PROCLAMATION PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Morning Worship, p.2 11 a.m. Zechariah s Prophecy Rev. Ben Falconer preaching Mr. Dave Moneymaker assisting Evening of Lessons And Carols 6 p.m. Church News, p. 6 December 11, 2016 To Glorify God & EnJoy Him Forever.
MORNING WORSHIP Third Sunday of Advent Prelude Ryan Kelly, organ Welcome and Announcements Silent Meditation CHORAL INTROIT Chancel Choir Show Us Thy Mercy Healey Willan Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Alleluia! CALL TO WORSHIP* Psalm 90:14-17 PRAYER OF INVOCATION* HYMN OF PRAISE AND ADORATION* O Lord, How Shall I Meet You Hymn No. 156 DECLARATION OF FAITH* Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8.1-2 It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King, the Head and Savior of his Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world: unto whom He did from all eternity give a people, to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God, and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. 2 * Congregation stands.
HYMN* How Lovely Shines the Morning Star Hymn No. 515 CONFESSION OF SIN Luke 3:3, 7-9 And [John] went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. RESPONSIVE ASSURANCE OF PARDON From Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:21 Leader: The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Lord would give a sign: All: A virgin would conceive and bear a son, and would call his name Immanuel. Leader: The Lord s Angel told Joseph that this son would be God with us. All: God is with us and has saved us from our sins. Alleluia! WORSHIP IN GIVING Record of your Presence Please sign the blue attendance pad found in the pew back in front of you, pass it down the pew for everyone to sign and then return it to the end of the pew from which it was passed. Chancel Choir Benedictus (Service in A Major) Amy Beach Noelle Kelly, soprano Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as he spoke by the mouth of his holy Prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hands of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our forefathers and to remember his holy Covenant; to perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham, that he would give us; that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 3
HYMN* Doxology Hymn No. 733 PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING SCRIPTURE READING Matthew 1:18-25, p.807 in the pew Bible; Elder Joe Kempf HYMN O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, v. 3 Hymn No. 194 O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan s tyranny; From depths of hell thy people save, And give them vict ry o er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. CHILDREN S MESSAGE Lighting of the Third Advent Candle Rev. Dustyn Eudaly After the message, children, ages seven (7) years and younger, may be dismissed to Rooms 147 & 149 for Children s Church. HYMN* It Came upon a Midnight Clear Hymn No. 200 PASTORAL PRAYER OF INTERCESSION 4
SERMON SCRIPTURE Luke 1:67-80, p.856 in the pew Bible Zechariah s Prophecy Notes SERMON Rev. Ben Falconer HYMN OF RESPONSE* Comfort, Comfort Ye My People Hymn No. 197 BENEDICTION* Postlude Ryan Kelly, organ Songs used with permission. CCLI 660322 All Scripture references, unless otherwise noted, taken from ESV Foll owing the ser vice, Elder Joe Kempf will be avai la bl e to pray with you at the front of the san ctuar y. If you have a pastor a l need during the week, ple ase cont act the church office, 610-52 0-9 500. 5
News Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Sunday, December 11, 6 pm The Proclamation Chancel Choir, children s choirs, handbell choirs, and other musicians will host our Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols this evening. A reception will follow the service. Nominations for Church Officers Please be in prayer for our church leaders and for the important process that culminates with the election of our new church officers in June. A brochure explaining the process of how Proclamation chooses its leaders and the biblical qualifications for elders and deacons can be found on the narthex table. You will also find copies of the time-table for the Church Officer Nomination, Instruction & Examination Process and blank Church Officer Nomination Forms there. Note that the deadline for submitting nominations is January 29, 2017. Immanuel: God with Us Women s Advent Retreat Wed. Dec. 14, 9:15 am Step away from the noise and distractions of the season into two hours of quiet reflection on the wonder and meaning of Immanuel in your life. All women are invited to this two hour retreat, Wednesday December 14 th, 9:15-11:30 in the sanctuary. Lead by Sara Keiper, Director Women s Ministry. RSVP to Annette in the church office. Child care provided. Proclamation Instrumental Ensemble This morning, we welcome our Proclamation Instrumental Ensemble (PIE) as they lead our singing in worship. PIE typically plays in worship on the second Sunday of each month, and gathers for a brief rehearsal prior to worship that morning. If you play an orchestral instrument and would be interested in playing in the ensemble in the future, please contact PIE s director, Sarah Seaman-Whitehead at