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Wednesday Night Women’s Bible Study Wednesdays | 6:30pm
Women’s Podcast Small Group Wednesdays | 8pm
Mixed Adult Small Group Thursdays | 7:30pm
Men’s Small Group Friday Mornings | 6am
Children & Families Small Group Sundays | 9:00 a.m. starting January 31, 2021
Youth Small Group Sundays | 7:00 p.m. starting January 31, 2021
“Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”
LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us in person today even if you are a member. If you’re a visitor, online or in person, and would like more information please feel free to fill out a card or email Pastor Cress.
Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.
And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.
Dear Friends in Christ –
Have you heard someone say how boring the bible is or how they would rather curl up with a good novel or binge watch episodes of [ you fill in the blank ].
Guess they hadn’t heard of the Magi! Our text for this Sunday is in celebration of the twelfth day of Christmas and is known as the Feast of the Wise Men- also known as Epiphany. Now there’s a word! One of those moments when suddenly something becomes clear. It’s like the curtain has been lifted or the fog lifts. We could use a couple now couldn’t we?
Our narrative has all of the elements of a Hollywood blockbuster and more! It features Persian princes, caravans, astrological signs, court intrigue, deceptions, sinister intentions, holy dreams of revelation, royal tributes, two great escapes… and the incarnate God.
Battle lines are drawn – it's light vs. night – and human might is no match for infant delight. The pilgrims arrive at their destination and scripture is fulfilled.
Men and women, we need a tale of perseverance and uplift.
This Sunday we celebrate communion. 2020 is in the rear view. Let’s power up with the Word and the wafer!
See you in worship –
A message from Pastor Cress for New Year's Day 2021.
CLICK ON VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES BELOW TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION
“Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”
LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us today even if you are a member.
Lizzie Meden, Liturgist
Carol Settings
Leader: Let us go, in heart and mind, to see what has come to pass. Let us go with the shepherds:
People: Let us go to find the Savior!
Leader: Let us go with the wise ones:
People: Let us go to find God's promise, born for us!
Leader: Let us go with the poor and humble:
People: Let us go to find our King, born in a lowly manger.
Leader: Let us go with all the world, with all the peoples of the nations.
People: Come, let us worship; come, let us adore him: Christ the Lord!
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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Leader: O God, you search us out and know us, and all that we are is open to you. We confess that we have sinned.
People: In your mercy, Lord, forgive us and heal us.
Leader: When we make no room for Christ, and fail to welcome him into our lives,
People: In In your mercy, Lord, forgive us and heal us.
Leader: When we seek to cut down those who might rise above us,
People: In In your mercy, Lord, forgive us and heal us.
Leader: When we sanitize your birth place and erase from memory the poor and displaced,
People: In In your mercy, Lord, forgive us and heal us.
Leader: When we sing sweet sentiments over Christ's birth, and fail to rejoice over his everyday presence,
People: In In your mercy, Lord, forgive us and heal us.
Leader: We turn to you, O Christ, perfect union of Spirit and flesh;
People: In We renounce evil; We claim your love; We choose to be made whole.
Response: Thanks be to God!
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell*; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic** Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be. He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending, He. Of the things that are, that have been,
and that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!
O ye heights of heaven adore Him, angel hosts, His praises sing: Powers, dominions, bow before Him,
And extol our God & King; Let no tongue on earth be silent,
every voice in concert ring, evermore and evermore!
Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and O Holy Ghost, to Thee
hymn and chant and high thanksgiving and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory and dominion, and eternal victory, evermore and evermore!
Refrain:
Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere;
go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!
While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night,
behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. [Refrain]
The shepherds feared and trembled when lo! above the earth
rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth. [Refrain]
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born,
and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn. [Refrain 2X]
2nd Presbyterian CCLI Lic. #2046860
Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.
And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.
Dear Friends in Christ –
I’m not done with Christmas – I’m not ready. This Sunday I want to take just a few minutes to unpack what it is that we have just celebrated and what it is that I pray we’ll carry with us through this coming year - the enfleshment, the carnality, the humanity of God. Is it possible that anyone walking in off the street might think we’re koo koo?
Imagine someone sitting in or looking at church for the first time. Wonderfully poetic strains of the baby Jesus, word made flesh. References from Isaiah to the one who has made bare his arm in the eyes of the nations. They must wonder how one known as the Prince of Peace may be the warrior king.
The Jewish people returning or returned from exile were looking to someone whose stature and prowess would cause those behind him to marvel and those before him to cringe. And who shows up wriggling and writhing? Jesus. (Thank you, Jesus.)
These times demand all that God is and all that we can be as God’s people. Let’s look to a post-Christmas, post-pandemic, post-inauguration and a post-masked time when our smiles will be seen. Let’s begin this Sunday as the days lengthen. (Yay!)
