Sunday, December 4, 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.
Words of Welcome & Territorial Acknowledgement
Prelude – “He comes to us” G. Martin
The Lighting of the Advent Wreath - Candle of Peace
(Lit by Friends from Westminster St. Paul’s - Carol Ann Johnstone, Marion Briggs, Sandra Childerley)
Hymn – Here I am (from A Sanctified Art) Picardy
Opening Prayer & Assurance of Forgiveness
Psalm 85 (responsive)
Scripture: Luke 1:26-38 (CEB)
Hymn: #128 “There’s a voice in the wilderness crying” Ascension
Sermon: “God Meets Us in Our Fear”
A Time for Reflection
Love Comes Running (Prayer by Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org)
I remember
the first time I was afraid.
I was a child.
It was a nightmare.
(You remember those pesky
monsters under the bed.)
I remember
minutes felt like hours.
I begged
the sun to rise.
(Fear always begs
the sun to rise.)
Eventually,
after minutes that felt like hours,
I cried out.
My dad came running.
He sat at the edge of my bed.
He said there is no reason to be afraid.
He checked the closet and the floorboards.
He rearranged my pillows.
He said, “I can stay.”
And that’s when I learned
that when you are afraid,
love always comes running.
Love says, “I can stay.”
That’s what God does for us.
God sits at the edge of the bed.
God checks the closet and the floorboards.
God says, “Be not afraid.”
God stays until sunrise.
Love always comes running.
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.
Prayers of the People
Hymn #549 “For the bread which you have broken” Omni Die
Sacrament of Holy Communion
Post-Communion Anthem – “Christ comes to us” H. Frombach
Hymn – #129 “Prepare the way, O Zion” Bereden Vag For Herran
Blessing
Postlude – “Gloria” (from Twelfth Mass) Mozart/Blake
