December 16, 2018 Sanctuary Service 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Third Sunday in Advent
Order of Worship Prelude On Jordan s Banks the Baptist s Cry Aaron David Miller Welcome and greetings Ben Hooper, pastoral intern Introit Lo, How a Rose E er Blooming Chancel Choir (words for meditation may be found in your hymnal, #221) * 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 203 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing * Prayer of adoration * Affirmation of faith The Apostles Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. 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 197 Comfort, Comfort Ye My People Silent prayers of confession 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 207 Good Christian Men, Rejoice Worship in the giving of God s tithe and our offerings Offertory E en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come Chancel Choir Peace be to you and grace from him who freed us from our sins, who loved us all and shed his blood that we might saved be. Sing holy, holy to our Lord, the Lord, Almighty God, who was and is and is to come; sing holy, holy, Lord! Rejoice in heaven, all ye that dwell therein, rejoice on earth, ye saints below, for Christ is coming, is coming soon, for Christ is coming soon! E en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come, and night shall be no more; they need no light nor lamp nor sun, for Christ will be their all! text from Revelation 22, adapted by Paul O. Manz; music by Paul O. Manz * Doxology 731 * Prayer of dedication and thanksgiving
* Scripture reading from Luke 1:57-80 Caroline West (9:30) p. 1589 in pew Bible and text printed in the bulletin Sarah Risley (11:00) This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Prayer of preparation for the study of God s Word Sermon From Silence to Singing Jared Huffman, pastor of adult discipleship Pastoral prayer * Hymn of response On Jordan s Bank the Baptist s Cry text by Charles Coffin, translated by John Chandler, tune puer nobis, 15th c. * Benediction * Congregational response Threefold Amen * Postlude Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day Sidney Campbell * Congregation standing as you are able
Musicians for this week: Joy Gibbons director Joshua Knight organ, piano 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. 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 423-424-4094. 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
Luke 1:57-80 57 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.
SERMON NOTES From Silence to Singing Luke 1:57-80 1. The story of peculiar redemption (vv. 57-66) 2. The song of promised rescue (vv. 67-75) 3. The song of prophetic readiness (vv. 76-80)
SERMON NOTES From Silence to Singing Luke 1:57-80
SERMON NOTES From Silence to Singing Luke 1:57-80
2018 GIVING UPDATE through December 11, 2018 Annual Budget:... $4,644,000 2018 Giving YTD:... 4,100,000 Remaining Gifts Needed:... 544,000 Outstanding Pledge Balance:... 473,000 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 2018. 2019 PLEDGING UPDATE If you have not yet done so, you can submit your giving plans for 2019 online at lmpc.org/giving-2019. 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.
INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURE In the event of inclement weather on a Sunday morning, the church office will send an email 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.
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 narthex and at the front of the sanctuary. For more events this week, visit lmpc.org/calendar. If you are new to LMPC, haven t contacted us for a while, or want to get more involved here, please fill out a welcome card from the pew in front of you and place it in the offering plate when it passes. OUR MISSION Glorifying God by growing in grace and giving our lives away on the mountain, in the city, and around the world. Address: 316 North Bragg Avenue Lookout Mountain, TN 37350 Web: lmpc.org Email: memberinfo@lmpc.org Phone: 423.821.4528 CONTACT US 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. Devices to amplify sound during the Sunday morning worship services are available. If you would like one, please arrive a few minutes early and ask an usher to assist you.