sarah@proclamation.org. Call for volunteers: Pew Prep Ministry If you enjoy serving our church behind the scenes and need a ministry that's time-flexible, this ministry is perfect for you! We're looking for volunteers to join our Pew Prep Team for 2017. This is the team that ensures our pews are stocked and tidy each week. This is a very flexible ministry. As a member of the team, you'll serve once or twice per quarter. The task: Visit the church once during the week you're serving, to straighten the bibles and hymnals, check that pencils are sharp, and restock envelopes, welcome cards and doodle pads. You can serve alone or pair up with a friend or spouse. Please contact Karen Ivey at karen.m.ivey@gmail.com or 484-816-3992 for more information or to join the team. We're building the schedule now for Q1-2017. We hope you'll join us! Assistance for John Linton John Linton has reached the point in his recovery where his rehab center would like him to spend a trial weekend in someone's home to monitor how much or little help he needs to care for himself. A first floor room is preferable. Anyone interested please contact Rich Conte at 610-216-5453. Thank you. 6
CityTeam Christmas Donations Non perishable Christmas dinner food items, dessert mixes, canned fruits & vegetables, pasta & sauce, peanut butter & jelly, condiments (all types), cereal (hot & cold). Food donations should be placed in the Donations Room (behind the cry room in the narthex). Monetary donations for food can be given to Dominic Mattioni. Toys are also being collected. Bring the unwrapped gifts to Proclamation by December 11th. Put them in the box located in the Main Lobby in the Education Bldg. Wrapping paper & bows are also appreciated. If you would like to Adopt-A-Child, please see Dominic for more information. Don t have time to shop? You can sponsor a child or children for $50 each. Prayer Needs Our Church Family Sarah Brown, Jim & Susan Browne, Cairns Family, Janet Campbell, John & Nancy Carty, Dean & Eileen Chia, Chinburg Family Those Serving in the Military Andrew Fijan Fort Bragg, NC, Elizabeth Josephson Fort Bragg, NC, Rob Martin VA, Peter Mitchell Oklahoma, Mark Daniel Mitchell Tennessee, Tim Wik Pittsburgh Gary and Beth Caton, Christar, Japanese Ministry at PPC PTL - There are 28 students registered for our group ESL classes on Mondays. It seems God is working a little differently this semester. Here is the breakdown of those 28 students: 15 Japanese, 9 Chinese, 3 Korean and one man from Vietnam. PLEASE PRAY for another ESL teacher to join us so that we can allow even more students to register. PTL - On Mondays we combined the four classes for the Bible time from 11:00 to 11:15: However many are staying for the "extra" Bible time from 11:30 to 12:00. One day there were four Japanese, three Chinese and two Korean students. This is the largest group we have had for the "extra" Bible time. PLEASE PRAY that all the students will come to know Jesus as their own personal Savior. (The Korean and Chinese students who are coming all attend an area church in their own language.) Letter from Supporter regarding financial dark cloud : "The Caton Family and I served in Japan together for several years. During that time I was extremely impressed with their work ethic and passionate commitment to see Japanese lives changed by the power of the Gospel. Their service, regardless of geography, comes from a heart bent on loving people fueled by a humble and daily reliance on and walk with the Father. When called to minster as they do, a significant deficit is not only a stressful "dark cloud", it is a DISTRACTION to the work they have before them. Because of the confidence I have that Gary and Beth desire to allow the Holy Spirit to use them in the lives of those in their daily paths, I am offering a matching $6,000 donation for first time gifts or one-time gifts that go beyond regular monthly donations." (Anonymous Donor) 7
This Week at Proclamation Today 9:00am 9:30am 10:30am 10:55am 11:00am 12:30pm 12:30pm 6:00pm Monday 9:45am 2:30pm 7:00pm Tuesday 7:00am 10:00am Prayer for the Church Sunday School for all ages Fellowship Time Announcements/Sanctuary Morning Worship Japanese Congregation Lunch 2nd Sunday Fellowship Group Lessons & Carols Service ESL Class Kid s ESL Class Diaconate Meeting Women s Prayer Conference Call Staff Prayer & Meeting Wednesday 9:15am Women s Advent Retreat 5:30pm Adult Handbell Rehearsal 5:30 to 7:00 pm Family Night Dinner 6:00pm Children s Music 7:00pm Chancel Choir Rehearsal Boys of the Bible Girls of Grace Refinery Women s Bible Study Saturday 9:00am Men s Bible Study Next Sunday December 18 Morning Worship Ben Falconer s message will be The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-7). Evening Worship Ben Falconer s message will be Standing Firm in the Grace of God (1 Peter 5:8-14). Upcoming Events 12/11 A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols Sunday, December 11, 6pm, Sanctuary 12/14 Women s Advent Retreat Wednesday, December 14, 9:15 11:30 am, Sanctuary 12/24 Christmas Eve Service Saturday, December 24, 6pm, Sanctuary 12/25 Christmas Morning Worship Sunday, December 25, 11am, Sanctuary ******************** We will not hold Evening Worship Services on December 25 or January 1 8