First Sunday of Advent
Zoom link
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87935930592?pwd=qZlKA506MIS9okXQQxBkaKsyhsZJDV.1
Presider: Penny
Responses: Kathy N.
Rita: Sojourners of faith, today we begin the journey to Bethlehem, to the city called “House of Bread.”
R]: We take one step toward Christmas, the first step of many. Let this journey transform us from beginning to end.
Rita: Whether your wallet is full or empty, whether your heart is broken or whole, look toward the manger, toward the stars over the city of David, and find hope.
R]: We look with hope because Christ is coming to fill hearts and satisfy our hunger with goodness and peace.
Rita: Come, let us worship as we journey to the House of Bread, where our Brother and Friend will be born.
R: Glory to God, there is hope today. Let us worship!
Linda: Loving God, we rehearse this beloved story, year after year, because, in this world where people are hungry and creation is suffering, the story gives us hope—that all people will be fed and creation will be restored!
We gather to worship in this season of hopeful expectation,
knowing you are faithful to meet us here in song, prayer, and scripture. Nourish our hearts as we worship,
and prepare us to serve the hungry around us. R] Amen
Opening song: O Come, O come Emmanuel
https://youtu.be/Lea_cdORcoM?si=iGqxeSnYtx5cZlIi
Advent Candle Lighting
Patti: A: In the quiet weeks of Advent, as candles are lit, one by one, and the nights grow longer, we are reminded the story of our faith begins not in comfort or abundance, but in longing. Advent does not pretend the world is easy. It does not ask us to ignore our fears or to deny the heaviness we carry. Advent meets us right where we are – often in the very places where hope seems hardest to grasp.
Jay Cee: Today, we light the candle of hope. Hope is believing things can get better with compassion and imagination.
Person A: As we light this candle, we are reminded that, from the manger, hope is growing...growing to be God with us. His name is Jesus, the Bread of Life.
Opening Prayer
Cathy P: Compassionate God, when we look outward, the season of Advent heightens our awareness of the hunger in the world around us.
Just as Jesus came to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people, you also call us to that high and holy task.
Increase our willingness to serve and our capacity to show generosity and compassion.
May our actions reflect the character of Jesus, who fed people everywhere he went.
Transform us to be your hands and feet, feeding the hungry and comforting the afflicted.
Amen.
Margaret: May the scriptures we read today become living bread. May your spirit empower them to shape us in Jesus’ likeness.
First reading Is 2:1-5
A reading from the prophet Isaiah Kathy N
This is what Isaiah ben-Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: In the last Days, the mountain of God’s Temple will be established as the most important mountain and raised above all other hills—all nations will stream toward it. Many people will come and say: “Come, let us climb Yahweh’s mountain to the Temple of the God of Jacob, that we may be instructed in God’s ways and walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction Will be given from Zion and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. God will judge between the nations and render decisions for many countries.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation will not raise the sword against another, and never again will they train for war. O house of Leah and Rachel and Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of our God!
The Word of our God. R] Thanks be to God
.
Responsorial psalm: A Song of Ascents, by David
Verses: Dave
R] Let us go to the house of our God!
1 How I rejoiced when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of God, and now our feet are standing within your gates, Jerusalem.
R] Let us go to the house of our God!
For the sake of my family and friends, I say, “Peace be within you!” For the sake of YHWH our God, I will seek your good.
R] Let us go to the house of our God!
Second Reading
A reading from the letter to the Romans Lucia
Besides, you know the time in which we are living. lt is now the hour for you to wake from sleep, for our salvation is closer than when we first accepted the faith. 12 The night is far spent; the day draws near. So let us cast off deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us live honorably as in daylight, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with our Savior Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the night.
The Word of our God. R] Thanks be to God
Alleluia Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia by Christopher Walker
https://youtu.be/o1rc7ojQtJU
Gospel
A reading from the Good News attributed to Matthew
“The coming of the Promised one will be just like Noah’s time. In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, having relationships and getting married, right up to the day Noah entered the ark. They were totally unconcerned until the flood came and destroyed them. So it will be at the coming of the Promised one. Two people will be out in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two people will be grinding meal; one will be taken and one will be left. Therefore, be vigilant! for you don’t know the day your savior is coming. “Be sure of this: if the owner of the house had known when the thief was coming, the owner would have kept a watchful eye and not allowed the house to be broken into. You must be prepared in the same way. The Promised one is coming at the time you least expect.
The good news of Jesus, the Christ. R] Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Homily
Statement of Faith
Affirmation of Hope
Chrys: Let us affirm our commitment to and belief in the Christian discipline of hope.
Like the pleasing aroma of a hot meal, as it is placed on a table of fellowship,
R: we believe hope entices the people of God to come together in unity.
Linda: Like the dreams of harvest that inspire the farmer to plant seeds in the spring,
R: we believe hope emboldens us to plan and plant for the future.
Chrys: Like the insects who collect pollen and unknowingly fertilize the food for all of creation,
R: we believe hope empowers us to follow our calling, allowing God to multiply our efforts when we are obedient to our calling.
