Play & Liturgy: written and prepared by M. Gayle MacDonald, copyright, October, 2000. 
 
Permission is  granted for all of this material to be used in a service of worship during Advent 2003.

White Gift Service
Advent 2 - December 07, 2003

Announcements

Advent Candlighting (if used)

Call to Worship/Luke 1:78-79
One: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn 
	from on high will break upon us,
Two:	to give light to those who sit in 
	darkness and in the shadow of death,  
All:	to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Prayer of Approach:
We gather as your people awed by your compassion, humbled by the
depth of your justice.  Let the light of your love break upon us
that we too might be guided in the way of peace. Amen.

Hymn:  

Prayer of Confession:
God, as we gather to sing your praises and recall in word and
pray our desire for peace,  do we think of peace as a big thing
about which we can do nothing?  Do we forget the need for
ordinary peace in day-to-day living?  -- the peace that comes
from knowing there is enough food, that our bills can be paid,
that our children are safe, that we are loved, that our
neighbours care.  Forgive us if we have forgotten how easily we
can bring peace to the world around us, and transform us into
peacemakers.  We ask it in the name of the Prince of Peace. 
Amen.
Assurance of Grace:
Through Christ, God hears our troubled hearts and releases us
from the burdens of our past that we might begin again in grace
and in peace.  
All: Thanks be to God.

Hymn:  

Hebrew Scripture:  Malachi 3:1-4
Responsive Reading:  Luke 1:68-79
One: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for 
	he has looked favorably on his people and 
	redeemed them.
All: He has raised up a mighty savior for us 
	in the house of his servant David,
	as he spoke through the mouth of his holy 
	prophets from of old, that we would be 
	saved from our enemies and from the hand 
	of all who hate us.
One: Thus he has shown the mercy promised to 
	our ancestors, and has remembered his 
	holy covenant, the oath that he swore to 
	our ancestor Abraham, to grant us
All: that we, being rescued from the hands of 
	our enemies, might serve him without 
	fear, in holiness and righteousness 
	before him all our days.
One: And you, child, will be called the 
	prophet of the Most High; for you will go 
	before the Lord to prepare his ways,
	to give knowledge of salvation to his 
	people by the forgiveness of their sins.
All: By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn 
	from on high will break upon us,
	to give light to those who sit in 
	darkness and in the shadow of death, to 
	guide our feet into the way of peace."

Epistle: Phillipians 1:3-11
Gospel:  Luke 3:1-6

Hymn:  

The White Gift Service - A White Gift Play

Hymn:  418R In the Bleak Midwinter 

Offering

Offertory Prayer
God of hope and peace, you gift our lives with love and
possibility.  Imitating your generosity we present our gifts now
that others may experience the live-giving hope and peace found
in your love.  Bless these our gifts and bless those who give
them.  Amen.

Prayers of the People

Hymn: 

Commissioning & Benediction:
One: By you faith you receive hope and the grace which brings
	peace.  	
All: With love and joy and with thanks for all the gifts of our
	faith, we go into the world to share what we have received.
One: In the dark and chill of winter,
	May the peace and grace of Christ give you comfort,
	May the love of God keep you warm and safe,
	May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit light you way.  Amen.

----------------------------------------------
Some Hymn Suggestions:
A Candle Is Burning 
I Am the Light of the World
Let There Be Peace on Earth
In the Bleak Midwinter
Hark the Glad Sound
On Jordan’s Bank 
Good Christian Friends, Rejoice

Liturgy by M. Gayle MacDonald

The White Gift Service? - A White Gift Play by M. Gayle MacDonald,