WorshipPLUS

Advent 2 Reading Bookmark

 

 

O Little Town of Bethlehem

As we concluded our time of confession on Sunday, we prayed Let Christ come into the fullness of our time. It was only appropriate that we would sing the final verse of O Little Town of Bethlehem:

O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in;
Be born in us today

We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel

These words remind us that the Light of Christ comes to us, even now, and dwells within and through us. Thanks be to God!

 

Advent 2 Call to Worship and Prayer of Invocation

Call to Worship | Romans 13:11-12 (NIV)

“Do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

Come, let us worship God.

Prayer of Invocation | based on Psalm 80:1-7

The Lord is glorious and exalted.

Lord, shine in our hearts and lives.

God’s people are often in distress and sorrow.

Lord, show Your might and deliver us from evil. 

We sometimes do not feel the Lord’s presence.

O Lord, let Your face again shine on us.

The Lord was the shepherd of His people Israel.

Lord, lead us in our way and guide us in our walk.

In this Advent season we stand on tiptoe—

Immanuel, invade our lives. Amen.

From The Worship Sourcebook, © 2004, CRC Publications.

'O' Antiphons

This past week for Advent 2, we proclaimed the 'O' Antiphons and sang O Come, O Come Emmanuel, which is based on those antiphons. They probably originated in the 5th century or even earlier. Each antiphon would have been used in one of the vespers services leading up to Christmas, beginning on December 17 and concluding on December 23. Here they are, along with the related verse from the advent carol.

O Wisdom, O Holy Word of God,
 You govern all creation with
  Your strong yet tender care:
 Come and show Your people
  the way to salvation.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
and order all things, far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and cause us in her ways to go

O Sacred Lord of Ancient Israel,
 who showed Yourself to Moses
  in the burning bush,
 who gave him the holy law
  on Sinai mountain:
 Come, stretch out Your mighty hand
  to set us free.

O Come, O come, Thou Lord of might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
in ancient times didst give the law
in cloud and majesty and awe

O Flower of Jesse’s Stem,
 You have been raised up as a sign
  for all peoples;
 kings stand silent in Your presence;
 the nations bow down in worship
  before You:
 Come, let nothing keep You
  from coming to our aid.

O Come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell Thy people save,
and give them victory o'er the grave

O Key of David,
 O royal Power of Israel, controlling
  at Your will the gate of heaven:
 Come, break down the prison walls
  of death for those who dwell in
  darkness and the shadow of death,
  and lead Your captive people
  into freedom.

O come, Thou Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery

O Radiant Dawn,
 Splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
 Come, shine on those who dwell in
  darkness and the shadow of death

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
and cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight

O King of all Nations,
 the only joy of every human heart;
 O Keystone of the mighty arch of man:
 Come and save the creature
  You fashioned from the dust.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife and quarrels cease,
fill all the world with heaven's peace

O Emmanuel,
 king and lawgiver,  desire of the nations,
 Savior of all people:
 Come and set us free, Lord our God.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here,
until the Son of God appear

Advent 2 Music

Here are the songs that we sang for Advent 2 on December 5, 2010

O Come, O Come Emmanuel | based on Indelible Grace's Your King Has Come (downloads available on Amazon and iTunes)

O Little Town of Bethlehem (verse 5)

Marvelous Light | an amalgam based on City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise, City on a Hill: Sing Alleluia and City on a Hill: The Gathering (all 3 available from Amazon and The Gathering available on iTunes)

God Is With Us | from Sojourn Music's Advent Songs (downloads available on Amazon and iTunes and CDs here)

O Come, All Ye Faithful

Advent and Waiting

One of the key themes for Advent is that of waiting. While we're not really addressing that in our corporate worship this season, evidently I've decided to enact it by being late with posts for this blog.

So for all the hordes who have been waiting, upcoming shortly are the posts for last week's Advent service.

:)

The Christ, Our Light

Throughout this Advent season, we'll be singing this new song for us at NPC: The Christ, Our Light | from Trinity Vineyard's Anima Christi (available from Amazon, iTunes and here). Here are the words for your ongoing meditation and worship:

When all was dark and without dawn
You gave us Light, you sent your Son
The Christ, the Christ, He shines, He shines
The Christ, the Christ, He shines, He shines
And drives all dark away, away
Yes, You drive all dark away, away

When we were enemies of the cross
When we were dead in sin, so lost
The Christ, the Christ, He died, He died
The Christ, the Christ, He died, He died
To drive our sin away, away
Come and take our sin away, away.

