Category: Christmas

Narrative Lectionary Advent Candle Liturgy

Week 1 (Hope)   Jeremiah 33:14- 18,

Who are you awaiting, my friends?

We are awaiting the Lord, God’s best, to come

The time is surely coming, when Christ will be with us.

Our hope is in the Lord our God, Eternal Protector, the Might of Peace. Let us wait in Hope

Sing: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come, Thou, Dayspring from on high
And cause Thy light on us to rise
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadow put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel

Or Magnify the Lord v1. to the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful

The time is surely coming                                                                                                        Refuge and Salvation                                                                                                                     The Jesse, the Jesse branch will spring up from David.                                                     Justice and Righteousness,                                                                                                           Will be the spice of worship

We hope for God’s justice; We hope for God’s justice; We hope for God’s justice; Magnify the Lord

 

 

Day 2 (Love) Isaiah 40: 1-1

Who are you awaiting beloved?

We are waiting for the Messiah, the embodiment of Love.

The time is surely coming, when Christ will be with us.

When God appears, we will no longer be lonely or alone, we will know we are loved. We wait in the midst of love.

O Come O Come Emmanuel

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

Or Magnify the Lord v2. to the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful

Comfort, O my people                                                                                                                    with songs and preparation                                                                                                             A voice, a voice cries out in wil-il-der-ness                                                                                Cry Out and Stand Firm                                                                                                             God’s Word never withers

We wait as God’s beloved; We wait as God’s beloved; We wait as God’s beloved; Magnify the Lord

Day 3 (Joy) Isaiah 40: 1-1

Who are you anticipating?

We are waiting for Jesus, in whom our joy grows.

The time is surely coming, when Christ will be with us.

When God appears, we will be comforted, able at last to put down our sorrows. We will say: this is the day that Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  How can we not wait for that kind of joy?

Sing: O Come O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come, true prophet of the Lord
And turn the key to heaven’s door
Be Thou our comforter and guide
And lead us to the Father’s side
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall by His word our darkness dispel

Or Magnify the Lord v 3. to the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful

Rebuild the Temple                                                                                                                        Built with ex-alt-ta-tions                                                                                                                 For God, is good an’ just, an’ loves us forev’r                                                                         Shout with Rejoicing                                                                                                                   Come let’s praise our Savior

We practice our rejoicing; We practice our rejoicing; We practice our rejoicing; Magnify the Lord

 

Day 4 (Peace) Luke 1:5-13 [14-25], 27-80,

Who are you awaiting in such stillness?

We are being still, to know God. 

The time is surely coming, when Christ will be with us.

When God appears, war will be but a memory, the lion will lie down with the lamb, and everyone will be made whole, so we wait for Shalom.

Sing: O Come O Come Emmanuel

O Come, Thou King of nations bring
An end to all our suffering
Bid every pain and sorrow cease
And reign now as our Prince of Peace
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come again with us to dwell

Or Magnify the Lord v 4. to the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful

Peace Seed, we await thee                                                                                                        Mighty and Graceful                                                                                                              Deliver, deliver us; Jesus, Messiah                                                                                                      Come strengthen justice                                                                                                                Fill the world with mercy

Create the earth’s-Shalom; Create the earth’s-Shalom; Create the earth’s-Shalom; Magnify the Lord

Advent Hymns

  1.  https://wp.me/p2rhxZ-2hf,

2. https://wp.me/p2rhxZ-2hg,

3. https://wp.me/p2rhxZ-2mJ

Magnify the Lord to the carol O Come All Ye Faithful

Pairs with Narrative Lectionary Year 2 and Advent Candles

As Always, you can email me for a doc version as the formatting can get weird online katyandtheword at gmail

Magnify the Lord: Words by Pastor Katy Stenta

(Hope)  Jeremiah 33:14- 18,

The time is surely coming Refuge and Salvation

The Jesse, the Jesse branch will spring up from David

Justice and Righteousness

Will be the spice of worship

We hope for God’s Justice (x3) Magnify the Lord

(Love) Isaiah 40: 1-11

Comfort, O my people

with songs and preparation

A voice, a voice cries out in wil-il-der-ness

Cry Out and Stand Firm

God’s Word never withers

We wait as God’s beloved (3x); Magnify the Lord

(Joy) Ezra 1:1-4; 3:1-4, 10-13

Rebuild the Temple

Built with ex-alt-ta-tions

For God, is good an’ just, an’ loves us forev’r

Shout with Rejoicing           

Come let’s praise our Savior

We practice our rejoicing (3x); Magnify the Lord

(Peace) Luke 1:5-13 [14-25], 27-80,

Peace Seed, we await thee

Mighty and Graceful  

Deliver, deliver us; Jesus, Messiah

Come strengthen justice       

Fill the world with mercy

Create the earth’s-Shalom (x3); Magnify the Lord

Magi & Epiphanies

cross posted on revgalblogpals.org

Its one of those rare Sundays when Narrative Lectionary and RCL mirror one another, and we all pause to celebrate Epiphany. Epiphany is a funny concept. We think of it as a sudden burst of inspiration, but experience is that it is more gradual, like the journey of the magi. Whether the magi come a few days after the birth of Jesus or when he was a toddler or preschooler, the magi are unique because they come after the fact. This gives me comfort, that perhaps its not too late to have an epiphany. Perhaps the window for learning and brilliant inspiration is not so tight as we would make it out to be.

