Asbury United Methodist Church

December 7, 2025

Welcome!

Prelude – Joys, Concerns, Announcements

Introit

Greeting  (Neal Johnson)

Two thousand years ago, a baby was born who changed the world. We serve an unlikely God who empowered Zechariah and Elizabeth to dream forward, a God who chose the unlikely Herod as villain in our Advent story, a God who extended the edges of God’s table to include the likes of the magi and a God who showed up in the regular lives of unlikely shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus. You and I are a part of God’s unlikely story, God empowers us and deploys us to experience God’s unlikely every single day. Open yourself up to unlikely adventures, and together we will experience God in ways we could never even ask or imagine.

Please stand as you are able at *.

*Lighting of the Advent Candle- 2nd Sunday of Advent

First Reader:  Advent reminds us that we are people who share a story, the story of Jesus, who enacts peace by judging in favor of the poor and deciding with equity for the meek of the earth. We long for the day when “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).

All: Today, we choose to live the story of peace, believing that true peace comes when we seek the flourishing of all God’s creation.

Second Reader:  We light the first two candles of Advent, a candle of hope & a candle of peace. Both are a sign of our commitment to bring Light to the places the world seeks to hide until that day when all creation lives together in harmony and abundance.

Light the second candle of Advent.

      Our Advent Candle Lighters today are Peggy and Neal Johnson

*Hymn #196 “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,

Born to set thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us,

Let us find our rest in thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth thou art;

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King,

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;

By thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy glorious throne.

1^st READING: Isaiah 40:3-8 NRSVUE                 Neal Johnson

A voice cries out:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;

   make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

   and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

   and the rough places a plain.

Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

   and all flesh shall see it together,

   for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out!”

   And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass;

   their constancy is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers; the flower fades,

   when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;

   surely the people are grass.

The grass withers; the flower fades,

   but the word of our God will stand forever.

Anthem: "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris



Special Responsive Reading: UMH #208 “Canticle of Zechariah”    Neal Johnson

Response: Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son.

R

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

  Who has come to set the chosen people free.

The Lord has raised up for us

  A mighty Savior from the house of David.

Through the holy prophets, God promised of old

  To save us from our enemies,

  From the hands of all who hate us;

To show mercy to our forebears

  And to remember the holy covenant.

This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:

To set us free from the hands of our enemies,

  Free to worship without fear,

  Holy and righteous in the Lord’s sight,

  All the days of our life.     R

And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,

  For you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,

To give God’s people knowledge of salvation

  By the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God

  The down from on high shall break upon us,

To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,

  And to guide our feet into the way of peace.     R

2nd READING: Luke 1:5-25, 39-45   NRSVUE   Pastor Alison Dix

Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that this will happen? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he returned to his home.

After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me in this time, when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

2nd part:

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

GOSPEL READING: Matthew 2:1-8 NIV NRSVUE   Pastor Alison 

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

   are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

   who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

Pastor: The word of God for the people of God.                                                                 

People: Thanks be to God!

SERMON: “An Unlikely Advent” - “What if I missed it?” & “Playing the Villain”  Message by   Pastor Alison Dix

Hymn #620 “One Bread, One Body”

One bread, one body, on Lord of all,

One cup of blessing which we bless.

And we, though many through-out the earth,

We are one body in this one Lord.

Gentile or Jew, servant or free,

Woman or man, no more.

One bread, one body, on Lord of all,

One cup of blessing which we bless.

And we, though many through-out the earth,

We are one body in this one Lord.

Many the gifts, many the works,

One in the Lord of all.

One bread, one body, on Lord of all,

One cup of blessing which we bless.

And we, though many through-out the earth,

We are one body in this one Lord.

Grain for the fields, scatted and grown,

Gathered to one, for all.

One bread, one body, on Lord of all,

One cup of blessing which we bless.

And we, though many through-out the earth,

We are one body in this one Lord.

SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION  

INVITATION

Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him,

  who earnestly repent of their sin

  and seek to live in peace with one another.

Therefore, let us confess our sin before God and one another.

CONFESSION AND PARDON

Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have not done your will,

we have broken your law,

we have rebelled against you love,

we have not loved our neighbors,

and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

Forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

All pray in silence.

Pastor: Hear the good news:

  Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;

  that proves God’s love toward us.

In the name in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Glory to God. Amen.

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING

The Lord be with you.

And also to you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

And so,

  With your people on earth

  And all the company of heaven

  We praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

And so,

In remembrance of these your might acts in Jesus Christ,

We offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving

  As a holy and living sacrifice,

  In union with Christ’s offering for us,

As we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!

All honor and glory is yours, almighty Father

Now and forever.

Amen, amen, amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father in 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.

And lead us not into temptation,

  But deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory,

  forever.  Amen

GIVING THE BREAD AND CUP - please come forward, at the Methodist Church, we practice an open table where all are invited and welcome to partake.

Offering Time

Doxology #94

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise god, all creatures here below:

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Praise God, the source of all our gifts!

Praise Jesus Christ, whose power up-lifts!

Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Prayer of Dedication (Unison)

Gracious God, on this day we hear about the prophet calling out, “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Help us to make all paths straight that lead to Jesus. Use these offerings to grow the ministry and love we share. In your Holy Name we pray. AMEN

*Hymn #614 “For the Bread Which You Have Broken”

For the bread which you have broken,

For the wine which you have poured,

For the words which you have spoken,

Now we give you thanks, O Lord.

By this pledge that you do love us,

By your gift of peace restored,

By your call to heaven above us,

Hallow all our lives, O Lord,

With our sainted ones in glory

Seated at the heavenly board,

May the church that’s waiting for you

Keep love’s tie unbroken, Lord.

In you service, Lord, defend us,

In our hearts keep watch and ward;

In the world where you have sent us,

Let your kingdom come, O Lord.

*Benediction

Prayer for Home                                                                                                          

Lord, help me to look for the light in the waiting. Advent is a time to remind ourselves of Christ’s gift to us. Help me to see that the decorations and the presents, while all so wonderful, are merely window dressing on the holiday that is celebrating our Lord’s birth into the world- a real life gift from God. Help me to shine your light for others to see. AMEN!

ANNOUNCEMENTS      

Today 12/7

8:45 am        Communion         

Tuesday 12/9                                          

9:30 am        Crafters

Wednesday 12/10

5:00 pm        Choir Practice

Next Sunday 12/14                            

8:45 am          Worship

9:45 am        Breakfast Brunch Social Hour

Pastor Alison Dix Cell: 319-573-4801  Email: Alison.dix@iaumc.net                             

Website: www.theasburymethodistcr.com

Office Phone: 319-364-3188       

Church Office Hours: Tue-Thurs 9 am to 1 pm