Advent 1
November 29, 2020 First Sunday in Advent
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Creator God, You made the heavens and the earth. You set the planets in their courses, lit the sun with fire, caused the stars to shine and the world to turn. Life springs up wherever your breath moves. In Jesus Christ, you brought hope into a world full of fear and despair. You sent your Spirit to enliven our hope and guide us on the way. We are waiting now in anxious times for the world to be made new. We wait for new life, and we wait with deep hope.
Redeeming God, We confess that waiting is difficult for us. We want to be comfortable in this festive season, but the pandemic keeps us anxious and unhappy. We complain about our own troubles and close our eyes to the suffering of others, Forgive us for ignoring truths do not want to see. Forgive us for seeking our own comfort at the cost of others. Give us eyes to perceive the great need within our community. Give us eyes to see the deep need within our own lives. Turn our hearts to you again and again. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Friends, the good news of Jesus Christ is for all people. There is nothing we have done, nothing we will ever do, that will separate us from the love of God made known in Jesus Christ. This love is yours! So live in love as forgiven and forgiving people.
Advent Liturgy
Presbyterian World Service and Development First Sunday in Advent: HOPE
Reader: The season of Advent begins, and we celebrate the hope we find in the good news of the Gospel.
All: Through the birth of a tiny and helpless child, God comes to save the world.
Reader: While we watch and wait for Jesus, we join God’s mission by bringing grace and mercy to those who need it most.
All: We engage the poor and the poor in spirit, letting Christ’s light shine through us.
Reader: We speak words of comfort and love to a world in need of hope and healing, as we share our stories of God’s transforming Spirit.
All: Together, we are a sign of God’s hope for the world.
The candle is lit
Reader: Let us pray:
All: God of surprising grace, when we least expect it you bring fresh new life; and where we feel that all is lost, you bring redemption. Give us courage as we share all you have done, all you are doing, and all you will accomplish through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Written by the Rev. Kristine O’Brien (Director of Crieff Hills)
Produced by Presbyterian World Service & Development
The development and relief agency of The Presbyterian Church in Canada
50 Wynford Drive, Toronto ON M3C 1J7 * 1-800-619-7301
PWS&D We Are Role Models
There is no question how important sexual reproductive health awareness is to help create healthy communities. In Malawi, topics such as sexually transmitted diseases and other reproductive health questions are often considered taboo. Thokozani, Peter and Mafuno are peer educators who are challenging the stigma surrounding reproductive health by teaching youth about family planning, preventing teenage pregnancy, HIV testing and accessing contraceptives. Thokozani, Peter and Mafuno have begun see the impact of their work. “The participants want to start engaging in better and healthier behaviour,” Peter reports. “They are now getting tested and treated for sexually transmitted diseases.”
The three educators also realize their roles are much bigger than just teaching, “we are role models to these people,” Mafuno shares proudly.
This Advent season help us support community volunteers as they educate and empower young people on important health issues.
WeRespond.ca
Scripture: Isaiah 11: 1 – 3
Psalm 104: 24 – 35
1 Corinthians 2: 6 – 16
St Luke 2: 40 – 52
Sermon:
Eating. We all love to eat. Think back to a favourite meal you had lately. Perhaps your memories take you back to a family dinner where something funny happened. Perhaps your memories take you back to a dinner that you cooked that surprised you in being extra delicious. Daily eating nutritious foods is what sustains us in our daily life. Lately we have seen a shift in our understanding of meals. We now order our groceries by phone or online or one person shopping in the grocery store. Our meals are now delivered to our rooms instead of everyone eating in the main dining hall. Local restaurants are now only allowed to serve take out and delivery only. Our own Church Turkey Dinner has been postponed until the Covid-19 Code Red is lifted because the Elders wanted to keep us all safe. The way we eat and find our food has changed. We wait for our food or groceries to be delivered. We slow down in our life by having to prior plan our food orders and grocery orders. The one thing that has not changed is God provides us with food that nourishes and sustains our daily life.
Over these next four weeks of Advent, we are going to focus upon eating something more than food. Our focus is upon an old Presbyterian Advent Prayer from the 1922 Book of Common Order that says, “O Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of Your Holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which You have given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”
This prayer asks God to help us inwardly digest the Scriptures. This doesn’t literally mean eating the Bible page by page with a knife and folk. What it does mean is reading the Scriptures and thinking about them. Reading the Scriptures and reflecting upon them. Rather than just skimming over the Scriptures this Advent, God is calling us to wait and slow down with the Scriptures. As the Prayer says, we read, mark (for those who like to use highlighter the words and phrases that jump off the page), learn, and inwardly digest the scriptures. Inwardly digest means we read the scripture as if we are eating the best meal ever. Sharing a meal with family and friends, we don’t hurry through our meal. We eat slowly and enjoy each part of the meal as well as enjoying the company of our friends and family. We laugh, we tell stories about what we have been doing, we smile a lot, and maybe even let out the odd grown as someone tells a bad joke. This is exactly what our scripture readings and reflection upon the scripture will be like during Advent – slowly reading and enjoying each part of God’s most Holy Word as well as enjoying being in God’s presence laughing at God’s sense of humour, smiling with friends, and being a people who share much together.
