Younger Children’s
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Older Children’s
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Good morning!  This page is intended to both serve as a continuing worship option for those participating in our worship service from home, and to serve in place of print resources during our in-person worship.  Following the worship service on Sunday, one or more video recordings from the service will be placed on this page, including the sermon.  This may take several hours, due to the time needed to process the videos.  We will email the congregation when the recordings have been posted.  If you would like to be added to our congregational email list, please contact pvcob.alive@gmail.com.

Notes and Reminders

Today marks the first Sunday in Advent, we will have a Vespers service at 5:30 PM out in the pavilion, to be a time in which we can read scripture, sing carols, and pray together. We will have a vespers service each Sunday of advent, and we hope you will come and join us.

On November 14th, the Fellowship Committee made 24 quarts of soup. They made vegetable beef soup and corn chowder. They froze the soup in quart size freezer bags and they are in the freezer on the stage at church. It is their hope that the soup will be used for anyone in need. If there is someone in our church that is recuperating from surgery or an illness or knows of a need in our church or the community, please take some soup! Since we were not able to gather this year, we thought this would be a way to spread the love of Christ to our brothers and sisters. (Special thanks to Tracy Mullins, Ellen Ashby, Terry (Tracey’s sister), and Paul Wilson for pitching in to get it done.)

Our Collection for Western State Hospital Residents wraps up this week. Donations can be placed in the box in the Narthex before the end of the month.

The Church's One Foundation

by Jeremiah Padilla | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

How will we know? This is a question that plagued the people of Israel. There could hardly be called a nation any more. Their lands were all under Roman control. They had been parceled and pushed and moved, dominated by Babylonians, and Assyrians and Greeks. The temple had been destroyed and rebuilt, destroyed and rebuilt, and the latest rebuilding, under Herod, while magnificent, was not one that everyone trusted. There were many signs that this temple was not wholly of God, including one emperor’s attempt to have a statue of himself erected in the holy space of the temple.
They were not living in a sense of expectancy. After 400 years of turmoil, after failed uprisings and deepening imperial control, after all of this, hopefulness was probably not what characterized the people of Israel. But there were some who did still seek to be faithful, following the law, worshiping in the temple, studying the scripture and seeking God’s justice and righteousness. And it was one of these, Zechariah, serving in the holy of holies, who first got a taste of the good news. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”
Do not be afraid. Do not despair. Do not fall asleep. Do not lose hope! God’s messengers are at work. Christ is coming, and soon we will know God’s peace.

Reading based on Jeremiah 33:1-11

Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

Lord we call on your name!

Thus says the Lord: “I am going to bring recovery and healing; I will restore the fortunes of my children and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me.”

Lord, we pray in your name!

Thus says the Lord: “I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. They shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth.”

Lord, we hope in your name!

Thus says the Lord: “Once more will be heard the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank-offerings to the house of the Lord.”

‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts! The Lord is good! His steadfast love endures for ever!’

This is the Day

This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord has made
That the Lord has made
We will rejoice
We will rejoice
And be glad in it
And be glad in it
This is the day
That the Lord has made
We will rejoice and be glad in it
This is the day
This is the day
That the Lord has made

This is the Day

by Maggie Dodson and Josh Burtner | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

Holy God, You have promised us
that the day of our salvation is near.
Open our hearts to the wonders of your work
and the wisdom of your word.
Keep us faithful in love and watchful in prayer,
so we may stand with confidence and joy
at the coming of Christ, our redeemer and Lord.

Amen.

-Feasting on the Word, adapted.

Luke 1:5-23

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

Carol for Advent

Amid the winters cold embrace,
clothed in a shroud of white,
An anxious world in silence waits
through the dark of night.
As the lonely song of dove
echoes across the sky above,
We can feel the moment is near;
soon the child of peace will appear.
What child is this, the world awaits
with quiet expectation?
When will he come, the promised one,
to bring us peace and salvation?
Raise, Raise, your prayers on high,
prepare his way, the time is nigh.
Come, come Emmanuel,
O child of love and peace.
The air grows colder, the light grows dim,
with darkening sky above us.
But soon the chill of the winter wind
will warm God’s gift of love.
And a star will brighten the sky,
and songs of joy will echo in heav’n on high!
We will know the moment is here;
the child of love and peace will appear.v

OneLicense A- 733101

Carol for Advent

by David Tate, Sarah Lyle, Jeremiah Padilla | by permission OneLicense A- 733101

At the very beginning of God’s story of dwelling with his chosen people, Israel, God instructs them through Moses to prepare incense as a part of their offering. Like other sacrifices in the tabernacle, this one has multiple aspects. First, since it is burnt, it is not used for anything else. It is a gift, given, and then complete. However, it does have another benefit. While some of the other offerings that were burnt might might have been so pleasing to the nose, incense when burnt carries a strong thick pleasant scent. Incense today is often used by those who like its scent in their homes, but the idea of it as sacrifice is that when burnt, its scent rose to heaven, as a blessing to God.

The incense offering was regular part of worship in the tabernacle and temple. It was a daily offering to the Lord, morning and evening. It was a part of the sin offering to beg given before a priest entered the Holy-of-Holies. Incense was seen as something that carried our prayers to God, and as an accompaniment to prayer.

It was while lighting incense in the Holy of Holies that Zechariah first perceived Gabriel there with him. And Gabriel’s first news for Zechariah was that his prayer had been heard.

We bring our offerings to God today, not as incense, which was a particular cultural item of the time, but as gifts through which we offer ourselves and our good works. We bring our offerings that they may please God, that they may be made holy, and that they would help build God’s righteousness on earth, as it is in heaven. May the works of our hands and hearts, our offerings of thanksgiving and love, be pleasing to God.

God of every age,
You have called us and blessed us,
You give us the word that we need to hear,
A reminder that in the midst of chaos,
You are still God.
You give us every opportunity to work… and serve… and rest.
We celebrate you today.
We give thanks for being part of your ministries of love.
We pray that people in our community will know more of your hope.
We ask that your good will continue to grow among us.
Receive and bless all of our gifts for your purposes,
And allow us to continue to grow in your love.
Amen.

Love Came Down at Christmas

Love came down at Christmas,
love all lovely, Love divine;
Love was born at Christmas;
star and angels gave the sign.

Sing Noel,
Sing Noel,
Sing Noel!

Love shall be our token;
love be yours and love be mine;
love to God and others,
love for plea and gift and sign.

Sing Noel,
Sing Noel,
Sing Noel!

OneLicense A- 733101

Love came down at Christmas

by David Tate, Jeremiah Padilla | Streamed with permission. OneLicense A- 733101

God watches over us.

God is faithful.

God is loving.

In God, our Hope is sure:

Christ is coming.  Amen.