Hook

This would make sense to me because humans need time to adjust. Maybe this is why Jesus grows into adulthood like an other human being. We need time to adjust–Mary and Joseph lost Jesus for 3 days and sort of forgot he was God during that time so there’s another story where adjustment is made manifest. We need time to get used to Jesus, we need time to get to know him. As Christians sometimes the question is asked, when did you first know Jesus? A seemingly innocuous query, I’m not sure that there is a clear answer. Maybe you can point to when your sense of Jesus started to develop but our relationship with God is ongoing and grows and changes with our sense of self.

I often think of how my sense of self grows and changes with time. How the moment of “Happy New Year” is just the beginning. Because even though I theoretically know its 2019, It will be weeks before I start putting the correct date on checks and papers. It will be month before the year gains some kind of shape and meaning and the realization that it actually is a new year will strike me again, and again until it becomes habit.

Knowing Jesus is like this for me, which is why I need the practice, even though I have had 30+ years of practicing the birth of Jesus Christ, its a slow, life-long realization that Christ was born on earth its a struggle to remember that Jesus was fully human like me and that God is somehow enfleshed deity  at the same time that he is human.

Its a journey. Like your career and your relationships. You might be a mother, daughter, wife but what that means grows and changes as a result. I wonder how the magi were changed after their journey. Did they become a family that reunion-ed with one another every year? Did they get so sick and tired of each other that they seldom met after that? Did they become the local storytellers, each telling a different and unique journey under the star to see Jesus?

Funny how the Magi all went on the same journey, but probably learned different things.  Funny how there are four different gospels in the Bible and each choose to focus on a different part of the nativity story. Funny that Matthew even knew about the Magi. Was he there? Did he sit in Mary’s kitchen and hear the story? Was it common knowledge in Bethlehem and Nazareth that these strangers made this journey?

Where do you find the epiphany in the text this week?

Let us know where you are finding God and Epiphany during this Holy Christmas Season.

Carols & Lessons Order of Worship

FIRST LESSON                                                                         Luke 1:26-30

    CAROL #38         “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”

WELCOME                 Pastor

SECOND LESSON                                                           Isaiah 9: 6-7             

            CAROL # 31                         “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”

Prayer of Confession (Unison) Merciful God, we confess we have trouble understanding a Jesus who came for all the outcasts. We have trouble seeing Jesus sitting with the homeless, aiding the immigrant and healing any and all who approached him. We confess that we get caught up in worthiness. Forgive us, teach us to love as easily as we might love a baby we pray. (Silent Confession)  Amen

Assurance of Forgiveness: Christ rises with healing in his wings know the truth In Jesus Christ we are forgiven

THIRD LESSON Luke 2:1-7

       CAROL # 24 “Away in a Manger”

Lighting of the Christ Candle: Hope, Peace, Joy, Love & Christ

                 (All Children are invited forward to assist with the lighting)

  

FOURTH LESSON                                                               Luke 2:8-14

     CAROL # 23                               “Angels We Have Heard on High”

FIFTH LESSON                     Luke 2:16-19

      CAROL #53                                         “What Child is This?”

               

Offering                                 Anthem                           

                

SIXTH LESSON Matthew 2:1-12

CAROL # 66                           “We Three Kings” v. 1-4

Holy Communion

Invitation from Christ

The Lord be with you 

And also with you

Lift up your hearts 

We lift our hearts to the lord 

Give thanks to the Lord our God It is right to give our thanks and praise….(prayer continues)

 ….and praying as his son taught us to pray……..The Lord’s Prayer (unison)

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by 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 glory and power forever. Amen. 

Bread & Cup: Communion will be taken by intinction, where congregants come forward and dip the bread in the cup. If you need assistance, the pastor will come to serve you individually.]

SEVENTH LESSON Luke 1:46-55

CAROL #40                                                         “Joy to the World”

EIGHTH LESSON John 3:16-17

CAROL                                                          “Silent Night”

•(Please encircle the nativity so we can pass the light of Christ to the entire congregation. Feel free to take the Silent Night Insert with you.)

