Glorious Dwelling

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

We come to you this day, O God, with a deepening anticipation of

your birth among us.

We thank you for the gift of your love.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great. We pray for the church throughout the world, and for all the

ministries that build up the body of Christ, that in our many

vocations we may serve to your glory.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

We pray for this nation and for all nations, remembering

especially those who are victims of political and social injustice.

We pray for elected officials and all leaders, that they will govern

with courage and equity.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

We pray for all in need: for the sick, the destitute, and the dying;

for strangers in our land, for the invisible ones; for the elderly

and children; for parents and grandparents; for those who live

alone and those who live lonely in the midst of family.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

We remember with mercy those who sleep without shelter, cold

and vulnerable, lacking enough food; those who are overworked

and those who have no work. Stir up in us the capacity to see

ourselves in their struggles and to act so that others may have

life abundant.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

We pray for this community, for our neighbors and friends, and

for those with whom we study and work. Guide and strengthen

all people in our common life to know the gifts of your grace and

love.

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

For what else does this assembly pray on this day?

Hear us, O God; your mercy is great.

May all that we ask and all that you see is needed in our world, be

given to your people; through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Your word, Holy God, was written for our instruction. By your Holy Spirit open our ears and fill us with the mysteries of your ancient love; through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

Isaiah 11:1-10 ¹ A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. ² The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. ³ His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; ⁴ but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. ⁶ The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. ¹⁰ On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. Matthew 3:1-12 ¹ In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ² “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ³ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” ⁴ Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, ⁶ and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁷ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruit worthy of repentance. ⁹ Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ¹⁰ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹| baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Questions for Reflection: Rev. Johan Dodge

Look for places where the wolf and the lamb lie down together in

peace. Where do you see that peace in your relationships, in your

family or circle of friends, in the neighborhood, the city, the nation,

and the world? Even within yourself, where has peace been forged

between previously warring factions? Where is peace yet elusive in

your relationships? What might you do to change that?

afraid of spilling red grape juice, a limited number of cups with white

grape juice are provided.

Invitation to Communion (Pastor Johan Dodge)

Here at Community Church we celebrate “Open Communion’.

Anyone who wishes to commune may come to our Lord’s Table. You

do not have to be sinless; God forgives you. You do not have to be

perfect; but God is encouraging you to grow. You need not belong to

this or any church; God Invites all people to this meal. It is enough to

love the Lord and follow Him with all your heart. This is what God

asks us to do. Come to our Lord’s Table in faith this day. Go from this place to live, and never be the same again. Let us commune as

brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Pastor: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Pastor: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Pastor: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and

everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven

and earth. You formed us in your image and breathed into us the

breath of life. When we turned away, and our love failed, your love

remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant

to be our sovereign God, and spoke to us through your prophets, who

looked for that day when justice shall roll down like waters and

righteousness like an ever-flowing stream, when The wolf shall live

with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the

lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And so,

with your people on earth and all the company of heaven we praise

your name and join their unending hymn:

People: 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.

Pastor: Holy are you, and blessed is your Son Jesus Christ, whom

you sent in the fullness of time to be a light to the nations. You scatter

the proud in the imagination of their hearts and have mercy on those

who fear you from generation to generation. You put down the mighty

from their thrones and exalt those of low degree. You fill the hungry

with good things, and the rich you send empty away. Your own Son

came among us as a servant, to be Emmanuel, your presence with

us. He humbled himself in obedience to your will and freely accepted

death on a cross. By the baptism of his suffering, death, and

resurrection you gave birth to this your Church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, and made with us a new covenant by water

and the Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, Jesus took bread,

gave thanks to you O God, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples,

and said: "Take, eat; This is my body which is given for you. Do this

in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over he took the cup, gave thanks to you, gave

it to his disciples, and said: "Drink from this, all of you; this is my

blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the

forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance

of me."

And so, in remembrance of these Your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living

sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us, as we proclaim the

mystery of faith.

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

Pastor: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these

gifts of bread and fruit of the vine. Make them be for us the body and

blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the body of Christ,

redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one

with each other, and one in ministry to all the world, until Christ

comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet. Through

your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church, all

honor and glory is yours, almighty God, now and forever.

People: Amen.

Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we

all partake of the one loaf.

The bread which we have eaten is a sharing in the bread of Christ.

The cup over which we give thanks is the sharing in the cup of Christ.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. INVITATION TO THE OFFERING — Kelly Frankiewicz We bear fruit worthy of our repentance when we give our tithes and offerings for the well-being of those at the margins of our society.

We give you thanks, Holy One, for all good things: for this universe and for Earth itself, for creatures and plants, for water and food, for light and darkness; for Jesus, our brother, who enlarged our vision, setting himself before us as the bread and wine of abundant life; and for the Holy Spirit, who comes to us in baptism and moves in our midst with the power to lead us to you. Turn our offerings to your good will, and turn us always to you in gratitude. Amen. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and may you live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify God.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and may you live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify God. Blessed Be the Tie that Binds Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above. Amen.