This is the fourth Sunday for Advent in the worship series, "Grounded and Growing.
See the links below to access the series introduction and the other services.
Series Introduction Advent 1 Advent 2 Advent 3 Christmas
For plants to truly flourish and for there to be an abundant harvest, the gardener or farmer needs to carefully tend to them. Whether it's a few plants on a patio, a back yard vegetable garden, or acres of corn, for plants to thrive someone needs to care about their health: make sure the conditions are right and that there aren’t weeds competing with them for nutrients and water. This isn’t a task that can be done only when one feels like it; rather, it requires dedication and diligence, in some cases for years, before the fruit of the labor is seen. For fruit trees and vines to continue to produce, they need sustaining care, careful pruning, attention to weather patterns, and care for the soil. Treated right, these trees and vines can thrive for generations. To commit to something long term like this requires steadfast love.
In scripture God is the loving gardener. It is God who carefully watches and tends our souls to make sure the harvest is plentiful, and scripture shows that God has been doing this for generations: “Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above” (Isaiah 37:31). The gospel reading for this week, Matthew 1, reminds us that God’s tended remnant continued from generation to generation. God cultivated each generation, carefully ensuring that one day Christ, the first fruit, would be born. In response to this good news, we join our praise with the psalmist to exclaim, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights” (Psalm 36:7-8).
Additional resources and ideas follow the service outline.
Service Outline
[Start worship in a darkened space. The candles from the three previous weeks should be lit. If there is a prelude, have it be a quiet one followed by a time of silence.]
Call to Worship and Advent Candle lighting
[A long taper candle is lit as house lights are slowly turned on.]
Out of darkness a light shines.
From a dead stump a shoot grows.
It takes root below and bears fruit above.
The gardener tends to it with steadfast love.
Today we continue our Advent journey.
Today we light this candle of love.
—Joyce Borger © 2025 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
[Lighting of the fourth candle.]
Come, let us worship the God of love.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
—Psalm 36:7–9, NRSVUE
Opening Song
“Lord, You Were Rich Beyond All Splendor” Houghton
Greeting
Our loving God, greets us with these words this morning.
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
—Isaiah 49:15–16, NIV
Song of Praise
“We Will Extol You, God and King” Scheer
Call to Confession
In Romans 8:38–39 (NRSVUE), the Apostle Paul declares, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” With that same confidence let us go to God in a prayer of confession.
Prayer of Confession
God of steadfast love,
if we are honest we know that we are not worthy of your love.
If we were a fruit tree…
our roots would be dry,
our branches diseased,
our fruit withered and bitter.
If we were a fruit tree…
we would be marked to be pulled up,
cut down, and used for firewood.
Forgive us for not reaching down with our roots to the nourishing water,
for not turning to your Spirit for spiritual strength and direction,
for choosing to ignore the goodness that you offer.
Forgive us for allowing ourselves to become diseased
by spending our time on things that do not honor you,
by reading and filling our minds with images and thoughts
that degrade others,
that poison us to think little of others and ourselves.
Forgive us for choosing not to care for the bodies you have given us.
Forgive us for polluting the world in which we live
which is contributing to our ill health
and the destruction of so much of your good earth.
Forgive us for producing bitter fruit:
envy,
greed,
mouths that knowingly spread lies and mistruths,
words spoken that are meant to hurt others,
lies told to make ourselves look better,
profanities uttered with your holy name,
believing ourselves to be better than others, than them, than the other side,
not caring for the welfare and flourishing of others,
not loving as you called us to love.
God of steadfast love,
forgive us.
God of steadfast love,
heal us
so that we may bear fruit worthy of your grace,
and fill this world with your love.
Amen.
—Joyce Borger © 2025 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Sung Prayer of Confession
“Lord, You Have Lavished on Your Land” (st. 1–2) Psalm 85, Post
Assurance of Pardon
Hear again these words from the Apostle Paul,
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers,
nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
—Romans 8:38–39, NRSVUE
Beloved of God, be assured of God’s forgiveness and be at peace.
Praise be to God!
Sung Testimony
“Lord, You Have Lavished on Your Land” (st. 3–4) Psalm 85, Post
Passing of God’s Love
“Our God loves you.” “And you too.”
Response of Thanksgiving
“Come, You Thankful People, Come” Alford
Scripture Reading
Old Testament: Isaiah 37:26–32
Psalm: Psalm 36:5–12
New Testament: Matthew 1
Sermon
"The Loving Gardener"
[For sermon notes see the service introduction.]
Song or Hymn of Response
We Are, Lord, A Vineyard Planted
Text: Thomas Kelly, P.D., alt. Joyce Borger CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Music (FREU DICH SEHR/GENEVAN 42, 8.7.8.7.7.7.8.8.): Louis Bourgeois, P.D.
1. We are, Lord, a vineyard planted
by your sovereign power and love.
Let your people’s prayer be granted, —
showers of blessing from above.
Hear, Oh hear us when we pray:
Keep your vineyard night and day.
Ground us deep within the soil,
growing fruit from your love’s toil.
2. Drooping plants revive and nourish;
let them thrive beneath your hand.
Let the weak grow strong and flourish,
blossoming at your command.
Let the fruitful yield yet more,
laden with a richer store.
Then may all rejoice with singing
for the harvest that you’re bringing.
3. Further, Lord, be now entreated;
help us seed the barren ground.
Let your work be thus completed,
and no fruitless spot be found.
Every plant and every seed
consecrated, Lord to thee.
Till the day of your returning
marks the end of all our yearning.
Creed and/or Testimonials
Let us confess the truth of God’s love together:
God holds this world
with fierce love.
Keeping his promise,
he sends Jesus into the world,
pours out the Holy Spirit,
and announces the good news:
sinners who repent and believe in Jesus
live anew as members of the family of God—
the firstfruits of a new creation.
—Our World Belongs to God, para 5, © 2008, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Grand Rapids MI. www.crcna.org. Used by permission.
Prayers of the People
Offering, Offertory Prayer
Lord’s Supper
“What Feast of Love” Dufner
Thanksgiving
Song or Hymn of Dedication
“Joy to the World” Psalm 98, Watts
Call to Service
As you leave this place
to live out your days in a world desperately in need of God’s love,
be assured of God’s love for you,
and commit to share that love
wherever you go and with whoever you meet.
Blessing/Benediction
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love
for one another and for all,
just as we abound in love for you.
And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness
that you may be blameless before our God and Father
at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
—1 Thessalonians 3:12–13, NRSVUE
—Joyce Borger © 2025 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Used by permission.
Additional Music Suggestions
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“Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” Baker
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“Here from All Nations” Revelation 7:9–17, Idle
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“People, Look East” Farjeon (Poem)
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“There is a Gentle Gardener” von Schenkendorf
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“Grace Through Every Generation” Polman
Weekly Prompt
Where have you seen evidence of God’s steadfast love in your life? Consider spending time with someone from another generation than your own, and during that time share your answer to that question. If your church has a Facebook group or another social media account consider posting answers there. If you are really brave, take a selfie with the person you had a conversation with and post that on social media too.
Creeds and Confessions
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Belgic Confession, Article 18
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Westminster Confession, Chap. VIII, Sec. 1
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Our World Belongs to God, par. 5
