December 21 - 9 AM Connect Service

9 a.m. Connect Worship Service 

December 21, 2025 – Fourth Sunday of Advent - LOVE

Rev. Robert Galloway

Gathering and Welcome - Kevin Clark

1st Gathering Song: “Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing)” - FPC Praise Band 

2nd Gathering Song: “Go Tell It on the Mountain” - FPC Praise Band 

Lighting of the Advent Candle of Love based on Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 - Blazier-Higman family 

Perfect love casts out fear.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.  

Your love for us is perfect and yet ours for you is warped by our desire for control.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.  

We believe, O Lord, forgive our unbelief.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.  

Your love is not our fire insurance, but the ground and source of our being for all our days.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.  

We do earnestly and humbly wish to love as you have first loved us, to love others and ourselves as you have first loved us.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.  

This fourth candle is a reminder that we are Advent people, trusting and responding to what is already true and hoping in what is promised to come.  

Restore us, O God; let your face shine upon us, and we shall be blessed.

Hymn #88: “O Come O Come Emmanuel” vv. 1 and 7  VENI EMMANUEL

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,  

that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.  

Refrain:  Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.  

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind;  

bid envy, strife, and discord cease; fill the whole world with heaven’s peace. [Refrain] 

Prayer - Blazier-Higman family

Passing the Peace - Blazier-Higman family 

…The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. 

Response: “Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus” - FPC Praise Band  

Welcome & Friendship Pad Announcement - Rev. Robert Galloway

Time for Young Disciples - Robert Galloway

Worship Song: “Little Drummer Boy” - FPC Praise Band, (featuring the Joyful Noise Music Makers youth singers)

Prayer for Illumination - Diedra Flora

First Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16 - Diedra Flora 

Sermon Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 - Robert Galloway 

…The word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. 

Sermon: “Obedience or Obligation?” - Robert Galloway

Affirmation of Faith: “We Believe” - FPC Praise Band 

Invitation to Offering - Diedra Flora 

…Please join me in a unison Prayer of Dedication:       

Gracious God, we offer these gifts in gratitude for the gift of your nearness and your love. You chose to come among us not in certainty or control, but in trust, vulnerability, and grace.  Receive what we bring—signs of our hope, expressions of our faith, and offerings shaped by thanksgiving. Use them to bear witness to Emmanuel, God with us, in a world still longing for reassurance and light. Shape us into your servants so that in all we give and all we do we support your work in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Offertory Song: “Christmas Offering” - FPC Praise Band 

Welcome New Members - Robert Galloway 

Joyce Hawes

Kim Hutchens 

Ann McPhail 

Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer - Robert Galloway 

Announcements (for complete list, please see below) - Robert Galloway

Final Worship Song: “Joy To The World” - FPC Praise Band 

Benediction - Robert Galloway                         

Praise Band tag 

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Announcements:

Today, December 21

  • A Stephen Minister is available at the close of this service

Monday, December 22

  • Lectio/Visio Divina, 10 a.m., via Zoom

Wednesday, December 24

  • Family-friendly Christmas Eve service, 4 p.m., Sanctuary

  • Lessons & Carols candlelight Christmas Eve service, 7 p.m., Sanctuary

  • Church Office closed

Thursday, December 25 - Christmas Day!

  • Church Office closed

Friday, December 26

  • Church Office closed

Sunday, December 28

  • Childcare available 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Pickups, Room S-203

  • Connect Service, 9 a.m., Youth Center

  • Power Hour class, 10 a.m., Church Office Conference Room

  • Children’s Sunday School, (Pre-K-2nd grade), 10 a.m., S-100

  • Faith Journey class, 9:45 a.m., Chapel

  • “Next” Adult class, 10 a.m., Room N-123

Upcoming Events:

  • January 1 and 2, Church Office closed for New Year’s

Amy McCutcheon