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Sunday 21st December 2025
Advent 4
ORDER OF SERVICE
1. Welcome
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Lighting of the Fourth Advent Candle
Hymn: NEH 11 O come, O come Emmanuel
3. Collect for Purity
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
4. Summary of the Law
Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen, Lord, have mercy
5. Confession and Absolution
God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first. Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.
God our Father, we confess to you and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ that we have sinned in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do. We are truly sorry. Forgive us our sins, and deliver us from the power of evil, for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
God, who is both power and love, forgive us and free us from our sins, heal and strengthen us by the Holy Spirit, and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.
6. Kyrie
Lord, have mercy: Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy: Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy: Lord, have mercy.
8. Collect of the Day:
Stir up your power, Lord, and come: and strengthen us by the might of your love; that, although we are hindered by our sins, your abundant grace and mercy may quickly come and save us; for you live and reign with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen
9. First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7,16-18
10. Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
Hymn: NEH 444 Rejoice today with one accord
12. Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25
14. Nicene Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
15. Intercessions:
17. The Peace
We meet in Christ’s name. Let us share his peace.
Hymn: NEH 185 Sing we of the blessed Mother
18. Offering
Let us present our offerings to the Lord.
Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the splendour, and the majesty: for everything in heaven and on earth is yours. All things come from you, and of your own we give you.
19. Eucharistic Prayer
The Lord be with you. And also with you.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Worship and praise belong to you, God our maker. Out of nothing you called all worlds to be, and still you draw the universe to its fulfilment. Dawn and evening celebrate your glory till time shall be no more. In Christ your son the life of heaven and earth were joined, sealing the promise of a new creation, given, yet still to come. Taught by your spirit, we who bear your threefold likeness look for the City of Peace in whose light we are transfigured and the earth transformed. As children of your redeeming purpose who await the coming of your son, we offer you our praise, with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven singing the hymn of your unending glory:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Glory and thanksgiving be to you, most loving Father, In Jesus you showed us yourself. Our hope is built on him, the first, the last, the living one. Obedient, even to accepting death. He opened the gate of glory. And calls us now to share the life of heaven. Before he was given up to suffering and death, alight with the vision of a feast that heralded a kingdom yet to come, at supper with his disciples he took bread and offered you thanks. He broke the bread and gave it to them, saying, “Take, eat. This is my Body: it is broken for you.” After supper, he took the cup, he offered you thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant; it is poured out for all, that sins may be forgiven. Do this in remembrance of me.”
We now obey your Son’s command. We recall his blessed passion and death, his glorious resurrection and ascension; and we look for the coming of his Kingdom. Made one with him, we offer you these gifts and with them ourselves, a single, holy, living sacrifice.
Hear us, most merciful Father, and send your Holy Spirit upon us and upon this bread and this wine, that, overshadowed by the Spirit’s life-giving power, they may be the Body and Blood of your Son, and we may be kindled with the fire of your love and renewed for the service of your Kingdom.
Help us, who are baptised into the fellowship of Christ’s Body to live and work to your praise and glory; may we grow together in unity and love until at last, in your new creation, we enter into our heritage in the company of the Virgin Mary, the apostles and prophets, and of all our brothers and sisters living and departed.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom, and in whom, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be to you, Lord of all ages, world without end. Amen
20. Breaking of the Bread
The living bread is broken for the life of the world.
Lord, unite us in this sign
21. The Lord’s Prayer
As our saviour has taught us, so we pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not bring us to the time of trial but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen
23. Communion Song
Jesus, Lamb of God: have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins: have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world: give us your peace
Communion:
Communion Hymn: choir
24. Thanksgiving and sending out
Give thanks to our gracious God: whose mercy endures forever.
Prayer after Communion:
Faithful God, in this sacrament we receive the promise of salvation. May we, like the Virgin Mary, be obedient to your will. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen
25. Prayer
Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home, dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights, give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name; through Christ our Lord. Amen
26. The Blessing
Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you and scatter the darkness from before your path: and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.
Hymn: NEH 3 Come, thou long expected Jesus
27. Dismissal:
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. In the name of Christ. Amen.
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