ADVENT 4

Advent 4                  Candle of Love
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L: Love is a gift of God.
 
P: Love burns in our hearts.
 
L: Love is warmth in a world that is often bitter and cold.
 
P: In Jesus Christ, we receive God’s gift of love.
 
(The candle is lit.)
 
L: Let us pray:
 
P: Source of light, shine in our lives and in your world with
    your unending love.
    Through Jesus, in whose name we pray.
    Amen
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Lighting of the Christ Candle Christmas Eve
We give thanks for the light of hope—unrelenting and inexplicable.
Our hope in Christ shines on.
We give thanks for the light of peace—strong and unafraid.
The peace of Christ lights our way.
We give thanks for the light of joy—persistent and unpredictable.
The joy of Christ brightens our lives.
We give thanks for the light of love—hot and holy.
The love of Christ comforts and challenges.
Now let us light the Christ candle as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Thank you, God, for your light in this world through Jesus Christ.
The light shines in the darkness.
And the darkness has not overcome it.

​ 1 Corinthians 13 
New International Version 
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,  but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part,but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Announcements:
Thank you Nancy and Randy for leading us in worship today!
 
Thank you Everyone for your contributions to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. We have reached an amount of $1020 plus what is in our collection jar. Congratulations!!!
 
Rockburn Church will also be donating money to a few of our local charities...the Ormstown & Huntingdon Legions, La Boeuff Additionelle,
and the Hinchinbrooke Fire Dept.   
 
We will not be having a Christmas Eve Service or New Year’s Service this year on account of the fast spread of the Omicron virus.  We pray that everyone stays healthy and safe; as usual we will be closed for the month of January. Let’s pray that we can return to worship in the Church.
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A Merry Christmas Prayer
Lord, we ask You to grant us peace. Peace in our homes, peace in our churches and peace in our hearts, especially when it feels like the world all around us spins out of control.
Help us stay focused on You, this Christmastime and always. Thank You for loving the whole world enough to send the greatest gift, Your Son, so we might truly have a very merry Christmas, even in a not-so-merry kind of world. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!