Linda: Like the instinct of animals who store and save for hard times ahead,
R: we believe hope persuades us to anticipate and endure challenges that will arise.
Chrys And when anxieties and circumstances overwhelm us, or we are tempted to fall into despair,
R: we believe things can get better with compassion and imagination. This is hope. Amen.
PASSING OF THE PEACE
John: Hope compels us to make peace with others because we know we will be serving alongside one another to meet everyone’s needs. So take this moment to pass peace to your family, friends, and neighbors, for we cannot make this long Advent journey alone.
May the peace of Christ be with you! Let us offer each other a sign of peace.
Petitions
John: With faith in God’s desire to work with us, we bring our prayers: For what or whom shall we pray?
(At conclusion of petitions)
Nick: Most loving God, please hear and answer the prayers we have brought before you, as well as those which remain in our hearts, unspoken. We also pray for those who have no one else to pray for them, and we do this in Jesus’ name. Amen
Offertory
Janet: Blessed are you, God of all creation! Through your goodness we have this bread to offer. Fruit of the Earth, work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
R] Blessed be God forever
Galen: Blessed are you, God of all creation! Through your goodness we have this wine to offer. Fruit of the vine, work of human hands, it will become for us the cup of life.
R] Blessed be God forever
10 PRAYER FOR THE OFFERING
Juanita: Generous God, these gifts and offerings are a tangible expression of our hope in Christ. May they nourish those who hunger and spread your love and justice.
Bless our giving. Inspire us to share with compassion and help us trust in your abundant provision.
Amen.
Eucharistic prayer
Barbara. Holy and merciful God, in Bethlehem—in the “House of Bread”—you gave us Jesus Christ. He was born and laid in a humble manger and is the Bread of Life—the One who satisfies our deepest hunger.
Linda: Your love, shown to us in Jesus, is sufficient to fill the hungry places in our hearts and minds. You are enough for everyone, and there will always be enough bread and wine for all who come to the table with sincere hearts. We lift our voices to join in unending praise for you:
Holy Holy
https://youtu.be/kl7vmiZ1YuI?si=fGPqXYjgvfoIy9IZ
Karla: We thank you for those in times past who believed the good news and lived what they believed.
Blessed is Isaiah and every visionary who insisted on a better future that would break through the deception, disaster and broken promises of the age in which they lived.
Blessed is John, in the stark desert of careful focus, inviting the people to be born again in your love.
Blessed is Miriam, who believed the words of Isaiah and opened herself up to the unbelievable.
And blessed is her child Jesus, who felt the sorrows of humankind in his soul, and responded with deep and tender compassion.
Karen: Holy and merciful God, we approach this table with a spirit of peace, trusting that the troubles of our minds and bodies will find compassion under your loving gaze.
The gifts of communion are sufficient to remind us
of your presence with us and the peace that dwells within us. While the world can be a violent and hostile place, at this communion table, we are safe at home.
Please extend your hands in blessing over your bread and wine.
Penny: We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which reminds us of our call to be the body + of Christ in the world. We call upon the Holy Spirit to come upon these gifts of bread and wine that they may become the Body and Blood of Christ.
Galen: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift their plates and pray the following:
Penny: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
All: Take and eat, this is my very self.
(pause)
All lift their cups and pray the following:
Penny: Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
All: Take and drink. Whenever you remember me like this,I am among you.
(pause)
Janet:The gifts of communion are sufficient to remind us
of your presence with us and the peace that dwells within us. While the world can be a violent and hostile place, at this communion table, we are safe at home.
Margaret: Sisters and brothers in Christ,
the baby born in Bethlehem came to restore
and redeem the whole world.
The bread he broke was broken for all.
The wine he poured was poured out for all. . As we enter a time of remembrance and celebration for the life of Christ, all are welcome to the feast.
Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace.
Communion song
Our Father
Penny: Let us pray with the words that Jesus gave us:
Pat: Our Father, Holy Mother, Creator of the Cosmos, Source of Life You are in my mind, in my garden, in my cup of wine and loaf of bread. Blessed be Your names” Mother, Allah, Beloved, Great Spirit, Yahweh, Radiant One. Your presence has come, your will be done on Earth as it is in the heavens.
May we give each other strength, mercy, tenderness, and joy and forgive each other’s failures, silence, pettiness, and forgetfulness as we ask to be forgiven by those we’ve hurt.
Lead us home to ourselves and to each other, to clarity, to oneness and decliner us from the darkness of our ignorance and fear.
So we pray, and so we receive.
R] Amen
Blessing
Penny: May Christ, the Bread of Life, who brings hope to the hopeless, be with you. May the love our Creator, wo calls us to care for the hungry and the oppressed surround you. And may the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to imagine a kindom where all hunger is satisfied, strengthen you now and always.
Dismissal: Margaret R] Thanks be to God
Closing song: Lift up your hearts to the Lord
https://youtu.be/_ijYehz2Y9o?si=Hcskba8ZCaKyKgWM
