VANCE MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 905 National Road, Wheeling, West Virginia 26003 Church Telephone: (304) 232-0980 Fax: (304) 232-0982 vancechurch.org Third Sunday of Advent: JOY Christmas Season: Advent through Epiphany from Hope to Joy: God s Light breaking into the Darkness! December 3, 2017 thru February 11, 2018 [Transfiguration Sunday] December 17, 2017 10:00 a.m. Lectionary Selections of Scripture for this Sunday: Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-11 ~ Psalm 126 or Luke 1:47-55 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 ~ John 1:6-8, 19-28 The MISSION of Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church (USA) is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone through Worship, Prayer, Education, Fellowship, and Mission Outreach. 1
Gathering around God s Word PROCESSIONAL HYMN Christ Be Our Light, GtG 314 v.4 CHIMES GREETINGS and ANNOUNCEMENTS Please sign and pass the fellowship pad to the inside aisle. ADVENT CANDLE LIGHTING Deacon Michael Hires and Ruling Elder Jay Frey The ROSE Candle: The Candle of JOY A Candle Is Burning * Please ALL join in singing. A candle is burning, a candle of joy, A candle to welcome brave Mary's new boy. Our hearts fill with wonder, and eyes light and glow, As joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow. OPENING PRAYER Dear God, we thank You for your Gift of Love in Jesus! As the shepherds came in joy and found the Savior or the World, so we come today in joy to receive Your Gift of Love so we can pass that joyous Gift on to those around us! Amen! CALL to WORSHIP responsively ~from Isaiah 40:3-5 The Promised One of God brings good news to the oppressed and binds up the brokenhearted! We are witnesses to the light of Christ! The Promised One of God proclaims liberty to captives and release to prisoners. We are witnesses to the light of Christ! The Promised One of God comforts all who mourn and gives a mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. Rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, holding fast to what is good, we are witnesses to the light of Christ! ADVENT HYMN O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, PH 9 CONFESSION and time of Self-examination responsively ~from Isaiah 61, 1 Thessalonians 5 & John 3 Merciful God, you love justice; 2
why, then, do we persist in wrongdoing You have given us the gift of your Spirit; why, then, do we quench the Spirit among us? You have given us the words of the prophets and the Word himself; why, then, do we despise and ignore what we have heard from you? You have sent the light into the world; why, then, have we loved darkness rather than light? Forgive us. Restore us. Till and tend us as your garden until righteousness and praise spring up, for the sake of Jesus Messiah, in whose name we pray Hear now our personal confessions SILENT PRAYER of CONFESSION And all of God s children say: Amen! SUNG RESPONSE My Soul in Stillness Waits, GtG 89, v.2 GLORIA PATRI PASSING the PEACE of CHRIST May the Peace of Christ be with you! And also with you! HYMN of PREPARATION WINNER of the Favorite Advent/Christmas Hymn/Carol LOTTERY Encountering God s Word PRAYER for ILLUMINATION unison Holy One, giver of life and light, as your word is read and proclaimed, illumine our hearts and minds, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, our lives may reflect God s glory. Amen. CHILDREN S MESSAGE JOY: Shepherds** ** Instead of one long Children s Christmas Pageant, the children will participate with one act per week focusing on a different set of characters of the Christmas story. This week is the Shepherds. Miss Jane The CHORAL ANTHEM Jesus Is the Song Words and Music by David Danner Arranged by Mary McDonald 3
My Savior is the Lord and King, He has control of ev rything, He loves me, and He bids me sing, He gives His song to me. He calms my hurts and dries my tears, He gives me strength to face my fears, He sends His grace through all my years, He gives His song to me. Jesus is the song of life, Jesus is the song of joy, Jesus is the song of love; Jesus gives His song to me. My Savior, Jesus, I ll adore, My weary soul He will restore, I ll praise His name forevermore, He ll give His song to me. He is the song of life, He is the song of joy, He is the song of love! Jesus is the song of life, Jesus is the song of joy, Jesus is the song of love; Jesus gives His song, Jesus gives His song, Jesus gives His song to me. Jesus is the song, Jesus is the song! SCRIPTURE 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 ~from The Message translation 16 Be cheerful no matter what; 17 pray all the time; 18 thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you, who belong to Christ Jesus, to live. 19 Don t suppress the Spirit, 20 and don t stifle those who have a word from the Master. 21 On the other hand, don t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what s good. 22 Throw out anything tainted with evil. 23 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together spirit, soul, and body and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. 24 The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he ll do it! The Word of God Thanks be to God! 4
MORNING MESSAGE Mere Christianity Pastor John Responding to God s Word OFFERING and DEDICATION PRAYER unison ~from 1 Thessalonians 5:18,23 Gracious God, teach us to give thanks in all circumstances, for you are always with us. Thank you for the privilege of sharing what we have with others, of giving ourselves away in love, and of receiving the gifts that others share with us. With our whole being, spirit and soul and body, we rejoice in you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The OFFERTORY DOXOLOGY Our LORD S PRAYER unison Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven! Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen! Taking God s Word out, into our Worlds CLOSING HYMN Canticle of the Turning, GtG 100 v. 3 BENEDICTION BENEDICTION RESPONSE VANCE CHOIR POSTLUDE Please stand if able. 5
PH=Presbyterian Hymnal (Blue); CH=Celebration Hymnal (Red) GTG=Glory to God (screen or insert) 10:00 a.m. Service of Worship regularly broadcast over WKWK-FM 97.3 * "A Candle Is Burning" is a song by Sandra Dean (1986) and is found in Voices United, the hymn book of the United Church of Canada. The tune is "Away in A Manger" [tune: CRADLE SONG]. The words are reproduced here with permission. Sandra Dean lives in Ottawa, Canada and is Director of Music at Southminster United Church. She is delighted to share the song with you. Our worship liturgy [often somewhat edited] and the prayers, which can be found on one of the insert pages, are reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion, copyright 2012. Lectionary Texts for Next Sunday s Service: The Fourth Sunday of Advent: PEACE December 24, 2017 @ 10:00 a.m. 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16 ~ Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 Romans 16:25-27 ~ Luke 2:8-14 NOTE: on December 24 th we will hold regular morning worship @ 10, for the 4 th Sunday of Advent and: we will celebrate our Candlelight, Lessons and Carols service @ 7 p.m. MISSION PERSONNEL of OUR DIRECT CONCERN Caleb & Claire (Seabright) Bermudez ~ MINISTERS of the CHURCH: ALL MEMBERS ~ The PASTOR and CHURCH STAFF Rev. John Oerter ~ Transitional Pastor Jane Schockey ~ Church Administrator/C.E. Director Deborah Podolski Breiding ~ Organist and Choir Director Russ Brown ~ Head Custodian Jay Carenbauer ~ Custodian Evan Smith ~Sound, Lighting & Visual Coordinator 6