Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church

Bible verse of the day:

Powered by YouVersion’s Bible app

WELCOME TO WORSHIP WITH NABC!

CALL TO WORSHIP
(LEADER) The sun shall be no more your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon adorn the night.
But the Lord will be your glory, the lamp to light your way.
The Lord will be your everlasting light.
Lift up your eyes, and see the light surround you;
with radiant hope, illuminate the night.
Lift up your voice and sing, let earth and heaven ring,
lift up your eyes and see the everlasting light.

(CONGREGATION/LEADER)
Today, we remember the light that shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not overcome it.
THOUGH SORROW MAY LAST FOR THE NIGHT, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.
For all who face the sting of loss, God’s word speaks:
THOUGH SORROW MAY LAST FOR THE NIGHT, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.
For all who wrestle with the unknown of tomorrow, God’s work speaks:
THOUGH SORROW MAY LAST FOR THE NIGHT, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.
For all who battle the questions that arise in the silence, God’s word speaks:
THOUGH SORROW MAY LAST FOR THE NIGHT, IT WILL NOT ALWAYS BE THIS WAY.

(CONGREGATION/LEADER)
Lift up your eyes, and see the light surround you;
with radiant hope, illuminate the night.
Lift up your voice and sing, let earth and heaven ring,
lift up your eyes and see the everlasting light.

MEDITATION ON ALL IS WELL (instrumental)
All is well, all is well. Heaven and earth rejoice!
For tonight darkness fell into the dawn of love’s light.
Sing al-le, sing alleluia!
All is well, all is well. Let there be peace on earth.
Christ is come, go and tell that he is in the manger.
Sing al-le, sing alleluia!
All is well, all is well. Lift up your voice and sing.
Born is now Emmanuel, Born is our Lord and Savior.
Sing alleluia! All is well.

ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
Once in royal David’s city stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed.
Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.

He came down to earth from heaven who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable, and his cradle was a stall:
with the poor and meek and lowly lived on earth, our Savior holy.

Jesus is our childhood’s pattern, day by day like us he grew,
He was little, weak and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew:
And he feels for all our sadness, and he shares in all our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see him, through his own redeeming love;
for that child, so dear and gentle, is our Lord in heaven above,
and he leads his children on to the place where he has gone.

IN THE STILL OF THE WINTER
In the still of the winter, the dark of the year,
There’s a watching and waiting for God to come near.
My heart, like a traveler who’s lost in the night,
Feels a yearning for comfort, and longing for light.

From the silence of evening, from shadow and sleep,
comes a numinous star like a voice from the deep.
How long must I wander, how far must I roam?
“I am here, I am with you, and I’ll lead you home.”

“I am here in the stars, in the dark of the night.
I am always within you, and I am the light.
I am who I am,” sings the God of my soul.
“In your waiting and hope I am making you whole.”

PRAYER FOR THE LONGEST NIGHT
God of light and darkness, heaven and earth, beginning and end,
we come to you with so many questions,
knowing there are no easy answers.
In this season of shorter days and longer nights,
we confess we have no patience for pain or sorrow,
we do not want to make room for grief,
whether ours or others’,
and we string colored lights and hang shiny garlands
to cover up the messy, damaged, unpresentable parts of our lives.
But when we do that, we have no way to seek healing.
And so we come to you today,
impatient and bored, eager and excited,
to open our hearts to your healing touch
and to ask you to make yourself known once more
in the shadows and broken places of our world.

For those who have no homes
in the midst of winter’s freezing nights,
and for those who have been looking for work so long
they’ve given up hope,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For those who struggle with grief and loss,
whose family gatherings and memories bring more pain than joy,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For all who suffer from mental illness and addiction,
and for those bearing the burden of chronic conditions
or terminal disease,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For nations where war and violence are a daily experience,
and for families in our own community who live in the shadow of abuse,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For those who are hungry, who do not have clean water,
who cannot access needed medical care,
who daily face the possibility of death,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For all who live in places of oppression and persecution,
who are not free to express their opinions or beliefs,
who live in fear or who struggle for change,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For those who have been told they are not welcome
in schools, homes, jobs, churches, or in the halls of power,
because of who you have created them to be,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

For our church community, families and friends –
all who are lonely, anxious, unwell,
in need of strength, comfort or hope.
For Chris, Joel, Maria and Hannah, for Jen and her family,
for Selena’s family and friend, Raymond’s family, Dylan’s family,
for Peter’s brother Bernie and cousin Henry, Mary Beth’s aunt Kathy,
for Candy’s relatives – Erica and Michael, and Gilda’s grandmother,
for Frank, Mark’s parents, Jay’s family, and the Higgins family,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS

God of light and darkness, heaven and earth, beginning and end,
we who still long for a Savior give thanks that in Christ
you have reached out toward us,
taking on flesh and sharing our human experience,
knowing both the darkness and the light
of this beautiful, terrible, wondrous life.
In us and through us and in all things, we pray,

Lord, in your mercy,
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE AND ILLUMINE THE DARKNESS
AMEN.

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.

