(All our songs this morning are from Hymns & Psalms (H&P) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, this week comes courtesy of The Vine at Home and Twelve Baskets
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Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Opening Prayers
O come, O come Immanuel,
Come that I might know you close,
Come that I might encounter you,
Come that your Spirit might be in the midst of today’s conversations and stillness,
This day’s working and playing,
My striving and my resting.
Ever faithful and loving God,
I come before you today on the third Sunday in advent.
Come, O come, I pray
Amen.
Song – 176 StF – Like a candle flame, flickering small in our darkness
You may now wish to say the Lord’s Prayer in a version or translation with which you are familiar
Reading
Responding to the reading
John the Baptist is in prison. The wild prophet who once stood in the wilderness proclaiming God’s coming kingdom is now behind bars, facing the uncertainty of his own future. And in that vulnerable place, he sends a question to Jesus:
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
It’s a question that carries weight. John had devoted his life to preparing the way for the Messiah. And yet now, he wonders, was it all for nothing? Is Jesus really the one?
Jesus doesn’t respond with a simple “yes” or “no.” Instead, He says, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed… the poor have good news brought to them.”
In other words: Look at the fruit. Look at the healing. Look at the hope. For us, this passage speaks directly to those seasons of life when faith feels uncertain. When hope is hard to hold onto. When we ask our own version of John’s question: Is God really at work in all of this?
Jesus’ answer invites us to look again, not for lightning bolts or dramatic signs, but for the quiet, consistent work of love. It reminds us that God’s kingdom doesn’t always come with power and spectacle, but with tenderness, justice, and transformation that grows from the ground up.
This message helps affirms that Christ is present wherever people are being healed, lifted up, and loved back into life. It reminds us that faith doesn’t require certainty, it requires attention. To look for God not in perfection, but in liberation. Not in control, but in compassion.
Jesus then turns to the crowd and speaks about John, not to shame him for his doubt, but to honour his role. Even in his questioning, John is still the one preparing the way.
So today, reflect on this: —
Where in your life are you longing for signs of God’s presence?
Where are healing, justice, and hope quietly taking root, perhaps unnoticed?
How might you, like John, be preparing the way for Christ, even if you can’t yet see the outcome?
Discipleship is not about having it all figured out. It’s about looking, listening, and trusting that the signs of the kingdom are already among us, especially in the unexpected, the overlooked, and the everyday.
May we keep asking, keep watching, and keep walking in hope. Christ is coming—and already here.
Song – 404 STF – God’s spirit is in my heart
Blessing
May you go out into a world in need, a person of the light, and may you go out to discover that the Spirit of God is already there, ahead of you, guiding the way. May you act with grace, with love, and seek peace in your own hearts and the hearts of all you meet, By the power of the Prince of Peace himself, Jesus Christ,
Amen.
