HAPPY (spiritual) NEW YEAR 1st Sunday of Advent 

Today’s service may be viewed on Facebook Live Stream at this link: https://fb.me/e/46eHoUTko?mibextid=RQdjqZ, hear it in the church parking lot at 107.1 FM, or join us in person.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Gathering Music                              Polly Dunford    

Welcome and Announcements with recognition of visitors Gloria Bennett

Introduction to Service                   Rev. Dr. Steven Morgan

Advent Song “When God is a Child”   (verse 1 only)                   Handout

        Words by Brian Wren; Music by Joan Collier Fogg

Hope is a star that shines in the night, leading us on till the morning is bright.

When God is a child there’s joy in our song. The last shall be first and

the weak shall be strong, and none shall be afraid.         

First Sunday of Advent

(Focus: Isaiah 64:1–9; Hope for Renewal)      DuPre Calhoun Manella Calhoun

Reader 1: O God, we light the first candle of Advent. (The reader lights the first candle.)

Reader 2: We kindle it with hope. We long for you to come to our world, to break through and reign with compassion, justice, and peace.

Reader 1: The prophet Isaiah also cried to God to tear open heaven and come down. He called God’s people to do right. Isaiah called them to be refashioned like clay by God, the potter. This Advent, we call out to God.

People : Mighty God, creator of the world, break through all that keeps us from you. We ask for your mercy and reform us in your image. This Advent, may we stay awake to your visiting us with your justice, love, and peace. Amen.

Opening Hymn       “Wake, Now, My Senses”             Handout

            Words by Thomas J. S. Mickelson; Music is a traditional Irish melody

1)  Wake, now, my senses, and hear the earth call;

feel the deep power of being in all;

keep, with the web of creation your vow,

giving, receiving as love shows us how.

2)  Wake, now, my reason, reach out to the new;

join with each pilgrim who quests for the true;

honor the beauty and wisdom of time;

suffer thy limit, and praise the sublime.

3)  Wake, now compassion, give heed to the cry;

voices of suffering fill the wide sky;

take as your neighbor both stranger and friend,

praying and striving their hardship to end.

Scripture Readings for the 1st Sunday of Advent

Romans 13:11-14
Make sure you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

Matthew 24:36-44
But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Message    “Woke Resolutions Drawn from a Plastic Tub -             Rev. Dr. Steven Morgan

What Does Mine Say to Me About My Journey?”

Sharing of Prayer Concerns and Praise Notes 

Prayerful Response 

Closing Hymn       “This is a Day of New Beginnings”  (verses 1-4 only)                 Handout

              Words by Brian Wren; Music by Carlton R. Young 

1)  This is a day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on,

time to believe what love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that’s gone.

2)  For by the life and death of Jesus, God’s mighty Spirit, now as then,

can make for us a world of difference, as faith and hope are born again.

3) Then let us, with the Spirit’s daring, step from the past and leave behind

our disappointment, guilt, and grieving, seeking new paths, and sure to find.

4)  Christ is alive, and goes before us to show and share what love can do.

This is a day of new beginnings; our God is making all things new.

Closing                                       Rev. Dr. Steven Morgan

Conversation

Shalom       (“May you be well and whole and in communion with all creation.”)

                          Shalom, my friends, Shalom, my friends, Shalom, Shalom.

                            Till we meet again, Till we meet again, Shalom, Shalom.

******************************************************************************************************

Calendar of Service  

December 4 - Keith Ray;  Sanctuary

December 11 - Keith Ray;  Sanctuary

December 18 - Christmas Pageant;  Sanctuary

December 24 - Christmas Eve at 7:00 PM — Keith Ray; Sanctuary

December 25 - Keith Ray; Sanctuary

Services will gather in the sanctuary until the weather warms again in Spring.

***************************

Come to the inaugural meeting of Anderson County Queer Support and Advocacy Group on Thursday, December 1 at 7-8:30 PM, a new chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Read more at acadvocate22@gmail.com.  All are welcome.

**************************

COME JOIN THE FUN AND CAMARADERIE AT THE BONFIRE!

All church members and friends are invited on Saturday, December 3, at 5:00 pm, to Karen Manley’s at 1011 Lady’s Lane, Anderson, for dinner (chili - with meat and meatless, apple cider, S’mores).  Call or text her at 864-353-3576 if you have any questions.

*****************************

Every Christmas, we support the students at New Foundations by donating new, unwrapped gifts. We will need gifts at church by December 4 to be able to deliver them to New Foundations by December 9.  See the list in the recent newsletter.  If you would like, you may also use our Amazon Wish List.

****************************

Come to Country Christmas Open Houses at Boxwood Manor and Rocky Retreat on Sunday, December 4 from 1-4:30.  Enjoy tours, live music, pop-up craft markets and opportunities to meet your neighbors. CDCA Arts and Crafts and Memories of Camp Buc Art Items will be available for purchase.   For more information, contact Polly at Rocky Retreat - 612-670-7946 or innkeeper@rockyretreatsc.com - or Annette at Boxwood Manor - 864-934-7280 or boxwoodmanor@gmail.com.

***************************

Bible Study Update  —  You are invited to join our exploration of the Bible on Mondays at 6:30 PM (returning to original time). If interested, contact David Johnson (ampaw2t@gmail.com) or Cynthia Warner (cynthiakwarner@mac.com) to be added to the email list.

************************** 

Remember in prayer: The Marsden family; Tawny Booth (friend of Vicki Conrad-Wright); Sharon Fowler; Jason Harding; Friends and Family of Doug Vaughan; Bruce Kalley and family; Tim and Michael Little-Bell and family; Linda McFall; Mike Johnston; Taylor Bishop (Whitney’s niece); Steve Hallowell; Pat Weddle; Glenn Burns; Jackie Moore; Whitney Bishop; Latha and Cheryl Semones; Immigrant families; Victims of all violence, oppression, and injustice; People of Ukraine; Families of Victims of mass shootings in Colorado Springs, CO, and Chesapeake, VA.