This service is livestreamed at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and will remain available for viewing later. 

The order of worship is below.

Announcements - Marge Higgins, Lay Reader

Call to Worship

Wherever God shows up today, may I not be too hurried to notice, nor too aloof to care. When the Sacred surprises me like an unexpected guest, may I not hesitate to greet Them with open arms.  Let not my bias be a barrier, to embracing The Holy’s mysterious ways.  May I be hospitable to God enfleshed in even the dullest circumstances, and the hardest situations, and the strangest of places.  I am open to encountering Love, to meeting with Justice, to being held by Awe. May it be so. 

Voluntary - Prelude on Kum ba Yah by Emma Lou Diemer - Marvin Mills, Organist

UM Hymnal The Faith We Sing  #2244 - People Need the Lord

Verse 1: People need the Lord, people need the Lord; at the end of broken dreams, he's the open door.

Verse 2: People need the Lord, people need the Lord; when will we realize people need the Lord.

Opening Prayer

God, we thank you for the inspiration of Jesus. Grant that we will love you with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, even our enemy neighbors. And we ask you, God, in these days of emotional tension, when the problems of the world are gigantic in extent and chaotic in detail, to be with us in our going out and our coming in, in our rising up and in our lying down, in our moments of joy and in our moments of sorrow, until the day when there shall be no sunset and no dawn. Amen. 

Scripture Reading - John 2:1-11

          ¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

UM Hymnal The Faith We Sing #2158 - Just A Closer Walk With Thee

Verse 1: I am weak but thou art strong; Jesus, keep me from all wrong; I'll be satisfied as long as I walk, let me walk close to thee. 

Refrain: Just a closer walk with thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea, daily walking close to thee: Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

Verse 2: Through this world of toil and snares, if I falter, Lord, who cares? Who with me my burden shares? None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee. (refrain)

Verse 3: When my feeble life is o'er, time for me will be no more; guide me gently, safely o'er to thy shore, dear Lord, to thy shore. (refrain)

Litany - Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton, Associate Pastor

Leader: Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us. As we gather in this place, allow your Spirit to fill our very being.

ALL: As we worship today, we remember our brothers and sisters who are worshiping elsewhere throughout the world. Inspire each of us to work more faithfully for justice and dignity of life everywhere.

Leader: Raise our vision above the barriers of color, culture, and creed that separate us. Give us wisdom as we deal with one another. Help us to recognize and to respect different ways rather than to judge.

ALL: In the Spirit of Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve, we now must walk in the world. We must reach out our hands with help and open our hearts in love. Awake in us the desire to seek your way of serving you in the world. Amen.

UM Hymnal The Faith We Sing #2166 - Christ Beside Me

Verse 1: Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, King of my heart; Christ within me, Christ below me, Christ above me never to part.

Verse 2: Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me shield in the strife; Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising, light of my life.

(Repeat Verse 1)

Sermon - "Living with Joy: Called to Delight" - Rev. Dr. Pat Allen, Senior Pastor

Affirmation of Faith - Rev. Dr. Pat Allen

      As a gathered community of disciples, created by the hands of the Holy, born with Divine purpose, and bound together by the Spirit that breathes life into all things, we affirm our commitment to the way of Jesus Christ, who is The Liberator of the Oppressed, The Bread of Heaven, God enfleshed.

       With faith, we aim to live as Christ taught us, laboring towards liberation, and seeking a world free of domination and control. We believe in God’s promise to uplift the lowly and bring the powerful down from their thrones.

       We believe the resurrecting power of Christ cannot be overcome by evil, but persists in all collective efforts to make life flourish in the midst of destruction, to birth beauty in places of death, and to tend gently to the aches of this world.

       We profess the transforming power of love. We profess that justice is a form of love. We profess that we are still growing into the mystery of love.

       In the company of the saints who go before us, we journey together by grace, seeking always to unlearn all that obstructs authentic relationship, listening for the guidance of Sacred Wisdom, And praying earnestly for the day the Kin-dom of God is born anew.

       Until it is so, we live in hope, for God is with us.

Pastoral Prayer & Dedication - Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton, Associate Pastor

Benediction - Rev. Dr. Pat Allen, Senior Pastor

Postlude - Prelude on Oh, Freedom by Adolphus Hailstork - Marvin Mills, Organist

Click here for this week's announcements.

Click here to submit a prayer request.

Click here to make an offering. In addition to regular giving options, this Sunday has been designated Human Relations Day by the global United Methodist Church for a Special Sunday offering benefiting UMC programs for community development and at-risk youth. Please read more on our Giving page.

