VERDUGO COMMUNITY CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE DECEMBER 15, 2024

We begin our service with Pastor Gail Linstrom welcoming all to worship and to participate in the life of our church family. Dale Reynolds calls us to worship reading from Isaiah 12. Then he and Pastor Gail light the third Advent candle, the Candle of Joy. Pastor Gail gives our opening prayer. Nick Baltazar, Ed Manacop and Mike Minasyan lead us in our praise singing. Albert Ramseyer takes up the praises and concerns of the church and our world in the Prayers of the People.

 

In her sermon, “Where’s the Joy?,” Pastor Liz Cornell from Cucamonga Christian Fellowship begins by observing that traditionally the life of John the Baptist is associated with this Advent Sunday, the Sunday of Rejoicing. Our modern view of joy is hard to reconcile with John’s life of austerity and his ministry of preaching repentanc and utlimately his arrest and execution by the authorities. However, if we look at God’s story of bringing us salvation and John’s part in it, we see real joy through John’s preparing the way for Jesus, the ultimate source of our joy. We see the joy in the miracle births of both John and Jesus. We see the joy in following John’s instructions to help others wherever we are, and in drawing nearer to a God who through Jesus draws closer to us.

 

Verdugo makes its Sunday sermons and select worship services available to you on Facebook at https://facebook.com/verdugochurch and posts audio copies of the service and sermon at https://verdugochurch.podbean.com.

 

Prayers of the People have been edited to respect the privacy and confidentiality of those participating or mentioned.

 

All song titles, lyrics, and music are used with permission. CCLI license # 2486815.

 

Verdugo Community Church is a Free Methodist congregation serving the Glassell Park, Eagle Rock, and Glendale areas in Los Angeles. It is located at 4300 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Our email address is verdugofmc@gmail.com. Contact Pastor Gail at (323) 500-3343.

 

Worship service copyright 2024 by Verdugo Community Church. Sermon copyright 2024 by Liz Cornell and Verdugo Community Church.