord.
In the wild places prepare a straight path for our God.
Lead lives of holiness and godliness,
strive to be found at peace,
and speak freely of the Lord’s comfort and promise.
And may God our shepherd gather you in loving arms,
may Christ Jesus reconcile justice and peace within you;
and may the Spirit fill you with holy intentions.
 
Postlude
 
*Day1.org
 
Announcement
We welcome your participation in our Advent/Christmas worship. Please contact Cinda Harkless to make arrangements.
304.634.5831 cell/text
[email protected]