Muskoka Lakes Ministry of Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance
Sunday November 14, 2021
Message: The HOPE of Things to Come
Reverend Glynis Faith
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Announcements
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* This is the final week for the Monday and Thursday evening Bible studies. What a joy it has been to journey through the Bible together, sharing and learning from each other.
* Session of Zion meets Tuesday afternoon at 2pm in Torrance.
* Session of Knox meets Tuesday evening at 7pm in Port Carling.
* Next Sunday is my final day leading the congregations of Knox and Zion in worship, and my final day officially with the charge. The Presbytery is arranging an interim moderator, and your elders will keep you apprised. If you have any questions, please contact your elder.
* It has been an honour and a blessing to serve you these past two years, and I thank you for welcoming me into your lives. I pray God will work through Knox and Zion, blessing all you do in His name and blessing Your worship.
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Prayer of Adoration & Confession
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Holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
You chose to become one of us in Jesus Christ, sharing our joy and sorrow, manifesting your greatness in the child in the manger, revealing your Lordship in the master washing his disciples’ feet, showing forth Your glory in the shame of the cross.
And so, we praise you for Your love which is great enough to embrace the universe, yet close enough to enter our hearts.
During our worship surprise us with Your grace that we, with the rest of the church and the whole creation, may praise you, O God, our Creator and Redeemer.
Creating, Redeeming and Sustaining God, hear our prayer of confession, and have mercy on us, according to Your steadfast love. In Your abundant Mercy, O God, blot out our transgressions.
Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin.
Create in us a clean heart, O God, and put a right spirit within us.
Restore to us the joy of Your salvation, and sustain in us a willing spirit.
Through Christ we pray AMEN
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The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
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The Lord be with you.
And with you also.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is indeed right that we should praise you, gracious God, for you created all things.
You formed us in Your image; male and female you created us.
When we turned away form you in sin, you did not cease to care for us, but opened a path of salvation for all people.
You made a covenant with Israel, and through your servants Abraham and Sarah gave the promise of a blessing to all nations.
Through Moses you led your people from bondage into freedom;
Through the prophets you renewed your promise of salvation .
Therefore, with them, and with all your saints who have served you in every age,
... we join with the whole creation
to lift our hearts in joyful praise, saying together . . .
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.

Holy God, source of life and goodness,
all creation rightly gives you praise.
In the fullness of time, you sent your Son Jesus Christ,
to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us,
to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.

Jesus healed the sick and ate and drank with outcasts and sinners;
he opened the eyes of the blind
and proclaimed the good news of your kingdom
to the poor and to those in need.
In all things he fulfilled your gracious will.
Gracious God,
the perfect sacrifice of Christ destroys the power of sin and death;
by raising Christ to life you give us life for evermore.
Great is the mystery of faith; saying together;

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Recalling his death, proclaiming his resurrection,
and looking for his coming again in glory,
we offer you ourselves, Father, as you offer us this bread and this cup.
Send your Holy Spirit upon us that all who eat and drink at this table may be one body and one holy people,
a living sacrifice of praise and service, in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Joined by love, we pray for those who are not with us this day,
but would be, save for illness or struggle.
We pray too for those who are with us, whose needs overwhelm them.
Hear our silent prayers. ///
In your great mercy, O Lord, hear our prayers.
And all God’s Children say . . .
AMEN.
As our Lord taught us, we now pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.
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“ The HOPE of Things to Come ”
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Revelation 21:1-6, 22-27
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
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I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
This is truly beautiful imagery John gives us:
* A new heaven and a new earth, no longer any sea (not because the sea is not beautiful imagery, but in ancient times the sea was associated with the unknown, it was dangerous, stormy, dark and threatening.
* The Creator dwelling amongst the created (not in a pillar of fire or a burning bush, but fully present with us)
* God wiping away the tears from your eyes (I imagine that in the wiping away of tears, our Creator is taking away the last drop of anything that may have harmed you – when the tear drop is wiped away, the past is gone and all things are made a new)
* No more death, no mourning, no crying, no more pain (when God wipes away the tears of the faithful, He does so with the assurance there will be no more)
* Never again will anyone thirst - never
* God will sit on the throne with Jesus at His side. They will be our light – our safety – the heart of our worship (think about this for a second, if God is light, His permanent presence means no darkness – no night, thus no need to ever lock the gates. And it is not just the night that has been banished…evil itself has been forever banished, thus we will live free of fear and temptation)

