St Albans and Welwyn Circuit Service for 4th December 2022
Prepared by – Chris Hancock
We begin with our Advent liturgy.
STAND AS A SIGNAL – (Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3:1-12)
Reader One: “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:9-10 NRSV).
Reader Two: We are the followers of that root of Jesse Isaiah spoke of. We are the ones who are now called to stand as a signal to the world, to all of creation, that peace is the will of the one who created us. Peace is the knowledge of the Lord that we proclaim from sea to shining sea.
Reader One: “In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea proclaiming. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” And “bear fruit worthy of repentance” Matthew 3:1,2, 8 NRSV).
Reader Two: We light these candles, the candle of joyful hope and the candle of proclaimed peace, in part to remind ourselves that we are a people rising toward God’s promise. But we also light them as a sign to the world, an announcement there are some who hold on to hope and there are some who work the ways of peace. We stand as a sign that Emmanuel is still our fervent prayer. Today we light the candle of Peace
STF 174 – Light a candle in a darkened place
Opening Prayers
Loving God we come to you in the quiet of our prayers. We set aside our busy lives to spend some time with you. We need to be refreshed, renewed and reawakened to your presence with us. We pray as we reflect and seek your guidance that you will make clear to us the pathways we should travel. Amen
STF 189 – Wild and Lone the Prophets Voice
Isaiah 11 Verses 1 – 10 – NIV
The Branch From Jesse
| 11 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. |
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. |
STF 178 – Long ago, prophets knew
Matthew 3 verses 1 – 12 – NIV
3 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Reflection
It would have been my Dad’s birthday tomorrow, so I have been thinking about him especially this week. Before he candidate for the ministry, he worked on a farm looking after the farms heavy horses. One of the tales he often told, of this time of his life, was of the manger the horses fed from.
We tend to think of the manger as a rough wooden construction full of splinters. Dad said that nothing could be further from the truth. The mangers had to be sturdily constructed to survive the, eager to eat, horses attentions and the once rough edges of the manger were soon worn smooth by the constant rubbing of the horses necks and chins against them as they fed.
The horses would blow out through their nostrils to scatter the chaff before they would eat the grain. It is an image which has spoken to me over the years in so many ways.
Firstly, the preparation for the coming of Jesus included the whole of creation. With the humble stable animals helping to create a suitable place for a child to be laid.
Secondly, the gentle blowing of the warm breath of the horses to separate the chaff from the wheat. Such a contrast to the image of the strong wind gusting across a threshing floor. This speaks to me of the different ways in which the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and blows away the things which are impairing our relationship with God.
At Journey Light this week we were asked if “bad” people go to heaven. We were trying to be a gentle breeze discussing simpler questions only to have the gale of the Holy Spirit intervene! The answer is of course that we don’t know but the scriptures are clear that there is a decision we need to make.
I am sure we all agree that there are opportunities for all to open our lives and welcome God in. Be that as a youth, at any other stage of our lives or even in the last moments of our earthly existence, as we breathe our final breaths. I perhaps differently from some also believe that we worship and are in relationship with a God of love who is outside of time and that there will still be opportunities to come to him beyond our earthly existence.
I see the separation of the chaff not as a condemning of some to the fiery furnace but rather as a removal of the wrong things in our lives which take us away from God. The wind of the Holy Spirit whether gentle breath or a roaring gale blow those things away from us leaving the core of perfection which God desires.
We can also say that our human nature means we are in need of that forgiveness every day, as we are none of us perfect in word or deed whilst we are still breathing.
Of course you may react by saying is it fair if this is the case? Well Jesus spoke of that in his earthly ministry with the parable of the vineyard workers.
I like to think of it like this: think of your favourite thing either a food or something that you love to do. Now imagine that you only discovered this at the end of your life. It will still be the best thing but think of the many years you will have missed out on by not trying or doing it earlier.
I am blessed to have been born into a Christian family and came into my own relationship with God as a teenager. So I have been doubly blessed with a master and a friend who I have relied on, worked for and alongside throughout my life. That has been a privilege beyond words. How sad it is to hear the words I wish I had done this earlier. So if God is calling you, in this moment, to some service for him say yes NOW – you will never regret it.
As John says, now is the time to turn to God and welcome him into every aspect of our lives. As we prepare during Advent may we once again fling wide the gates of our lives to let the Holy Spirit blow through them preparing us, be it for the first time or the umpteenth, to be lives ready to receive Jesus. Amen
Singing the Faith 175 – Light of the world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j60zn7lrMY8
Let us pray together.
Heavenly Father. We bring you our prayers for ourselves and others. We thank you for the example of those who have encouraged us in our lives to prepare the way for your arrival. May we be people who encourage others this Advent. We pray for the lives of our churches this Christmas time and for those who will come into our congregations because it is Christmas. May our words encourage and touch them with your love.
We pray for the world in which we live. For those struggling with the cost of living increase and in particular the cost of fuel as the weather turns colder. Help us see the ways in which we can become warm refuges for those who are in need. We pray for the wider world remembering in particular the war in Ukraine and the hardships of winter whilst essential infrastructure is being destroyed. We pray for a changing of hearts and minds and a move to peace.
We pray for those affected by the mudslide in Italy and for the Covid outbreak in China and the suppression of protest.
Finally Lord we take a moment to bring to mind our personal prayers for our friends and our families. Remembering in particular those who need our prayers because of their personal situations. We ask that they will especially feel your arms of love holding them tight. In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.
Those of you who know me will realise I have two favourite worship songs. Both about the Holy Spirit. “Down the mountain the river flows” is one and the second we will use now. The images of the Holy Spirit are powerful and in verse three the fire of the Spirit burns through our lives as we are both a sacrifice ourselves and as we sacrifice those things which keep us from God.
Songs of Fellowship 1044 – There’s a wind a blowin’
Blessing
May the peace of God reign in our homes, and the love of God forever hold each of us tight,
May the Spirit of God flow through our lives, and the joy of God uphold us day and night. Amen
Copyright Notices
Hymns
Hymn words where displayed are in the Public Domain.
Hymn organ recordings where used are from Small Church Music. Copyright notice: Rev. Clyde McLennan, performer in this collection, has assigned his performer rights in this collection to Hymnary.org. Non-commercial use of these recordings is permitted.
Other hymns are from YouTube and covered by YouTube copyright processes.
Bible Readings
Bible readings are from the New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Images
Images where used are from pixabay.com and free for commercial use no attribution required.
