Worship service for November 28, 2021

ADVENT SUNDAY 1
Dare to imagine God’s goodness
Prelude

BCMC Vocal ensemble—VT 210 O Come, O Come, Immanuel

                                        VT 216 Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

                                        VT 218 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

                                       VT 269 Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light

Gathering

Welcome and Call to Worship—John Waltner

Advent Candle Lighting—Simon Hodge

Leader:     We light a candle of hope.

                 And we imagine:

People:    God’s righteousness, God’s steadfast love, God’s justice.

Leader:     We light the candle to see God’s goodness in us, among us.

Hope is a Candle –Verse 1—VT 211

Confession and Assurance

Leader:   Trees grow silently—

               from deep inside—energy is released.

               Branches reach for the light.

               People can grow silently, too.

People:  We confess that all too often we stifle the growth

               God inspires deep inside of us,

               preferring the immediate, the good enough, the comfortable.

Leader:   In Advent—O God—cause us to get up, lean forward, and extend our gaze.

People:  Surely God, who caused the righteous Branch to spring up,

               will enliven our imaginations in this season of hope.

               (silence)

*Hymn—Bless’d be the God of Israel—VT 223

Hearing God’s Word

Children’s Conversation—Carol Flickinger

Scripture—Jeremiah 33:14-16 and Luke 21: 25-36—Margaret Goering

Sermon—Hopeful Waiting—Dawn Yoder Harms

Responding

*Hymn of Response—Now the Heavens Start to Whisper—VT 237

Communion

Prayers of God’s People—John Waltner

Sending

Sending Song—Go, My Friends, In Grace—VT 810

Benediction

Postlude (please remain seated)


BCMC Vocal Ensemble:  Cynthia Linscheid, Virginia Mininger, Susie Swartley,

Barbara Thiesen, Ron Garber, Dave Linscheid, Vern Preheim, Aaron Tschetter.

Thank you to the Worship Decoration Committee:  Judy Friesen, Kathy Stucky, Susie Swartley, and Brenda Turner.

The Advent Candle Lighting reading and the Confession and Assurance is from Leader Magazine, Mennonite Church USA.

The bulletin cover is from SALT Project Inc.  SALT is a not-for-profit production company dedicated to the craft of visual storytelling.

Audio-VisualKen Lamp

Pastors—Dawn Yoder Harms, Renee Reimer, Nathan Koontz