Call to Worship: https://twitter.com/enfleshed/status/1185572292904009729 (original post dated Oct 19, 2019).

Kum ba Yah arr. Emma Lou Diemer. Copyright 1993 by Augsburg Fortress. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

"People Need the Lord." Words & Music by Greg Nelson and Phill McHugh. Copyright 1983 River Oaks Music Co., Inc / Shepherd's Fold Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing). Streamed by permission under CCLI license #24106074. All rights reserved.

Opening Prayer: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., from Thou, Dear God: Prayers that Open Hearts and Spirits (edited by Lewis V. Baldwin, Beacon Press, 2012). Excerpts online in "The Prayers of Martin Luther King Jr." (Jan 15, 2013) from The Catholic Reporter, online at https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/road-peace/prayers-martin-luther-king-jr

"Just a Closer Walk with Thee." Words & Music: Anonymous. Public domain.

"Christ Beside Me." Words: St. Patrick's Breastplate, adapt. by James Quinn. Music: Traditional Gaelic melody. Copyright 1969 Selah Publishing Company., Inc. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Affirmation of Faith: "Affirmation #1" by Rev. M Barclay, at enfleshed.com (https://enfleshed.com/pages/affirmations-of-faith), accessed 1/16/2021.

Oh, Freedom by Adolphus Hailstork, in the collection Listen to the Lamb, copyright 2003 by Concordia Publishing. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Bible readings: New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The worship service will be available at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The order of worship is below.

Announcements - Marge Higgins, Lay Leader

Call to Worship - Bill Butz, Lay Reader

From the dust of the earth, the Holy One breathed us into life. Through the breath of God we are all connected. Shaped in her image, God formed us with a purpose: To create. To serve. To tend. To protect. To love. That life may flourish in all its forms, May the Spirit of the Living God be manifest in us! 

Voluntary, Prelude on Wade in the Water by Adolphus Hailstork - Marvin Mills, Organist

Opening Prayer - Bill Butz, Lay Reader

God of holy chaos, you don’t protect us from getting swept up into relationships and systems and experiences that are messy, but you do promise us that you will be found in the midst of them. Help us to remember that when the world was aching, you drew nearer, putting on flesh. It was through that enfleshed reality of love, that you transformed our world. Relationship with you is not an escape - it is the hope and courage we need to dive right into the mess of things. You, O God, are enfleshed in our beautiful but aching earth, in our work for a just society, and in our efforts to love and be loved. May our prayer life be invitations into that life with you. Thanks be. 

Scripture - Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 - Travis Stalcup, Lay Reader

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

UM Hymnal The Faith We Sing #2248 - Baptized in Water

Verse 1: Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, cleansed by the blood of Christ, our King; heirs of salvation, trusting his promise, faithfully now God's praises we sing.

Verse 2: Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, dead in the tomb with Christ, our King; one with his rising, freed and forgiven, thankfully now God's praises we sing.

Verse 3: Baptized in water, sealed by the Spirit, marked with the sign of Christ, our King; born of one Father, we are his children, joyfully now God's praises we sing. 

Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows - Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton, Associate Pastor

UM Hymnal The Faith We Sing #2107 - Wade in the Water

Refrain: Wade in the water, wade in the water, children, wade in the water, God's a-gonna trouble the water.

Verse 1: See that host all dressed in white. God's gonna trouble the water. The leader looks like the Israelite. God's a-gonna trouble the water. (refrain)

Verse 2: See that band all dressed in red. God's a-gonna trouble the water. Looks like the band that Moses led. God's a-gonna trouble the water. (refrain)

Verse 3: Look over yonder, what do I see? God's a-gonna trouble the water. THe Holy Ghost a-coming on me. God's a-gonna trouble the water. (refrain)

Verse 4: If you don't believe I've been redeemed. God's a-gonna trouble the water. Just follow me down to Jordan's stream. God's a-gonna trouble the water. (refrain)

Sermon - "Living with Joy: Baptized in Love" - Rev. Dr. Pat Allen, Senior Pastor

Pastoral Prayer and Dedication - Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton

Consecration of New Leaders

Benediction - Rev. Dr. Pat Allen

Music - I Believe by Mark Miller - James Wood, St. Paul's Worship Band Leader

Click here for this week's announcements.

Click here to submit a prayer request.

Click here to make an offering or pledge.

Wade in the Water by Adolphus Hailstork, copyright 2003, Concordia Publishing House. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Opening Prayer by Rev. M Barclay, https://enfleshed.com/pages/miscellaneous-prayers; used by permission.

