​​Invitation

A Service of Worship for
December 27, 2020

It is today that our best work can be done
and not some future day or future year.

W.E.B. DuBois  
Worship notes are included at the bottom of this page and in the Worship Order located at the link below.
With this link you can make a donation to Covenant through PayPal or a credit card. 
Adult Education - TODAY,  9AM
​The next two Sundays will each feature the spiritual journeys of Jackie Rundstein and Ben Ball, a couple who is relatively new to our Covenant community. We will hear about Jackie’s spiritual journey on December 27th and Ben’s on January 3rd. On the following two Sundays in January Ben will guide us in two sessions exploring our own life experience of theology, topics to be announced as we move into the new year.
​Zoom link is available on the Online Gatherings page on our website: https://www.covenanthouston.org/covenant-gatherings.html
Full worship service video:
COFFEE TIME Gathering on Zoom
Today, 11AM
We will begin as a large group and discuss the elements of worship we find particularly meaningful. After that, we will transition into “rooms" for coffee time. 
​Log in details on the Online Gatherings page. 
Prelude
"From Heaven Above to Earth I Come" by J.S. Bach; Eric Aver, tenor, Patrick Parker, organ. 

​Call to Worship
Hymn
"Joy to the World" Attr: George Federick Handel, Isaac Watts; alt., Arr. Lowell Mason; led by Carl McAliley, organ and The Covenant Singers. 

Opening Prayer
Gracious and Holy One,
creator of all things
and of emptiness,
we come to you.

Empty us
of the disguises and lies
in which we hide ourselves
from other people
​and from our responsibility
for our neighbors
and for the world.

Hollow out in us a space
in which we will find ourselves,
find peace and a whole heart,
a forgiving spirit and holiness,
the springs of laughter,
and the will to reach boldly
for abundant life for oursleves
and the whole human family.

​Scripture Lesson: 
Luke 2: 15-19, John 16:33, Philippians 4: 4-7

​Time for Children

Confession
Unison Confession
We look with uncertainty
Beyond the old choices for
Clear-cut answers
To a softer, more permeable aliveness
Which is every moment
At the brink of death;
For something new is being born in us
If we but let it.
We stand at a new doorway,
Awaiting that which comes.
Daring to be human creatures.
​Vulnerable to the beauty of existence.
Learning to love. 
Music
"Go, Tell It on the Mountain" African- American Spiritual, Arr. Hart Morris; The Bayou City Bells directed by David Lee.
​Proclamation

​Hymn
"Go, Tell It on the Mountain" African- American Spiritual, Arr. John W. Work III; led by Patrick Parker, organ and The Covenant Singers.
​
​Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. 
I do not see the road ahead of me. 
I cannot know for certain where it will end. 
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following 
Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. 
But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. 
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. 
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. 
And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. 
Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. 
I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone. 
Amen
- Thomas Merton
​Invitation
​
​Prayer of Dedication
As we are glad, Creator God,
when the dawn reveals the world to us,
innocent and fresh,
so may we discover the infant in the manger,
and in delight be ready to start anew. 
Doxology
​
Affirmation of Faith
We believe in the Christmas story
​that has been passed down to us
told by our parents and theirs
to teach us that the holy and the human
aren't so far apart 
that sometimes miracles can happen
can be commonplace -
just look at a baby.

     The story us to marvel.

Yet we are troubled by the Christmas story
for it envisions a different world
an alternate kingdom
where new seeds are sown
and watered with irresistible ideas
peace on Earth
good will to all.

​     The story calls us to work for what we want.

And we are grateful for the Christmas story
the way it comes to us as a midwife
discovering what needs to be born
a certain mindfulness perhaps
a commitment to justice
the hope of real change
and an awareness that life is a gift.

     The story asks that we all join in its incarnation.

We believe in 
and are troubled by 
and are grateful for
this Christmas story.

     May it be born in us this day. 
​

Benediction

Postlude
"Sortie: Venez, Divin Messie" played by Carl McAliley, organ. 
Worship Notes
The worship leader is Charity Grannis.

Our guest proclaimer today is Ann Stout. 

The prelude is played by Patrick Parker, organ.

The Call to Worship is by Neale Donald Walsch.   

“Joy to the World” led by Carl McAliley, organ and The Covenant Singers. 

The Opening Prayer is from Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder.

The Unison Confession is a poem of Anne Hillman reprinted in Life Prayers: From Around the World, edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon.

“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” is played by The Bayou City Bells directed by David Lee. 

“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” is led by Patrick Parker, organ and The Covenant Singers. 

The Prayer of Dedication is from A New Zealand Prayer Book.

The Affirmation of Faith is by Jeremy Rutledge.

​The postlude is played by Carl McAliley, organ.
​
​
Sunday schedule for today: 
9:00 - Adult Education with Zoom
10:00 - Worship via videos on the Worship Page
11:00 - Transition from worship to coffee time with Zoom

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