Worship
for the Lord’s Day
Fourth
Sunday of Advent
December
20, 2020
Announcements:
·
We
will be doing a virtual Zoom Fellowship Hour at 11:00am today. An invitation to that Zoom meeting was
included in last week’s packet.
·
We
will be hosting, regardless of weather, a drive-in parking lot Christmas Eve
Service at Floreffe Fire Hall on Thursday, December 24, at 6pm. You will receive a battery-operated candle
for the candle lighting upon entering the lot, tune into the posted FM radio
station to hear the service, and will remain in your cars throughout the
service.
·
There
will be an online service for Christmas Eve posted here, as well.
Let’s begin our worship
service together:
Prelude – Wexford Carol by our own
Robert Morris
Call to Worship
(if
you are worshipping with others in your house, feel free to have one person
read the regular text and all others read the highlighted text)
Longing for shelter, many
are homeless. Longing for warmth, many are
cold. Make us Your building, sheltering
others, walls made of living stone.
Christ be our
light!
Shine in our hearts. Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our
light!
Shine in Your Church
gathered and scattered today.
Advent is a time to bind
up the broken hearted.
Come,
Lord, and make all things new.
For past wrongs that
prevent us from moving forward:
Come, Lord, and make
all things new.
For any bitterness that
scratches our soul:
Come, Lord, and make
all things new.
For relationships left
in decay and neglect:
Come, Lord, and make
all things new.
For any action that has
wounded us or by which we have wounded others:
Grant that we might
have the peace of Christ as we wait, the love of Christ as we act, and the
grace of Christ as we speak.
Today we light four candles. The first candle is the light of hope for
those in times of waiting. The second
candle is the light of hope for those who are wearied by the circumstances of
life. The third candle is the light of
hope for those eagerly watching for God’s promised glory. The fourth candle is the light of hope for
those who carry the wounds of life.
Today we acknowledge our pain and the pain we have caused others. As the light shines, we turn to the Savior
who came to rescue the lost, to help the hurting, and to bind up the broken.
Light of the
Advent Wreath
Hymn: What Child Is This?
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance
The Holy One forgives and bestows favor on each of us, even
and especially when we are lowly in spirit.
We are blessed from generation to generation by the Mighty One, whose
strength and mercy are forever. Thanks
be to God. AMEN
Affirmation of Faith –
The Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God the
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son
our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended
into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall
come to judge the quick and the dead. I
believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life
everlasting. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer:
Lord, in a season when
every heart should be happy and light, this year many are struggling with the
heaviness of life—burdens that steal the joy right out of our Christmas stockings.
Tragedy arrives in various forms as
innocent victims suffer, and an inner voice whispers to us, “Be afraid!” We
need Your peace, most precious Lord. We
confess that our hearts are too often filled with wonder of a different kind:
wondering when the bills will be paid, when the pandemic will come to an end,
when life will return to normal, when a more peaceful rest will come. Will it ever come? Is Your message still true? In a world where worry, not peace, prevails, we
ask that stir in us that good news again.
This day, O God, make
it real in our hearts. Never have we
needed Your joy and peace more than now. Thank You for the gift of Your Son Jesus, our
Immanuel, the Word made flesh. We not
only need Your peace and joy; Lord, we crave it. You’ve promised rest for the weary, victory
for the battle-scarred, peace for the anxious, and acceptance for the broken
hearted—not just at Advent, but every day of every year. Your name is still called “Wonderful,”
“Counselor,” “The Mighty God,” “The Everlasting Father,” and “The Prince of
Peace.” We know that peace on earth can
only come when hearts find peace with You. You are still our Joy. You are still our Peace. You are no longer a babe in the manger. You are Lord of lords and King of kings. And we still celebrate You as Lord—this
Christmas and always.
In our words of thanks
and petition, we offer up to You are deepest prayers in a moment of silent
reverence and hope.
Across the sound waves
of prayer, we offer up to you our most sacred prayer, the one that Your own Son
taught us:
Our Father, who art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. AMEN.
Hymn: Hark!
the Herald Angels Sing
Scripture Readings –
Old Testament: 2 Samuel
7:1-11, 16
Now when the king was settled
in his house, and the Lord had
given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2the
king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but
the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3Nathan
said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with
you.”
4But
that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5Go and
tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me
a house to live in? 6I have not lived in a house
since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I
have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7Wherever
I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with
any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people
Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8Now
therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of
hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over
my people Israel; 9and I have been with you
wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I
will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the
earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant
them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and
evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from
the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you
rest from all your enemies. Moreover
the Lord declares
to you that the Lord will
make you a house. 16Your house and your kingdom
shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
New Testament: Luke
1:26-38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a
town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The
Lord is with you.” 29But she was
much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might
be. 30The angel said to her, “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you will name him Jesus. 32He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give
to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to
the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be
born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also
conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be
barren. 37For nothing
will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary
said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your
word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Sermon
–
For Nothing is
Impossible with God
Frank S. Mead, was a prolific writer
for a number of Christian publications, as well as being noted for writing some
of the most comprehensive reference works many ministers use to this day. He once wrote a story titled, "The
V.I.P." In his story the small town
of Mayfair is excited over the anticipated arrival of a rich and important
stranger, Henry Bascom. Mr. Bascom was
coming to spend Christmas in their town.