Hymn: Baptized in Water. Words: Michael Saward. Music: Trad. Gaelic melody. Copyright 1982 Jubilate Hymns, admin. by Hope Publishing Co. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Hymn: Wade in the Water. Words and tune: African-American spiritual. Public domain.

I Believe by Mark A. Miller, copyright 2012 by Choristers Guild. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Bible readings: New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The worship service will be available at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The order of worship is below.

Announcements - Marge Higgins, Lay Leader

Welcome - Rev. Dr. Patricia Allen, Senior Pastor

Prelude - Caravan of the Three Kings by Richard Purvis - Marvin Mills, Organist

Call to Worship

In our search for deliverance from all that destroys life, God draws us into the heart of Love. Guiding us through lands unknown, God companions us on the journey. With the Holy as our guide, we will encounter Christ enfleshed. 

UM Hymnal #251 - Go, Tell It on the Mountain

Opening Prayer

Mysterious One, throughout the ages you have been revealing yourself in new ways, drawing us more deeply into relationship with you. In Christ, you took on flesh that we might recognize your presence with us - weeping with us, eating with us, struggling and dreaming with us. Keep us open, O God, to the ways you continue to reveal your love in our midst today. Amen.

Scripture Reading - Meg Baker, Director of Christian Education

Matthew 2:1-12 (NRSV)

¹In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” ⁹When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

UM Hymnal #254 - We Three Kings

Sermon - Pastor Pat

Pastoral Prayer and Dedication

Love Feast

Distribution of Star Words

http://www.wordoftheyear.me

Benediction

With the Holy as our guide, let us go in search of that which will set us free. Christ has taken on flesh. Hope lives and moves among us. Love is calling us together. May it be so among us. Go in peace. Amen. 

Postlude - Prelude on Go Tell It on the Mountain by D. Byron Arneson

Click here for this week's announcements.

Click here to submit a prayer request.

Click here to make an offering or pledge.

Caravan of the Three Kings (We Three Kings) by Richard Purvis, copyright 2006 H.T. FitzSimons Company. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved. 

Hymn: Go, Tell It on the Mountain, Words: John W. Work, Jr. (1907); Music: African-American Spiritual, adapt. & arr. by William Farley Smith (1986). Copyright 1989, United Methodist Publishing House/Abingdon Press. Streamed by permission under CCLI license #24106074. All rights reserved.

Hymn: We Three Kings, Words & Music: John H. Hopkins, Jr. (1857). Public domain.

Prelude on Go, Tell It on the Mountain, by D. Byron Arneson, copyright 1986 Augsburg Publishers. Permission to stream this music obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #735990-A. All rights reserved.

Bible readings: New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Please enjoy this service put together by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church and our Bishop LaTrelle Easterling, as our staff take a much needed rest. Click on the video below to view the service!

This Christmas Eve, the clergy, staff, and members of our music ministry bring you a special Service of Lessons and Carols. This worship time anticipates and welcomes the birth of Christ with music, scripture, prayer, and candlelight. The video will be available on December 24. Please click the image below.

Lessons and Carols

Organ Prelude - In dulci jubilo (Bach, Mills, Dupré)

Processional Hymn - Once in Royal David’s City

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Carol – In the Bleak Midwinter

I. Genesis 3: 8-15, 17-19 (God speaks to Adam & Eve)

Carol – A Stable Lamp Is Lighted/Chalice 141

II. Genesis 22: 15-18 (God’s promise to Abraham)

Hymn – Angels We Have Heard on High

UM Hymnal #238

III. Isaiah 9: 2, 6-7 (The prophet foretells the coming of the Savior)

Hymn – It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

UM Hymnal #218

IV. Isaiah 11: 1-4a, 6-9 (The peace that Christ will bring is foreshown)

Spiritual – Sweet Little Jesus Boy – Marlissa Hudson

V. Luke 1:26-35, 38 (Gabriel salutes Mary)

Carol – To a Maid

VI. Luke 2: 1-7 (Luke tells of the birth of Jesus)

HYMN – Silent Night

Carol – El Nacimiento

VII. Luke 2: 8-16 (The shepherds go to the manger)

HYMN – Away in a Manger

VIII. Matthew 2: 1-12 (The Wise Men are led by the star to Jesus)

HYMN – The First Noel

IX. John 1: 1-14 (John unfolds the mystery of the Incarnation)

Hymn – O Come, All Ye Faithful

Blessing

Hymn – Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Postlude – Toccata on Good King Wenceslas by Marvin Mills