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Fourth Sunday of Advent

December 22, 2024 - 9:00 a.m.

It's easy to give hope a bad rap. Have you found yourself resisting hope because you fear that if you get emotionally invested, then you might jinx the situation and be disappointed? Have you endured a deep loss or trauma that made you cynical or hopeless? What if hope is not a flimsy emotion dependent on outcomes, but a robust spiritual practice? Could we instead think of it like a muscle we can flex and strengthen?

The practice of hope is not easy, especially if you are enduring unthinkable suffering like war, oppression, or famine. Can we practice hope on behalf of those who are weary and worn down? Can our expressions of hope become a life raft for others?

Readings

Luke 1:46b-55
Mary’s song of praise

Matthew 1:18-25
The birth of Jesus, the Messiah

Music

Prelude: Veni, Emmanuel - Michael McCabe
Advent Wreath: Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah (Tif in Vedele)
Gathering Song: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Veni, Emmanuel)
Kyrie/Gloria: Everlasting Light
Gospel Acclamation: Unser Herrscher
Hymn of the Day: Hope is Worth the Risk (Noël Nouvelet)
Voluntary: The Snow Lay on the Ground - arr. William Cutter
Melissa Drumm, soprano; Carolyn Alm, mezzo-soprano
Communion: Everlasting Light
Sending Song: Savior of the Nations, Come (Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland)
Postlude: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 645) - Johann Sebastian Bach

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