Sunday, December 11, 2022 - Worship Service
Order of Service
We continue our live broadcast this morning and welcome in-person worshipers into the Sanctuary (with socially distanced seating). Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this morning’s service, both online and in person.
Join us on our St. Andrew’s Guelph YouTube Channel, select the live service, and remember to invite your friends and families. You can also join us via Zoom by following the link in your Friday or Sunday morning email. If you’d like to begin receiving our weekly emails, you can sign up here.
Announcements
Words of Welcome & Territorial Acknowledgement
Prelude – Moon Beams - Fogg/Gingrich
Bells of St. Andrew’s
Piano: Mark Garlough
The Lighting of the Advent Wreath - Candle of Joy
Hymn #119 Hope is a Star
Opening Prayer & Assurance of Forgiveness
Psalm 126 (Choral)
Tone: A Donaldson
Refrain: G. Black
Scripture:
Hymn #114 Emmanuel, Emmanuel
Sermon: “We Can Choose A Better Way”
A Time for Reflection
Instructions for a Hard Choice (Prayer by Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org)
First, you must take a deep breath.
Let oxygen dance through your lungs.
Exhale it slowly. Allow the hurt, the shame, the anger to rise up in you.
Let your mind run wild, like a million loose horses.
Let the narratives unfold, unroll, a river of choppy water.
Ask yourself how you got here. Look down at your feet.
Roll your shoulders back.
Remember who you are.
Take another deep breath. Then, walk it back to the beginning.
Instead of looking at your feet, look at hers.
Imagine where she stands. Imagine what he needs.
Dry the river of false stories in your mind.
Turn rushing water into a dry creek bed, certainly not clean enough to drink.
Call the horses.
Bring them home.
Watch as they shake off the dust of the day.
Name what you’re feeling. Inhale again. Now you are ready to choose a better way.
Hymn: A Better Way (Sanctified Art)
Offering
You can still mail cheques to St. Andrew’s Guelph, 161 Norfolk Street, Guelph, ON N1H 4J8, Or you can donate to St. Andrew’s through CanadaHelps.
Click Here to Donate to St. Andrew’s via Canada Helps here.
You are also invited to sign up for Pre-Authorized Remittance (PAR). Instead of using offering envelopes or giving online, you can set up a regular donation through your financial institution. To learn more, click here.
Presbyterians Sharing is how we support our denomination as a whole. Your gifts the variety of missions and ministries that The Presbyterian Church in Canada supports throughout Canada. It also ensures that we are well resources by our National Office staff.
If you are able, the MOCC would encourage you to consider donating to Presbyterians Sharing. You can do so by clicking here. (Make sure that you indicate that you are from St. Andrew’s Guelph on the online form in order for it to count towards our commitment)
Or you can make a donation directly to Presbyterians Sharing through St. Andrew’s Guelph. Please mark your donation: Presbyterians Sharing.
We are making a difference TOGETHER.
If you’d like to make a donation to Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D) you can do so by clicking here.
Anthem: Magnificat B. Berthier (Taize)
Bells of St. Andrew’s
Prayers of the People
Hymn – #126 On Jordan’s bank Nobis Nascitur (#205)
Blessing
Postlude – Recessional on “I saw three ships” arr. D. Wagner
