Happening This Sunday

Who's Preaching Where on Sunday?

• Traditional Services | 9 am & 11:15 am in the Church – The Rev. Louise Samuelson (9 am) & The Rev. Sutton Lowe (11:15 am)
• Awesome Worship Service for Families | 9:15 am in the Hall Life Center – The Rev. Reagan Cocke
• Modern Worship | 11:15 am in the Hall Life Center – The Rev. John Sundara
• Traditional Service | 8 am & 5 pm in the Chapel – The Rev Louise Samuelson (8 am) & The Rev. Sutton Lowe (5 pm)

Worship Online

• Traditional Service in the Church (9 am - with Order of Service & Announcements)
• Modern Worship in the HLC (11:15 am - with Announcements) 
  

All-Ages Education Hour — 
10:15 am Administration Building

Art of Advent – Hall Life Center
Scripture Meditation Group – Nau Family Room

Children's Nursery

• 2 months - age 2 | Rm 104 (8:30 am — 12:30 pm)

In lieu of Sunday School, children are invited to attend Carols & Cookies in the Scout Room.

Youth Sunday School – Room 238
Youth Confirmation – Youth Room

Happening Today

Discover Chrismon Ornaments
This Advent you are invited, at the atrium near the front desk, to discover some of the beautiful Chrismon ornaments created by the women of St. John the Divine. Each Sunday, four pictures will be displayed on a poster for you to find on the Chrismon tree. Download a guide to the 16 ornaments featured this Advent.

Carols and Cookies
Children through fifth grade, along with their parents, are invited to join Sarah and Nick Gividen and the Children’s Ministry Team at 10:15 am in the Scout Room for a Christmas celebration with carol singing, ornament making, and Christmas activities and treats.

Art of Advent
Join Melissa Grobmyer in the Hall Life Center at 10:15 am as she explores the stories leading up to Christmas through the lens of art history. This series will include both lecture and small group discussion, starting with The Virgin Mary.

Singing While We Wait
Singing While We Wait is a modern Advent series that invites us to discover hope, peace, joy, and love in the sacred space of waiting. Through ancient Scriptures and original songs written each week by Sarah Gividen, we explore how God meets us in anticipation, transforming our longing into praise. Join us at 11:15 am in the HLC as we journey with Isaiah, Mary, and the psalmists, learning to sing even before the dawn breaks.

The Collect of the Day

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Matthew 1:18-25

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.

Musical Offering in the Church

Last week we lit the third candle of the Advent wreath, the candle of Joy. Today, the fourth Sunday of Advent, we light the fourth candle, the candle of Love.

The fourth Sunday of Advent celebrates the Annunciation, the visitation of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary announcing that she would conceive and become Theotokos — the mother of God. As such, much of our music today is centered around Mary. The Magnificat (Latin for “My Soul Magnifies the Lord”) is a canticle taken directly from the Gospel according to Luke where it is spoken by Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth. It has been part of the liturgy of the church from the earliest of times. In our tradition, it is one of the appointed canticles for evening prayer along with the Song of Simeon (Nunc dimittis). Today, we sing a metrical version of the Magnificat as our final hymn.

At the Offertory we hear the traditional Latin prayer “Ave Maria” in a musical setting by Bavarian composer Franz Biebl. After its publication in 1992, it quickly became a favorite of choirs and audiences around the world. During the Ministration, the congregation sings the Old Basque Carol, narrating the story of the Annunciation.

Looking for More?

What to Expect