Home Worship

for the First Sunday in Advent

November 29, 2020

Staying home is a form of loving your neighbor. Think about it, you may be staying home for your own health but in reality you then become less of a carrier to others that you might come in contact with. We hope you will feel close to God who is near even if we are far apart. May God Bless you and Keep you. 


Remember that CDC guidelines state that even in Phase 3, if you are in a high risk category, it is highly recommended that you remain sequestered and safe as much as possible. Caregivers and family members are encouraged to do the same, so as to not jeopardize their loved ones. If you are not comfortable attending socially distanced activities, please stay home and stay in touch!

Prelude: The Christmas Song

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Lighting the Advent Wreath: Anticipating New Hope

The Johnson family lights the first candle of Advent.

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Advent Prayers of the People

Advent is different this year. In the midst our COVID-19 safety precautions, we remember Christmas's past, gatherings of family, church and friends. This year, we will celebrate differently, but we still celebrate Christmas.


This year we can send Christmas cards to friends instead of visiting, call our extended family a bit more often, and prepare to spend a 'quiet, old-fashioned' Christmas at home. How beautiful!


Take some time right now.... and make your Christmas List. Instead of listing gifts you want, try listing the names of those you will contact by card or phone. Add to your list those ministries and missions to whom you will give an extra Christmas gift.

Add one more thing to your list. Choose to place a shining, lit candle(s) (battery or electric) in your street facing windows each night during advent - as a sign of HOPE.

A Prayer for Hope

Lord, help me to hear you saying, "I am your hope" over all the other voices. Lord, your word says, you are the hope for the hopeless.
So I'm running to you with both hands stretched out and grabbing on to you. Fill me up with hope and give me a tangible reminder today that hope is an unbreakable spiritual lifeline. God, you know those things in my heart that I barely dare to hope for; today I give them to you,
I trust them to you. I ask you because I know that you can do more than I could ever guess, imagine or request in wildest dreams.
God, you are my hope and I trust you. Amen.


by Rev. Betty Kniss

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Hymn UMH#211

CCLI Song # 31982  John Mason Neale | Thomas Helmore © Words: Public Domain, Music: Public Domain. For use solely with the SongSelect® Terms of Use. All rights reserved. CCLI License # 625707.

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Isaiah 43:1-19 (CEB)

1 But now, says the Lord
the one who created you, Jacob,
    the one who formed you, Israel:
Don’t fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    when through the rivers, they won’t sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you won’t be scorched
    and flame won’t burn you.
3 I am the Lord your God,
    the holy one of Israel, your savior.
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
    Cush and Seba in your place.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes,
    you are honored, and I love you.
    I give people in your place,
        and nations in exchange for your life.
5 Don’t fear,
    I am with you.
From the east I’ll bring your children;
    from the west I’ll gather you.
6 I’ll say to the north, “Give them back!”
    and to the south, “Don’t detain them.”
Bring my sons from far away,
    and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7     everyone who is called by my name
    and whom I created for my glory,
    whom I have formed and made.

8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
    the deaf ones who have ears.
9 All the nations are gathered together;
    the peoples are assembled.
Which of them announced this?
    Who predicted to us the past events?
Let them bring their witnesses as a defense;
    let them hear and say, “It’s true!”

Isaiah 43:1-19 (CEB) (Con't)

10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
    my servant, whom I chose,
    so that you would know and believe me
    and understand that I am the one.
Before me no god was formed;
    after me there has been no other.
11 I, I am the Lord,
    and there is no savior besides me.
12 I announced, I saved, I proclaimed,
not some stranger among you.
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
    and I am God.
13 From the dawn of time, I am the one.
    No one can escape my power.
    I act, and who can undo it?


14 The Lord your redeemer,
    the holy one of Israel, says,
For your sake, I have sent an army to Babylon,
    and brought down all the bars,
    turning the Chaldeans’ singing into a lament.
15 I am the Lord, your holy one,
    Israel’s creator, your king!
16 The Lord says—who makes a way in the sea
    and a path in the mighty waters,
17     who brings out chariot and horse,
    army and battalion;
    they will lie down together and will not rise;
    they will be extinguished, extinguished like a wick.
18 Don’t remember the prior things;
    don’t ponder ancient history.
19 Look! I’m doing a new thing;
    now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it?
I’m making a way in the desert,
    paths in the wilderness.

Offering

Oceanview Online Giving: Giving is a part of our worship to God. Your generosity helps us minister God’s hope and healing to our community and beyond. Contribute here: Oceanview Give. Thank you for helping show Christ real and relevant to the world.


Offering Prayer: Great God of wonderful surprises: we enter this season of preparation for your Son’s coming, looking not for just a memory of past events, but anticipating a return. We strive to get our lives in order and pray that our giving of ourselves to these preparations might reflect the earth-shaking importance of his coming. Help us to give ourselves generously, for we do not know the day or the hour. We pray in the name of the one who will come. Amen. (Mark 13:24-37)

Sermon: A New Thing

Rev. Emily Denmark McGee, Pastor

Sermon Series: Anticipation


Christmas is all about God doing something new in the world. And for these children of Israel who have just lived through the trauma of invasion, war and exile, well, a new thing is exactly what they need. For us living in the pandemic world of 2020, what new thing could we perceive God doing in the world?

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Let the World Sing Gloria - Oceanview Worship

CCLI Song # 6401131 Bryan Brown | Jeremy Bose | Sarah Hart © 2013 Meadowgreen Music Company, River Oaks Music Company, spiritandsong.com, Vandelay Publishing, worshiptogether.com songs (all Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing). All rights reserved. www.ccli.com. CCLI License # 625707.

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Blessing: Ephesians 18

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.

Revised Common Lectionary

Further Readings for the First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2020 from The Revised Common Lectionary, Year B.


1st Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Gospel: Mark 13:24-37


https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Mission Focus: Palm Beach County Food Project

Food Collection Drop Off Date: 12/12/2020

Drop Off Window: 10:00 am to Noon

Now more than ever your help is needed. Many people in Palm Beach County are food insecure due to COVID-19 financial burdens or job loss. We can help. 


Get your GREEN BAGS ready! Our next Drive Up Drop Off date is Saturday, December 12th. Between 10:00 am and Noon, come to the Upper Level, Fellowship Hall area... and stay in your car. A masked and (socially distanced) volunteer will remove your food donation bags for you. (If you don't have PBCFP bags, paper bags are fine. If neither of those are available, simply bring your donations in what you have. 


Check on the Palm Beach County Food Project website for the list of needed items: https://palmbeachcountyfoodproject.org/


Contact our church coordinator, Kay Heisler, for more information. 


You want to help. We make it easy.