Welcome
Thank you for Joining us St. Paul’s “online worship.”
Call to Worship
One: In this time of worship, we remember that God is with us.
All: God is with us in joy and in sorrow.
One: In Jesus Christ, God reshapes the past, the present and our future.
All: We wait with God for something new to emerge.
One: In this time of worship, we await the birth of Jesus.
All: We wait with hope, preparing to rejoice in Jesus’ name.
Opening Prayers
Loving God, Compassionate Son, Healing Spirit,
Holy One in Three and Three in One,
You approach us with such kindness and tenderness.
You look kindly on us, no matter what our state or condition,
Your care for this world is greater than we could ever ask or imagine:
You bring order from chaos.
You turn weeping into laughter.
You turn sorrow into joy, and death into new life.
You redeem all that appears lost, making all things new.
And so we come to you in joy,
resting from our work and responsibilities,
trusting you to bring peace amid our anxiety
and hope into these uncertain times.
Receive our worship this day
as we anticipate the difference your gifts will make to us
through Christ, your Son and our Saviour. Amen.
Generous and gracious God,
We confess the smallness of our love and the narrowness of our concern.
These days we easily become preoccupied with statistics and case numbers.
Opportunities to say thanks, to offer encouragement,
to remember each other in friendship slip by.
Anxiety turns us inward and anger can make us lash out.
Forgive us for neglecting the joy at the heart of the Advent season.
Turn our hearts back to you,
and inspire us with your love made flesh in Jesus Christ. Amen.
In Jesus Christ, we are a new creation. There is nothing we have done, nothing we could ever do, that can separate us from the love of God shown to us in Christ.
Know that you are forgiven, and with this joyful truth, have the courage to forgive one another.
Carol: Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
Prayer for Understanding
God of wisdom, by the inspiration of your Spirit, open our hearts so that we may hear and understand your Word, speaking in the scriptures. Open our minds to your renewing grace, at work in Jesus Christ, your Living Word. Then open our eyes to see what you are doing in the world. Amen.
Scripture
Isaiah 61:1-11 – Good News for exiles returning home.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 – Final words from Paul to the church at Thessalonica
John 1:6-8, 19-28 – The Ministry of John the Baptist
Sermon: The Gift of Good News
In the name of the father the son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
This year our understanding the familiar texts of Advent are being shaped by our individual and communal experience of a global pandemic.
We have a longing for some good news about our futures.
We have a longing for healing to come those who are ill and suffering.
We have a longing for those hurting financially from this pandemic to receive some relief.
We have a longing for those suffering emotionally, spiritually and relationally to be comforted.
The portions from Isaiah that we reading this year are addressed to the people of God who have either been exiled and in living in Babylonia for over 150 years or who are returning to their homeland that has been devastated by war and famine. They are a people in desperate need of some comfort, some good news, some hope, and some concrete actions that will give them the strength and the motivation to rebuild their homeland and lives.
The Prophet Isaiah speaks to these weary people about salvation and about mission. These two themes dominate our Isaiah text for today.
Typically we think of salvation as something that is in the future after we die. If we think of salvation merely in that way, then we will tend to think of mission as exclusively evangelistic, with social action as playing a role to help people come to faith in Christ.
But when you read through the words of Isaiah 61, especially verses 1-2, you realize that this was the passage that Jesus’ used for his first sermon, where he outlined his mission. The salvation that Jesus speaks of and which defines and guides his ministry and mission is focused both on the here and now and in the future.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the oppressed
to bind up the broken hearted
to proclaim Liberty to the captives
and released to the prisoners
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18-19)
The salvation that Jesus proclaims and demonstrates was a one that was always focused on one’s mind, body, emotions, and spirit. In other words, the whole person. His mission healed one’s relationship with God, others and themselves.
