Mill Plain UMC ,The Longest Night December 21,2021
Live stream with Pastor Sue
Accompanied by a worship assistant
Accompanist Andrea Llafet
Mill Plain UMC10 am
Sunday December 12,2021
The Longest Night
Music:
While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks By Night
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Go Tell It On The Mountain
To Make an Offering: https://millplainumc.org/giving/
Mill Plain UMC
Tuesday Dec 21, 2021
The Longest Night
Prelude
Call to Worship
Worship Assistant: Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
People: In this season of joy, we feel grief and pain; we remember times of loss and division.
Worship Assistant: Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!
People: We look around us and see that thorns infest the ground; fire and flood, drought and despair dominate the headlines.
Worship Assistant: Joy to the world! Christ rules with truth and grace
People: Lies and dishonesty prevail, truth is elusive, and hope disappears.
Worship Assistant: Though I walk through the darkest valley, Christ my Good Shepherd is with me.
People: Tonight we come to see the Good Shepherd’s rod and staff. Tonight we come, broken as we are, to listen for the faint refrain of hope.
Song While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks #236, 1-3
Opening Prayer
Our God, on that night long ago, the shepherds gathered in darkness, away from the light and chatter of the community. Tonight, like the shepherds, we gather in darkness, away from the jollity of this season. We come to you the longest night of the year, looking for hope, hoping for light. In our sorrow and despair, in our worry and confusion, we turn to you. In our fear we pray for love that will cast out our fear. Receive us this night. Amen.
Lighting the advent candles
We light this first candle to remember those persons whom we have loved and lost. We remember their names, their faces, their voices. We embrace the memories that bind them to us. We give thanks for all they meant to us.
(First candle lit)
We light this second candle to remember the pain of loss: of relationships, of trust, of jobs, of health, of faith and joy. We acknowledge and embrace this loss in its many forms. We offer our loss to you, O God, asking that you receive it and bless it.
(Second candle lit)
We light this third candle to remember the past, O God; the poignancy of anniversaries which brought us grief and pain, yet tinged with joy; the sharpness of memories which pierce our souls even as they warm our hearts; the weight of the burdens we carry which few even notice. Grant us rest as you receive our burdens.
(Third candle is lit)
We light this fourth candle to anticipate the future, O God. We await it with fear of the unknown and suspicion of what may come. We look forward with tentative hope that y our light will shine even in the darkness and the promise of glory even in our pain.
(Fourth candle is lit)
We light the Christ Candle for we trust that on this longest night, Christ is our light and our salvation. Truly we will not fear. Amen.
(Christ Candle is lit.)
Scripture
Psalm 22:1-11
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people.
All who see me mock at me; they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver— let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
Yet it was you who took me from the womb; you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you I was cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
Meditation
Scripture
Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Song: The Lord’s my Shepherd #136
An Advent Tenebrae
Worship Assistant: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (First candle is extinguished)
People: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Worship Assistant: Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groanings? (Second candle is extinguished)
People: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are with me.
Worship Assistant: O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but find no rest. (Third candle is extinguished)
People: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Worship Assistant: Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. (Fourth candle is extinguished.)
People: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all t he days of my lift, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Worship Assistant: All the ends of the earth shall remember, and turn to the Lord.
People: Shepherd me, O God, beyond my fears, beyond my wants, from death into life.
Song: Go, Tell It On the Mountain #251
Benediction
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Go in peace, knowing the Good Shepherd leads the way.