A message for Christmas morning from Pastor Cress.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service with Advent readings and Christmas carols. This service is traditionally held at 11pm.
Members joined together from their homes the weekend before Christmas to "light up the night" with luminaries and other bright ways to demonstrate the light of the world.
Green screen Christmas pageant with songs and narration describing the time leading up to the birth of Jesus.
“Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”
LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us today even if you are a member.
Lizzie Meden, Liturgist
“Gesu Bambino”
Leader: Happy are we who hear the joyful call to worship,
People: for we walk in the light of God’s presence!
Leader: Let us worship God together—
People: celebrating who he is and all that he has done!
Leader: For God is our strength and our protection,
People: the One in whom we trust.
Watch and wait for Christ's coming! Light candles of hope, peace, joy and love, remembering the promises of God with prayer.
We light this candle in hope. We light this candle for peace.
We light this candle in joy! We light this candle with love.
Out of love for the people of God, the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah, as found in the seventh chapter, verses 10-14:
"The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 'Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.' But Ahaz said, 'I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.' Then Isaiah said: 'Hear then, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to try the patience of mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.'"
Let us pray: God of hope, Prince of peace, Jubilee Judge, and Lord of love, your goodness is beyond our wildest imaginings. You give us more than we can think to ask, coming to us with impossible possibility in the union of flesh and spirit. Teach us to love this world and all people as you love us in Jesus Christ, our Lord. God of promise, God of hope, into our darkness come.
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant; O come ye; O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come, and behold him, born the King of angels! O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
Sing, choirs of angels; sing in exultation; sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest! O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! O come, let us adore him;
O come, let us adore him; O come, let us adore him, Christ, the Lord!
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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
O Holy God of Promise, we so often place our trust in the things we can see, and touch, and easily believe.
But you did not ask us to believe what is easy, you asked us to believe what is true!
Forgive us, Holy One, when we doubt the ways you work.
Forgive us when we find it hard to believe an ancient story.
Forgive us when we question how you chose to enter the world, born as one of us.
Forgive our lack of faith and belief in ways which seem so impossible to believe.
Help us to look in faith, open our belief, and set aside our doubts that you sent your Son, born of a virgin – the one who has come to set us all free.
We offer these prayers in the name of your Son, Emmanuel, God with us. Amen.
Response: Thanks be to God!
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell*; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic** Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains,
and the mountains in reply echoing their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Shepherds, why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be which inspire your heavenly song? Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Come to Bethlehem and see him whose birth the angels sing;
come, adore on bended knee Christ, the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king;
let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing, and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
(Short interlude)
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
(Short interlude)
He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love, and wonders, wonders of his love.
2nd Presbyterian CCLI Lic. #2046860
Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.
And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day – Our Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service will be online only this year, and available on December 24th. Cress’ Christmas Day Message, in lieu of an in-person service, will be available on the on December 25th.
Dear Friends in Christ –
Mary was probably no more than fourteen. She is not characterized as “righteous” in her religious observances. She is not visited in holy surroundings in the metropolis of Jerusalem. We can presume the angel Gabriel finds her in humble circumstances in the insignificant northern village called Nazareth. But Gabriel tells Mary she has found favor with God, that she will conceive a son and name him Jesus, and that he will rule a dynasty, fulfilling all the ancient expectations for a Jewish Messiah.
Wow. What are we to think? Are we just to accept this narrative? Are we to be the heralds of this craziness? Well, what else could we report? Does our faith hinge on the science and possibility/probability of a human virgin birth? We are told nothing is impossible with God. How much does it matter to you? How much does it matter to Jesus?
This Sunday we won’t attempt to reduce the mystery and wonder of holy revelation. We’ll observe the courage of a young girl, the confidence of our maker, the reality of the miraculous and the promise that we are not alone.
Ah, the wonder–
See you in worship!
“Many hands make light work.”
“Teamwork makes the dream work.”
“If we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.”
There are lots of ways to say it — but working together really does make bigger and better things possible. And, lots of times, working together makes it more fun, too. In fact, there are times made better just by our ability to be together, to be with one another.
That is something that really rings true, doesn’t it? Being together. During these past months, many of us weren’t able to be together in person. We have always been together in spirit, and in faith. But we missed seeing each other. We missed seeing faces we love — up close and personal. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been together. And we definitely have not been alone.
There is a word that comes up a lot during this season we call Advent in the Church, and it points to the same sentiment, but about God: “Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means “God is with us,” and, in Jesus, we Christians claim that God took on human form to be with us. "God is with us” is more than just saying God is along for the ride. It states God values togetherness and relationship with us, leading us to value togetherness and relationship with one another. When we are all together as we are today — and even when we are apart.
