Welcome to this year’s Advent Carol Service. This Sunday, 1 December, there will be a said service of Holy Communion from the Book of Common Prayer at 8am and the Benefice Advent Carol Service at 4pm, both at St Mary the Virgin, Horne.

To follow today’s online service, click on the arrow here and find the words below.

A reading of ‘O Emmanuel’
by Malcolm Guite
O Come, O Come, and be our God-with-us,
O long-sought with-ness for a world without,
O secret seed, O hidden spring of light,
Come to us Wisdom,come unspoken Name,
Come Root, and Key, and King, and holy Flame,
O quickened little wick so tightly curled,
Be folded with us into time and place,
Unfold for us the mystery of grace
And make a womb of all this wounded world.
O heart of heaven beating in the earth,
O tiny hope within our hopelessness,
Come to be born, to bear us in our birth,
To touch a dying world with new made hands
And make those rags of time our swaddling bands.

The hymn ‘O come, O come Emmanuel’ is sung
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou rod of Jesse,
Free thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell thy people save,
And give them vict’ry o’er the grave.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou key of David,
Come and open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
Who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the Law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

The Blessing of the Light
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe,
eternal creator of light and darkness.
In this season of Advent, when the sun’s light
is swallowed up by the growing darkness of the night,
you renew your promise to reveal among us
the splendour of your glory, made flesh
and visible to us in Jesus Christ your Son.
Through the prophets you teach us
to hope for his reign of peace.
Through the outpouring of his Spirit,
you open our blindness to the glory of his presence.
Strengthen us in our weakness;
support us in our stumbling efforts to do your will,
and free our tongues to sing your praise.
For to you all honour and blessing are due,
now and for ever.  Amen.

The Choir sings the anthem ‘O Thou the Central Orb’
(Words by HR Bramley, 1833-1917; music by Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
Sung by the Windmill United Benefice Choir

Bidding and Introduction
As we enter into this solemn season of Advent, looking forward to the birth of the Christ child, let us renew in ourselves that vision of God’s perfect kingdom which is the end of all our strivings and the consummation of God’s loving purposes for us all.

In prayer, praise and song do we give voice to the hope set forth in the Scriptures, that his kingdom shall come; and, as we prepare for that day to dawn upon us from on high, so we commend ourselves and the whole human family to his keeping. May he guide us into the way of peace, give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and kindle in us the fire of his love.
Amen.  Come Lord Jesus.                   

The hymn ‘Come thou long expected Jesus’ is sung
Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth thou art;
Dear desire of ev’ry nation,
Joy of ev’ry longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver;
Born a child and yet a king;
Born to reign in us for ever;
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thy own eternal Spirit,
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to thy glorious throne.

The Advent Collect
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ
came to us in great humility: so that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,         
one God, world without end.  Amen

Ministry of the Word

A reading of Genesis 28:10-17
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’ Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ‘Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!’ And he was afraid, and said, ‘How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’

A reading of Isaiah 52:7-10
How beautiful upon the mountains
   are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
   who announces salvation,
   who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’
Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices,
   together they sing for joy;
for in plain sight they see
   the return of the Lord to Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
   you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
   he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
   before the eyes of all the nations;
and all the ends of the earth shall see
   the salvation of our God.

The Choir sings the anthem ‘How lovely are the messengers’
(Mendelssohn, 1809-1847, with words from Romans 10:15 and 18)

A reading of Mark 13:24 to the end
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.

‘But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
   and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
   and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see “the Son of Man coming in clouds” with great power and glory. Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

‘From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

Advent Liturgy
Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!

Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations into the peace of your kingdom. Help us to live in the light of your coming and give us a longing for your rule.

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!

Lord Jesus, you come in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness. By your grace make us trustworthy and true, so that we may be found worthy of your praise.

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!

Lord Jesus, you will come in glory with salvation for your people. May we be ready to meet you with a joyful love and a firm faith.

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near.
Wait for the Lord: keep watch, take heart!

Finally, we remember all who have gone before us with the sign of faith, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we offer up our prayers for the coming of his kingdom, in the words he himself has taught us, saying:

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come; thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

The Choir sings the anthem ‘O God you search me’
(A setting of Psalm 139 by Bernadette Farrell, b. 1957)

The Final Blessing
Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,
scatter the darkness from before your path,
and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.  Amen.

And may the Lord when he comes find us watching and waiting,
now and at all times. Amen.

The hymn ‘Lo he comes’ is sung
Lo, he comes with clouds descending,
once for mortal sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ appears on earth to reign.

Ev’ry eye shall now behold him
robed in dreadful majesty;
We who set at naught and sold him,
pierced and nailed him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears,
Cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshippers:
With what rapture, with what rapture,
with what rapture gaze we on those glorious scars!

Yea, amen, let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the pow’r and glory,
claim the kingdom for thine own.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.

Organist: Peter Nye.
Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000), material from which is included in this service,
is copyright © The Archbishops’ Council 2000.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition is copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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