Worship Resources for
the Center for Faith and Giving
Advent IV
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25
This is the fourth Sunday of Advent. Many congregations will be eager to move on to Christmas Eve (and Christmas Day, for some). However, those are still to come. Today we’re nearly to the end of expectant waiting. Today we’re still counting down to the time of birth. If you’re lighting Advent wreath candles, today is the time to complete the wreath’s outer ring with the last of 4 candles.
Call to Worship
One: We’re nearing the completion of this time of waiting!
Many: Are we there yet?!
One: We’re close. We’ve been actively waiting.
The moment’s almost here!
Many: Is it time yet?
One: We’re so close! With expectant hearts and minds, let’s gather to
praise God, who continues to prepare us and the world for Emmanuel.
Many: We’re eager for Christ to be made known!
Opening Prayer
God of all good gifts, today we thank you for this season of eager anticipation. Quicken our hearts with enthusiasm. Focus our minds, knowing we’re nearly to Christmas. Fill our spirits as we rejoice, knowing the gift of new life is yours to give. Help us look with energy, and live with deep love, as we await the fullness of Christ in our hearts. AMEN
Moment for Stewardship
The relentless bombast of commercials, the frenzy of big sales, and the exhaustion of those trying to find exactly the right gift for a list of family and friends means it’s all the more important to redirect our eyes, our hearts, and our minds, to the reality of Jesus.
Remember, it’s about love.
God’s love for us and for all of God’s own creation.
God’s love made visible in Jesus, whose very name means “he saves.”
God’s love that fills us and overflows, blessing those whose lives we intersect.
So today, let’s take a deep breath (do this yourself!)
And another! (breathe in and breathe out)
May we focus on this opportunity to share our financial resources, and commit to sharing our time, our talent, and our treasure as we give thanks for Love, the foundation on which our lives stand.
Bring your gifts! Share what has first been shared with you, remembering that
“all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.”
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Loving God, you offered Jesus to a world yearning for a way to truly know you. Accept our offerings this day, as symbols of our lives. Touch us even through the fears and anxieties of our lives. Inspire us to pour out the love with which you fill us, so we find help even as you helped Joseph and Mary overcome their fears. Open doors to allow us joyfully to share our finances, our time, and our talents, because of our love for you and all your creation. AMEN
Invitation to Communion
In this season many of us send email, cards, or letters to friends and family. For some, it’s a time of delight as we receive these greetings in our mailboxes and our inboxes.
I wonder, though… Have you faced the challenge of opening a greeting with an unrecognizable phone number, an undecipherable signature, or absolutely NO remembrance of the person who signed the card?
The invitation to come join the community of faith around this table has come down through the ages. Jesus, gathered with his closest followers, invited all of them to share bread and the cup, remembering him.
You may know Jesus now by a variety of names. Even the Gospel writers used varied names. Did you catch two names for the Coming One in the story of Joseph told in Matthew’s gospel? In his dream, an angel tells Joseph, “You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew also quotes from Isaiah 7, “And they shall name him Emmanuel.”
We can celebrate at this table today because we’re invited to meet the One we know as Jesus and Emmanuel in the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the cup. We may claim him as Messiah and Christ. Some of us regularly seek to follow him as “Lord”.
At this table, in these gifts of bread and juice, we join with Christians from all times and all places as we recognize
Jesus, the One who will save us from our sins, AND
“God-with-us”/Emmanuel
Come! The table is prepared.
There is a place for all who seek to know the beloved One of God.
You are welcome here to eat, drink, and remember.