Jesus spoke of his mission as Isaiah does in terms of the year of Jubilee language that we read about in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15. Here God orders to give the people and land a break from their hardships. Debts were cancelled. Slaves were set free. Land was returned to the original owners. The land was not farmed for that year. All of the commands God give to Israel were rooted and grounded in God’s merciful actions of freeing Israel from their Egyptian enslavement. God’s mercy and salvation are offered to all, especially the least and most vulnerable in their society.
Jesus used this text Isaiah 61:1-3, along with Isaiah 29:18-19, 35:5-6 to reassure his imprisoned cousin John the Baptizer that he had not been wrong to point others to Him as the Messiah. The Kingdom of God Jesus spoke of was the fulfilment of hopes, dreams and revelations of the prophets like Isaiah.
So here we are 9 months into this horrible pandemic,
still trying to survive it,
still trying to care for others and others are care for us,
still trying to carry out God’s mission to the people around us as Jesus did.
Thankfully, we received the good news that one of the Covid-19 vaccines is beginning to be distributed around the world. I am grateful for the all the hardworking folk that have worked tirelessly to get the vaccine developed and those who will get the vaccines out and distributed.
At this point we needed to hear that Good News.
I pray that the voice of reason and divine common sense will speak louder and longer to convince people to be vaccinated for their own good and for the good of the larger society. Surely love of neighbor includes being vaccinated for the sake of the larger community.
The call “to bind up the broken-hearted” is ever present with us. I hear a call to listen in those words and to bring whatever emotional, financial, spiritual resources God has blessed us with to help a family member, a neighbor, or a stranger who stands before us at any given moment. I believe Jesus told us a parable about doing just that (Luke 10.25-37).
In these long months of social distancing and mask wearing, the call “to proclaim release to the captives” are words that I pray for all who we have not been able to see, or touch, or gather without love for them and their safety. These include, loved ones in hospitals, in nursing homes, in other parts of the country, those who are vulnerable to disease because of the pandemic.
So too, I believe this is call to action to anyone to assist in whatever way we can those who are struggling psychologically through this pandemic. The question “How are you?” continues to be three important words that need to be asked again and again. I pray that you have someone in your life for whom you can answer that question honestly and unfiltered.
One of the world’s great need is to “release prisoners” those bound by their selfish, sinful, common sense denying foolishness that is so present in our time. Sadly, Christians have not been immune from this kind of foolishness and have regrettably been communicators of it. Unfortunately, more than ever we need to fact check what people say and share. This includes so many passages of Scripture that are quoted without understanding their Biblical, historical, or theological contexts. As a preacher, I hate it when Scripture is used an as excuse for not loving our neighbor as Jesus taught and demonstrated.
In the midst of so much troubling and concerning news, I want to close with a story that reassured me, gave me some much needed hope and joy this week. It also helped me to understand how to live out this passage. Many of you know that I have been spending a lot of time with my wife at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary lately. It has been an eye opening experience for me on many levels. I have witnessed simple and truly remarkable acts of caring of individuals to hurting people.
This week, I witnessed a caring son looking after his feisty (to put it mildly) mother with dementia getting ready for a radiation treatment. He caringly answered his mothers’ same questions again and again. He compassionately consoled his mother every time she asked him, “Why is this cancer happening to me? He found moments of humor to lift his mother’s spirit, recalling good times they had shared. He joked with his mom about the trials that they were facing together.
I saw and heard in this son’s loving words and behavior a living and breathing example of the Year of Jubilee – Kingdom of God – mission that Jesus and proclaimed and demonstrated. And in the midst of everything that seems to be going wrong in our lives and in our world, I heard good news. I saw a woman broken heart being healed. I saw a woman being released from her worries in brief and significant moments. I saw a herald and missionary of good news caring, serving and helping someone he loved at a time when that person needed love, assurance, and hope the most.
