Order of service
Advent Service
10:30 am Sunday 10 December 2023
You are welcome to join in with as much as you feel comfortable to.
There are free refreshments available near to the Corn Exchange.
If you have any questions during the service please ask one of the team.
If you would like to know more about our church please get in touch or if you would like to explore faith and try and Alpha course then please click here to find out more.
poem /// Breakthrough
Read by Camila Lloyd
What seems impossible is not.
What stands in the way, against us; unmovable, is not.
It can move – when it hears His voice it moves!
For, all things are possible
The unshakable; quakes
The storms cease.
The permanent is erased.
For there is hope.
For there is Jesus.
In him … Darkness dissolves.
Grass withers, flowers may fall, but His voice, His truth, his word endures.
Forever
We walk obediently by faith and walls come down.
We gather a pebble of certainty and giants crumble
We lift our voice and refreshing rains end the drought
We hold to prayer and lions fail to roar
We take our stand and fires burn but do not scorch or kill
We dare to believe and our wildest hopes are met in Him
So, we look to him, to Jesus,
Not just as a baby in a manger
But Jesus … Fully God, fully man, fully sacrifice and saviour.
And in him we find life
We find truth
We find the way.
Prayer ///
Sarah Plowman
Bible reading /// 1 John 3:1-8 [NIV BIBLE]
The Lay family
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a] we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Welcome ///
Russ Beese
Worship ///
Joy to the World
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.
Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
Let men their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
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.
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.
Way maker
Verse 1
You are here, moving in our midst
I worship You
I worship You
You are here, working in this place
I worship You
I worship You
Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper
Light in the darkness, my God
That is who You are
Verse 2
You are here, touching every heart
I worship You
I worship You
You are here, healing every heart
I worship You
I worship You
Verse 3
You are here, turning lives around
I worship You
I worship You
You are here, mending every heart
I worship You
I worship You
Even when I don’t see it, You’re working
Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working
You never stop, You never stop working
You never stop, You never stop working
O come all ye faithful
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
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
O come, let us adore Him
Christ the Lord!
God of God, Light of Light
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb
Very God
Begotten, not created
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God
All glory in the highest
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born that happy morning
Jesus, to Thee be glory given
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Bible Reading /// From Romans chapter 8
Jan and Bryce
If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sermon part 1 ///
Jason Huffadinee
Worship ///
O praise the name
I cast my mind to Calvary
Where Jesus bled and died for me
I see His wounds, His hands, His feet
My Saviour on that cursed tree
His body bound and drenched in tears
They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb
The entrance sealed by heavy stone
Messiah still and all alone
O praise the Name of the Lord our God
O praise His Name forevermore
For endless days we will sing Your praise
Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Then on the third at break of dawn
The Son of heaven rose again
O trampled death where is your sting?
The angels roar for Christ the King
He shall return in robes of white
The blazing sun shall pierce the night
And I will rise among the saints
My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face
Lighting the second advent candle ///
The Cooper Family
The
Loving God, as we light the second Advent candle, we pray for everyone who lives in the midst of conflict or war. May they find peace that passes understanding. And for all who are gathered here or who live and work in our town we pray, Lord Jesus Christ, Prince of peace, reign in our hearts. Come close to us this Advent.
Sermon part 2 ///
Jason Huffadine
Worship ///
Hark! The herald angels sing
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King:
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born king"
Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come,
offspring of the Virgin's womb:
veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail the incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born king"
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the new-born king"
closing Prayer ///
Audrey Hobbs
Immanuel, God with us
For all who are grieving or feeling loss we pray: God, be their comfort
For all who are unwell, struggling with mental or physical health: God be their healer
For all who a longing for freedom: God, be their deliverer
For all who are questioning, wondering and searching for purpose: God, be their Wonderful counsellor and their joy.
For all who are lonely, isolated, imprisoned, or rejected: God, be their Immanuel.
For all who all people of every tribe, nation, language, and tongue: God, be their saviour and their everlasting Father.
God of breakthrough as we wait: be our joy and be our hope.
Amen
THANK YOU ///
Russ Beese
