Second Sunday of Advent
Reflection (If it's prepared by Bisgrove, it's definitely a step up from the Buddhism quote before) from Michael Green's The Message of Matthew
This [Matthew 1:21-22] does not fit with the modern idea that we are all getting through to God in our own way. No, says Matthew. God has got through to us in this way. And Jesus is no great teacher, no guru, no peer of Mohammed or Gandhi. He is God with us. That is the essential claim on which Christianity is built. It is a claim which cannot be abandoned without abandoning the faith in its entirety.
Prelude - Concerto for Trumpet in E-flat Major - Johann Neruda
I. Allegro
Preparation - Rev. David Bisgrove
Choral Introit - Gloria in Excelsis Deo from Gloria - Antonio Vivaldi
Hymn: Angels From the Realms of Glory
Words by James Montgomery, 1816, 1825Music by Henry Smart, 1867
Call to Worship - Isaiah 9
Prayer of Adoration (Concluded by the Lord's Prayer)
Doxology
Silent Praise and Thanksgiving
Prayer of Confession
Private Confession
Confessional Response - Thou Who Was Rich - F. Houghton/T. Jennings
Words of Encouragement - Galatians 4:4-5
Hymn: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear by Edmund Sears, 1850
Announcements
Offering - And the Glory of the Lord (Isaiah 40:5) from Messiah - G. F. Handel
Scripture Reading - Matthew 1:18-25
Sermon - The Fathers of Jesus - Dr. Timothy Keller
Second sermon in series: The Messiah According to Matthew (Advent Series)
Note: Keller mentioned Dorothy Sayers who wrote herself into her detective novel as Harriet Vane who felt pity on Lord Peter Wimsey and married him. Then Keller compared such fiction to cosmic reality when God sent His Son to the world. This reminded me of my answer to the heavy boulder paradox. Sometime yesterday, I also heard someone Janet Mefferd interviewed using God "writing" himself into the world (I believe it was the podcast of 12/12/2014 Hour 2, with Apologist Alex McFarland on what are the 21 toughest questions your kids will ask about Christianity).
Celebration of the Lord's Supper
The Apostles' Creed
Prayer of Approach
Words of Institution
Prayers for Those Not Taking the Lord's Supper
Distribution of the Bread - In the Bleak Midwinter by Christina Rossetti, 1872 - Harold Darke
Distribution of the Cup - What Child Is This adapted William Dix, 1865
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Benediction
Dismissal
Postlude - Concerto for Trumpet in E-Flat Major - Johann Neruda
III. Vivace