BEHOLD HE HAS COME
Behold, He has come, God’s only Son,
He is the One sent to save us.
Behold, He has come, God’s only Son,
He is the One we adore.
[2x]

And we lay down our lives before Him,
and we lift up our hearts to adore Him.
He’s God’s only Son, the long awaited One,
Behold, behold He has come.

Behold, He has come, God’s only Son,
He is the One sent to save us.
Behold, He has come, God’s only Son,
He is the One we adore.

And we lay down our crowns before Him
And we lift up our hearts to adore Him.
He’s God’s only Son, the long awaited One,
Behold, behold He has come,
He’s God’s only Son, the long awaited One,
Behold, behold He has come.

GENTLE MARY LAID HER CHILD
Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger;
There he lay, the undefiled, to the world a stranger:
Such a Babe in such a place, can he be the Savior?
Ask the saved of every race who have found his favor.

Gentle Mary laid her Child lowly in a manger;
he is still the undefiled, but no more a stranger.
Son of God, of humble birth, beautiful the story;
praise his name in all the earth, hail the King of glory!

BE STILL MY SOUL
Be still my soul, be still my soul,
cease from the labor and the toil.
Refreshing springs of peace await
to troubled minds and hearts that ache.

Be still my soul, God knows your way
and He will guide for his name’s sake.
Plunge in the rivers of His grace,
rest in the arms of His embrace.

Be still my soul, be still my soul,
though battles ‘round you rage and roar.
One thing you need and nothing more,
to hear the whisper of your Lord:

“Be still my child, I know your way
and I will guide for my name’s sake.
Plunge in the river of my grace,
rest in the arms of my embrace.”

LIFT YOUR HEARTS
Lift your hearts and raise your voices,
celebrate this wondrous love.
Join the chorus with all Christians,
and with saints who live above.
Silent lips now sing with gladness,
blinded eyes are filled with sight.
Jesus’ love has pierced our darkness,
brought us home to peace and light.

All songs used by permission. CCLI #158188
All is Well – © 1989 Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Songs (BMI). Words and Music by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Michael W. Smith. Behold, He Has Come – © 2000 Word Music, Inc. / Juniper Landing Music / Two Fine Boys Music. Words: Claire Cloninger. Music Robert Sterling.
Be Still, My Soul – © 1997 Integrity’s Praise! Music. Words and Music by Kim Noblitt. Gentle Mary Laid Her Child – Words: Joseph Cook, 1919.�Music: Piae Cantiones, 1582; arr. Ernest Macmillan, 1930.
In the Still of the Winter – Words © 2002 Nancy Hayes Kilgore. Published by The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church,�PO Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203, www.gbod.org/worship.�Lift Up Your Eyes – © 2009 Hope Publishing Co. Words/Music by Joel Raney.
O Little Town of Bethlehem – Words: Phillips Brooks, 1868; Music: Lewis Redner, 1868. Once in Royal David’s City – Words: Cecil Alexander, 1848. Music: Henry Gauntlett, 1849. Prayer for the Longest Night – by Rev. Kerry Greenhill, www.SacredStonesMinistries.org

Bible verse of the day:

Powered by YouVersion’s Bible app

NABC supports numerous field personnel that serve throughout the world to spread Jesus’s message of hope and salvation. This Advent Christmas season, would you keep these brave souls in your prayers? Many of these modern day missionaries serve in regions at their own peril and must remain anonymous from social media. They serve our overseas brothers and sisters and face many challenges, even beyond this current pandemic.

[12/21/20]   Martin Family Ministry Update:

Dear Friends,

[edited content]

Early this afternoon, after our buyer's agent and we worked out the details of an offer and put all the paperwork together, and after we wrote very quickly a letter that the seller requested so she could get to know us some and learn about what we hoped to do with the property, the seller accepted our offer--even though she'd been leaning towards accepting another offer she'd received!

Get this--the property began to be advertised on the internet just on Wednesday evening. And there were at least three potential buyers, including us, who went to see the property yesterday afternoon. (There is A LOT of interest in finding property here in Tennessee these days, especially among people leaving other US states. It's truly a "sellers' market," with all that accompanies that.)

Now we're excited, thinking about the ministry possibilities the Lord will be opening up for us in this new place. And we're excited that we'll have a home to return to as we go to and from ministry in other places, including still in Japan!

We don't know all the details about everything yet, but we're convinced that our gracious Lord's seen not only our need, but also the desires of our hearts, and that He's working on our behalf even now. (The Lord's words through David in Psalm 37:3-7 are very much in our minds these days.)

The "deal" is supposed to "close" by the end of January.

Thank you so much for your on-going care for us and the people we're working to share Jesus with in this world.

We hope you recognize that the Lord is working through you.

We surely do recognize that!

With much love,
Your fellow ministers,
John (and Etsuko) Martin
Sharing Jesus with our world

WELCOME TO WORSHIP WITH NABC!