By Martin Reardon. © 2009 Bluepearlsnaps Publishing.

Advent Confession

Here is the text from the confession that we're using at NPC this Advent season (the portions in italics are from Isaiah):

Arise, shine, for your light has come.

O God, we live as if the light
  had never defeated the darkness
  in the world or in us.

And the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

We confess that we ignore the Christ
  You sent to be among us, to be in us.

See, darkness covers the earth
  and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
  and his glory appears over you.

We’ve kept the birth of Your Son
  confined to the Christmas season
and do not yearn for His birth
  each moment in our waiting hearts.

Nations will come to Your light,
  and kings to the brightness of Your dawn.

Lord, You came to us in the fullness of time.
Forgive us for not opening our eyes to Your coming.

It’s time that we prepare for your coming.
Let the earth ring with song.
Let the light break forth.
Let us all rejoice in your miracle of love.
Let Christ come into the fullness of our time.

Amen.

from The Worship Sourcebook with Isaiah 60:1-3 (NIV)

Advent 1 Music

Here are the songs that we sang for Advent 1 on November 28, 2010

Joyous Light | from Chris Tomlin/Passion's Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern (available from Amazon and iTunes)

Savior of the Nations, Come | from Bruce Benedict/Cardiphonia (available here)

The Christ, Our Light | from Trinity Vineyard's Anima Christi (available from Amazon, iTunes and here)

Come Lord Jesus (Advent Song) | from Vineyard Music's Is God Listening? (available from iTunes and here)

The Glorious Impossible | from Springhill Worship's The Glorious Impossible (available here...or hopefully will be in the future...this is increasingly hard to find)

Advent 2010

And so we have entered another season of Advent at NPC. The times and seasons come around regularly to remind us of the fullness of God's truth, God's grace, God's mercy, God's love, God's presence...all revealed, demonstrated and embodied in Jesus the Christ.

In this year of focusing on what it really means to be missional, Advent is a timely reminder of the greatest missional movement of all time...God in Jesus incarnated as human, as The Christ. And so we remember, so we celebrate, so we long, so we grow.

We remember the promise of the coming light:

Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
The people walking in darkness
  have seen a great light;
on those living in the land
  of the shadow of death
  a light has dawned.

We celebrate that Jesus, the incarnation of God, is the light:

John 8:12 (NIV)
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

We long for Jesus to be more and more present in us:

Colossians 1:27 (NIV)
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

We grow in being Christ's light in the world:

Matthew 5:14 (NIV)
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 

The Christ | among us, in us, through us

Advent 2010

The Word Has Come!

No more waiting! Advent is over and Christmas has come!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6-7, NIV)

Emmanuel! God is with us!

Advent Readings (12/20-25)

 

Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)

Chris Tomlin has written a wonderful, fresh bridge to go with the classic hymn, Joy to the World. Here are the words from that bridge that we sang today:

Joy, unspeakable joy!
  An overflowing well;
    no tongue can tell!
Joy, unspeakable joy!
  It rises in my soul,
    never lets me go.

You can find the full song on Tomlin's Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship. (But be warned! It's a lot higher to sing on the recording than the version we sang in church. A lot!)

The recording includes:

1. O, Come All Ye Faithful
2. Angels We Have Heard on High
3. Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)
4. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. My Soul Magnifies the Lord
6. Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)
7. Glory in the Highest
8. O, Holy Night
9. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
10. Light of the World
11. Winter Snow
12. Born that We May Have Life

Highly Recommended!

Sunday Song List (December 20)

Worship songs from Advent 4 and where you can find recordings of them.

Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song)
on Vineyard Music's Is God Listening?

The Glorious Impossible
on Springhill Worship's The Glorious Impossible

Glory Be to God
on Sovereign Grace's Savior
(the song is currently available as a free download and the CD is over 50% off)

O Holy Spirit
on Marks of Christ's Songs that Surround Me

Medley of O Come All Ye Faithful, Angels from the Realms of Glory, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing and Go Tell It on the Mountain
(recording not available)

Joy to the World (Unspeakable Joy)
on Chris Tomlin's Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship

[Provided links are specialty sites for the given recordings. Note that many of these songs, whether linked or not above, can also be found on iTunes and Amazon. worshipmusic.com is another good source for worship music recordings.]

