Dec 12, 2010

Order of worship

Dec 12, 2010

Call to worship

I invite you to hear the word of the Lord this morning

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The great wonder of the Christmas season is that Jesus, the second person of the trinity, the Son of God, took on human flesh.  He was all God and all man at the same time.  He lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose again, and ascended to the right hand of the Father where he is today making intercession for us. 

So today we find ourselves one week closer to the celebration of Christ’s birth and one week closer to his second coming.

What a joy and a privilege we have as the children of God to meet together this morning to worship our Lord, to praise him for who he is, to thank him for what he has done, with hearts full of love, joy, peace and hope and anticipation of his second coming.

Please stand for prayer as we begin our worship service

Prayer of Praise and thanksgiving

O God we praise you because you are the all powerful creator of heaven and earth and you hold all things together with your mighty hand.  Father we thank you for your great plan of redemption.  Jesus, we thank you for becoming a man and living a perfect life and dying on the cross for our sins.  And we are so thankful that you are alive and making intercession for us.  Holy Spirit, we thank you for calling us to repentance and giving us faith.  Lord, you are our rock and our salvation.  The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, You alone are worthy to be praised.  Lord forgive for of our sins and renew a right spirit within us that our worship this morning might rise up as sweet smelling savor to you.

We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.

Congregational Reading

Psalm 95:1-7  Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.  6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.

Intro to: Joy the world!

The Lord has come! Lets sing to the Lord! Lets make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation

Song 1: Joy to the World!

Intro to: Silent night!  Holy Night!

One Holy night, “Mary brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped him swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger.”

Song 2: Silent Night!  Holy Night!

Song 3: hark the Harold Angels Sing

Intro to: I heard the bells on Christmas day

An angel appeared to the shepherds and said “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”  And the heavenly host broke into praise, saying, “Peace on earth, Good will to men!”

SOng 4: I heard the bells on Christmas day

Prayer of Confession before the offering

In I Chronicles 29 King David expresses his gratitude to God for all that he had given.  David said, “Blessed are you, O Lord, God of Israel, our Father forever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and victory and the majesty, for all that is in the earth and the heavens is yours.  Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.  Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.  In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.  And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name…

Heavenly Father we want to express our gratitude to you as King David did many years ago.   We praise you, for you are the Lord of heaven and earth.  You are great and mighty and powerful and glorious and majestic.  All that is in the earth and the heavens is yours.   Lord, you have blessed us with much.   We are unworthy of your good gifts.  Fill us with a desire to give much.  Lord free us of our love for the things of this world and fill us with a love for you that will cause us to freely and joyfully give.  Lord use us now as channels of your grace and mercy.

We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

offering

Intro to: O Come, O come, Emmanuel

An angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph and said,

“Joseph, Son of David…that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus…  Emmanuel,” God with us.

Song 5: O Come, O come, Emmanuel

Intro to: Amazing Grace

John bore witness about Jesus and cried out,

“From his fullness we have received, grace upon grace”

Song 6: Amazing Grace

Scripture Reading: John 1:1-18

Prayer of illumination

Lord we thank you for the assurance that your Holy Spirit abides with us this morning.  Lord we need him now as we look to your Scriptures.  Please open our minds and our hearts now to understand and apply the Word of God to our lives in a special way.  Lord fill me with your Holy Spirit now in order that I might preach the Word boldly and clearly.  We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sermon: Behold the light!  (Gen 1; John 1; John 9)

prayer of intercession

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word.  We thank you for Jesus.  May your Spirit abide with us now.  Lord, expose any sin that might be in our hearts or our lives.  Lord draw us to your throne of grace and forgive us we pray. Prepare our hearts to receive your supper. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Lord’s Supper Sermonet

Lord’s supper

Song of benediction: Amazing Grace

Welcome into church membership

Prayer

dismiss