Whether the son knew it or not, he pointed me and I hope you as well, once again to the One whose birth we prepare ourselves to celebrate. And he reminded me of our roles as John the Baptists, who are called to point others to Christ. And this brings me comfort hope, and joy, as I hope it does for you in the midst of your circumstances.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon each of us as Christ’s Messengers of Good News in this Season Advent. May we join in following Christ’s Jubilee / Missional actions so that the people we encounter may experience God’s ever present salvation of our whole selves in Christ.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be all glory, praise, and honor. Amen.
Song: That boy-child of Mary
Moment for Mission – Halidu’s Shop Equips Others
In Ghana, Halidu manages a prosperous and bustling training centre where he teaches kente weaving and dressmaking. When Halidu was young, he developed a sore that led to his leg being amputated. During his recovery, Halidu enrolled in a Presbyterian World Service & Development-supported program that equips people with disabilities with skills to obtain a livelihood. During workshops, he learned vocational skills that included weaving, tailoring and dressmaking. Today, Halidu is using what he learned during his recovery to lead a healthy, productive life and run a successful business.
Prayers of the People
Come, Christ Jesus, be our guest
and enter our lives today with your blessing.
We are lonely for you and the peace you bring.
Draw near to us in friendship and faithfulness
so that in this season which combines celebration in the face of uncertainty,
we may know your presence …
and sing with all your people:
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Come, Christ Jesus, be our guide
and show us the way to wisdom and gratitude.
We are thankful for the kindness we know in friends and good neighbours,
in warm houses and warm smiles,
which hold off the darkness and fear for the future.
Encourage us to reach out to those who need your embrace and ours…
so that together we may sing of your presence:
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Come, Christ Jesus, be our hope
and touch us with your healing and grace.
We remember before you all those we know and those know to you alone
Who are living with loss or illness this season,
those who face depression or discouragement,
and all who will find it hard to be merry this year.
We share their names who we are concerned about today.
Shine the light of your comfort into their lives…
as we sing of the hope that dawns in your love:
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Come, Christ Jesus, be our king
and claim your rightful place in our hearts.
Our world is struggling for the justice and mercy you bring.
Draw near to our leaders and all citizens working for peace and justice,
and those striving to contain and heal the effects of the pandemic.
Encourage honourable action and co-operation on all sides.
Give hope to people under oppression
and to those who live with fear or hunger day by day.
Hasten the day when the world’s peoples will live as neighbours
reconciled in your truth and freedom.
We offer you these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ,
using the words he taught us to 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.
Song: People in darkness are looking for light
Charge and Benediction (words of hymn “May the God of hope”)
May the God of hope go with you every day
Filling all your lives with love and joy and peace.
May the God of justice speed you on our way,
Bringing light and hope to every land and race.
Praying let us work for peace,
Singing, share our joy with all.
Working for a world that’s new,
Faithful as we hear Christ’s call.
Amen.
Go in peace! Have a great week! Reach out to someone this week.
Prayer Partnership
Sunday, December 13 We give thanks for the Garu Community-Based Rehabilitation program in Ghana, which provides training to people with disabilities, helping ensure they have the necessary resources to lead healthy and productive lives.
Monday, December 14 We pray for the wisdom to understand and be thankful for what it means to have enough during the consumer-driven Christmas rush.
Tuesday, December 15 We pray for the people, ministries and mission of the Presbytery of Essex-Kent in Ont.
Wednesday, December 16 We pray that God fills us with the wisdom of the scriptures, the grace of Christ and the understanding of the Holy Spirit so that we may be a church of people with vision who are at work in the world.
Thursday, December 17 We thank God for financial and prayer support received from congregations for Presbyterians Sharing in 2020 to support the ministry of the General Assembly and its committees.
Friday, December 18 (International Migrants Day) We pray for the safe and just treatment of foreign temporary workers in Canada, as well as for organizations and individuals working for the humane treatment of migrant workers and members of their families.
Saturday, December 19 We pray for the cold and hungry, that they not only find local meal and shelter programs, but also compassion during this winter season.