Call
to worship
L. Lord prepare us for your
coming
P.
And
tune our ears to your call.
L. Lord prepare the hearts of
your people,
P.
For
your righteousness goes before us and prepares a way.
L. Lord prepare us to receive
and bear witness to your righteousness,
P.
Holy
Spirit, we welcome you into our lives.
Hymn-
TIS 442 “All
praise to our redeeming Lord” Praise to the
"Other" who by grace, freely given to us, transforms us into people
who are motivated by his love for us to work together to grow his love and
peace throughout the world.
Prayers
of Praise, Thanksgiving and Confession
Jan
prayed on our behalf. She gave thanks for God's grace in our lives: for the
comfort we receive that grows our trust in him, that inspires us, that gives us
hope that our world can be transformed and renews our will to do his work. For
us, she confessed the times we fail and the times our unjust words or behaviour
are the seeds that lead to the suffering of another or to this beautiful planet
in which we live. She then asked that instead, we will seek to proclaim God's
presence in Jesus name. Amen.
Words
of Assurance
L. In God through Jesus
Christ, the harvest always holds love and grace for all people.
We are
now forgiven and offered a new beginning. P. Thanks be to Go
Lighting
the Advent Candles- Candle of Peace In lighting the candle which was lit
last week and in lighting a new candle for today Alexis represented us as we
confirmed our hope for the events which are to unfold and the peace which we
will seek for the threatened planet, for fractured societies and for suffering
souls.
The
Bible Words for Today were introduced by Elaine and read by Alexis: Isaiah 41: 10
"Do not be frightened for I am with you." Do not be frightened,
anxious, worried, alarmed, apprehensive, distressed, spooked or cowed - just
relax into the arms of God and let the Lord of all direct operations.
Offering
Alexis and Alissa gathered the offering which
was offered to the work of God for his blessing and use. Just a small part of
his infinite blessings to us. Another way God's love can flow through us to
this fractured world.
Jan
spoke to
the children asking them about a number of items used in preparation for
Christmas celebrations, such as tinsel, holly and Christmas pudding. Then she
directed the attention of the children and the adults to the real significance
of Christmas.
Bible
Reading Isaiah
40: 1 - 11 and Mark 1:1 - 8 were read to us by Jack. Isaiah: Our God
understands our need and a cry for our comfort is sent out. The response is
another cry to prepare the way and make straight a highway in the wilderness
and in the desert. If anything is a wilderness and a desert in regard to the
real, the essential, the meaningful, the uplifting, the enlightening, the
healing, the restoring - it is this world we live in and perhaps to a larger or
smaller extent - the world that lives inside us. But we are promised that this
will all be turned upside down. Read v.11 if you want true comfort. Mark: The
fulfillment. John the Baptist comes telling us the time has arrived. Not if we
turn our backs or close our ears.
Sermon- “Preparing the way for
Christ to come" Jan brought us a thought provoking and spirit challenging
word but because today's service includes a communion service I am unable to do
it justice. However what I can say is that through reference to the readings
and their significance in proclaiming the coming of Jesus and the reason for
his coming, Jan was able to challenge us as to our approach to the coming
weeks.
Rather than running ourselves ragged buying and preparing food and
presents (although those things do have a place at Christmas) we should direct
our thinking into preparing ourselves for this most important time and perhaps
changing our speech and our actions to reflect the purpose of Christmas. Our
gifts should be of love and justice to all. "How can we share the gifts of
hope, peace, love or joy?
Hymn-
TIS 647 “Comfort,
comfort, all my people” A retelling of today's
message.
Regardless
of our state - the way will be made straight to a place of hope and joy.
Prayers
of Intercession-
Ruth thanked God for our many blessings and ask for God's hand on Jan and all
of us at Marsden Road as we work for God's kingdom. Ruth then prayed for all
those in need at home and in other countries. She then asked for God's comfort
for those in distress because of health problems and for those who work to
alleviate those problems. She asked for strength for those looking for jobs and
for those known to us with any need. We then joined in the Lord's prayer.
Hymn TIS 514 “Be
known to us in breaking bread”
A prayer that God will make himself known to us in the communion service.
Holy
Communion
- We turned to our neighbours and offered our hand in the sign of peace.
The
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
The
Lord be with you./And also with you. Lift up you
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.
Jan
then prayed as Christians have down through the ages and in
every place, acknowledging the life and death of Jesus as our path to a new
life.
Therefore
with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we proclaim your
great and glorious name, ever praising you and saying:
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.
The
Story of the Lord’s
Supper
Jan retold the origin of the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup
and its significance in remembering Jesus' broken body and spilled blood. The
bread we break and the cup we take are gifts of God to us.
The
Distribution We
shared the bread and wine in memory of the sacrifice made for us.
Hymn TIS 607 ‘Make
me a channel of your peace.’ As Jesus showed us the way and died as a result, so we must
show that way to others through our words and the way we live.
Blessing. The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine
upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment