Welcome
Please use this link for the
Zoom Service December 8, 2024 at 8:30 AM
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81188368778?p30wd=QzZNMlFNNWVRVFIyUXZieWtNWkV0UT09
December 8, 2024
Acton Community Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 177, 32142 Crown Valley Road, Acton, CA 93510
Message: 661-208-8032 w who ww.actonpc.org
1888 – 2024 Celebrating Heritage and Sharing Hope
“Advent [is a] paradoxical combination of waiting and hastening, suffering and joy, judgment and deliverance, apocalyptic woe and eschatological hope. It is the combination that counts. This is the way Christians live now, for ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never mastered it’ (John 1:5).” —Fleming Rutledge
WELCOME, ANNOUNCMENTS, GUESTS AND SPECIAL DAYS
ADVENT CANDLE LIGHTING: The Candle of Peace
CALL TO WORSHIP
Leader: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned,
People: That she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
Leader: A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
People: Every 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.
Leader: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
People: And all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Leader: Our King and Savior now draws near: Come, let us adore him!
OPENING HYMN – #9 - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
1 O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
2 O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death's dark shadows put to flight. (Refrain)
3 O come, Desire of nations, bind All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and discord cease; Fill the whole world with heaven's peace. (Refrain)
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
SILENT CONFESSION PRAYERS FOR GOD’S PEOPLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Luke 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilatewas governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler[a] of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler[b] of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler[c] of Abilene, 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’
John 14:26, 26 But the Advocate,[i] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is[b] useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
The Word of the Lord, Thanks be to God
SERMON : “The Pilgrim’s Progress: The Interpreter’s House”
CALL FOR OFFERING–Congregation sings - Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH: John 1:1-5, 14, 16, 18
Leader: Christians, what do you believe about Jesus the Christ, the Eternal Word of God who has come into the world?
All: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
HYMN #357 - O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
1 O Master, let me walk with Thee In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care.
2 Help me the slow of heart to move By some clear, winning word of love;
Teach me the wayward feet to stay, And guide them in the homeward way.
3 Teach me Thy patience; still with Thee In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong, In trust that triumphs over wrong.
4 In hope that sends a shining ray Far down the future’s broadening way;
In peace that only Thou canst give, With Thee, O Master, let me live.
HOLY COMMUNION
CLOSING HYMN #38 - It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
1 It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold;
"Peace on the earth, good will to all, From heaven's all gracious King":
The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing.
2 Still through the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds The blessed angels sing.
3 And ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road, And hear the angels sing.
4 For lo, the days are hastening on, By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever circling years Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world send back the song Which now the angels sing.
BENEDICTION – The Lord Be With You
Congregation sings
God be with you till we meet again, By his counsels guide, uphold you, With his sheep securely fold you God be with you till we meet again.
**Offerings 1. May be deposited in the Offering Box by the Narthex.
2. Processed through “E-Give” online at actonpc.org
3. Send a check to Acton Presbyterian Church P.O. Box 177 Acton, Ca. 93510
FOOD PANTRY
Buy what you need and a little more, To help the needy and the poor.
Leave non-perishables in the barrel at the new Acton Market or the basket in the Narthex
