Worship Guide
December 14, 2025
Third Sunday of Advent
Creating Disciples of Jesus who Transform the World
ENTRANCE WITH PRAISE
Greeting:
Minister: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you!
People: And also with you!
Lighting the Advent Candle: Joy
Reader: In the midst of our waiting and longing for God to make the world right again, we cling to the truth that God has saved, God is saving, and God will save. So today, we join our voices with the prophet Isaiah, who calls us to live in the joy of the truth of God’s salvation.
All: We choose to believe that the day is coming when “the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10).
Reader: We light this candle of joy as a sign of the Truth that sets us free to live in joy as we wait and work for the day when all creation will flourish together.
Special Music: Perfectly Loved - Stefanie & Charles
Centering Words:
Wait together for God, trusting the Advent journey. Walk this Holy Way, trusting the One who promises us joy, the One who keeps us from going astray.
*Call to Worship:
Leader: We gather today in great hope, longing to see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.
People: The Almighty has done great things for us. Holy is God’s name.
Leader: May our worship strengthen our hands, make firm our trembling knees, and unburden our fearful hearts.
People: The Almighty has done great things for us. Holy is God’s name.
Leader: Knowing that God is near, let us be patient with the times and with one another.
People: The Almighty has done great things for us. Holy is God’s name.
Leader: To all who ask about our hope, let us tell the good news of what we have seen and heard.
People: The Almighty has done great things for us. Holy is God’s name.
Leader: Let us pray.
ALL: Joyful and patient God, you break into our Advent busyness with your extravagant promise of glory and joy. Fire up our imaginations with holy trust in your goodness. Inspire us with a patience that sees beyond our habitual longing for past glories and understandings. Move us beyond our too familiar criticisms of one another and of ourselves. Open our eyes and help us see your compassion, already at work in our world: healing, restoring, strengthening, and telling the good news that you are near. Make us signs of your everlasting joy for your people and for all the world We pray in the name of Jesus, whose nearness we proclaim. Amen.
Hymn: “Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine”
Joseph dearest, Joseph mine,
help me cradle the child divine;
God reward thee and all that’s thine
in paradise, so prays the mother Mary.
He came among us at Christmas-time,
at Christmas-time, in Bethlehem;
let us bring him from far and wide
Love’s diadem: Jesus, Jesus,
lo, he comes, and loves, and saves, and frees us!
Gladly, dear one, lady mine,
help I cradle this child of thine;
God’s own light on us both shall shine
in paradise, as prays the mother Mary.
He came among us at Christmas-time,
at Christmas-time, in Bethlehem;
let us bring him from far and wide
Love’s diadem: Jesus, Jesus,
lo, he comes, and loves, and saves, and frees us!
All shall come and bow the knee;
wise and happy their souls shall be,
loving such a divinity,
as all may see in Jesus, Son of Mary.
He came among us at Christmas-time,
at Christmas-time, in Bethlehem;
let us bring him from far and wide
Love’s diadem: Jesus, Jesus,
lo, he comes, and loves, and saves, and frees us!
PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD
Words of Assurance
Advent People of God, as those ransomed by the Lord, walk the Holy Way, where no traveler goes astray.
Come, rejoicing and singing, knowing that sorrow and sighing shall flee and that God’s everlasting joy shall surround and hold you.
Thanks be to God!
*New Testament Reading: Matthew 11:2-11
2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” 4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Leader: This is the Word of God for the people of God
People: Thanks be to God.
WORD AND RESPONSE
Time with Young Friends: “Jesus Loves Me”
Children’s Message: What’s Really True
Hymn: “To a Maid Engaged to Joseph”
To a maid engaged to Joseph,
the angel Gabriel came.
“Fear not," the angel told her,
“I come to bring good news,
good news I come to tell you,
good news, I say, good news.
“For you are highly favored
by the God the Lord of all,
who even now is with you.
You are on earth most blest,
you are most blest, most blessed,
God chose you, you are blest!"
But Mary was most troubled
to hear the angel’s word.
What was the angel saying?
It troubled her to hear,
to hear the angel’s message,
it troubled her to hear.
“Fear not, for God is with you,
and you shall bear a child.
His name shall be called Jesus,
God’s offspring from on high.
And he shall reign forever,
forever reign on high."
“How shall this be?" said Mary,
“I am not yet a wife."
The angel answered quickly,
“The power of the Most High
will come upon you shortly,
your child will be God’s child."
As Mary heard the angel,
she wondered at his words.
“Behold, I am your handmaid,"
she said unto her God.
“So be it; I am ready
according to your word."
Sermon: “Signs and Truths” Isaiah 35:1-10
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2 it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
but it shall be for God’s people;
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Prayers of the People - Joys and Concerns
Silent Prayer, Pastoral Prayer
THE SACRAMENTS OF
HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation, Prayer of Confession and Pardon:
Christ our Lord invites to his table
all who love him,
who earnestly repent of their sin
and seek to live in peace with one another.
Therefore, let us confess our sin before God
and one another.
Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you
with our whole hearts.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law,
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the
cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Hear the good news:
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;
that proves God's love toward us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.
Glory to God. Amen
The Great Thanksgiving
The Lord be with you
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is right, and a good and joyful thing,
always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, creator of
heaven and earth.
You formed us in your image and
breathed into us the breath of life.
When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets, who looked for that day when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
And so, with your people on earth
and all the company of heaven
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ, whom you sent in the fullness of time to be a light to the nations
You scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts and have mercy on those who fear you from generation to generation.
You put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt those of low degree.
You fill the hungry with good things, and the rich you send empty away.
Your own Son came among us as a servant, to be Emmanuel, your presence with us.
He humbled himself in obedience to your will and freely accepted death on a cross.
By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.
When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always, in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.
On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread, gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Take, eat; this my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."
When the supper was over, he took the cup,
gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:
"Drink from this all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me."
And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the mystery of faith
Christ has died;
Christ is risen;
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father, now and forever. Amen
And now with the confidence of children of God, let us pray:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.
Amen
Sharing of the Cup and Loaf
Moment of Prayer and Meditation
Prayer of Thanks
Eternal God, we give you thanks
for this holy mystery
in which you have given yourself to us.
Grant that we may go into the world
in the strength of your Spirit,
to give ourselves to others,
in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
SENDING FORTH
Hymn: “It Came upon the Midnight Clear”
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 men,
from heaven’s all gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
to hear the angels sing.
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.
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!
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet seen of old,
when with the ever circling years
shall come the time foretold
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
Hymn: “Until Jesus Comes” W&S 3050
Until Jesus comes, until Jesus comes,
I'll be watching and waiting until Jesus comes.
Until Jesus comes, until Jesus comes,
I'll be watching and waiting until Jesus comes.
