Advent/Christmas worship
We gather in the parking lot
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Sana and Tonkawa peoples. It is also important to acknowledge that we are here today due to the exclusion and erasure of many indigenous people from their native land, including the land on which we stand today. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its original people.
Advent 1
November ends. December begins.
We find our beginning and our ending in God.
Month after month, our God attends us and supports us.
For God’s company, we offer thanks and praise.
Let us worship the God who gives us Jesus Christ:
God who is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end,
the Living One and our Redeemer, now and forever.
Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9
1O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
so that the mountains would quake at your presence—
2as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
3When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
4From ages past no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who works for those who wait for him.
5You meet those who gladly do right,
those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
because you hid yourself we transgressed.
6We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7There is no one who calls on your name,
or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
8Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
and do not remember iniquity forever.
Now consider, we are all your people.
We move to Canterbury Chapel
Advent 2
The day of the Lord brings grace and blessing.
We come to this day with hearts prepared for praising.
The day of the Lord brings judgment and pardon.
We come to this day with souls set on praying.
The day of the Lord brings wisdom and light.
We come to this day with minds eager to listen for God’s will.
In our praising, praying, listening, and responding,
we come to worship God.
Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11
1Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
11He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
We move to Front of St. Thomas
Advent 3 (based on Isaiah 12:5–6)
Sing praises to God on high, for glorious are God’s works.
Sing praises to the ends of the earth.
Shout and sing for joy, O people of God,
for great is the Holy One in our midst,
blessed is the One who comes to dwell among us.
Reading: John 1:6-8, 19-28
6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
19This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” 21And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” 22Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
24Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” 28This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
We move to Chapel inside St. Thomas
Advent 4
Seasons come and seasons go,
but our God endures forever.
Our faith exhibits ebb and flow,
but our God endures forever.
Our lives may freeze up or may grow,
but our God endures forever.
So let our souls magnify the Lord our God this day.
Reading: Luke 1:26-38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
A CHRISTMAS CONFESSION
The peace of the Lord be with you.
And also with you.
I believe in Jesus Christ and in the grace of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.
I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world in towns both large and small.
I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes wants to exclude Christ from my life today.
I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.
I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible:
I believe in the one who looked at persons and made them see what God’s love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.
I confess our everlasting need of God:
The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.
I believe in God who gives us the best of himself.
I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem this night, for me and for the world.
EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
We give you thanks for all the gifts that you give and have given us through Jesus. We praise you for his birth, for how he lived his life as the servant of your most holy will – and for how he gave himself over to death for our sakes – thereby opening to all people the gates of heaven and the way to eternal life. O God we do as he commanded us to do on the night he was betrayed. We remember how he took bread, and gave you thanks for it – as even now we give you thanks O God for our daily bread – and how he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying, “take, eat, this is my body, broken for you.”. W recall, how when the meal was done, Jesus took the cup, and after giving thanks, offered it to his disciples saying, “take, drink, this is my blood, the blood of the new covenant for the forgiveness of sins as often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me.”
Bless O God, this bread and this wine that it may be for us communion in the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Send your spirit upon these elements and upon us and grant that we may obtain maturity of faith and live in him and through him – faithful and righteous all our days. We ask through Christ our Lord, as we pray the prayer he taught us…
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 and ever. Amen.
RECEIVING COMMUNION
All present are welcome to come forward to receive the bread and wine, signs of Christ’s giving himself for us.
THE CANTICLE OF SIMEON
Having received the gift of Jesus, let us pray using the words of Simeon, a righteous and devote man who looked forward to God’s rescue of his people:
Lord, now I can go in peace!
As you promised me, I have seen the Savior you have given to all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel.
Flame is passed from one candle to another. Do not tip a lighted candle, but hold it vertical while the candle receiving the flame is held horizontal.
We move to Sanctuary inside St. Thomas
Christmas
God is telling a story in our lives.
It’s quite a story-full of the promises God makes
and our struggles to trust;
full of mystery and angels
with surprising news;
full of hard endings
and unexpected new beginnings.
Come, hear the story
pay attention to the angels’ message
in your heart
in this place and time.
Then join all creation
in worshipping the God
who tells it
full of grace and truth;
who comes in Jesus,
the Word made flesh,
and makes our story holy.
BLESSING
May Christ, born into time to bring endless peace,
guide your days and years in righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace. Amen
