SERVICE FOR
THE LORD’S DAY
November 30, 2025
The First Sunday in Advent
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
Anticipating the Return of the King
CALL TO WORSHIP — Luke 1:46-50
Leader: Our souls magnify the Lord!
People: Our spirits rejoice in God our Savior!
Leader: The mighty One has done great things for us!
People: Holy is God’s name!
Leader: Let us worship God.
People: For God is our Maker and our Redeemer;
from generation to generation God gives mercy.
Worshipping the Coming King
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations
will call me blessed;
OPENING PRAYER (Unison)
Covenant God, you heard your people yearning for a Savior. Thank you for sending your Son so long ago. We now rehearse your promise that Christ will come again, that death and suffering will end and every tear will be wiped away. Come, Lord Jesus, come. As you fulfilled Israel’s hopes long ago, so we long for all these promises to be fulfilled. Amen.
LIGHTING OF THE FIRST ADVENT CANDLE The Allens
Trusting in the Mercy of the Coming King
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
GUIDED PRAYER
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Westminster Confession of Faith 8.2
We believe that the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, is truly the eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father. In the fullness of time he took on himself the nature of man, with all the essential qualities and ordinary frailties of man—except that he was sinless. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary out of her substance. These two complete, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in the one person of Jesus without being altered, disunited or jumbled. The person Jesus is truly God and truly man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. Amen.
Crying out to the Coming King
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND 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.
WORSHIPING GOD WITH OUR TITHES AND OFFERINGS
Offertory
*Offertory Response — #126, O Come Let Us Adore Him
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord.
*Prayer of Dedication
Anticipating the Return of the King
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
ADVENT LITANY (Respond with “Come, Lord Jesus.”)
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
pervading and permeating all creation, you order all things
with strength and gentleness: come now
and teach us the way to salvation.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Adonai, Ruler of the house of Israel, you appeared
in the burning bush to Moses and gave him the law
on Sinai: Come with outstretched arm to save us.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Root of Jesse, rising as a sign for all the peoples,
before you earthly rulers will keep silent, and nations
give you honor: Come quickly to deliver us.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Key of David, Scepter over the house of Israel,
you open and no one can close, you close and
no one can open: Come to set free the prisoners
who live in darkness and the shadow of death.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light,
Sun of justice: Come, shine on those who live
in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Ruler of the nations, Monarch for whom the people long,
you are the Cornerstone uniting all humanity:
Come, save us all, whom you formed out of clay.
Come, Lord Jesus.
O Immanuel, our Sovereign and Lawgiver,
desire of the nations and Savior of all:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Come, Lord Jesus. God of grace, ever faithful to your
promises, the earth rejoices in hope of our Savior’s
coming and looks forward with longing to his return
at the end of time. Prepare our hearts to receive him
when he comes, for he is Lord forever and ever. Amen.
*CLOSING HYMN #146 Joy to the World
*BENEDICTION
*POSTLUDE
WELCOME TO NORTHMINSTER EVANGELICAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
46 And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
— Luke 1:46-55 (ESV)