Celebrating Xmas

Worship is one of the most foundational and essential things we do as followers of Jesus. As we give glory to God for who He is and all that He has done, we find our own inner world recalibrated on His terms. What a glorious and refreshing salvation this is for we can be delivered from what passes as Christmas...er...excuse me..."Season's" celebration in our world. C. S. Lewis wrote this:

Just a hurried line . . . to tell a story which puts the contrast between OUR feast of the Nativity and all this ghastly "Xmas" racket at its lowest. My brother heard a woman on a bus say, as the bus passed a church with a Crib outside it, "Oh Lord! They bring religion into everything. Look—they're dragging it even into Christmas now!"

C. S. Lewis, LETTERS TO AN AMERICAN LADY, (December 29, 1958), edited by Clyde Kilby. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1967, p.80.

Actually, I hope this woman is right! In the incarnation, God brought Himself into our everything as He became a man. As the choir sang on Sunday night, "a baby changes everything." Advent calls us to see with new eyes all the ways in which God has changed everything...and thank Him that He did!

(One last note. I really don't mind the use of "Xmas" for "X" or "chi" is the first letter in Greek for Christ. Just thought I'd bring a little "religion" into that!)

More on the Coming Word

Today we included an insert in the worship order that had a variety of thoughts on how to meet the Coming Word, whether in remembrance of the incarnation, engaging with Sunday's proclamation or resting in the illumination of the Spirit.

You can download a pdf of that insert by clicking the link below.

Download Coming Word Insert.pdf (745.3K)

(Note that the insert is intended to be printed duplex and then folded. So page "1" is really page 4 on the left and page 1 on the right and page "2" is page 2 on the left and page 3 on the right.)

Sunday Song List (December 13)

Worship songs from Advent 3 and where you can find recordings of them.

Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song)
on Vineyard Music's Is God Listening?

Savior of the Nations, Come
on Bruce Benedict's weblog, Cardiphonia, as an mp3 here - you can also find it by clicking the music tab on his site

O Holy Spirit
on Marks of Christ's Songs that Surround Me

Prepare a Place
on Rocketown Record's Gloria: A Christmas Celebration

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
on Indelible Grace artists' recording for detuned radio record's Your King Has Come

What Child Is This?
(no specific recording of this version)

Joy to the World
on Red Mountain Music's Silent Night

God Is with Us
on Sojourn Music's Advent Songs

[Provided links are specialty sites for the given recordings. Note that many of these songs, whether linked or not above, can also be found on iTunes and Amazon. worshipmusic.com is another good source for worship music recordings.]

Advent Readings (12/13-19)

 

 

Art for the Coming Word

I hope that you have been as blessed as I have been by the photographic art on display in the lobby during this theme of The Coming Word. Here they are for your remembrance:

Special thanks to John Carpenter for serving us with his artistic gifts.

Update for "Savior of the Nations, Come"

I mentioned in the worship service that the arrangement was from my worship leader friend Bruce Benedict. In an earlier post I said that no recording was available. I was wrong!

You can find a link to an mp3 here on Bruce's blog, Cardiphonia. You can also find it by clicking the music tab on his site.

Highly recommended.

God Is with Us

The second new song from Advent 2 comes from Sojourn Music. We actually first sang it at the acoustic Christmas Eve service in 2008, but this is our first Sunday morning use of it in worship.

The glory of God has come to the earth,
  the glory of God in our Savior's birth
Join with the angels to sing and proclaim:
  Glory to His Name!

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us
Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us

Eternity's likeness has come into time
  A light in th darkness, now hope is alive
Down from the heavens on this holy night
  Our God in a manger, our God as a child

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us
Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us

Oh, let us bring Him
  more than our silver and gold
Oh, let us bring Him
  more than our silver and gold

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us
Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
  God is with us

Words by Jeremy Quillo, Music by Jeremy Quillo and Dustin Neely. (C) 2008 Sojourn Music.

If you'd like a recording, you can find it on Advent Songs from Sojourn Music.

