1st Sunday of Advent (Year A)

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All liturgy below is free to be used or adapted as long as the following credit is given: Liturgy by Stephen M. Fearing | www.stephenmfearing.com

Call to Worship

Liturgist: I was glad when they said to me,               Ps. 122
Left Side: Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Liturgist: I was glad when they said to me,
Right Side: Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Liturgist: I was glad when they said to me,
Choir: Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Liturgist: For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
we will seek God’s good!
I was glad when they said to me,
All: Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Liturgist: Come, let us worship God.

Prayer of the Day

God of all Wonder and Delight,
we begin our Advent wait,
coming to worship you as an act of imagination,
seeking a faith that sees what will be that is not yet.
As we wait for your beloved child to grace us with his presence,
settle and then stir our hearts
in order that they may yearn
for that which has been promised to us.  Amen.

Call to Confession

As we begin our Advent waiting,
honesty is a necessary ingredient in the recipe of faithfulness.
Let us be honest with one another, and with our merciful God,
about the ways that we have done harm to ourselves and one another.

Confession

God of Hope,
you call us to be practitioners of prophetic imagination,       Isaiah 2:1-5
people who aren’t scared to dream about a better future
and to take concrete steps to bring it to fruition.
But, too often, we settle for far less than you intend:
for what is easy,
for what is convenient,
for what is better for a few instead of all.
Forgive us, Lord, for our lack of moral imagination.
Help us dream of your promised day,
when we shall beat our weapons into gardening tools,
unlearn the ways of war,
and plant seeds of peace in places ridden with violence.
In the name of the Prince of Peace, we pray.  Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

God’s creation knows no ending,
God’s mercies are from everlasting to everlasting.                       Lam. 3:22
In the name of the Resurrected Christ, I announce to you:
our sins are forgiven!  Alleluia!  Amen.

Prayer for Illumination

O God of Wisdom,
give us hope in the reading of your word.
Open our ears that we might receive its truth
and join you in your dream for a renewed world
where peace is the order of the day.  Amen.

Prayers of the People

Let us pray to God saying:
God of Hope, help us live your dream.

You dream of a world where we treat your creation with the respect it deserves,
when we till the good earth with repurposed tools that were once weapons of war.
Help us heal creation’s wounds, inflicted by our greed and apathy.
Help us take meaningful, comprehensive, and courageous steps to protect your creation.
God of Hope, help us live your dream.

You dream of a world where children go to school without worrying about being shot,
where people of color don’t have to be afraid of getting pulled over,
and police officers get home to their families safely,
where children’s and women’s bodies are treated with respect and dignity,
and where immigrants and refugees find welcome at the border instead of hostility.
God of Hope, help us live your dream.

You dream of a world where politicians put aside their differences for the common good,
where our laws are created not in the interest of the powerful but in the interest of the weak,
where no one has any undue barriers to exercise their right to vote,
and where those in marginalized communities feel valued by their elected representatives.
God of Hope, help us live your dream.  

You dream of a world in which your congregations care for the communities they serve:
we pray this days for the folks in our neighborhood(s), 
God of Hope, help us live your dream.

We pray for those on our hearts this day, either out loud or in silence…
God of Hope, help us live your dream.

Prayer of Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.  And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.  We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

God of Advent Hope,
if your creation was a one-time event,
then there would be no need to celebrate Advent and Christmas year after year.
But your creation is a never-ending act of generosity and love.
And so, yet again, we anticipate the breaking forth of your shalom into this violent world.
In the beginning, you spoke and creation was begun.
Today, you speak to your people, and your creation continues.

As we wait for your child to be born,
hear us as we sing your majesty.

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest.

Christ of Advent Hope,
break forth, O beauteous heavenly light, and usher in the morning - 
a new morn of gladness, a new morn of peace, a new morn of steadfast love.
Come to us at this table and give this hope of your resurrection,
that we may carry it into the world as we wait for your coming.

We give you thanks, Gracious Giver,
that on the night you were betrayed,
you gathered with your disciples, and took a loaf of bread,
you gave thanks for it, blessed it, and broke it,
and then gave it to your friends, saying:
This is my body, broken for you.
Take, eat.  Do this in remembrance of me.

We give you thanks, Christ Jesus,
that on that same night you took the cup,
and, pouring it, gave it to your disciples, saying:
This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Take, drink.  Do this in remembrance of me.

We gather this day, God of all majesty and power,
to lift up your holy name and proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Spirit of Advent Hope,
bless us with a double portion of your presence this day,
as we gather, summoned by your power,
to be nourished by this gracious meal.
May the grace we find at this Table
send us into the world to bring Advent hope to the world we are called to serve.

Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
all glory and honor are yours, Holy God,
both now and always.  Amen.

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Stephen Fearing

Stephen was born in 1988 in Cookeville, TN, where his parents met whilst attending Tennessee Tech. Shortly after, they moved to Dalton, Georgia where they put down roots and joined First Presbyterian Church, the faith family that taught Stephen that he was first and foremost a beloved child of God. It was this community that taught Stephen that it was OK to have questions and doubts and that nothing he could do could every possibly separate him from the love of God. In 1995, his sister, Sarah Kate, joined the family and Stephen began his journey as a life-long musician. Since then, he has found a love of music and has found this gift particularly fitting for his call to ministry. Among the instruments that he enjoys are piano, trumpet, guitar, and handbells. Stephen has always had a love of singing and congregation song. An avid member of the marching band, Stephen was the drum major of his high school's marching band. In 2006, Stephen began his tenure at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC where he majored in Religion and minored in History. While attending PC, Stephen continued to explore his love of music by participating in the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Jazz Combo, Jazz Trio, as well as playing in the PC Handbell ensemble and playing mandolin and banjo PC's very own bluegrass/rock group, Hosegrass, of which Stephen was a founding member (Hosegrass even released their own CD!). In 2010, Stephen moved from Clinton to Atlanta to attend Columbia Theological Seminary to pursue God's call on his life to be a pastor in the PC(USA). During this time, Stephen worked at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Silver Creek Presbyterian Church, Central Presbyterian Church, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. For three years, Stephen served as the Choir Director of Columbia Theological Seminary's choir and also served as the Interim Music Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church. In 2014, Stephen graduated from Columbia with a Masters of Divinity and a Masters of Arts in Practical Theology with an emphasis in liturgy, music, and worship. In July of 2014, Stephen was installed an ordained as Teaching Elder at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church in Shelter Island, NY. Later that year, Stephen married the love of his life, Tricia, and they share their home on Shelter Island with their Golden Doodle, Elsie, and their calico cat, Audrey. In addition to his work with the people who are Shelter Island Presbyterian Church, Stephen currently serves as a commission from Long Island Presbytery to the Synod of the Northeast and, beginning in January of 2016, will moderate the Synod's missions team.