Preliminaries: Welcome and Announcements
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We Give Glory to God
Call to Worship: “Luke 1:68-69”
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
Hymn of Acclamation: “O Come, All Ye Faithful”
Kauflin and Clow, 1841
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him, born the King of angels;
Refrain:
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
Sing, choir of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heav’n above;
Glory to God, all glory in the highest! [Refrain]
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; [Refrain]
We Mourn the Reality of Sin
Hymn of Confession: “O Come, All You Unfaithful”
12th century; trans. Neale, 1851
O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone
O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done
Chorus:
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you
O come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect love
O come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done [Chorus]
Bridge:
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe [2x]
So come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has done [Chorus]
We Celebrate Christ as Our Redeemer
Assurance of Hope: “Isaiah 53:4-5”
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
Hymn of Redemption: “Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
Bliss, 1876
Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood
He sealed my pardon with His blood
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless me;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heaven exalted high
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Reading: “Isaiah 53”
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see[i] and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Prayer for the Proclamation of God’s Word
Sermon: “God With Us In Grief and Sorrow”
Davis Lacey – Isaiah 53
Main Point: God is with us in Grief and Sorrow
We Respond to the Gospel
Hymn of Response: “Glory Be to God on High” John Wesley, 1810; Bruce Benedict, 2008
Glory be to God on high, Peace on earth descend;
God comes down; He bows the sky, and shows Himself our Friend!
God, th’invisible appears, God, the blest, the great I AM,
Sojourns in this vale of tears, and Jesus is His name.
Him the angels all adored, their Maker and their King;
tidings of their humbled Lord, they now to mortals bring;
emptied of His majesty, of His dazzling glories shorn,
being’s Source, begins to be, and Christ Himself is born!
See the Eternal Son of God, a mortal son of man Dwelling in an earthly clod, whom heaven cannot contain!
Stand amazed, ye heavens, at this! See the Lord of earth and skies Humbled to the dust He is, and in a manger lies!
We, the sons of men, rejoice, The Prince of Peace proclaim,
With Heaven’s host lift up our voice, and shout Immanuel’s Name;
Knees and hearts to Him we bow; of our flesh, and of our bone,
Jesus is our brother now, and God is all our own!
Commissioning of the Church
Hymn of New Creation: “A Great and Mighty Wonder”
St. Germanus (634-734); arr. Tom McConnell, 2016
A great and mighty wonder,
Redemption drawing near near:
The Virgin bears the infant,
The Prince of peace is here!
And with that lowly maiden, we join to sing again:
“To God on high be glory, and peace on earth to men.”
The Word becomes incarnate
And yet remains on high,
The shepherds hear the anthem
As glory fills the sky.
And with those humble shepherds We join to sing again
“To God on High be glory and peace on earth to men!”
The angels sing the story,
‘Rejoice, O distant lands,’
You valleys, forests, mountains
And oceans, clap your hands!’
And joining with Creation we sing that hymn again: “
To God on high be glory and peace on earth to men!”
He comes to save all nations,
Let all now hear His word,
Approach and bring Him worship,
The Savior and the Lord.
And we who know His saving grace will join to sing again:
“To God on high be glory and peace on earth to men!”