CHORAL CALL TO WORSHIP (Leader)
The sun shall be no more your light by day,
nor for brightness shall the moon adorn the night.
But the Lord will be your glory, the lamp to light your way.
The Lord will be your everlasting light.
Lift up your eyes, and see the light surround you;
with radiant hope, illuminate the night.
Lift up your voice and sing, let earth and heaven ring,
lift up your eyes and see the everlasting light.

CALL TO WORSHIP
During Advent, we remember the light that shines in the darkness,
but the darkness has not overcome it. For all who have walked in darkness,
a new light has dawned!
JOY COMES IN THE MORNING. COME, LET US ADORE HIM!
For all who have ever felt forgotten, a new light has dawned!
JOY COMES IN THE MORNING. COME, LET US ADORE HIM!
For all whose patience has been put to the test, a new light has dawned!
JOY COMES IN THE MORNING. COME, LET US ADORE HIM!
For all in search of the way, the truth, and the life, a new light has dawned!
JOY COMES IN THE MORNING. COME, LET US ADORE HIM!

Lighting of the Advent Candles

LIFT UP YOUR EYES (Congregation/Leader)
Lift up your eyes, and see the light surround you;
with radiant hope, illuminate the night.
Lift up your voice and sing, let earth and heaven ring,
lift up your eyes and see the everlasting light.

O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL
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;

Refrain –
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!
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above.
“Glory to God, all glory in the highest”;

Refrain

ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH
Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply echo back their joyous strains.
Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo, Glo-ri-a 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.
Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo,Glo-ri-a in excelsis Deo.

HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise; join the triumph of the skies;
With th’angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!”
Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born 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 new-born King!”

ADORE
You stepped down from heaven,
humbly You came,
God of all creation here with us,
in a starlit manger, Emmanuel,
Light of the world here to save.

Refrain –
Adore, come let us adore,
o come let us adore Him!
The Lord, worship Christ the Lord,
let all that is within us adore.

Wise men bring their treasures,
shepherds bow low,
angel voices sing of peace on earth.
What have I to offer to heaven's King?
I will bring my life, my love my all.

Refrain

Bridge -
Angels sing, praises ring
to the newborn King,
peace on earth here with us,
joy awakening,
at Your feet, we fall.
[2x]

Refrain

NEWBORN KING
We’ve been waiting, our hearts hoping
for a Savior, for our Lord.
Now this day, in flesh appearing
Love is here; we wait no more.

Refrain –
Light of the world, come to save, come to save us,
heaven rejoices, angels sing!
Glory to God in the high, in the highest,
we bow before our newborn King!

Peace on earth and death defeated,
mercy triumphs, grace abounds.
Through this Child, we find forgiveness,
our salvation here and now.

Refrain

Hallelujah, Christ our Savior,
Hope eternal, we will sing!
Hallelujah, Christ our Savior,
Son of God, our newborn King!

Light of the world, come to save, come to save us,
Heaven rejoices, angels sing!
Glory to God in the high, in the highest,
We bow before our newborn King!
Glory to God, our newborn King!

JOY TO THE WORLD/SHOUT FOR JOY
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, to the Lord.

Shout for joy, for the Son of God
is the Saving One, He’s the Saving One;
Shout for joy, see what love has done,
He has come for us, He’s the Saving One.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns,
Let all their songs employ.
While fields and floods,
rocks, hills and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy to the Lord.

Shout for joy, for the Son of God
is the Saving One, He’s the Saving One;
Shout for joy, see what love has done,
He has come for us, He’s the Saving One.

Jesus, Emmanuel, Oh come let us adore Him.
Jesus, Emmanuel, Oh come let us adore Him.

Shout for joy, for the Son of God
is the Saving One, He’s the Saving One.
Shout for joy, see what love has done,
He has come for us, He’s the saving One.

Jesus, Emmanuel, Oh come let us adore Him.
Jesus, Emmanuel, Oh come let us adore Him.

JOY TO THE WORLD
No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.

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.

Music Notes/CCLI #158188:
Adore – © 2015 sixsteps Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/Common Hymnal Publishing (ASCAP). Words and Music by Graham Kendrick and Martin Chalk.
Angels, We Have Heard on High – Words: Traditional French carol, 18th century. Music: Traditional French melody, 18th century, arr. Edward Barnes, 1937.
Hark! the Herald Angles Sing – Words: Charles Wesley, 1739. Music: Felix Mendelssohn, 1840.
Joy to the World – Words: Isaac Watts, 1719; para. of Psalm 98. Music: Lowell Mason, 1838; based on G.F. Handel, 1742.
Joy to the World/Shout for Joy – © 2012 Integrity Worship Music/Leadworship Songs & Integrity’s Praise! Music. Words and Music by Paul Baloche, Lincoln Brewster and Jason Ingram.
Lift Up Your Eyes – © 2009 Hope Publishing Co. Words/Music by Joel Raney.
Newborn King – © 2012 worshiptogether.com Songs/Meaux Hits/Bears in the Bowl. Words and Music by Jeff Pardo and Bryan Brown.
O Come, All Ye Faithful – Words: Latin hymn, attributed to John Wade, 1751. Music: John Wade’s Cantus Diversi, 1751.