All of the townspeople turn out to meet him at the airport, but he's
nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, a quiet
man slips by the people at the airport and heads into town.
The townspeople set up vigil at the
airport in case Mr. Bascom comes on a different flight than what was expected,
but most of them head back to town. They
encounter a new stranger in their town who is a quiet man and does not appear
to be a man of means or importance. He
is ignored and mistreated by the insensitive people of Mayfair. They are all caught up in a Christmas frenzy
of materialism and shallow pageantry.
They don't have time to help this stranger in their midst. Finally, a poor, old gentleman invites the
stranger home for a meager dinner with his family.
After dinner, the stranger returns
to the airport, where those who had stayed at the airport on vigil for their
important guest are taking down the sign welcoming Henry Bascom. One man remarks to another, "I can't
believe we missed him, perhaps he didn’t come after all, or perhaps he is
already in town somewhere. I can’t
believe we missed him. All I know is
that we didn’t see anyone come off any of the airplanes that could possibly be
him." And the stranger, unnoticed by these two men, climbs onto a plane
and leaves behind the town of Mayfair.
The town of Mayfair isn’t so
unique. It could happen anywhere, even
among ourselves. It could easily happen
during our own celebration of Christmas.
We could get so wrapped up in the frenzy of materialism and shallow
pageantry, that we could miss the Christ child altogether. Perhaps this year, though, we might be jarred
into seeing things anew, celebrating in a different way, recognizing the real
glory and splendor of the message God gives us at Christmas.
That is why on this last Sunday
during Advent, we need to go right back to the heart of the Christmas
story. When we do we are struck by the
utter simplicity of the Christmas message.
Let's begin with:
AN ANGEL SPOKE.
Long ago, in a remote corner of this
earth God broke into our world through the voice of an angel. The heart of the Christmas story begins with
a young woman named Mary. As was the
custom of the day her parents made all the arrangements for her marriage. At the proper age she would marry Joseph the
local carpenter. The negotiations were
made between Mary's parents and Joseph's parents with the couple really having
no say in the matter, to truly understand this – think Fiddler on the Roof
without the rebellious nature of Teyve’s children who refuse to marry the men
he and Golda have picked for their daughters, and of course without all the
song and dance. Tradition often makes
Joseph a much older man, but the scriptures don’t give us any indication that
this was true. Since Nazareth was a
small village Mary probably knew Joseph pretty well. Certainly, if nothing else, she had seen him
working in his carpenter's shop since he was an apprentice himself.
Mary and Joseph were betrothed to
each other. Betrothal is a word we don’t
use too much anymore. Instead , we use
the word “engagement”. But in the days
of Mary and Joseph a betrothal was a bit more formal than an engagement. It was for a period of one year and was as
binding as marriage. It was so official
that, during this year, if the groom died the woman would be considered a
widow. One day as Mary was day-dreaming,
perhaps about her upcoming marriage, she looked up and saw an angel standing
before her. She was startled and
frightened. Mary, never in a million
years dreamt of being visited by an angel.
It had never happened to her before.
In fact, this kind of thing hadn’t happened in a long time. God had become pretty silent in those
days. Maybe, a little like today; I mean
seriously, how many of you think, “Oh, today perhaps an angel will come to me
and give me some news?”
"Greetings, favored one!"
the angel said to a frightened Mary.
Mmm…."Favored one."
Mary was just an ordinary girl.
There was really nothing special about her. She didn't come from a wealthy family. She wasn't listed in the society pages of the
Nazareth Times. No one outside of
Nazareth had ever even heard of her and more than likely a lot of people right
there in Nazareth hadn’t heard of her either.
She was just your average young girl.
Mary was perplexed and confused.
Gabriel, the angel, sensed Mary's fear and he tried to comfort her,
"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God."
Mary didn't realize it at the time,
but God had chosen her for a very special purpose. "And now you will conceive in your womb
and bear a son," said Gabriel, "and you will name him
Jesus." Mary was mystified and
bewildered. What could all this possibly
mean?
And yet, somehow, down deep in her
spirit and soul, Mary understood and believed.
Mary listened to the angel's words.
"He will be great," Gabriel told her, "and will be called
the Son of the Most High...He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of
his kingdom there will be no end."
Although we know very little about
Mary and her family, we can assume that she was a devout Jew who had listened
and believed the scripture lessons read at the local synagogue. Although she was certainly startled by the
appearance of an angel, his words didn't seem to frighten her. Like all Jews of
her time, deep in her heart she believed that one day the Messiah would
come. But, was she to bring this Messiah
into the world? Would he really come
into the world through her?
