Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Advent 1
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
Be prepared to announce (with colors, banners, an Advent wreath or a single candle) the beginning of a new season and a new Christian year.
In this season, worship resources will include suggestions for lighting an Advent wreath in addition to our regular resources)
One free thematic set of resources may be found here:
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/advent-candle-lighting-liturgy-2021
Another is from the Disciples in West Virginia: https://lifeinliturgy.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/advent-candle-lighting-rituals/
For some newly-created free music for the Advent season, check this out:
https://sanctifiedart.org/blog/close-to-home-music-advent-year-c
(linked to resources available for purchase)
Another possibility is a set of resources for a whole season and theme:
https://adventconspiracy.org (for purchase)
Call to Worship (in 1 voice, adapted from Luke 21)
Folks, it’s time to WAKE UP!
We may be loaded down with Thanksgiving left-overs, and happy to have a four-day break, but it’s time to WATCH OUT!
Today, we come to pray for strength to face all that is coming, and to stand,
with confidence, before the Son of Man.
So come! Eager to step into this season of expectant waiting, let us tune our hearts and voices to worship the Lord our God!
Opening Prayer
Ever-wise God, we get caught in trying to anticipate what is coming, as tho’ we could know every aspect of the future. Help us enter this Advent season, alive in hope, knowing although it isn’t always evident, your Kin-dom is already here.
As we worship you, inspire us hold our heads high, even as you invite us to anticipate Christ’s coming anew.
We pray, “Prepare the Way of the Lord!” AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
How many of you have already thought ahead, and set a plan for how much money you’ll spend in the coming four weeks ahead of Christmas? Does that include what you’ll share with this congregation?
We recognize for many, this is a difficult season. So many expectations (self-imposed or otherwise) for gifts, cards, special meals, and events.
For some of us, it is a time of pressure, seeking ways to live up to our own hopes for what we can do with and for others.
Here at __________ church, we have plans, even in the midst of some difficulties, for receiving a month of offerings, plus support for our special opportunities (you might list one or two, here).
Why?
Because this is a time we focus on the greatest gift of all:
God’s gift of Jesus!
In gratitude for what God has already done, we respond with our own gifts for others, and with gifts for the work of the church.
In delight at the remembered birth of this baby, we share gifts with those we love and with those we seek to lift up in their own season of need.
So, please remember this. Plan to provide special giving to the church in these next four weeks. Your December gifts, year-end gifts, and generous support for our special Christmas offering (describe the specifics of this) will help energize this congregation.
As God has richly blessed us in the life of Jesus, so may we respond with gratitude and richly bless this congregation and our work beyond these walls.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
As the coming birth of Jesus provides such hope for us, may these gifts provide hope for this congregation and for those we seek to serve. God of Hope, accept these gifts and the good intentions of our hearts. Help us grow in gratitude and in generosity, even as we mark the coming weeks in this Advent season. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
Many of us gathered with family and friends around a Thanksgiving table just a few days ago. Some of us may have been alone, and found it challenging to see last Thursday as anything other than a normal day.
But today, ALL are invited to come to this table. It, too, is a Thanksgiving table, for here, we give thanks for the amazing gift we’ve been given in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.
There is a place for each one. You are welcome here. The feast is prepared, the table is spread, and Jesus is our host. So come!
With these gifts of bread and cup, may Jesus be made known to each and to all, as the Lord of Life. May we be filled with all hope in believing, that our lives may become signs of hope for a weary and worn world.