Worship Guide Dec. 20, 2015

Second Baptist Church belong believe become

Sculpture by Cameron Brenton See page 10 for more information.

Welcome, Guests!

If you are a first-time guest, please complete a guest card from a pew pocket or Friendship Register and drop it in the offering plate so that we may acknowledge your visit and get acquainted with you. We are glad you have joined us for worship today.

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Meditation

From “I Am Nothing” by Ginny Owens I could travel over oceans, cross the deserts, climb the mountains Just to share your story, bring you glory, and win souls for you.

I could sing like an angel, songs so humble and so thankful Full of drama and emotion, so the world would know your truth.

I could give away my money and my clothes and my food To restore those people who are poor, lost, and down-and-out.

Oh, I could succeed at all these things, Find favor with peasants and kings, But if I do not love, I am nothing.

I could live a flawless life, never cheat or steal or lie, And always speak so kindly, smile warmly, and go about doing good.

I could dedicate myself to do what everyone else wants me to Listen to them, compliment them, say the things I should.

I could show up every Sunday, lead the choir and bible study And they all might come to know me as a leader and a friend.

Oh, I could achieve success on earth, but success cannot define my worth And all these actions, all these words, will not matter in the end Songs will fade to silence, Stories, they will cease.

The dust will settle, covering all my selfless deeds.

So as I strive to serve you, Won’t you make it clear to me, If I do not love, I am nothing. _________________________________ WE LOVE CHILDREN! Your entire family is welcome here! Children’s worship bags filled with books and activities are available at the Sanctuary entrances. If you’d like an alternative for your children, childcare for birth through Pre-K is available on Level 2 at any point in the service. Our Welcome Center is also available for those with restless infants, and you can view the service on a monitor there. __________________________________ Note: + Indicates stand if you are able. | Please see an usher for a listening aid.

Give your tithe online now at 2bcliberty.org/giving.

Online givers may participate in the worship offering by using the card in the pew rack.

The Worship of God

The Fourth Sunday of Advent December 20, 2015

8:30 & 11:00 a.m.

Gathering

Hope Peck (8:30) Orchestra (11:00)

Invitation to Worship Prelude

David Fulk

“Ring in Exhaltation” Douglas E. Wagner Sanctuary Bells, Don Brown, Director

+Processional Hymn of Advent 103 “O Come, All Ye Faithful”

ADESTE FIDELES

Lighting the Advent Candle of Love Jason Edwards and Children Lily McRorey, Candlelighter Litany Leader: People: Leader: People:

Prepare the way of the Lord.

We light this candle in Love, the love that Jesus, our Savior, has for us.

Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love Prepare the way of the Lord.

Congregational Response 80 “Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love”

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Leader: The Good News of our Lord.

People: Praise Be to Our Lord, Jesus Christ!

O Highest Wisdom, Come Genevan Psalter 1551

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Prayers of the People Choral Worship “The Hands that First Held Mary’s Child” The Sanctuary Choir | Rachel Hon, Cello The hands that first held Mary’s child were hard from working wood.

From boards they sawed and nailed and filed and splinters they withstood.

This day they gripped no tool of steel, they drove no iron nail, but cradled from the head to heel our Lord, newborn and frail.

When Joseph marveled at the size of that small breathing frame, and gazed upon those bright new eyes Words © 2014 Allan Aunspaugh And spoke the infant’s name, the angel’s voice he once had dreamed poured out from heaven’s height, and like the host of stars that beamed blessed earth with welcome light.

Karen Rogers Dan Forrest

“This child shall be Emmanuel, not God upon the throne, but God with us, Emmanuel, as close as blood and bone.”

The tiny form in Joseph’s palms confirmed what he had heard, and from his heart rose hymns and psalms for heaven’s human word.

The tools that Joseph laid aside a mob would later lift and use with anger, fear, and pride to crucify God’s gift.

Let us, O Lord, not only hold the Child who’s born today, but charged with faith, may we be bold to follow in His way.

Words by Thomas Troeger © 2010 Oxford University Press. UBP

The New Testament Lesson Connie McNeill 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NIV) If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a

man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God! Sermon

Practice Love

Jason Edwards

+Hymn of Response 124 “The First Nowell”

THE FIRST NOWELL

The worship of the living God invites our response. Those who wish to profess faith in Christ and/or to unite with the church are invited to come forward and share your decision with the pastor.

+Offertory Prayer

Connie McNeill (8:30) Carol Kingery (11:00)

Offertory

“But This I Know” Catherine McMichael Sanctuary Handbells I cannot tell why He whom angels worship Should set his love upon the sons of men, Or why as shepherd He should seek the wanderers, To bring them back, they know not how nor when.

But this I know, that He was born of Mary When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home, And that He lived at Nazareth and labored; And so the Savior, Savior of the world, has come. +Presentation of Offerings “The Advent of Our God” The Advent of our God

with eager hearts we greet; and we must praise Him in this hour

with hymns and anthems sweet.

FESTAL SONG

Words: Charles Coffin, 1736; trans. Harriett Packer, 1906

+A Time of Greeting

Jason Edwards

A Great Glad Sound!

+Congregational Blessing

Jason Edwards

+The Sending Forth

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FLOWERS IN WORSHIP

The Advent arrangement on the organ side of the sanctuary is from Ann and Phil Posey in honor of Teresa and Otis Miller’s 25th wedding anniversary and in gratitude to 2BC for the nurture and support given to them.