This vison of John’s follows on the heels of his vision of the end of evil. Chapter 20 ended with the defeat of Satan, the beast and the false prophets who are thrown into the lake of fire. Christ’s throne then sits amidst the people and the Resurrected King judges the living and the dead.
Evil is banished – sin banished – death banished – darkness is banished and pain & suffering are banished. Now that is an image of hope worthy of an AMEN.
With evil banished, chapter 21 is the vison of what remains – God and His people – tear free – pain free – Life, eternal life with our Creator. John gives us a vision of HOPE for things to come. And who of us couldn’t use a bit of hope!
It has been a long painful journey from the original sin in the Garden of Eden until the day all sin is banished from God’s presence. It has been a very long painful journey from the first heaven and earth until this new heaven and earth. But all along the journey, God has provided messengers of HOPE.
31 weeks ago, we started at the beginning in the Garden of Eden. God walked with Adam and Eve in that Garden. There was no death, no tears, no pain, just an abundance of food, life-sustaining water and the blessed presence of the Creator. What more could we need?
Temptation led to sin and sin birthed fear, separation, pain, tears and death.
Sin separated us from God, so, out of abundant love for those created in His image, God set a plan in motion to draw His people back into righteousness.
Today we will celebrate Communion together, remembering Christ’s death on the Cross – His blood shed to redeem us from our sins. Communion is a reminder of God’s great love – love that is self-sacrificing – sacrificial love that draws the believer back into communion with God – into a personal relationship with God. Love that wipes away the tears!
Jesus, who was without sin, died a sinner’s death that we might have eternal life. That is self-sacrifice. And the Resurrection is that beautiful image of Christ’s promise, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;”
Jesus spoke these words to a woman named Mary to give her hope when her brother Lazarus had died. He speaks these words to us today through John’s Gospel.
Jesus would indeed raise her brother back to life, however, it is important to note that Lazarus was raised from the dead and not resurrected. The difference being that Lazarus would eventually die again, our Resurrected Lord, Jesus reigns immortal at the right hand of the Father, thus what Jesus is promising is not simply an extra 10 years to enjoy our aging bodies with our cataracts, arthritis, bunions, hearing loss, and fatigue, to name only a few, but a resurrected life, eternally enjoyed in a new heaven and a new earth, where there is no more death – no pain – no tears – no sorrow.
John is also writing to people in need of hope – Christians who are being persecuted for their belief – many dying for their faith - people in need of promise that brings hope.
Although much of what is written in Revelation should be understood as symbolic imagery, our reading from chapter 21 can be understood as promise. Previous chapters use strong imagery to express the final cosmic battle of Good verses evil. Jesus previously defeated death on the Cross, and the time has come to put an end to Satan’s rule. When the dust settles on the dramatic images of previous chapters, we are left with the glorious reward found in Chapter 21, a reward for those who held firm to their faith and served Jesus as Lord.
* A new heaven and a new earth
* Our Creator dwelling amongst the us
* God wiping away the tears from your eyes
* No more death, no mourning, no crying, no more pain, no thirst
* God will sit on the throne with Jesus at His side. They will be our light – our safety – the heart of our worship
* And again, this calls for an AMEN
We conclude our journey through the Bible at Revelation, pausing at chapter 21 – to ponder the hope of things to come. We began in the garden where we rejected God – we sinned – and yet God loved us enough to give us His Son, that anyone who would believe in Jesus, that is, believe in His life, death and resurrection – anyone who would believe has the sure and certain hope of the resurrection into eternal life, and when you step through the gates of heaven, your Creator will wipe away any tears you have shed and shower you with the warmth and eternal protection and joy of His great love. That is the Promise and that is our HOPE. And all God’s children said AMEN
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Support the Work of the Church
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DONATIONS TO ZION, TORRANCE
Mail cheques to Zion Presbyterian Church 1046 Torrance Rd, Torrance, ON, P0C 1M0
E-Transfers to zionchurchpc@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~ Please call the office (705) 765 3797 to arrange pick up

DONATIONS TO KNOX, PORT CARLING
Mail cheques to Knox Presbyterian Church Box 283, Port Carling, ON,
P0B 1J0
E-Transfers to KnoxChurchPC@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~