(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Saltaire Methodist Church led by John Darnbrook one of our Circuit Local Preachers.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Theme: Waiting for God
Lighting of Advent Candle and Advent Liturgy
Call to worship: Kingdom of Christ for thy coming we pray, Hasten, O Father, the dawn of the day. It is the second Sunday in Advent, and we are going to be looking this morning at what we do during Advent, and also how we should live, as we wait for the coming of Christ’s kingdom. Come let us sing the praises of Jesus our King. Let’s do just that as we sing our first hymn . . .
Song – HP 244 – Sing we the King who is coming to reign
Introduction to theme: So we’re thinking about waiting; waiting during this season of Advent; waiting for Christmas! Have any of you made a Christmas list? My 11 year old son Sam has had one for months, but he keeps amending it, so Caroline and I are still not sure exactly what he would like!
What do you do while you’re waiting? I find waiting for things very hard, e.g. if I’m waiting for a bus, I’m the kind of person who will walk between stops, because I don’t like standing still and waiting – there’s many a time when I’ve had to run like mad to the next stop because I’ve been in between one stop and the other when the bus came! But then, I’ve always been just a little bit daft!
In Advent, we think about waiting for Jesus, not just so we can celebrate his birth at Christmas, but also waiting for him to return to earth in all his glory and bring about the fullness of God’s kingdom.
And just as, if you’re waiting for a bus, it’s important to be at the bus stop when it comes, so while we’re waiting for Jesus, there is something very important for us to be doing. God wants us to follow the example he gave us in Jesus and to love one another, to be kind to people and to be generous. Our job is to work out how we can do that each and every day, so that the way we live, and the way we treat other people will encourage them to get to know Jesus too.
So during this season of Advent, let us look for ways of filling that wait constructively, by seeking to love one another; be kind to people; and be generous. All while we wait for Christmas, and for Jesus to come again.
Let’s think about that as we say our prayers.
Prayers:
Think of Advent candles as we pray. Think about their light, remembering that Jesus is the light of the world, and wants to be the light of our lives.
Let us pray. We gather in heaven’s meeting place; O God of our world, in this place where grace shapes us, love moulds us, and forgiveness refashions us; meet with us again today.
We gather in Advent hope, O God of our world, in this place where incarnation calls us, light surrounds us and prophecy transforms us; meet with us again today.
The star has begun to move towards the stable, and the universe holds silence, as your promise slips into our world and we wait to celebrate once more your coming as the baby born to be our King.
The time is not yet here, the angels have yet to find their voice, but in this moment of expectation, we hear the ancient echo of your promise.
If you can transform swords into ploughs and spears into pruning-knives, transform also our living from hurt to healing, change also our ways from selfishness to generosity.
If you can change darkness to light, change also our world from evil to good, and change us into the people you want us to be. We ask this in and through the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Reading
Song – HP 81 – Come, thou long-expected Jesus
Lord God, bless all who leave us now for their own way of worship and learning, that they may discover for themselves new and effective ways of being active in your service while they await the return of Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
Reading:
Song – HP 246 – There’s a light upon the mountains
Sermon: Advent! The first two candles lit. The first tiny doors of Advent calendars being prized open by eager young fingers, or those of the not so young in many homes I’m sure. But no less eager! But what is it we are looking for? How much satisfaction will we receive from the tiny chocolate or the little toy behind each of the doors? So eagerly anticipated and so quickly gone. It doesn’t satisfy. It can even leave us feeling disappointed. Is that it?
Have you ever had an Advent calendar with really nice chocolate? And have you ever eaten that day’s chocolate and then immediately wanted to open the following day’s window as well? Don’t you find that life is like that also these days? People can no longer wait for the things they desire – they have to have everything sooner, better, more advanced. What ever happened to waiting for things?
Speaking of which, I can’t help but notice that there is a present over there, and I wonder who it is for. [a box wrapped in ordinary wrapping paper, with tag on: “To John, loads of love from God”.]. Well, that’s exciting isn’t it? Do you think I should open it now, or wait for Christmas? I’ll be good, I’ll wait.
Christmas is coming. Hark the glad sound of whispered enquiries, of rustling paper. The mounting tension of excited children (and adults too, at least in my house!). The desperate search for somewhere to hide what we have bought for our loved ones – before sending the gifts off to Santa Claus of course! The strict instructions – you must NOT look in the “empty” suitcase, in the drawer under the bed, behind the wardrobe, at the back of the garage, in the loft or at my mother’s house! Caroline and I have been married for 18 years now and I’m running out of places to hide things!