Like all meals, before we even begin eating we give our thanks to God. Before we dive into the world’s best mashed potatoes and juicy turkey, we bow our heads in prayer, thanking God for those who produced the food, those who sold the food, we ask God to help the food nourish our bodies so that we can continue to serve God by seeing the needs in our community and meeting those needs.
Our prayer of thanks that we will be focusing upon this Advent is another ancient prayer called the O Antiphons. The O Antiphons are seven ancient prayers each beginning with a name that describes Jesus Christ our Messiah; O Wisdom, O Adonai, O Root of Jesse, O Oriens, O Key of David, O King of the Nations, O Emmanuel. The names are taken from the prophecies of Isaiah to remind the people of God that love and hope, joy and peace comes from the long expected Messiah.
These Antiphons were originally written in Latin and over the centuries were translated into English. Our Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” are the words to these prayers as translated from the Latin into English by Rev Dr John Mason Neale.
Today’s stanza from the Hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is:
O Come, thou Wisdom from on high,
and order all things far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and cause us in her ways to go.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Each of the stanzas/verses in the hymn begins with “O” and then a title of the Messiah. The word “O” is one we use when we are amazed at something. For instance at our birthday party we exclaim, “Oh a chocolate birthday cake for me? Oh you shouldn’t have but I’m so glad you did!” With joy this week we ponder on O! Wisdom! The passing down of these prayers shows great wisdom by past generations who wanted all to know about the coming Advent of the love of God.
The Prophet Isaiah shows us that wisdom was created by God from the beginning of time. As wisdom is a part of God, so the Messiah will have wisdom. The first title of Christ in the O Antiphons is O Wisdom. In Isaiah 11, the prophet writes that the long expected Messiah would be of the Royal line of King David and spring forth from the root of Jesse (Jesse was King David’s father). The people waited and waited for this long expected Messiah. As we all know, waiting isn’t easy. During this time of Covid-19 as we wait wondering how to live well as we wait for this virus to no longer be part of our living. This is a similar kind of waiting the Israelites were doing waiting for the Messiah with patience and compassion. Except the Israelites were waiting generations.
Advent is the wonderful season in our Church year where God asks us to wait with anticipation for the birth of the Christ Child.
From the lineage of King David, the Messiah was to come. The King’s first responsibility was to build the people up in learning and loving the Torah (First five books of the Old Testament). While a King was to rule the land and rule God’s chosen people, the King’s first responsibility was to make sure the people were following the laws of God. In this passage, Isaiah the prophet exclaims that the Messiah’s wisdom and authority will be even greater than any of the Kings of Israel and Judah. We know this as Isaiah prophesizes that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon the Messiah. The long expected Messiah shall come with wisdom and redeem God’s people.
We find in this scripture that Wisdom is an action. Have you noticed over your years of life that God does not let you sit and become a mushroom hidden away from everyone? God calls us to seek out his Holy Word, to read His Holy Word, and to return to His Holy Word each day. It is in reading God’s Holy Word that we are given the gift of wisdom. While we might be separated from our Church and our family and friends because of illness or viruses, God is always with us. We find God through prayer and through the reading of the Bible. When we read, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God, the scripture touches our very soul. We come to realize that we aren’t alone. We eat together in the presence of God by reading the Bible. So next time you sit down to eat a meal or a snack, remember that this Advent we eat in the presence and Wisdom of God. This advent we wait for God’s wisdom to be upon us. O Wisdom, Come. O Come O Come Emmanuel.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Merciful God, the signs of our times are worrisome. We gather in your presence,
aware that the earth groans in pain and many people are suspicious of each other.
We thank you for your comforting presence in times of suffering and uncertainty,
and for your promise of life beyond death, and hope beyond fear. As the longest night of this year draws nearer, comfort those who dread the darkness and direct those who have lost their way. Wherever people are overwhelmed by the demands of this season
and the complications of COVID-19, let them hear your still small voice within all the clamour and confusion, and catch a glimpse of your light shining in the night.
God of all our days and nights, we remember that the days leading up to Christmas are difficult for many, especially this year. We pray for those who are hungry and cold.
Alert us to the ways that we can set a feast for those in our community and beyond whose cupboards are bare. Warm them with your love. We pray for those who are grieving.
Make us patient and compassionate companions to those in mourning, even when we’re not sure what to say. Fill emptiness with your comfort.
We remember those who are feeling very isolated this year. Inspire our hearts with ideas of how to reach out in friendship. Bring hope to the lonely with your friendship.
We pray for those who feel like the world is ending; whose lives have been uprooted by fire, flood, or storm, illness, job loss or death. steady us amid the upheavals of this year of pandemic and remind us that you alone are constant. Your steadfast love will see us through. Heaven and earth may pass away, but you are the source of everlasting life and undiminished hope. Help us trust in you, no matter what is happening. And now we pray together, using the words that Jesus taught us: Our Father… Amen.
Announcements:
The Church is currently closed while we are in Code Red Restrictions
The pick up Turkey Dinner scheduled for the 22nd has been postponed until we are out of Code Red.
The Danty Sale is still being planned for but we will have to wait until the Code Red is lifted before delivery will happen.
Long time member Joan Roberts died on Sunday November 15th She will be greatly missed.
Please keep Priscilla Stone in your prayers.
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