AN ADVENT SERVICE OF LESSONS AND CAROLS
from umcdiscipleship.org

This service for Advent, with a focus on the prophets, is an adaptation of the Christmas Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in the UMC Book of Worship.

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• GATHERING

• PROCESSIONAL HYMN
  • 196 (UMH) Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
  • 197 (UMH) Ye Who Claim the Faith of Jesus
  • 202 (UMH) People, Look East

• THE BIDDING PRAYER
  Beloved in Christ, as we await the great festival of Christmas, let us prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning. Let us hear, in lessons from Holy Scripture, how the prophets of Israel foretold that God would visit and redeem the waiting people. Let us rejoice, in our carols and hymns, that the good purpose of God is being mightily fulfilled. Let us celebrate the promise that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will bring all peoples and all things into the glory of God's eternal kingdom. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
  But first, let us pray for the world that God so loves, for those who have not heard the good news of God, or who do not believe it; for those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death; and for the Church in this place and everywhere, that it may be freed from all evil and fear, and may in pure joy lift up the light of the love of God. These prayers and praises let us humbly offer to God, in the words that Christ himself taught us.

• THE LORD'S PRAYER

• CAROL - 211 (UMH) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (stanzas 1-4)

Each lesson should, if possible, be read by a different reader. Each reader should announce the lesson by the descriptive sentence printed. At the end of the lesson the reader may pause and say, The Word of the Lord, and all may respond, Thanks be to God, or the reader may say, Thanks be to God.

• FIRST LESSON - Isaiah 40:1–8
  To God's people in exile in a faraway land, the prophet Isaiah announces good news: God is coming back, and bringing the exiles home!
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 211 (UMH) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (stanzas 1-3)
    • 210 (UMH) Toda la Tierra (All Earth Is Waiting)
    • 207 (UMH) Prepare the Way of the Lord

• SECOND LESSON - Jeremiah 23:5–6
  The prophet Jeremiah offers hope for a righteous branch, a just king who is yet to come.
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 204 (UMH) Emmanuel, Emmanuel
    • 211 (UMH) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (stanzas 4-6)
    • 203 (UMH) Hail to the Lord's Anointed

• THIRD LESSON - Zechariah 9:9–10
  To a nation grown weary of war and weapons, God promises a king who will establish a reign of peace.
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 209 (UMH) Blessed Be the God of Israel
    • 196 (UMH) Come, Thou Long–Expected Jesus

• FOURTH LESSON - Haggai 2:6 –9
  The prophet Haggai promises to God's people a temple even more glorious than the temple of old.
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 213 (UMH) Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates

• FIFTH LESSON - Isaiah 35:1 –6
  The prophet Isaiah announces the renewal both of the land and of God's people on the coming day of redemption.
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 209 (UMH) Blessed Be the God of Israel
    • 211 (UMH) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
    • 216 (UMH) Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

• SIXTH LESSON - Luke 1:26 –35, 38
  The angel Gabriel announces to the virgin Mary that she will give birth to a ruler whose reign shall never end
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 198 (UMH) My Soul Gives Glory to My God
    • 200 (UMH) Tell Out, My Soul
    • 215 (UMH) To a Maid Engaged to Joseph
    • 197 (UMH) Ye Who Claim the Faith of Jesus

• SEVENTH LESSON - Mark 1:1–15
  Jesus proclaims the coming of the kingdom of God.
  • CAROL Suggested from UMH
    • 209 (UMH) Blessed Be the God of Israel
    • 252 (UMH) When Jesus Came to Jordan

• COLLECT *See Advent (UMH 201) or another Advent prayer.

• DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING
  Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor everyone; love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you, and remain with you always. Amen.

• GOING FORTH

(Copyright: “An Advent Service of Lessons and Carols” Copyright © 1992 UMPH.)