How frenzied our work, our hurried preparation, swept on by the sense of growing momentum – or last minute desperation! Was Robert Louis Stevenson right? Better to travel hopefully than to arrive? Is the pleasure all here in anticipation, in imagination, in our expectation of how good it will be?
As I mentioned earlier, Advent is all about waiting. Waiting to celebrate once again the birth of Jesus; but waiting also for his coming in glory. But what do we do while we wait for this? Advent is about preparing. Not just how many shopping days have we got left; or how much will we have to spend to feed everyone; but clearing our minds, opening our hearts, in readiness for something deeper than social fun and family reunion. All may travel hopefully, but only those who go in their hearts as far as Bethlehem shall find arrival better than the journey.
If, while we wait for Christmas to come, we open our hearts afresh to God’s love, then we will be overwhelmed by what we receive, for we can experience God’s presence with us every day, if we are open to him. And unlike many of the things we wait for in this world, when we sometimes wonder whether they will happen at all, we know that Jesus will return to bring about the fullness of God’s kingdom – so we can look forward to celebrating that with certainty.
I keep looking at this present you know. Why would it be here if I wasn’t meant to open it? It’s not wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper, it’s just ordinary. What do you think, should I open it now, or continue waiting? It’s getting harder to resist, but I’ll wait, if I can I’ll wait until we’ve been through Advent and can start our Christmas celebrations.
And talking of celebrations – if we this Christmas, ask God to join our celebrations, and invite him into our hearts to make a real difference to our lives, then what happens next will be so much better than we ever dared to expect. Yes, God may ask us to make certain changes in our lives, so that we live more in accordance with his will, but if we are truly open to his Spirit, then we will see that these changes are for our own good and for the good of those around us.
Often, during Advent, we wait expectantly for Christmas with a great deal of anticipation, and then the couple of days of Christmas itself pass so quickly that the whole thing can feel like a bit of a let down. In which case, some people give up on God and try to fill their lives with all sorts of substitutes, only to find that they still feel empty and as if there is something missing from their lives.
But opening ourselves to God is not like this. It’s an uplifting and powerful way of giving our lives real meaning. In fact, in my experience, it’s the only way of achieving this. We may think that other things which fill our lives give us meaning and make us happy. But this is simply no comparison to what God has in store for his faithful followers.
So during Advent as we wait for Christmas, let’s open our lives afresh to God. Accept his love for you, for it will transform your life, and that’s the best Christmas present any of us will get this year.
As this service was also distributed by the Circuit in printed and online form, I had to have it prepared very early. And when I was writing it a few weeks ago, Children in Need had just happened, when people from all walks of life, probably most of you, donated money or made pledges to donate money, that together amounted to an enormous £39.2 million by the end of the TV show that Friday. He’s 11 years old now, but ever since he was tiny, our son Sam has done his bit for Children in Need: with Caroline and I teaching him exactly what it says on the t-shirt, “Never too small to help!”
Such a big total, made up of so many individual pledges of money. But those pledges now have to be collected in and promises turned into actual donations, which is a mammoth task. And so we as a country wait to see what the final total raised will be.
So many things that we are waiting for, and while we wait to celebrate Jesus’ birth and we look forward to his return, we can make a different sort of pledge, one which doesn’t have to be collected in, but which we can begin to fulfil straight away.
Advent is a time of waiting, but it is also a time of journeying. As we prepare ourselves for Jesus, it is important that we travel in some way, whether it is emotionally, physically or spiritually through this season in search of that place where God is waiting for us.
The whole Nativity story is about journeys: Nazareth to Bethlehem; the east to the west; the fields to the manger; heaven to earth. I’ll never forget Sam’s first ever Nativity play when he was only 3 and in his final year at nursery. He was given the honour of playing Joseph – I even sewed onto his costume some cardboard carpenter’s tools, just to emphasise who he was! He was delighted to be playing Joseph. I think nursery realised he was already good at talking and wasn’t shy in front of a group of people – I wonder where he gets that from?!
One of my favourite lines that Sam had to say as Joseph, was to Mary when the donkey appeared on stage, “Hop on Mary, we’re going to Bethlehem!”
I guess we should all travel in some way to a meeting place with God during Advent.
