prepared by Joanne Mead – 14th December 2025
Advent 3: A Gift of Hope
Greetings to you all as we celebration God’s gift of HOPE this Advent season. Christmas is getting closer and we’re singing our well-known Advent hymns. Have you thought about the hope that is such an integral part of this season? Not just gifts in coloured paper, but the gift of hope bestowed upon us through the coming of Jesus as a tiny baby in Bethlehem. Come, worship our God of Hope.
Let’s sing our first hymn, StF 167 – Colours of day
Now we come to God with our Prayers of Adoration and Confession
Gracious and loving God, we praise You for the radiant hope You have gifted us this Advent season. In the gentle coming of Jesus, born as a tiny baby in Bethlehem, You have lit a flame of promise in our hearts. As we wait in joyful anticipation, we marvel at Your faithfulness and rejoice in the assurance that darkness is overcome by the light of Christ. Thank You for the gift of hope, which carries us through every challenge and fills our lives with renewed purpose and peace. We worship You, our God of hope, and celebrate the wondrous gift of Jesus, who is our light and our salvation. Amen.
Merciful God, as we await the coming of Christ in this Advent season, we confess that too often we lose sight of hope amidst the busyness and distractions of daily life. Forgive us for the times when we have allowed doubt, fear, or selfishness to dim the light You have placed within us. Renew our hearts and help us to receive Your gift of hope afresh, so that we may shine with Your love and share Your promise of peace with those around us. In the name of Jesus, our source of hope, we pray. Amen.
Reading Matthew 11: 2-11
When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Reflection
In our passage, John the Baptist is a prisoner. Nevertheless, he still gets to hear about what Jesus is doing – and from his cell, he sends some of his followers to ask Jesus if he really is the Messiah. John has previously announced Jesus as the one greater than he, but from his position of vulnerability, John just needs to hear that confirmation from Jesus himself.
How often do we, in our moments of vulnerability seek that reassurance from Jesus himself that he’s there, he’s alongside us. He’s willing and able to inject hope, healing and wholeness into our life?
It’s true that some of our most vivid affirmations come when we are at our most vulnerable. That truth is evidenced in Jesus’ ministry of healing – the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and lives are completely turned around
In my last written service, I reflected on hope and it was timely because hope is a central part of Advent. Before, we reflected on Isaiah 40 – but when we think of Advent hope, we are more fully focussed on the hope that comes to us through the coming of Jesus as a baby. A King of Kings born in a stable in Bethlehem. A King of Kings born to a young teenage girl who has not yet married.
What marks Jesus as the promised Messiah are his acts of restorative healing, healing that restored the individual to a full and normal life as a part of their community. A healing that banished the affliction that prevented them knowing life in all its abundance. Healing that took away the stigma and shame.
Jesus’ coming brings hope – a hope that extends far beyond giving sight to the blind or healing the leper. Jesus coming to earth offers all of us a means by which we can be put right with God and be welcomed into God’s family. Hope that one day the turmoil of this world will come to an end and a new era of peace will begin.
Some folk go through a period of searching for Jesus, yet at the outset, they might not even realise that it’s Jesus they are searching for. They simply have a yearning that nothing can quench. Yet, when at last they find Jesus, they realise that he is the answer – that he is what is missing from their lives.
The Christian journey can be a challenging one, and like John the Baptist, we have doubts and fears eating away at us. When we pray, when we pick up our Bible, when we open our hymn book – sometimes the answer we have been seeking is there in black and white. Remember what happened to John Wesley as he, laid low and despondent, went reluctantly to Bible study on the evening of 24th May 1738. It was as he heard a passage from Luther’s notes on Romans, that John Wesley found assurance of his salvation by faith. He felt his heart strangely warmed, and that moment changed the man and his ministry.
That’s the hope that is bound up in this Advent season – Jesus coming brings hope. Hope of salvation, hope of a life made new, hope of an eternity in the presence of God. Hope that one day we’ll be raised from mortality to immortality. All that has burdened us melts away and we’ll experience life as we have never experienced before.
I remember vividly what it felt like the moment I received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I was ten years old and our family were distraught at the sudden loss of my Mum’s youngest brother days after she was told my Dad wasn’t going to recover. Despite the grim realities, the spring sunshine warmed the carpet under my feet and I felt like a huge burden had been taken away and I was walking on air. Death wasn’t an end, it was a new beginning.
If you are a parent or a grandparent, you will know what it’s like when a new baby is born and all the hopes and dreams that come with it. Imagine what it was like for Mary. I’m sure the words of the angel resonated within as she looked at that vulnerable baby in the manger and yet so much was promised. Emmanuel, Prince of Peace, Saviour of the World. We have that hope – for his work is complete, he’s now in glory at God’s right hand.
Amen
Prayers of Intercession
God of Hope – you sent Jesus into our world as a tiny baby, yet promised to transform our world. Today, it seems to be a world gone wrong with wars, natural disasters, and our own abuse of your creation tearing our world apart. We pray for those in peril, remembering especially the many folk who have lost their lives in tragic circumstances – the terrible loss of life in Hong Kong, the impact of the typhoon in the Philippines, wild fires in Australia and the hurricane that hit Jamaica, and we pray for your healing touch on our world today.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, we pray for your church. We pray for all who serve as ministers, pastors, evangelists, teachers and carers. Guide our church as we seek to share the Good News, putting the Christ into Christmas. May all who sing the carols be touched by the coming of Jesus afresh so they will want to have him as their Saviour too. The world has hijacked Christmas as a way of cashing in, making money and encouraging over-indulgence. Help your church move that focus to you.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, we also remember those known to us who need your prayers. Whether they be unwell, grieving the loss of a loved one, caring for someone who is poorly, or just simply alone. Bring peace and comfort to those who are troubled and we pray that those who struggling with mental health issues will find peace and restoration.
We pray for ourselves, that we’ll be united, though worshipping in our own homes. Ease the day-to-day struggles that hinder us and make us devoted followers of you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen
And we say the prayer that Jesus taught us.
Our closing hymn is StF 188 – There’s a light upon the mountains
There’s a light upon the mountains, and the day is at the spring,
When our eyes shall see the beauty and the glory of the King;
Weary was our heart with waiting, and the night-watch seemed so long;
But his triumph-day is breaking, and we hail it with a song.
There’s a hush of expectation, and a quiet in the air;
And the breath of God is moving in the fervent breath of prayer:
For the suffering, dying Jesus is the Christ upon the throne,
And the travail of our spirit is the travail of his own.
He is breaking down the barriers, he is casting up the way;
He is calling for his angels to build up the gates of day:
But his angels here are human, not the shining hosts above;
For the drum-beats of his army are the heart-beats of our love.
Hark! We hear a distant music, and it comes with fuller swell;
‘Tis the triumph-song of Jesus, of our King, Immanuel:
Zion, go ye forth to meet him; and, my soul, be swift to bring
All thy finest and thy noblest for the triumph of our King!
The Blessing
May the blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirt be with us all, now and forever more. Amen.
