When we speak of the Joy of the Lord, sometimes we think of ourselves and the joy God has given us. On this third Sunday of Advent we look at this joy, but also turn the glass around to look at how our actions can bring Joy to God, and by following Jesus the Christ.

We hope you will join us for our worship with several special parts.
Our special Candle lighting features the voice of volunteers, with our senior Advent volunteer being 100 years young—what a joy to be able to receive her gift!
And for our message, we bring back our beloved college Rev. Audrey Borschel, who always requested to preach on Joy Sunday, as it was her favorite Sunday.
In 2014, Audrey passed away from the cancer that she’d dealt with during her time working with DisciplesNet; yet she’d be pleased that we can still share her words and the songs that she shared, and especially the joy of God’s love for all people.
We hope that you will join us 26 minutes with song, prayer, message, and so much more you won’t want to miss. Please share….and may God bless you richly this week.

As we do every week, our time together includes a time of communion (breaking of the bread) where you may choose to participate, or simply meditate as we tell of Jesus' invitation to "do this in remembrance of me." If you would like to share with us at the table that goes beyond earthly boundaries of time, place, and structure, we ask that you prepare a piece of bread of some type and a drink such as grape juice, wine, or water. As we pray, our prayers are given to extend to where you are. If you are unable to eat or drink, you may want to use a symbolic gesture or mental symbol as you come together at this table of remembrance with us. (Scroll down for an Order of Worship)

We hope that as you join us for worship you will feel a blessing from being part. Please tell friends, family, and others you know about our online church that is here with doors that are always open, walls as wide as the world, and always room at the table.

ORDER OF WORSHIP:
1. Opening background music: “Little Drummer Boy”
2. Call to Worship, Russ Smith
3. Opening Hymn: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
4. Lighting of Advent Candle: Led by Pastor Ann
5. Hymn: “One Candle is Lit”.
6. Pastor's Prayer with Lord's Prayer: Susan
7. Mary Did You Know? Dean Phelps
8. Scripture: Janet
9. Message: “Joy is a Net”
10. Hymn: “Let Us Walk in the Light of Our God”
11. Communion: Pastor Ann
12. Hymn: I Come With Joy
13. Sending out

If you would like to chat with one of our pastors, including talking more about belief in God, becoming a Christian or following Christ, or living as a disciple of Christ, please email us at pastor@disciplesnet.org, or contact us using the contact information on our website, disciplesnet.org, or our Facebook page, DisciplesNet Church.

ABOUT OUR DISCIPLES SHEEP:
You may notice in our videos that we have various stuffed sheep with us in worship. To us, these are not toys, but important parts of our church.
It happened this way: When we began producing worship as DisciplesNet in November 2010, one of the first problems we recognized was that when we are speaking to the people on the other end of a camera and internet, we cannot actually see the people to whom we were speaking. It was easy to speak to the other pastors in the room, but as we prayed and preached and spoke, we instead wanted to be reminded of the people for whom we were serving—including people whose best way to attend worship might be online. We wanted to be speaking to them---and as best we could hearing and telling their stories.

So, on a whim, we set some sheep that we’d used for a children’s sermon in front of our speakers, and found that helped! Before we knew it, their number was growing. They spilled over onto the table as we spoke. They have become dear to us and no longer children’s toys— but representations of all of the sheep of God’s pasture, all of God’s children—the real people like you, whom we may not be able to see in real life, but wish never to forget are there, and are each and everyone loved by God more than we can ever comprehend. Those sheep are why we are here.

INVITATION TO GIVING:
DisciplesNet Church is a not-for-profit church that exists to cross barriers and boundaries to share the Good News of God's redeeming love. We rely on the gifts of our online viewers as we continue to grow and extend our nets around the world.

We also extend the invitation for you to be part of the DisciplesNet ministry by giving a one-time gift, or ongoing, including a tithe. Even the smallest of gifts, like the mustard seed, has a way of growing in amazing ways to share God's word and the love of Jesus Christ. We have a giving page on our website, disciplesnet.org, and email address: giving@disciplesnet.org

God bless you, and thank you for joining us!