December 16, 2018 Fellowship Hall Service 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Third Sunday in Advent

Transcription

1 December 16, 2018 Fellowship Hall Service 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Third Sunday in Advent

2 Order of Worship * Welcome and greetings Brian Salter, lead pastor * Call to worship based on Isaiah 9 Leader: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. All: We praise the Lord Most High! For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Leader: Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. All: He will reign on David s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. * Hymn of praise Angels We Have Heard on High Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o er the plains, and the mountains in reply echo back their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo, gloria in excelsis Deo. Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong? Say what may the tidings be, which inspire your heav nly song? Gloria in excelsis Deo, gloria in excelsis Deo. Come to Bethlehem and see him whose birth the angels sing; come, adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis Deo, gloria in excelsis Deo. traditional French carol * Prayer of adoration

3 Affirmation of faith (11:00) taken from John 1 and Colossians 1 Leader: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All: Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. Leader: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. All: By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Call to confession taken from Romans 12 and Acts 3 I urge you, brothers, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Repent, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Hymn of confession O Little Town of Bethlehem O 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. O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin and enter 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. text by Phillips Brooks, 1868 Silent prayers of confession

4 Assurance of God s pardoning grace taken from Romans 5 and Colossians 1 God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. * Hymn of assurance From the Squalor of a Borrowed Stable From the squalor of a borrowed stable, by the Spirit and a virgin s faith; to the anguish and the shame of scandal, came the Savior of the human race! But the skies were filled with the praise of heav n, shepherds listen as the angels tell of the gift of God come down to man, at the dawning of Immanuel! King of heaven now the Friend of sinners, humble servant in the Father s hands, filled with power and the Holy Spirit, filled with mercy for the broken man. Yes, he walked my road and he felt my pain, joys and sorrows that I know so well; yet his righteous steps give me hope again I will follow my Immanuel! Through the kisses of a friend s betrayal, he was lifted on a cruel cross; he was punished for a world s transgressions, he was suffering to save the lost. He fights for breath, he fights for me, loosing sinners from the claims of hell; and with a shout our souls are free death defeated by Immanuel! Now he s standing in the place of honor, crowned with glory on the highest throne, interceding for his own beloved, till his Father calls to bring them home! Then the skies will part as the trumpet sounds hope of heaven or the fear of hell; but the bride will run to her Lover s arms, giving glory to Immanuel! text and music by Stuart Townend 1999 Thankyou Music. ARR, UBP, CCLI Lic. # Worship in the giving of God s tithe and our offerings Offertory hymn Infant Holy, Infant Lowly Infant holy, infant lowly, for his bed a cattle stall; oxen lowing, little knowing Christ, the babe, is Lord of all. Swift are winging angels singing, noels ringing, tidings bringing: Christ the babe is Lord of all. Christ the babe is Lord of all. Flocks were sleeping: shepherds keeping vigil till the morning new saw the glory, heard the story, tidings of a gospel true. Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, praises voicing greet the morrow: Christ the babe was born for you. Christ the babe was born for you. Polish carol, paraphrased by Edith M. G. Reed, ca. 1925

5 Sacrament of baptism (9:30) Lisa and Morgan Maclellan bringing Charlotte Gray Maclellan * Scripture reading from Luke 1:57-80 Margot Kapic (9:30) text printed in the bulletin Adrianne Carroll (11:00) This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Prayer of preparation for the study of God s Word Sermon Pastoral prayer From Silence to Singing Joe Novenson, pastor of senior adults * Hymn of response See, amid the Winter s Snow See, amid the winter s snow, born for us on earth below, see the tender Lamb appears, promised from eternal years. Refrain: Hail, thou ever blessed morn! Hail, redemption s happy dawn! Sing through all Jerusalem, Christ is born in Bethlehem. * Benediction * Doxology * Postlude Lo, within a manger lies he who built the starry skies: he who, throned in height sublime, sits amid the cherubim. Refrain Sacred infant, all divine, what a tender love was thine, thus to come from highest bliss down to such a world as this! Refrain Teach, O teach us, holy child, by thy face so meek and mild, teach us to resemble thee, in thy sweet humility. Refrain text by Edward Caswall, 1851 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. * Congregation standing as you are able

6 Musicians for this week: Amy Barham vocalist David Henry guitar, vocalist Hannah Lutz viola Sam Miller violin Jennifer Mixon vocalist Salley Kate Pierce piano John Wingard vocalist Celebrating the baptism of Charlotte Gray Maclellan at the 9:30 a.m. service in the fellowship hall today are her parents, Lisa and Morgan Maclellan; her grandparents, Elaine and Bill Shean, and Susan and Chris Maclellan; and her great-grandparents, Judy and Kirby Wahl, and Hugh Maclellan GIVING UPDATE through December 11, 2018 Annual Budget:... $4,644, Giving YTD:... 4,100,000 Remaining Gifts Needed: ,000 Outstanding Pledge Balance: ,000 Unpledged Giving Needed:... 71,000 With the Christmas season upon us, we ask that you keep up the momentum in giving and prayerfully consider how much you can give as the year closes. You can find various ways to give at lmpc.org/give. If you shop through Amazon Smile and choose LMPC as the charity of your choice, Amazon will give a small percentage of each purchase to LMPC. Visit smile.amazon.com to find out more. Please note that year-end gifts must either be received online or in the church office by Monday, December 31, or have a USPS postmark no later than December 31 to be deductible in PLEDGING UPDATE If you have not yet done so, you can submit your giving plans for 2019 online at lmpc.org/giving You can also place a giving plan card in the offering plate or deliver it to David Fowler in the church office. We are praying that, in light of our exciting plans for 2019 and the resulting larger than normal increase in next year s budget, we will have 80% of the 2019 budget pledged by December 31. So far, 69% of the budget has been pledged.

