(WILMINGTON, CA)

Calvary Presbyterian Church

Order of Worship

Prelude

Karine Bendicion

Leader: We gather this morning,

People: With faith and great expectation.

Leader: To keep the fire of God’s Spirit burning within us,

People: And let us hear God’s promises with fresh ears.

Leader: With hearts full of anticipation,

People: In peace we await your coming, O Lord, O Jesus our Christ.

ALL: Let us worship the Lord our God. Amen and Amen!

Elder Raffy Cruzado

Call to Worship

Opening Hymn #40

“Joy to the World”

Hymn: Isaac Watts, 1719           
Tune: George Frederick Handel, 1742

1.
Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

2.
Joy to the world! the Savior reigns:
Let us our songs employ;
While fields and floods,
rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

4.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of his love.

Lighting of the Advent Candle of FAITH

Prayer of Confession (together)

There are many roads to choose; yet only one leads to life. God, we confess our desire to choose roads that lead to so many things that keep us from you. We are so easily distracted, tempted by paths that seem to lead to good things -- wealth, prosperity, health -- and yet they never satisfy. Keep us on the path that leads to you.

Give us a desire for the things that are of you, that we know will bring us ultimate joy and to you, great glory. Thank you for never leaving us behind when we wander. Draw us back to you, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.

(A short moment of silence for personal reflection will follow this prayer, to be ended with the ringing of the bell.)

Assurance of Pardon

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Prayer of the People / The Lord’s Prayer

To this temple, where we call You, come, O Lord of
Hosts, today; with Your wonted loving-kindness
hear Your people as they pray, and Your fullest
benediction shed within its walls alway.

Choral Anthem: Let Every Heart Prepare a Throne

Quoting from the first stanza of Hark, the Glad Sound by Phillip Doddridge, 1702-1751; Mark Patterson, additional lyrics
Music: Mark Patterson

A.
Let every heart prepare a throne 
for soon the Child of Light will come.
Let every voice prepare a song
to welcome Christ the Promised One.

B.
Let every hand reach out with love
to greet this gift from God above.
Make ready now, the Savior comes,
the Prince of Peace, the Promised One.

C.
So let the flame of Advent glow,
each candle shines that all may know
the hope we need, so long foretold
will soon be here for us to hold.

Repeat A.

“GOD WITH US”
Rev. Emmanuel G. Orendain

We are an Advent people, a people of faith and peace.

For us, Advent is a time of waiting, and so we wait.
We wait for the coming of the One
Who is the fulfillment of God’s promise, the fulfillment of hope,
The declaration that we have been redeemed.

The Holy One is coming,
To make holy once again
All that was, is, and ever will be.

And in our waiting and our hoping, we work and worship,
Pray and play, in all things hoping that peace, love and joy will reign
In our lives and in our world, now and forever. Amen and Amen.

(an Advent Affirmation of Faith – PCUSA Liturgical Resources)

Affirmation of Faith

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Hymn from Liturgy of St. James, 4th century
French carol

1.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

2.
King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
In the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

3.
Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of Light descendeth 
From the realms of endless day,
That the powers of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

4.
At His feet the six-winged seraph;
Cherubim, with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!