Wendy Wright, a seminary professor,
tells of attending a retreat at a Benedictine monastery on the coast of rural
Massachusetts. It had been a brisk New
England winter with plenty of cold weather and snow. One night as she was leaving the warm retreat
house an old monk burst in. "Does
anyone want to see a newborn lamb down at the barn," he asked. Some begged off, saying they had a long drive
to make. Only Wendy and one or two
others accepted his invitation.
He led them out through the snowy
woods to a low wooden lean-to that served as a barn for the community's
livestock. Once inside, it was as if
they were in another world. There was
one bare light bulb hanging from the rafters, sending uneven rays of
illumination over a variety of small farm animals. The warmth of the makeshift barn came from
the bodies and breaths of the animals themselves. A strange feeling came over her. Back in the corner was the newborn lamb and
its mother.
Oddly enough, as she stood there,
she imagined what it must have been like for Mary when Jesus was born. Mothers today have access to the privacy and
hygienic conditions of a birthing room in a modern hospital, along with a staff
of trained personnel. Mary, on the other
hand, was a young woman far from home and family. Her birthing room hung heavy with the
"strong stench of animal debris."
Mary would have no health care professional to assist her through
labor. In that setting on a cold New
England night Wendy thought about Jesus' birth many years before, "It was
a vision that took my breath away," she said.
The angel's words probably took
Mary's breath away, too. She would bear
a son. He would rule over the house of
Israel. And Mary's response was one of
bewilderment. "How can this
be?" she asked the divine messenger.
Gabriel reminded her that her cousin, Elizabeth, who was far past the
child-bearing age, but was six months pregnant.
This was all God's doing, the angel told her, for nothing is impossible with God. And that was all it took for Mary to be
convinced. She believed the angel's
message. An angel spoke, a young woman
believed.
AND THE WORLD WAS CHANGED FOREVER.
If you and I had been giving God
advice on how to bring about change in the world two thousand years ago (or
even for that matter today), we would surely have said that the last thing the
world needs is another baby. Oh, sure
babies are cute and adorable and a baby certainly has a way of changing the
lives of people in that baby’s family.
But to change the world?
Really? No, give us a spectacular
display in the heavens to prove God’s existence and continued wonder and
miracles in the world. Give us a few
trillion dollars, fix the economic woes of the world and be able to feed the
hungry. Perhaps wipe away today’s
pandemic in a split second. These things
might change the world, but give us another baby? That just doesn’t sound like the brightest
idea to me.
There’s an old story by Ruth Harnden
titled, "Let Nothing You Dismay."
In it an absent-minded, woman realizes with horror that she has switched
two Christmas gifts and sent them to the wrong people. The thick, woolen socks she had made for her
poor friend, Hilda, have been sent to her granddaughter instead. The lovely lace and satin nightgown that she
had bought for her granddaughter has been sent to Hilda! The older woman is mortified because her
granddaughter is a bright accountant just recently married and woolen socks
would seem so unnecessary and boring to the young woman. And her friend Hilda is plain, poor, simple
and unadorned. Such a lovely nightgown
would almost seem a mockery of Hilda's plainness.
But a few days after Christmas, the
woman received two letters. The first is
from her granddaughter, thanking her for the fashionable ski socks. The second is from an ecstatically grateful
Hilda. No one had ever thought to give
her something so beautiful. Hilda writes
that she puts on the nightgown and dances across her worn-out wooden floor, and
for the first time in her life, she feels pretty. It is the perfect gift.
Well, God knew the perfect gift for
humanity. God knew if you feed the
hungry, it only solves the problem for a generation. God knew that a spectacular display in the
heavens would have to be repeated until it lost its appeal. God probably knows that if the pandemic were
to simply disappear in a split second, the world would become complacent
again. Only the Word made flesh, two
thousand years ago, and even today as we celebrate it could really point the
way to God. Only One who has walked
where we walk could claim our loyalty.
God broke into human history and gave us what the world needed most -
love incarnate.
“Nothing is impossible with God”.
At our last Presbytery Meeting Sheldon Sorge, our Executive Presbyter
said that perhaps what we are learning through this pandemic and our churches
having to be closed for gatherings and worship is that our buildings are not
the church. Perhaps we are learning that
the church is not a place you go to, but rather a place from which you are sent
out.
We look out at our world and we see
the illnesses and the poverty and the loneliness and the heartache. We see the things that seem insurmountable to
overcome and one voice, one person takes a stand and believes what the angel,
Gabriel has said, “For nothing is impossible with God.” As Mary was sent out to bear the Son of God,
how are you being sent out today to bear the good news? What are your hopes and dreams for this
Christmas? What are your hopes and
dreams for the new year? Not just for you
personally, but how it will change the world!
Hymn: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Benediction
Be strengthened according to the proclamation of Jesus Christ. Go, do all that you have in mind, for the
Holy One is with you. Nothing is
impossible with God. AMEN.
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