Guide for Home Worship
December 6, 2020
Please note: the sermon will not be available until after the 9:00 am worship service at The Quechee Church.
Printable Worship Guide
Welcome
Thank you so much for joining us! The following page will take you through the order of worship for this Sunday. To access the recorded songs and sermon, use the embedded audio players in each section.
If you are new, welcome! We also want to invite you to learn more about us. You can do so by selecting the button below.
A few tips for parents:
- Plan for your time – read through the guide and prepare the room where you are gathering
- Make your time joyful – have fun!!!
- Remember, it’s primarily about a relationship, not a task to scratch off
- Have your kids participate in age and maturity appropriate ways – reading, singing, etc.
- You are welcome to print out our Children’s Worship Bulletin here.
Time of Reflection
“Divine guidance set Jesus at a distance from his family and fellow townsmen, brought him into conflict with all the nation’s leaders, religious and civil, and led finally to betrayal, arrest and the cross. What more can Christians expect, while they abide in the will of God? …Sooner or later, God’s guidance, which brings us out of darkness into light, will also bring us out of light into darkness. It is part of the way of the cross.”
~J.I. Packer, Knowing God
“Well I am a good Midwestern boy
I give an honest day’s work if I can get it
I don’t cheat on my taxes I don’t cheat on my girl
I’ve got values that would make the White House jealous.
Well I do get a little much over-impressed
‘Til I think of Peter and Paul and the apostles
I don’t stack up too well against them I guess
But by the standards ‘round here I ain’t doing that awful.
Lord it’s hard to turn the other cheek
Hard to bless when others curse you
Oh Lord it’s hard to be a man of peace
Lord it’s hard.. oh it’s hard
You know it’s hard to be like Jesus.”
~Rich Mullins, “Hard”
“Per¬haps, for many of us, all expe¬ri¬ence mere¬ly defines, so to speak, the shape of that gap where our love of God ought to be. It is not enough. It is some¬thing. If we can¬not ‘prac¬tice the pres¬ence of God,’ it is some-thing to prac¬tice the absence of God, to become increas¬ing¬ly aware of our unaware¬ness till we feel like men who should stand beside a great cataract and hear no noise, or like a man in a sto¬ry who looks in a mir¬ror and finds no face there; or a man in a dream who stretch¬es out his hand to vis¬i¬ble objects and gets no sen¬sa-tion of touch. To know that one is dream¬ing is to be no longer per¬fect¬ly asleep. But for news of the ful¬ly wak¬ing world you must go to my betters.”
~C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves
“So it came to pass that Joseph was the noblest of men
With a woman on a donkey on their way to Bethlehem
And I wonder whether either was aware enough that day
To know the child would bring a Kingdom
And the old would come to pass away.”
~Andrew Peterson, “It Came to Pass”
Opening Prayer
(select someone from your group to open your service in prayer)
Call to Worship
Psalm 24:7-10 (NIV)
LEADER: Lift up your heads, O you gates; Be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
MEN: Who is this King of glory?
ALL: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
LEADER: Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
WOMEN: Who is he, this King of glory?
ALL: The Lord Almighty – He is the King of glory.
Songs and Liturgy
(sing as a group and/or sing along to recorded versions)
COME, THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS
(Charles Wesley, 1744)
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Joy to those who long to see thee,
Dayspring from on high appear;
Come, thou promised Rod of Jesse,
Of Thy birth we long to hear!
O’er the hills the angels singing news,
Glad tidings of a birth;
“Go to Him, your praises bringing;
Christ the Lord has come to earth.”
Come to earth to taste our sadness,
He whose glories knew no end;
By His life He brings us gladness,
Our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend.
Leaving riches without number,
Born within a cattle stall;
This the everlasting wonder,
Christ was born the Lord of all.
Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Advent Reading
(If you would like to follow along with the Advent Readings – with or without candles – you can do so by reading the Advent Explanation and this week’s Advent Readings below. You may find an Advent wreath diagram here.)
A Word of Explanation:
For many centuries Christians have used the Advent Wreath to remember and celebrate the coming of Christ. The word advent simply means “coming” or “arrival”. With the Advent Wreath, we celebrate not only the birth of Christ 2000 years ago, but also our rebirth in Him through faith. And we look forward with anxious anticipation toward his Second Advent for us.
Week 2 Readings:
Isaiah 40:1-5
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
John 3:16-17
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Candle Instructions (optional)
As you light the first and second purple candles, say “This candle reminds us of the promise of peace through Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through the forgiveness of our sins.”
Sing (a cappella)
O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL
(Latin Hymn, trans. John M. Neale. Music by Thomas Helmore)
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel!
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depth of hell Thy people save
and give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel!
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Prayer Time
(You may have an open time of prayer or select someone to pray)
- Pray for our nation – that the good news of Jesus Christ would draw people to know God genuinely and personally.
- Pray for those suffering from the ongoing spread of the coronavirus.
- Pray for those experiencing racial injustices; specifically, that God would bring hope, reconciliation, and restoration through the good news of His Son.
- Pray for those in authority at every level in our country, that they would govern wisely and justly.
Listen to Sermon
“Walking with God: Learning from Joseph”
preached by Pastor Ryan Bouton
Download Audio
Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 1:18-25 (ESV)
Micah 6
6 “With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew 1
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Confession of Faith
THE LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power,
And the glory, forever. Amen.
Sharing Time
(have everyone share one thing that struck them from the sermon)
Song of Reflection
THE WONDERFUL CROSS
(Chris Tomlin, Isaac Watts 1707, J.D. Watt, Jesse Reeves)
When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
(CHORUS)
Oh the wonderful cross,
Oh the wonderful cross,
Bids me come and die and find
That I may truly live.
Oh the wonderful cross,
Oh the wonderful cross,
All who gather here by grace
Draw near and bless Your name.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
(CHORUS)
©2000 worshiptogether.com songs, Six Steps Music CCLI#1791178
Benediction
(The leader or individual should read this aloud relishing in the confident assertion that Christ has conquered.)
Luke 12:29-32
LEADER: Do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
PEOPLE: Amen!
Worshipping God through Giving
God has called us to be generous. He has entrusted this earth and all that is in it to us, but it is, ultimately, His! The Father gave what was most precious to Him, His own Son, in order to die for our sins. He has given to us abundantly beyond all that we could possibly ask or imagine! He is a benevolent and generous Giver! So, we give.
First, we want to remind you to continue your regular giving to TQC. This supports the ongoing work and ministry here in the Upper Valley and around the world through our missions support. Second, please consider giving to our Benevolence Fund, which supports local community care, both inside and outside the church. This is vitally important right now! As we see needs sprouting up around the community, we want to be positioned to extend a loving hand of support to those in need.
Giving Numbers
Budgeted Giving YTD: $92,400
Actual Giving to Date: $76,122
Difference: (-$16,278)
updated as of 11/30