Liturgies Online

CALL TO WORSHIP
A prophet speaks peace;
      God speaks love;
Jesus lives both;
      we await his birth with joy.

TIS 272/AHB 200: “Come, thou long-expected Jesus”
TIS 274/AHB 202: “The people that in darkness walked”
TIS 688: “Come to be our hope, O Jesus”

 

 

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE  (1)

Advent is the reason for looking forward with love.
      Why do we look forward with love?
Because the coming of Jesus at Christmas is a gift of love.
      Who gives the gift?
God gives this gift because God’s love is for everyone and forever.

We light all four candles - one for hope, one for peace, one for joy, and today, one for love. 
                            The candles are lit

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LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE  (2)

Today is the fourth Sunday in Advent - our preparations are almost complete for the coming of Jesus.

      We light a candle each week to remind us that Jesus brings light into the dark places

      of the world.

Today we are reminded that God so loved the world that a Child was given...Love incarnate.

      We light the candle of hope to proclaim that God’s light is coming into the world.

A candle is lit

We light the candle of  peace to proclaim that God’s promises will be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ - Prince of Peace .

A candle is lit

      We light the candle of joy to celebrate that God’s saving power is coming

      into the world.

A candle is lit

We light the candle of love to proclaim that God’s love is revealed  in the Child  born in Bethlehem.

A candle is lit

 

ALL: God of hope, peace, joy and love, we eagerly await the birth of Jesus, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

SUNG RESPONSE
TIS 286: “Light one candle for hope”;   or

ALL TOGETHER OK 313: Christ be our light” - All verses

 

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PRAYER OF PRAISE AND ADORATION
God of love, we praise and adore you.  Through the birth of Christ, your love for the world - your love for us, is affirmed and reaffirmed. You have indeed done great things for us and holy is your name. As you have made your love known to us in such a personal way, may we be ongoing revelations of that love as we do great things in your name.

         Your blessings astound us, your glory inspires us, 
your love renews us as we prepare for the birth of Jesus – Emmanuel - truly God-with-us.  Amen

TIS  289: “Christmas is coming” The refrain and first four verses.

 

 

 CHILDREN’S TIME
Today’s epistle reading from Hebrews is difficult for children/young people to understand and yet it has an important message for us all to hear. That this baby whose birth we celebrate is the same person who was killed on Good Friday so that we could be brought into a relationship with God which will last for ever.

Maybe a children’s talk could be along these lines: When we sing the familiar carol “Away in a manger”, we sing in verse 3 “Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask you to stay close by me for ever, and love me, I pray.”…

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A true story (perhaps a modern day parable!) - a church on the corner of a busy road in Sydney had lots of cars passing each day so it was decided to erect an ‘Australian’ nativity scene outside where everyone could see it. The woodwork and art classes of a nearby High School made life size figures, the shepherds were transformed into drovers, and the scene included a couple of sheep, a horse and a dog. The ‘stable’ was made of corrugated iron and there was a large sign fixed centre front saying ‘Peace’. The manger was made of sturdy timber and in it a baby doll was placed on some fresh straw. It looked good and was certainly eye catching.
The first thing stolen was one of the sheep, then the sign ‘Peace’ and then, the doll representing Jesus. Another doll was found and duly installed in the manger. The next day this doll was also gone and an empty coca-cola bottle was left in its place. (That’s a parable in itself!)
A carpenter who was doing odd jobs in a nearby apartment building and heard about what had happened, was so angry that he said if someone provided another doll, he would fix it so that it couldn’t disappear. Well, he certainly did. The minister (me) couldn’t believe her eyes when she went out to see what he had done - he had nailed a piece of timber across the ‘manger’ and he had then nailed the doll (Jesus) to this piece of wood. With the straw arranged around the doll, the wood and nails were unseen. “There you are” the carpenter said proudly, “he’ll be able to stay forever now.”!! .  He was quite surprised when I pointed out just what he had done.  The link with Christmas, Good Friday and Easter was right there in front of us.

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TIS 318/AHB 242: “Away in a manger”

CHRISTMAS IN THE SCRUB 1: “Christmas in the scrub”

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EPISTLE: Hebrews 10:5-10

GOSPEL: Luke 1:39-55

“The Magnificat (Mary’s Song)”

 This is a lovely song best sung as a solo.

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PRAYER OF CONFESSION: (now or after sermon)

Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out to Mary “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Blessed are we, O God, for we too have been filled with the Holy Spirit and we have indeed been blessed by the fruit of Mary’s womb, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. 

Gracious and loving God, when we have allowed seasonal weariness to obscure the blessings of Christmas, and allowed Christmas festivities to crowd out the wonder of Christ’s birth:
       forgive us…

   
Choir or congregation sing first verse of TIS  172 “My soul gives glory to my God”

         An alternate tune TIS 269 CREDITON

 

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour...”  

 
When we magnify the prospect of summer holidays and activities more than we praise you, O God:
       forgive us

 

When our rejoicing excludes those who at this time feel rejected... unwanted...   lonely...
       forgive us….

Choir or congregation sing second verse of TIS  172 “My God has done great things for me”

 

And Mary said, “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” 

When our words and deeds offend the holiness of your name, O God:
       forgive us.

When our busy-ness leads us to forget the great things you have done for us, Mighty God, especially this great revelation of your love for us in Jesus Christ:
      forgive us.

