November 27, 2022
Cold Open
Brent Holl
“O Come, O COme, Immanuel”
O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
REFRAIN:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who ordered all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show
and teach us in its ways to go.
REFRAIN
Nomofomo
Our Advent giving emphasis this year will focus on gathering clothes for our partners at the Clothes Closet at Trinity Presbyterian. Trinity's Clothes Closet is now in serious need of jeans of all sizes, winter clothes of all sizes, and any baby and toddler clothes. Anything will help - Just please make sure the clothes have been cleaned prior to donating!
(Trinity's Clothes Closet started as a House Church missions program in the basement of a community member's home, and now it has grown to being open every Wednesday inside Trinity Presbyterian Church. Before COVID, UKIRK (the Presbyterian campus ministry) volunteered there every 3rd and 5th Wednesday of the month. Now that RISE and UKIRK journey together, we have continued that legacy and volunteer there every 3rd and 5th Wednesday. This is a way for students to get out of their "JMU Bubble" and experience the rest of the Harrisonburg community, and a key way some of our students stay connected!)
Requests for care and/or prayer can always be sent via e-mail to cares@riseharrisonburg.org, texted to 833-803-0868, or submitted online via our RISE Cares form.
Connect:
If you would like to connect more deeply with RISE, you can start by submitting this short form to Get Connected!
Sign up for texting services:
Text “RISE” to 833-803-0868 to join the primary list and receive weekly community updates and alerts
Text “RISEcares” to receive prayer requests, care needs, and community concerns and celebrations
Please continue to check social media/the website for all updates and information!
Song
Brent Holl
“O Come, O COme, Immanuel”
O come, O come, Immanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
REFRAIN:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.
REFRAIN
O come, O King of nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind.
Bid all our sad divisions cease
and be yourself our King of Peace.
REFRAIN
Theological Exploration
Amanda Miller Garber
Sandra Reisinger
What is the difference between Advent and “pre Christmas”?
How can we find Advent in the tinsel and “plastic reindeer”? How can we find hope in the pressure and chaos of pre Christmas?
Why do we need Advent?
Isaiah 2:1-5
In the days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
will be the highest of the mountains.
It will be lifted above the hills;
peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will go and say,
“Come, let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,
to the house of Jacob’s God
so that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in God’s paths.”
Instruction will come from Zion;
the Lord’s word from Jerusalem.
God will judge between the nations,
and settle disputes of mighty nations.
Then they will beat their swords into iron plows
and their spears into pruning tools.
Nation will not take up sword against nation;
they will no longer learn how to make war.
Come, house of Jacob,
let’s walk by the Lord’s light.
What do you “experience” in this scripture?
Share YOUR questions or text them to 833-803-0868
Reading
Sandra Reisinger
God of heaven and earth,
tis the season of expectation.
Of waiting for what’s coming.
We’re full.
Of the ongoing battle with Covid,
Of guns and violence, political rhetoric of all flavors,
News that dismays.
Do we have room for what’s coming?
We share Thanksgiving turkey, ham,
cranberry relish, stuffing and pumpkin pie
With friends.
Or relatives we can’t relate to,
but still hug, sit close to, legs touching
around full dinner tables;
We fill the roads alongside other impatient
Drivers getting in each other’s way.
We fill our ears with the sounds of
Christmas songs in stores, radio waves and
on our Spotify playlists.
And light our houses and lawns and trees
with plastic red-nosed reindeer and festive lights of green, red, blue
and all the colors of the rainbow.
Is there room in all of this for waiting?
We peek out from behind all the trimmings,
In hope of getting a glimpse of what is coming.
Can we make more room to see, to hear, to feel and taste what’s coming?
God, you have invited us to sit with you in expectation.
Bless us in our urges to empty ourselves of all the noise and sensory overload
So we can see, hear, touch, and taste
What’s coming …
COMMUNION
SONG
Brent Holl
“Rejoice, Rejoice”
~Marty Haugen
Awake! Awake and greet the new morn,
for angels herald its dawning.
sing out your joy, for soon he is born,
behold! the Child of our longing.
Come as a baby weak and poor,
to bring all hearts together,
he opens wide the heav’nly door,
and lives now inside us forever.
To us, to all in sorrow and fear,
Emmanuel comes a-singing,
his humble song is quiet and near,
yet fills the earth with its ringing.
Music to heal the broken soul
and hymns of loving kindness,
the thunder of his anthems roll
to shatter all hatred and blindness.
In darkest night his coming shall be,
when all the world is despairing,
as morning light so quiet and free,
so warm and gentle and caring.
Then shall the mute break forth in song,
the lame shall leap in wonder,
the weak be raised above the strong,
and weapons be broken asunder.
Rejoice, rejoice, take heart in the night,
though dark the winter and cheerless,
the rising sun shall crown you with light,
be strong and loving and fearless;
Love be our song and love our prayer,
and love, our endless story,
may God fill ev’ry day we share,
and bring us at last into glory.
Final BLESSING
Sandra Reisinger
“A Benediction for All the Feels”
Be people who feel as you wait in expectation.
Share what you feel and are waiting for with all those you meet.
Feel the expectation steeped in the hope of Advent.
See Advent’s hope by noticing another’s humanity.
Share the hope by listening to someone’s story,
Taste the expectation while you wait in anticipation for the flavors of the season.
Smell the expectation and hope of something new coming in the cold and gray scents of winter.
Go, with all your senses, in wonder of God’s gifts in our midst and in expectation of those coming.
In this advent season, see, taste, touch, hear and feel the coming of hope and share it.
Amen.