The Christmas Joy Offering is one way we join together as Presbyterians from around the country. We do this to meet the needs of vulnerable people we might not be able to meet as individuals or as single congregations. We might not be able to meet face to face with those who need the support that our gifts provide, but we are very much still together.
The gifts we share connect us. They also change lives. Through the Christmas Joy Offering, we support church workers and their families who experience critical financial needs through help from the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions. We connect with the young people attending Stillman College, Presbyterian Pan American School, and the Menaul School, supporting the education and leadership development for students of color, who will soon be leaders in our Church and in the world.
“God is with us.” All the time. During this season of Advent, as we approach Christmas, I can’t think of a more perfect gift than that. Thank you for sharing those lessons and those truths, through your gift to the Christmas Joy Offering.
Please give generously, for “if we all do a little — together — it adds up to a lot.”
God, we are your Church, together. Because of your son Jesus, we are brought together to serve those who lead your Church but find themselves in need. And we are brought together with students at Presbyterian-related schools and colleges equipping communities of color, who have the potential to lead your church and world in the future. In the name of the Christ, Emmanuel we pray, Amen.
God saw the great needs of the world and offered a perfect gift, Jesus Christ. In Jesus, we receive the perfect gift of God being with us, and of being with those in need—the gift of being together when we are near, and being together when we are apart.
The Christmas Joy Special Offering is an opportunity to join other Presbyterian churches throughout the country to support our PC(USA) leaders. Through the Assistance Program of the Board of Pensions, our gifts honor the faithfulness of current and retired church workers in need. These generous actions bear witness to our response to Christ's charge to love one another.
“Meeting people at their point of need, Inviting all into a dynamic relationship with Christ”
LET US KNOW YOU WORSHIPED WITH US TODAY - Please fill out a contact card to assist with COVID-19 contact tracing and to let us know you worshiped with us today even if you are a member.
Rebecca Darwin, Liturgist
“O Christmas Tree”, arr. Kinyon
“Away in a Manger”, arr. Klein
“Bring a Torch”, arr. Hollis
Leader: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God.
People: And our spirits rejoice in you.
Leader: We will praise you as long as we live.
People: We will sing praises to you our whole lives long.
Leader: We will not trust in the powerful of this world,
People: But will trust in you–Creator of heaven and earth,
Leader: the One who gives food to the hungry,
People: the One who enacts justice for the oppressed.
Leader: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God
People: As we worship you in this place, as we light these candles in hope, peace, and joy.
Watch and wait for Christ's coming! Light candles of hope, peace, joy and love, remembering the promises of God with prayer. We light this candle in hope. We light this candle for peace. We light this candle in joy!
Rejoice! For our Lord is coming into the darkness of oppression's exile to lead us home, as we hear in Isaiah 35:1-10:
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, "Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you."
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God's people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Let us pray: (ALL) O Lord, our redeemer, you lead us from languishing in sorrow's shadows into laughter's joy over your abundant restoration. Thank you that you are coming for us to lead us home along your Way, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today;
ox and ass before him bow, and he is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
now ye hear of endless bliss: Jesus Christ was born for this!
He has opened heaven’s door, and we are blest forevermore.
Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
now ye need not fear the grave: Jesus Christ was born to save!
Calls you one and calls you all to gain the everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!
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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
God, you share with us words of hope, words of Good News. But sometimes we are unable to hear them because the source is too familiar. You call us to share the Good News with those around us. But sometimes we are unable to share, because the people know us too well. You encourage us to send messengers to other places where they will be heard better. But we can be jealous, wanting the Good News to be for us, not them. In the multitude of ways we can and have subverted your message of freedom and healing, in all the ways we have kept the Jubilee year from happening, we have left the path of true wisdom and call upon your Grace to lead us back on track.
Response: Thanks be to God!
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell*; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic** Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan; earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign; In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God incarnate, Jesus Christ.
Enough for him whom cherubim worship night and day, a breastful of milk and a mangerful of hay; Enough for him, whom angels fall down before, the ox and ass and camel which adore.
What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a wise man, I would do my part; yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king.
Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations, rise; join the triumph of the skies;
with the angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”
Christ, by highest heaven adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord,
late in time behold him come, offspring of the virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate deity,
pleased in flesh with us to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail the sun of righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn king!”
2nd Presbyterian CCLI Lic. #2046860
Second Presbyterian is a church community where you will be known and nurtured. Have a prayer request? Please let us know here. Interested in joining Second? Find more about becoming a member here.
And get connected! Join a small group here. While we may be practicing social distancing these days, there are still ways to be involved and to offer your time, talents, and resources in service to others. Please reach out to our Director of Community and Communications Jordyn Pritchard to get connected.
Our guest musician today, Gretchen Roper is the Second Clarinetist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and also plays in many other Lowcountry orchestras and ensembles. She also runs a thriving private studio, and is a clarinet repair specialist.