Seeds: Narrative Lectionary Liturgy

Matthew 1:18-25

 

Fear Not!

For a child will come conceived by the Holy Spirit?

Who is this child

You shall name him Jesus, for he will save all people from their sins. 

What are we waiting for?

O Come Emmanuel, we are waiting

Prayer of Confession: We confess we do not know how to fulfill your prophecies of love. We forget that Jesus was born to save all flesh, and we get caught up in shame and judgement. Lord God you came down to earth as a lovable baby to show us love. Teach us how not to value pride or fame or money but instead to work for hope, peace, joy and love we pray. 

Assurance of Pardon: Remember God so loved the world that he gave his only son, not to condemn the world, but to save it. Hear the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of Dedication: Almighty God, bless all the gifts that we bring here and to one another at Christmas. Fill us with the intangibles we need to practice are faith, and let this Christmas be an opportunity to connect with you we pray. Amen

Food for Thought:The Waiting Room (adopted by Jesus)https://wordpress.com/stats/post/4454/katyandtheword.wordpress.com

Charlie Brown: Digging Deeper

Sunday School ideas; Look at all the names of Jesus and/or look up the meanings of the names of people in Church, Ask children what their favorite gift ever was and why.

Narrative Lectionary Advent Candles

Light Hope, Peace, Joy, Love, Christ

Advent 1 Hope Habbakkuk 1:1-7, 2:1-4, 3:3-6; 3:17-19

How long shall I cry for help?

Hope is on the way. O Come Emmanuel

here is destruction and violence in the world, will justice ever prevail?

(Optional Hymns: Wait for the Lord Taize or O Come, O Come Emmanuel

https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom

O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)

Look nations! Be astonished! Be astounded. Already work is being done that you would not believe if you were told! Have faith, have hope.

Have Faith, for faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of the things not seen.  Let us practice faith & hope together. 

Advent 2

How long shall I cry for help?

Peace is on the way. O Come Emmanuel

People are being tortured unjustly, is this the time for peace?

(Optional Hymns: Taize: My Peace I give you O Come O Come Emmanuel

https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom

O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.)

For such a time as this, salvation will come from one corner or another.

Come, Take heart, this is the time to be brave peace-creators, like Esther. Come, let us sow the seeds of peace.

 

Advent 3 Joy

How long shall I cry for help?

Joy is on the way. O Come Emmanuel

Can joy be heard? Where is one who will not break, one who cannot be crushed? 

(Optional Hymns:  Taize Laudate Dominum or O Come, O Come Emmanuel

https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom

O come, Thou DaySpring Come and Cheer
Our Spirits by Thine Advent here!
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night!
and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)

The Lord calls us into righteousness, God takes us by the hand, and keeps us.

God who gives breath to the people of earth, and the spirit to walk in it, forging covenants of peace that will be a light to the nations. 

 

Advent 4

How long shall I cry for help?

Love is on the way. O Come Emmanuel

Can Love be felt?

(Optional Hymns:  Taize Nothing Can Ever Come Between Us and The Love of God or O Come, O Come Emmanuel

https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom

O come, O Branch of Jesse’s stem,
unto your own and rescue them!
From depths of hell your people save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)

Fear not, for one shall conceive and bear son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, God with us.

God so loved the world he sent his only begotten son, Jesus, who came not to condemn the world, but to save us, Jesus will save his people from his sins. 

Christmas Candle

How long shall I cry for help?

Christ is on the way. O Come Emmanuel

Can Christ be here?

(Optional Hymns:  Taize Christe Luxe Mundi or O Come O Come Emmanuel or God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

https://hymnary.org/text/o_come_o_come_emmanuel_and_ransom

O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel)

Go, and know this will be a sign to you, for you will find a child lying in a manger.

And we will know good news of great joy for all people, for unto us is born to us is the Messiah, the Immanuel, the Wonderful Counselor, the Strength of God, The Eternal Protector, the Champion of Peace.

(Translation of Text from Illustrated Children’s Ministry)

advent-wreath-main-340x340

#Advent Hymn to the tune of #AwayinaManger God the Weaver based on NL

God the Weaver

words by Katy Stenta

Can be sung to either tune of Away in the Manger

(Habakkuk 1:5-7)

Look at the nations, be astonished and see!
A work is being woven
That you’d not believe
The Son of Salvation is promised to come
And stay with us present, and lead us all home

(Isaiah 42:1-9)

God send us your servant, in whom you delight
Let justice be woven
An’ covenants of light
God who stretched heavens & birthed us with love                                                      Give light to the nations being taught from above.
(Psalm 139 and Matthew 1:21-22)

Come God and be with us, through babe ‘mmanuel
Let your child be woven
a child in the womb,                                                                                                                       Hold fast with your left hand and lead with your right                                                              So we can know your Son and name him aright