7 WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS EACH YEAR WE CAROL TO MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF LMPC who cannot join us for Christmas services. Tonight we will meet at 6:00 p.m. in the chapel before heading out to sing. If you have any questions, please call Judie Finch at Please sing with us! ALL SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND ADULTS will take a break over the Christmas period, from December 23 through December 30. Classes will resume on Sunday, January 6. OUR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES WILL TAKE PLACE on Monday, December 24 at 3:00, 5:00, and 6:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. Please join us for this special service of lessons, carols, and candlelight. Nursery will be provided at the 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. services only. OUR NEW YEAR S EVE SERVICE WITH COMMUNION will take place on Monday, December 31 at 6:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. All are welcome. BEGINNING JANUARY 6, WE WILL OFFER OUR ANNUAL COMMUNICANT CLASS for youth interested in joining the church. For more information and to sign up, please visit lmpc.org/communicant-class or contact Margaret Compton at margaret@lmpc.org with the student s name, age, and grade. The final day to sign up is Sunday, December 30. ALL ARE INVITED TO A SERVICE OF COMMISSIONING for Restoration Southside Church on January 13, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. in the fellowship hall. Join us for this special service as we send Erin and Jared Huffman, Ann Charlotte and Ben Hooper, and others to plant a church in Southside Chattanooga. Nursery is provided. To find out more about happenings at LMPC, visit lmpc.org/news

8 Luke 1: When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, No! He is to be called John. 61 They said to her, There is no one among your relatives who has that name. 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone s astonishment he wrote, His name is John. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, What then is this child going to be? For the Lord s hand was with him. 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace. 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.

9 SERMON NOTES From Silence to Singing Luke 1: The story of peculiar redemption (vv ) 2. The song of promised rescue (vv ) 3. The song of prophetic readiness (vv )

10 INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURE In the event of inclement weather on a Sunday morning, the church office will send an to members and regular attenders as soon as a decision is made to adjust the worship schedule. We will also post the change clearly on the home page of the website and on our Facebook page. Our general policy in response to inclement weather on Sunday morning is the following: No 8:10 a.m. worship service No nursery or Sunday School 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services will take place in the fellowship hall and sanctuary. Other scheduled events for Sunday, including evening prayer, will be addressed as soon as possible.

11 MEMBERS & VISITORS - PLEASE REACH OUT TO US! NAME I WOULD LIKE TO: Speak to a pastor Speak to someone in the church office Receive our weekly news PLEASE CONTACT ME ABOUT: Serving at LMPC Becoming a member at LMPC Joining a small group Joining a Bible study men s women s Prayer opportunities If you are a first-time or repeat visitor, please fill out your information on the other side of this card so we can follow up with you. PRAYER REQUESTS & COMMENTS Include request in the Prayer List? Yes No I would like to speak with someone about the prayer request or other concern. Please contact me at: PHONE DAY EVENING Please deposit this card in the offering plate as it comes by.

12 WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE HERE TODAY! We know it can be hard to connect with a new church. We want to help in any way we can. Feel free to fill out your information on this tear-off card and place it in the offering plate. We will follow up with you about next steps. We are here to serve you! I AM A: First time visitor Repeat visitor NAME TODAY AT LMPC Sunday, December 16 8:10 a.m. Worship service chapel 9:30 a.m. Worship service sanctuary & fellowship hall 9:30 a.m. Sunday school for all ages various locations 10:30 a.m. Elders are available to pray for your needs Brian Salter s office 11:00 a.m. Worship service sanctuary & fellowship hall 11:00 a.m. Sunday school for all ages various locations 6:00 p.m. Caroling in the Community meet in the chapel 7:00 p.m. LMPC College Friends Christmas Party JHYB Nursery is available at all morning services. Children of any age are welcome to participate in worship services. Crayons and activity sheets relevant to today s sermon are available in the fellowship hall lobby. For more events this week, visit lmpc.org/calendar. SPOUSE (IF ATTENDING TODAY) CHILDREN (IF ATTENDING TODAY) ADDRESS HOME PHONE CELL OUR MISSION Glorifying God by growing in grace and giving our lives away on the mountain, in the city, and around the world. SPOUSE CELL SPOUSE CONTACT US Address: 316 North Bragg Avenue Lookout Mountain, TN Web: lmpc.org memberinfo@lmpc.org Phone: Worship services with Communion are held on the first Sunday of every month in the morning services and in lieu of evening prayer on the third Sunday of every month.