PRELUDE:
From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, Johann Pachelbel
Two Settings of Sleepers Wake, a Voice is Calling, J. S. Bach
Sleepers, wake! a voice is calling, it is the watchman on the walls: Thou City of Jerusalem! For lo! the Bridegroom comes! Arise, and take your lamps! Hallelujah! Awake! His kingdom is at hand! Go forth, to meet your Lord!
WELCOME
* CELEBRATION OF FRIENDSHIP
* Gloria Patri (pew card)
* CALL TO WORSHIP AND SALUTATION (Psalm 122), The Rivilli Family
Leader: I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"
People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Leader: Jerusalem built as a city that is bound firmly together.
People: To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
Leader: For there the thrones for judgment were set up, the thrones of the house of David.
People: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you.”
Leader: Grace and peace to you from God our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
* HYMN No. 133: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
* PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison)
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. Amen.
* KYRIE (pew card)
* ASSURANCE OF PARDON
* SUMMARY OF THE LAW
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH, The Rivilli Family
JUNIOR SERMON
ANTHEM: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, Michael Praetorius
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming as men of old have sung. It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter, when halfspent was the night. Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind. With Mary we behold it, the Virgin Mother kind. To shew God's love aright she bore to us a Saviour, When halfspent was the night.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
Isaiah 2: 1-5, Pew Bible, page 550
The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
Matthew 24:36-44, Pew Bible, page 806
“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.
THE SERMON: The Return of the King, Rev. Douglas Estella
WORSHIP OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Offering
Offertory: E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come, Paul Manz
Peace be to you and grace from him who freed us from our sins, who loved us all and shed his blood that we might saved be. Sing holy, holy to our Lord, the Lord, Almighty God, who was and is and is to come; sing holy, holy, Lord! Rejoice in heaven, all ye that dwell therein, rejoice on earth, ye saints below, for Christ is coming, is coming soon! E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come, and night shall be no more; they need no light nor lamp nor sun, for Christ will be their All!
* The Doxology (pew card)
* Prayer of Dedication
* AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
* Apostles’ Creed (pew card)
SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Remembering with Love and Hope (pew card)
Invitation
Communion Prayer
Sanctus (pew card)
Mystery of the Faith (unison)
Christ has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.
Words of Institution
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING & INTERCESSION
Lord’s Prayer (pew card)
Prayer Response, Johann Wolfgang Franck
O Jesus, with Thy advent quiet my restless soul and anxious mind. In true humility I welcome Thee, Jesus Christ, my Joy divine. My thought, desires, and all my longings I dedicate, O Christ, to Thee. O come, Thou precious Sun most radiant, Thy beams illumine my heart and soul.
* HYMN No. 135: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
* BENEDICTION
Response: Alleluia, Amen!, Charles Villers Stanford
POSTLUDE: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come, J. S. Bach
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WE WELCOME back the Rev. Douglas Estella to the pulpit. Rev. Estella served as pastor of the Sunnyside Reformed Church from 2000 to 2006. Currently he is a teacher at the Academy of Urban Planning in Brooklyn. Doug and his wife, Janet, live in Sunnyside with their daughter, Renee.
OUR APPRECIATION FOR TODAY’S VOLUNTEERS:
Van Driver: Gina Lombardo
Coffee Hour Host: Rhoda Jabbour
Greeters: Nancy Gessner and Eva Munoz
Ushers: Jorge Alamilla, Ginny and Hong Chan, Marion Durney, Jeanne and Steve Sarran, Adriene and Bill Toy and Head Usher: Jerry Good
Childcare: Joan Wagner
PRAYER REQUESTS: Ruth Bailey, Letty Delgado, Ed Diercks, Dombrowski Family, Edythe Durney, Alfred Gessner, Lisa Gessner, Robert Keller, Fritz Kunisch, Ann Martin, John Molino, Josephine Rivera, Gloria Scrivano, Janice Serra, Mary Wainwright.