 
Choir or congregation sing third verse of TIS  172 “From age to age, to all who fear”

 

Mary spoke of God lifting up the poor and defenceless people of this world and bringing down those who are proud and arrogant and who abuse their positions of power….

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Mary spoke of the hungry being fed with good things and the rich being sent away empty.

 When our affluence blinds us to the plight of people in this country and in countries round about, who lack food and the basic necessities of life:
       forgive us

Choir or congregation sing fifth verse of TIS  172 “Praise God, whose loving covenant supports those in distress”…

 

May our rejoicing over Christ’s birth lead to our being generous to others, as God has been generous to us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

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ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS:

Our rejoicing is certainly based on the generosity of God as we read in Hebrews that “It is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)  Rejoice then over this great good news that in Jesus Christ we are loved and we are forgiven.

   Thanks be to God!

TIS 172: Verse 1 only sung by everyone while remaining seated “My soul gives glory to my God”

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SERMON - Luke 1: 39-56

This time of Advent has been one of preparation and anticipation – a time of buying or making presents for family and friends, of choosing and sending Christmas cards or bypassing that task by constructing an annual Christmas letter complete with photographs which can be emailed to friends. In a variety of ways, we pass on both news of our lives and news of the birth at Bethlehem. 

 

We mark the Sundays of Advent with the Liturgy of the Advent Wreath and the symbolism of the lighting of the candles.  Our response in preparing for the coming event is, however, made against a background where so much of the commercial aspects of Christmas threaten to crowd out its spiritual meaning and dimension.  Instead of rejoicing when we hear Christmas carols sung, we sigh over the carols which have besieged our ears through loudspeakers since early November.

 

The thoughts set out by the Advent readings of the churches can be so very different from our daily Advent experiences… 

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The future of the prophetic promises is spelled out in lives shaped by transformed futures; of the blind seeing and deaf hearing; of captives returning home in joy; of plenty for the poor, and the hungry; and of people living securely, for the promised one will be their peace.  These prophetic promises find an echo in Mary’s song, the Magnificat….

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The promises concern the need for a common destiny in which there can be no by-passing of the issues of justice, love, peace and righteousness. The promises are concerned with bearing witness to transformed lives based on God’s rules.
 

And the gospel stories tell us of classic encounters and situations – John the Baptist and Mary, mother of Jesus – to name a couple. From both we hear comments on our human situation and God’s judgment upon it. This is surely why dedicated Christians throughout the centuries have come to identify more with the poor and the outcast, bringing into focus the areas where justice, peace and righteousness are absent….
 

Unfortunately however, the priority of Christmas for many people has become the instant gratification of holidays, gifts, food and drink, without too much thought given to the lasting meaning of Christmas.

 

Yet, during Advent, we sing hymns proclaiming the coming of Emmanuel - ‘God with us’ and the event we celebrate at Christmas communicates once and for all, that this God is not an impassive spectator on the human scene.  God is not like an absentee landlord who descends on us when the rent is due, yet it would seem that many people these days prefer God to be other than human. …

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The mother of Jesus is singing about the Saviour in her womb.  In the word ‘Saviour’ lies the hope for the world today as much as it did for Bethlehem when Herod was on the rampage.  Mary sang “His mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” which means that the mercy and grace of God is still active in the world - this world – this generation of people. This is what we miss when relegating saviours to the status of an alien….

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The gospel according to Mary extols the humble heart and leaves the judgment to God. The person about whom Mary sang was not someone who zoomed into our planet’s orbit showing off technological skills in a benevolent but superior manner.

 

Christmas means that God is here with us amid the headlines and the suffering because God chose to enter our history through the womb of a peasant girl from the backwoods…. 

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Christmas means rejoicing that Christ is born and continues to be born in our hearts enabling and challenging us to tell out with Mary in word and action the greatness of the Lord.

TIS 161 “Tell out, my soul the greatness of the Lord!” (The Magnificat)

TIS 281/AHB 214: “When God almighty came to be one of us”

AHB 206: “Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown”

 

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SUGGESTIONS FOR PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

“And the lowly you have lifted up” - Page 33 in Be our Freedom, Lord ;

“Still You Come” - Page 54  in Jesus our Future; “A Litany of General Intercession” Pages 172 -175 in Uniting in Worship People’s Book.

 

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THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

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OFFERING 

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OFFERTORY PRAYER

Gracious God, we rejoice as we offer these gifts in response to the great things you have done for us. We give thanks especially for the great gift of your love clothed in human flesh. We pray that Jesus will be born anew into our hearts, and that the witness of our lives will convince others of the wonder and the miracle of Christmas.  In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

 

TIS 276/AHB 207: “There’s a light upon the mountain”

TIS 273/AHB 201: “Lo! he comes with clouds descending”

TIS 265/AHB 193: “O come, O come, Emmanuel”

 

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BENEDICTION:

The love of God bless you,

the grace of Jesus Christ fill you,

and the enthusiasm of the Holy Spirit be born in us all

as we wait with joy the day of the Lord’s coming.

 

TIS 779: “May the feet of God walk with you”

 

Some of the ideas/words contained in today’s sermon come from Monika K Hellwig  in “The Expectation and the Birth” in WOMEN AND THE WORD – SERMONS,  Edited by Helen Gray Crotwell (Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1978) pp 42-46

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