Mission Statement
As followers of Jesus Christ, our church is a community called to love, honour, worship, and serve God. We invite others to share our Christian journey as we grow in faith and engage in ministry in our town and mission in our world.
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Look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21.28

God’s People Gather …

Minute for Mission

Acknowledgment of Land

Advent Candle Lighting (Hope)
We have come again to the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of a new year in the life of the church. We will discover the prophet voices calling us to dream of a broken world healed. We will sing the songs of longing and we will wait in hope. Hope is the theme of this day.

All: What does hope look like?
…Hope looks like the people we see in the news. Hope looks like the people here beside us.

All: What does hope feel like?
…Hope feels like an encouraging word just when you thought you couldn’t go on any longer.

All: What is it like to live in hope?
…Today, we light the candle named Hope. May its light help us find our way.

All sing: MV 220 “Hope Shines as the Solitary Star”

Hope shines like a solitary star.
Faith is the inner light.
You and I together mirror the Light of Lights,
and illumine the pathway home.

Words copyright © 2007 Catherine Faith MacLean; music copyright © 2007 Janet Bauman Tissandier. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 (#126814).

Written by John Moses, Aylesford UC, Aylesford, NS. Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2020-2021, page 68-69. Used with permission.

Call to Worship

Come as an Advent people; praise the God of promise.
We come with glad and thankful hearts.
Follow the holy way; make the path straight.
We will walk the road to Bethlehem.

All sing: Hymn: VU 1 O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who orders all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O Rod of Jesse’s stem,
from every foe deliver them
that trust your mighty power to save,
and give them victory o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind,
O Bid our sad divisions cease,
and be for us our Prince of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Words: from the Latin antiphons for Advent. ca. 9th century; trans. John Mason Neale, 1851 Music: 15th century plainsong melody. Words copyright © The Church Pension Fund. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 (#06296); arrangement: Concordia Publishing House (#33320). Music: Public Domain.

Affirmation of Faith

We praise and thank you, O God, for you are without beginning and without end.
Through Christ, you created the whole world; and through Christ you preserve it.
You make the day for the works of light and the night for the refreshment of our minds and bodies.
Keep us now in Christ so that we may truly worship and adore you. Amen.

Story Time: “Jesse Tree”

Prayer of Confession:

Merciful God, always with us, always coming:
we confess that we do not know how to prepare for your Advent.
We have forgotten how to hope in miracles; we have ignored the promise of your Kingdom; we get distracted by all the busyness of this season.
Forgive us, God.
Grant us the simple wonder of the shepherds, the intelligent courage of the Magi, and the patient faith of Mary and Joseph, that we may journey with them to Bethlehem, and find the Good News of a child born for us.
Now, in the quiet of our hearts, we ask you to make us ready for his coming. Amen.

Words of Assurance

The Good News of this Advent season is forgiveness of sin and new life.
Let us commit our lives to Christ’s way of hope and peace.
Thanks be to the Advent God, who comes among us, setting us free to love and serve. Amen

To Hear God’s Word

Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
The Epistle: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9
The Gospel Mark: 13: 24-37

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon

To Respond in Prayer and Action…

All sing: Offertory Hymn: VU 688 O Day of God, Draw Nigh

O day of God, draw nigh
in beauty and in power,
come with your timeless judgment
now to match our present hour.

Bring to our troubled minds,
uncertain and afraid,
the quiet of a steadfast faith,
calm of a call obeyed.

Bring justice to our land,
that all may dwell secure,
and finely build for days to come
foundations that endure.

Bring to our world of strife
your sovereign word of peace,
that war may haunt the earth no more,
and desolation cease.

O day of God, draw nigh
as at creation's birth;
let there be light again, and set
your judgments on the earth.

Words: R. B. Y. Scott, 1937, alt. 1972; Music: Genevan Psalter, 1551. Words copyright © Emmanuel College, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. Used with permission (copy on file). Music, Public Domain.

All sing: VU 541 The Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Words: Thomas Ken, ca 1674; Music: Genevan Psalter 1551. Copyright Public domain.

Offertory Prayer

Prayers of the People
In our Shared Ministry Church Cycles of Prayer, we pray for Anna our bishop-elect and the Church of the Advent and the Rev. Paul Schumacher...

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
to the empty-handed and the heavy-hearted,
to the despairing and the despised.
Enter this world,
giving love to the lowly and hope to the downcast.
Dwell among us, and teach us your ways,
saving the lost and strengthening the weak.
Be made incarnate within us,
that we might cast away fear and live boldly by faith.
With gratitude that you come to be with us,
we worship joyfully this day. Amen

Collect for Advent 

The Lord’s Prayer

All sing: Closing Hymn: VU 7 Hope Is a Star

Hope is a star that shines in the night,
leading us on till the morning is bright.
When God is a child there's joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.

Peace is a ribbon that circles the earth,
giving a promise of safety and worth.
When God is a child there's joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.

Joy is a song that welcomes the dawn,
telling the world that the Saviour is born.
When God is a child there's joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.

Love is a flame that burns in our heart,
Jesus has come and will never depart.
When God is a child there's joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.

Words: Brian Wren, 1985; Music: Joan Collier Fogg, 1987. Words and music copyright © 1989 Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reprinted under OneLicense.net License #A-720359 words (#11259) and music (#11261).

Benediction

Threefold Amen

Announcements:
Reprinted and podcast with permission under ONE LICENSE #A-720359. All rights reserved.

• All in-person worship and activities at St. Columba have been suspended by provincial health order until at least December 6.
• Bible Study Tuesday at 5:15 PM on Zoom (contact Elaine Julian to be invited)
• Celtic Prayer Thursday at 2:00 PM on Zoom (contact Elaine Julian) You can participate on Zoom, or if you just wish the weekly prayers and readings in print but not participate on Zoom she can email you the document.
• December 2 at 1 PM: Loaves and Fishes food bank in parking lot.
• Mission Focus is the Gazette Christmas Hamper Fund
• You can contact Elaine Julian by email at incumbent@stcolumbaporthardy.ca or phone her at the church office. If you leave a message, she will reply as soon as possible.
• A bag lunch will be available on Sunday morning at 11 AM for those who need a meal. Gloria will be available at the church to give you the lunch.

Prayer for the Day:
May the comfort promised by Isaiah go with you as you leave this time and space of worship. May the tenderness of God speak to your heart. May the challenge of Christ give purpose to your rest and your work and may the renewal of the Spirit call you into tomorrow. Go in peace.

Written by Bob Root, Peterborough, Ontario. Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2020-2021, page 33. Used with permission.