Worship Service
Sunday, December 14, 2025
3rd Sunday of Advent
Welcome/Announcements/Prelude
*All standing in body or spirit
*Call to worship (congregation reading bold):
Beloved, we gather to rejoice in God who does wondrous things, who promises that someday all manner of things shall be well.
We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.
We worship with joy now, confident that God will not stop until all creation is at peace.
We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.
We lift up our voices in song and story, in prayer and praise, as we remember and rejoice in all that God has done and will do among us.
We rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.
Come! Let us worship God with joy as we work with God toward the day when all of creation lives in everlasting joy.
Come! Let us rejoice in the truth of the day that all the earth awaits.
*Opening Prayer:
Holy God of Joy, we rejoice in the reality of who you are. We live within the joy of your love for us. Our contentment comes and goes. Our happiness ebbs and flows. Our feelings depend upon our circumstances, our physical health, our brain chemistry. But our joy is deeply rooted in our identity as your beloved children. And we give you thanks. Amen.
*Prayer of Confession (in unison):
We gather together in this season of Advent anticipating hope, praying for peace, attempting to cultivate joy and share love amidst commotion, grief, despair and uncertainty.
Moment of silence
God, we confess that we have often placed our hope in people and things that can’t fulfill our every need. We have searched for peace in shallow places. We have mistaken joy for temporal pleasure and artificial exhilaration. We have put limits on the ways we love, excluding those who need our loving kindness the most. God, when we have lost our way, show us yours. Guide us to the hope in you that will renew our strength. Lead us to your peace that transcends all understanding. Fill us with a joy we can only experience in your presence. Remind us that you have always loved us with an everlasting love, so that we may share that love with others. Amen.
Advent Reading and Candle Lighting
First Reader: In the midst of our waiting and longing for God to make the world right again, we cling to the truth that God has saved, God is saving, and God will save. So today, we join our voices with the prophet Isaiah, who calls us to live in the joy of the truth of God’s salvation.
All: We choose to believe that the day is coming when “the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10).
Second Reader: We light this candle of joy as a sign of the Truth that sets us free to live in joy as we wait and work for the day when all creation will flourish together.
*Opening Hymn: O Come, All Ye Faithful #234
*Gloria Patri #70
New Testament Lesson (Hannah Manney): Matthew 11: 2-11
New Testament Lesson: Luke 1: 46b-55
Hymn: O How I Love Jesus #170
Christmas Program: What God Wants for Christmas
Children Message: Matthew 11: 2-4
During Advent, we sometimes wonder and wait. We ask, “Is Jesus really with us?” And the answer is: Yes! We see Jesus in the love we share, in kindness given, in joy that grows in our hearts. Jesus’ truth is not hidden; it shows up in what he does and in what we do when we live with his love. Jesus is always with us, and God will never let us down. God watches over people —even those people others may have forgotten, including prisoners who are away from their families, the poor and lonely, and people with disabilities. Our lesson from the scripture today is that we can absolutely trust God in all things. And that’s the truth!
Prayer: We praise you, God, because you are faithful forever. We rejoice in the ways you show your love to each of us. Let us trust in you in all things. Amen.
Sermon: Advent of Joy 2025
Prayer Concerns/Pastoral Prayer/Silent Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer (in 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 trespasses, as we
forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Offertory
*Doxology
*Offertory Prayer
Gracious God of deep joy, even when storms rage and doubts rise, you call us to see with kingdom eyes—to look for healing, hope, and signs of your grace breaking in. In this Advent season of expectation and weariness, we bring these gifts as expressions of joy, rooted not in ease but in trust. May our giving bear witness to your good news: that the blind still see, the lame still walk, and the poor still receive care. Use these offerings and us as signs of your coming reign, lights in the storm, and carriers of joy. In the name of Jesus, our hope and our Redeemer. Amen.
*Closing Hymn: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice #224
*Benediction:
Advent people, go now in the blessing of God’s joy, confident that the day we await is close at hand and ready to cooperate with God in building the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Postlude
