25 Jan Worship Bulletin: 1/28/24
Welcome to Worship at the McPherson Church of the Brethren
We invite your active participation in the life of this congregation, as together we continue to grow in grace and seek justice for God’s creation.
Sunday, January 28, 2024 @ 10:15 a.m., Christmas Carol Sunday
Gathering Music | “Angels, Ever Bright and Fair” | G.F. Handel
Ellen Gilbert, organ
Video Welcome
Sharing Time | Joys & Concerns | Jean Hendricks
Centering Music | “Candlelight Carol” | John Rutter
Worship Choir
How do you capture the wind on the water?
How do you count all the stars in the sky?
How can you measure the love of a mother?
Or how can you write down a baby’s first cry?
REFRAIN
Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow
Shine on his cradle ’til breaking of dawn
Gloria, Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
Angels are singing “The Christ child is born”
Shepherds and wise men will kneel and adore him
Seraphim ’round him, their vigil will keep
Nations proclaim him their Lord and their savior
But Mary will hold him and sing him to sleep REFRAIN
Find him in Bethlehem laid in a manger
Christ our redeemer, asleep in the hay
Godhead incarnate and hope of salvation
A child with his mother that first Christmas Day. REFRAIN
Opening Unison Litany | “Before the Word” | New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Before the WORD was spoken – the ancients wondered
Before the WORD uttered a word – angels whispered
Before the WORD formed a sentence – alleluias shifted
Before the WORD took breath – the story fidgeted
Before the WORD enfleshed good news – the prophets imagined
Before the WORD was born – the WORD was!
Let us welcome – the WORD
Opening Song | “Oh, How Shall I Receive Thee” | #182
Story for the Children | Barbara Wagoner
Video Invitation to Give
Give online or send a check made payable to “McPherson Church of the Brethren,” 200 N. Carrie, McPherson, KS 67460
Musical Offering | “What Child is This?”
Meredith Hopkins, violin
“Angels”
♫Song | “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” | #201
Kaitlyn van Asselt, flute
Unison Prayer for Angels, Shepherds, Sages and Saints | New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
May angels sing with alleluias filled with wonder and skies flowing with gold
May shepherds watch as a star beams – lighting up the sky with a story of hope
May wise ones ponder and wonder – as they travel seeking the infant king
And after the rustling of hay, the lowing of cattle – the reverberating echo of that first cry –
may we share this gift – this love, this light – that will illuminate the world?
May it be so. Amen
“Heavenly Hosts, Shepherds and Sages”
♫Song | “Angels from the Realms of Glory”
“Infants”
♫Song | “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” | #206
“Multi-Cultural Nativities”
♫Song | “Still, Still, Still”
“Multi-Cultural Madonnas”
“The Conversation” | New Kilpatrick Parish Church, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
♫Sending Song |“The Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy” | #202
Marta Moorman, guitar; Lindy Reynolds and Grace van Asselt, percussion
Videography and Editing: Eric Goering
Music Coordinator: Ellen Gilbert
Choir Director: Becky Snell
Technical Crew: Eric Goering, Ryan Goering, Shane Kirchner, Steve Lolling & Chris Whitacre
Chancel Decoration Team: Jill Brax, Colleen Gustafson, Michele Johnson, Shane Kirchner & Lara Schoming