Savior of the Nations, Come

On the second sunday of Advent, we taught two new songs for our worship. The first, Savior of the Nations, Come, is actually a setting of a hymn whose origin is Ambrose from the 4th century and Martin Luther, 1523. The musical arrangement comes from Bruce Benedict, a worship pastor (and friend) at a PCA church in Raleigh, NC. Here they are for your continued Advent reflection:

Savior of the nations, come
  show yourself, the virgin's son
Marvel heaven, wonder earth,
  that our God chose such a birth

Not by human power or seed
  did the woman's womb conceive;
Only by the Spirit's breath
  was the Word of God made flesh

Mary then was found with child,
  still a virgin, chaste and mild
God had favored here with grace
  to receive the Prince of Peace

Christ laid down his majesty,
  passed through dark Gethsemane
Though he left his Father's home,
  Christ now sits on God's own throne

Christ in glory intercede
  for your creature's suffering need
Let your resurrecting power
  soon complete the victory hour

Praise to you, O Lord, we sing
  Praise to Christ, our newborn King!
With the Father, Spirit, one,
  let your lasting kingdom come

Sunday Song List (December 6)

Worship songs from Advent 2 and where you can find recordings of them.

Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song)
on Vineyard Music's Is God Listening?

Marvelous Light
on City on a Hill, City on a Hill: Sing Alleluiai and City on a Hill: The Gathering (all from City on a Hill on Essential Records)

Savior of the Nations, Come
(no recording available, words to come in a future post)

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
arrangement found on Vineyard Music's Christmas in the Vineyard

O Holy Spirit
on Marks of Christ's Songs that Surround Me

God Is with Us
on Sojourn Music's Advent Songs

[Provided links are specialty sites for the given recordings. Note that many of these songs, whether linked or not above, can also be found on iTunes and Amazon. worshipmusic.com is another good source for worship music recordings.]

Advent Readings (12/6-12)

 

Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song)

For the first Sunday of Advent, we taught and began with a new song for the season, Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song). I chose this song because it reminds us that during this "season of waiting", we're waiting for the greatest thing of all: the ever-coming Lord Jesus who redeems. We wait with hope that transforms. We reach for the One who has already captured us. Here are the lyrics:

Come, Lord Jesus, come redeem us
  We will wait for You

You will flood our souls with light,
  bring this broken world to rights
As You swallow death with life
  we will be singing

Come, Lord Jesus, come redeem us
  We will wait for You
When the night gives way to the light
  our hearts will know it is You

And still waters You will stir
  as we're changed from who we were
When no longer 'neath the curse
  You'll find us singing

Come, Lord Jesus, come redeem us
  We will wait for You
When the night gives way to the light
  our hearts will know it is You

We reach for You with hopeful longing
  We join the earth in all its groaning
And the trees will clap their hands,
  and the rocks will join the song!

Come, Lord Jesus, come redeem us
  We will wait for You
When the night gives way to the light
  our hearts will know it is You

By Diane Thiel. (C) 2009 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing (ASCAP).

You can find a recording of Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song) on Is God Listening?, which is available from Vineyard Music. (Note that Is God Listening? as a whole is not an Advent or Christmas recording.)

Sunday Song List (November 29)

Here are the worship songs that we sang on Advent 1 and where you can find recordings of them.

Come Lord Jesus (An Advent Song)
on Vineyard Music's Is God Listening?

Prepare a Place
on Rocketown Record's Gloria: A Christmas Celebration

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
based on a version of O the Deep Deep Love of Jesus on Indelible Grace's eponymous first recording

O Come, O Come Emmanuel
on Indelible Grace artists' recording for detuned radio record's Your King Has Come

Joyous Light
on Passion's Hymns: Ancient and Modern

O Holy Spirit
on Marks of Christ's Songs that Surround Me

The Glorious Impossible
on Springhill Worship's The Glorious Impossible

Many of these songs can also be found on iTunes and Amazon. worshipmusic.com is another good source for worship music recordings.

Advent Readings (11/29-12/5)

Advent, 2009

Advent begins tomorrow, Sunday, November 29.

I love this season as we revisit again the story of the Word of God come to earth in the flesh.

For us.

This year our theme in worship will be The Coming Word.

We will reenact the waiting and remember the coming of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with Us, the Word of God as we do each Advent season.

But we will also remember that the Word comes to us in our worship as it is proclaimed and expounded. The Word also comes to us as we listen to the Holy Spirit as we encounter the text, the Word, in our daily lives.

And so we wait.

And so we listen.

All that we might know God.