This Sunday is Advent Sunday. There is a service of Holy Communion at 10am in St Bartholomew’s, Burstow and our Advent Carol Service at 4pm in St Mary the Virgin, Horne.

This week’s online service is led by the Revd Alan Bayes.

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

Hymn
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.

12-13th century, trans. J M Neale (1818-1866)
Tune: Veni emmanuel

The Lord be with you.
And with your spirit.

Turn us again, O God our saviour, and let your anger cease from us.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

Show us your compassion, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
Christ have mercy,
Christ have mercy.

Your salvation is near to those that fear you, that glory may dwell in our land.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord have mercy.

Absolution
Almighty God,
who forgives all who truly repent,
have mercy upon you,
pardon and deliver you from all your sins,
confirm and strengthen you in all goodness,
and keep you in life eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Collect Prayer for Advent Sunday
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;
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,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

The readings
Read by Ginette Nye

The first reading is from Isaiah 2:1-5

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.

The Gospel reading is from Matthew 24:36-44

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

Talk
by Revd Alan Bayes

The Lord’s Prayer
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.

O Lord our God,
make us watchful and keep us faithful
as we await the coming of your Son our Lord;
that, when he shall appear, he may not find us sleeping in sin
but active in his service and joyful in his praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Blessing

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.

Hymn
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.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Tune: Helmsley, Martin Madan (1726-1790)

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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.
CCLI Streaming Licence™ 1942313
PRS for Music Church Licence (CCLI) 1545501