The Advent arrangement on the piano side of the sanctuary is given to the Glory of God and for the fourth Sunday of Advent: In Honor of: Our grandsons Tate Alexander and Hayes Thomas

by Linda and Greg Greason Our daughters Lindsey and Emmy Gregory

by Ellen and Larry Gregory © Una Grubbs on her 95th birthday

by Ellen and Larry Gregory Our children and grandchildren by Carroll and Tom Makemson Ann Posey and the Orchestra by Irene Thomas (continued on the next page)

In Memory of: Our Family Saints by Carroll and Tom Makemson Rev. James Grubbs by Ellen and Larry Gregory Alvin and Drusilla Heitman by Judy Kay Heitman Doris Howell by John Howell Betty and Gene Graeff by Jeanne and Max Mason Mildred and Virgil Mason by Jeanne and Max Mason Kathy, Dora Alice and Lyman Berndt by Patsy and Dan Triplett Harvey Thomas by Patsy and Dan Triplett Margaret, Kate and Hugh Triplett by Patsy and Dan Triplett Thomas Yates by Cindi Moore Catherine Pierce by Cindi Moore Bill and Marilyn Oberkrom by Keith and Mary Margaret Oberkrom Art and Louella Reppert by Keith and Mary Margaret Oberkrom Partial funding for Advent arrangements was from the Memorial Fund in memory of the Allen C. Pixlee Family

 PRAYER CONCERNS

LIBERTY HOSPITAL Cheryl Lewkowsky, surgery recovery Dorothy Porter NORTH KANSAS CITY HOSPITAL Barb Yoakum, surgery recovery ST. JOSEPH HEALTH CENTER Ken Edmondson, Cathy Cole’s father

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WORSHIP LEADERS TODAY David Fulk has been at 2BC since 1985 and is a member of the Sanctuary Choir, Personnel Committee, and a Sunday School leader. He is director of philanthropic giving at KCUR 89.3 and involved in several community endeavors.

Carol Kingery is the Referrals Coordinator for 2BC’s Stephen Ministry Program.

Micah McGlaughlin is a sophomore at Liberty High School. She runs cross country and track. She has an older sister, Johnna, and her parents are John and Sherry.

Lily McRorey is a fourth grader at Ridgeview and is the daughter of Chris and Jill McRorey.

Karen Rogers returned to Kansas City after a career as an educator in Dallas. She lives near family in the Raytown area and enjoys her work for a vascular surgery office. Karen joined 2BC on her first visit to the church in 2004.

Patsy Triplett and her husband, Dan, have been members for many years. Patsy is chairman of the Arts and Environment Committee who are responsible for many of the lovely seasonal decorations at Second.

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CARE MINISTRY CARDS There is a Care Ministry card located in the pew racks that describes our ministry and provides an option to request prayer or care on the opposite side.

We would like to encourage you to use the card to express a need.

Simply fill out the information and place it in the offering plate during worship, or give the card to one of the pastoral staff members.

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ABOUT THE COVER ART BY CAMERON BRENTON My name is Cameron Brenton. I am a ceramic artist living in Liberty.

I create functional and sculptural ceramics in my basement studio, which I have named 39 North Clay. I am a Special Education Teacher at Liberty High School, where I work with students that have severe cognitive and intellectual disabilities, specifically autism.

I was introduced to Second Baptist Church by my parents when I was born. I was a member of 2BC until moving home after college, when my wife and I found Restore Community Church, which meets at South Valley Middle School in Liberty. We are very active in this church community, which is something that can be attributed to a strong Christian foundation instilled by our parents and the churches we grew up in. I was thrilled when asked to create this piece for 2BC. My Piece on Love When asked to create a piece about Love, my thoughts immediately went to my wife, Jessica, and the verse Ecclesiastes 4:12: “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” This verse is directly translated in my piece through the use of triangle allegory. It is common knowledge that triangles are the strongest shape and can always be found in architecture. Without Jessica, my relationship with God is not as strong. Without God, my relationship with Jessica is not as strong.

When I have been asked about my belief in God, I often explain how I believe that God designed Jessica and I to compliment each other.

I always feel closer to Jessica during times of worship. When singing worship songs, I often feel that the lyrics I am singing are lyrics that I can sing to Jessica or to God. Both of our parents prayed for our future relationships throughout our childhood and God provided a loving relationship for the three of us to enjoy. As we grow in our relationship with God, our relationship with each other grows congruently.

The crown on this piece is two parts red representing Jessica and I as flesh. The third part of the crown is purple, representing God. The inside of the vase is also purple to represent God. God’s love is something that should resonate within us, but also be displayed outwardly as we are called to be evangelical. The light inside the vase helps push the color outside the vase and helps the color glow.

NOTES

Our Ministry Team Jason Edwards, Senior Pastor Allan Aunspaugh, Minister of Music | Ann Posey, Organist Mike Lassiter, Associate Pastor | Connie McNeill, Associate Pastor Charles Smith, Associate Pastor | Gwen Phillips, Children’s Pastor Linda Jones, Church Administrator

Getting Connected Each Sunday in the Welcome Center (just inside the Kansas Street entrance on Level 1), our Connections Team is waiting to help you get “connected.” This may include finding a Bible study class, showing you where children and student ministries meet, or sharing the days’ activities and schedule. You may also choose simply to enjoy a cup of coffee at the Welcome Center’s coffee bar and get to know others at Second.

Our Website:

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300 E. Kansas | Liberty, Missouri 64068 816.781.2824 | 2bcliberty.org