And part of our journey should be to make space to meet God this Advent. So what I want us all to do is to make a solemn pledge that we will set aside a time and a place each week or each day – however big or small you want your pledge to be (i.e. however much you want to meet with and experience God in this season of Advent).
Make a pledge to yourself and to God that you will set aside a time and a place in which you will spend time with God, in prayer or reflection or reading.
For God is always there to meet us when we are ready. But we need to make a commitment to find that meeting place this Advent, if we are to progress on our journey of faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour and allow him to change us into the people we are meant to be.
Isaiah spoke of the change that can happen when people turn back to God. Famous words about turning swords into ploughs and spears into pruning-knives, when nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again. With the state of the world these days, that is something amazing to look forward to.
When God transforms something, it isn’t a cosmetic exercise: the actual essence is changed so that things that once divided and hurt a community – swords, spears – are transformed into tools from which the whole community benefits – a plough or a pruning knife.
This seems a long way off when we see the news these days, but that is the hope we have, as Christians who await the return of Jesus, for he alone has the power to make this happen.
So, as a final thought, whilst Advent is a time for waiting and preparing for Christmas, it is also a time when we should prepare ourselves to meet Jesus face to face. At this time of year we may sing, “Lo he comes with clouds descending; Sing we the King who is coming to reign; O come O come Immanuel”. Our hymns speak of a desire to see the fullness of the Kingdom of God.
In our reading from Matthew, we heard that no one knows the time when Jesus will return. Again emphasising the urgent need for people to accept God’s love and allow his Spirit to transform their lives, now, while there is still time to do so.
And Matthew records Jesus talking about the kingdom of God as coming like a thief in the night, and that if the owner had known when the thief was coming, he would have been ready for him. So how can we make sure that we are prepared for Jesus’ return?
We have made our pledge to make time and space for God during Advent. And therefore we should be willing to be changed by God as we continue on our journey with him. A journey that will see us receive unnumbered blessings, as in God our Saviour we rejoice.
I can resist no longer – I’m going to open it! Well if anyone can give me a present that is perfect for me, God can. [reveal “Jesus” written on card inside] “Jesus”! Given by God, for me! Not as a Christmas present, for this was ordinary wrapping paper. Jesus is a gift from God to us all, at all times in our lives. We can accept him into our hearts at any time. We can grow closer to him than we are now, at any time. Thank you God, for Jesus.
So let us make the pledge – the pledge to love God and change the way we treat other people. And let us begin to fulfil that pledge each and every day – as we seek to love one another; be kind to people; and be generous. Now, in Advent, as we wait once again to celebrate God’s gift to us, and at all times as we await the return of Jesus in triumphant glory! Amen.
Song – HP 86 – Tell out my soul, the greatness of the Lord
Prayers of intercession – Let us pray. God our heavenly Father, in this season of Advent, we bring you our prayers for those who do not have the hope of Christmas. We pray for all who are struggling to care for their loved ones who are ill, and for those who have been bereaved this year, or whose relationships have broken down, and for whom the Christmas celebrations will be muted at best and painful at worst….
In these hard financial times, we pray for those who do not have the material comforts we take for granted, and yet we would find hard to live without … We pray for the homeless and the poor…. We pray for refugees who have left their homes and even their families, that peace may come to their land and family reunion may be possible …. We bring our prayers to you for those we know who are in special need …
Father, we pray that there may be Christian loving people surrounding all those we have mentioned and thought about, so that you can work through them – and work through us – to bring comfort, hope and even joy in the midst of despair and pain.
Lord God, we pray for your Church here at Saltaire and throughout your world, that it may be a place where people can come to truly know you, and be filled with your Spirit. As we approach Christmas, and as the time of Jesus’ return draws ever closer, we pray that we, as part of your Church, will be Spirit-led into sharing your love with others. We want your Kingdom to come O God, may it come a little closer, because of our love for you.
In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Offering and Prayer – Lord God, we are grateful for all the blessings we receive from you, and for all the ways in which you transform our lives for the better. So we bring you our gifts of money, in the offering plate or by whatever other means we give. Take all that we offer, our money and our lives, and use it, use us to the glory of your name. Amen.
Song – HP 804 – The Church of Christ in every age
Blessing – O Lord, make us watchful and keep us faithful as we wait the coming of your Son our Saviour; that when he shall appear, he may not find us sleeping in sin, but active in his service and joyful in his praise. So go with us now as we seek to love and serve you by loving and serving others. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
