December 7, 2025
Prelude: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Arr. Ferguson/Thate
Welcome
Lighting the Advent Candles
[Isaiah 2:4, 11:6]
Jim and Jennie Rose
We light these candles as a sign of the coming light of Christ.
Advent means coming. We are preparing ourselves for the days
when nations shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion
and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
Comfort, Comfort You My People (Hymn 3)
Olearius/Genevan Psalter
Comfort, comfort you my people, tell of peace, thus says our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness bowed beneath oppression’s load.
Speak you to Jerusalem of the peace that waits for them;
Tell them that their sins I cover, and their warfare now is over.
For the herald’s voice is calling in the desert far and near,
Bidding us to make repentance since the kingdom now is here.
O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way;
Let the valleys rise in meeting and the hills bow down in greeting.
Make you straight what long was crooked, make the rougher places plain;
Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits God’s holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord now o’er earth is shed abroad;
And all flesh shall see the token that God’s word is never broken.
Confession
God of understanding and encouragement, we are aware of our failings both in our nearest relationships and in national and international conflicts. We struggle to envision true peace with each other or even with ourselves. Forgive us when we fail to welcome strangers and when we fail to work for justice. Help us receive your mercy and extend mercy to others. Bring us closer to a world full of the knowledge of you, where former enemies live in peace. Amen.
Silence
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Hymn 9)
Latin, 12th century/adapt. Helmore
O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and discord cease; fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Forgiveness in Jesus Christ
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Advent Doxology
Salisbury Hymn Book/Smart
All creation, join in praising God the Father, Spirit, Son
Evermore your voices raising to the eternal Three in One:
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ, the newborn King!
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Readings
Kelly Grieves
Old Testament: Isaiah 11:1–10
New Testament: Romans 15:4-13
Isaiah the Prophet Has Written of Old
Patterson/American folk melody
Isaiah the prophet has written of old
How God’s new creation shall come.
Instead of the thorn tree, the fir tree shall grow;
The wolf shall lie down with the lamb.
The mountains and hills shall burst forth into song,
The peoples be led forth in peace,
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of God
As the waters cover the sea.
Yet nations still prey on the meek of the world,
And conflict turns parent from child.
Your people despoil all the sweetness of earth;
The briar and the thorn tree grow wild.
God, bring to fruition your will for the earth,
That no one shall hurt or destroy,
That wisdom and justice shall reign in the land
And your people shall go forth in joy.
Homily: Picturing Peace
Scott Starbuck
Focus: It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time. On this platform of peace, we can create a language to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other. –Maya Angelou
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Communion Music: Now the Heavens Start to Whisper
Bringle/Johnson
Communion Prayer
Call to Stewardship
Shelly Owen
…to guide our feet into the way of peace.
-Luke 1:79b
Sending: We Wait the Peaceful Kingdom
Moore/Hopson
We wait the peaceful kingdom, when wolf and lamb shall lie
In gentleness and friendship without a fear or sigh,
When lion shall be grazing, when snake shall never strike;
A little child shall lead us both strong and weak alike.
Where is the peaceful kingdom? When will this new day start?
We long for peace and comfort to reign within each heart.
Yet not in our lives only, nor simply in our home:
We pray that all creation will one day find shalom.
When wars of desolation and hate come to an end,
When nation meets with nation and calls the other “friend,”
Still peace in all its fullness will only have begun:
Shalom for all creation begins with justice done.
That little child shall lead us to walk the chosen way,
To share the peaceful kingdom, to greet God’s newborn day.
The child born in a stable is sent to break our chains,
To bring through word and table the day when justice reigns.
Charge & Benediction
Postlude: Once in Royal David’s City
Gauntlett/Willcocks
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