02.11.24, Struggling with Expectations, Mark 8:27 – 9:13
Order
Pre Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
Songs I Will Follow Lynn/Team
Anywhere With Jesus
Reading and Prayer Petty
Songs Lord, I Give you my Heart Lynn/Team
I Have Decided to Follow Jesus
Passage Mark 8:27-33 Renee
Message Struggling with Expectations Rick
Music Lead Me to the Cross Lynn/Team
Community/Benediction Rick
Closing Peace Rick
Music The Goodness of God (Chorus) Lynn/Team
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
Music (slides) Lynn/Team
I Will Follow Song # 5806878
Intro
Where You go I’ll go
Where You stay I’ll stay
When You move I’ll move
I will follow
Oh oh oh
Verse 1
All Your ways are good
All Your ways are sure
I will trust in You alone
Higher than my sight
High above my life
I will trust in You alone
Chorus
Where You go I’ll go
Where You stay I’ll stay
When You move I’ll move
I will follow You
Whom You love I’ll love
How You serve I’ll serve
If this life I lose
I will follow (You)
Interlude
Yeah I will follow You yeah
Verse 2
Light into the world
Light into my life
I will live for You alone
You’re the One I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in You alone
In You alone
Chorus
Where You go I’ll go
Where You stay I’ll stay
When You move I’ll move
I will follow You
Whom You love I’ll love
How You serve I’ll serve
If this life I lose
I will follow (You)
Bridge
In You there’s life everlasting
In You there’s freedom for my soul
In You there’s joy unending joy
And I will follow
Chorus
Where You go I’ll go
Where You stay I’ll stay
When You move I’ll move
I will follow You
Whom You love I’ll love
How You serve I’ll serve
If this life I lose
I will follow (You)
Anywhere With Jesus
Verse 1
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Anywhere He leads me in this world below
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade
Anywhere with Jesus I am not afraid
Chorus
Anywhere anywhere fear I cannot know
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Verse 2
Anywhere with Jesus I am not alone
Other friends may fail me He is still my own
Though His hand may lead me over dreary ways
Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise
Chorus
Anywhere anywhere fear I cannot know
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Verse 3
Anywhere with Jesus over land and sea
Telling souls in darkness of salvation free
Ready as He summons me to go or stay
Anywhere with Jesus when He points the way
Chorus
Anywhere anywhere fear I cannot know
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Participatory Response (Slides)Petty
Leader: With just seven loaves of bread, Jesus fed thousands
Response: And the religious asked for a sign
Leader: The followers of Jesus saw an abundance of leftovers
Response: And the disciples were concerned about having enough
Leader: A blind man was brought to Jesus to restore his sight
Response: And the man said “I still do not see like I did before”
Leader: Jesus asked his followers, “Who do people say I am?”
Response: And they responded “They say that you are a prophet of old”
Leader: Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
Response: And Peter said, “You are the Messiah”
Leader: Jesus said, “I shall experience that which you do not want to see, that which you do not expect”
Response: And Jesus added, “I will rise from the dead”
Leader: Join us in the prayer of Jesus,
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 trespasses,
while we forgive those who trespass against us.
And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Lynn/Team
I Give You My Heart
Verse
This is my desire
To honour You
Lord with all my heart
I worship You
All I have within me
I give You praise
All that I adore is in You
Chorus
Lord I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for You alone
Ev’ry breath that I take
Ev’ry moment I’m awake
Lord have Your way in me
I Have Decided To Follow Jesus
Verse 1
I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back no turning back
Verse 2
The world behind me the cross before me
The world behind me the cross before me
The world behind me the cross before me
No turning back no turning back
Verse 3
Though none go with me still I will follow
Though none go with me still I will follow
Though none go with me still I will follow
No turning back no turning back
Passage (Slides) Renee
As they were on their way to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
The disciples responded with a collection of answers, “John the Baptist” one said while another said “Elijah” and others followed saying, “One of the prophets.”
After the disciples gave their answers, Jesus said to them, “Okay, that is what others are saying, but who do you say that I am?”
Peter spoke up proclaiming, “You are the Messiah.” After Peter’s answer Jesus sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone what Peter had correctly said.
Then Jesus began to teach the disciples that he would soon undergo great suffering and be rejected by the religious leaders, after which he would be killed, but he would rise again after three days.
Jesus said all of this openly allowing anyone within hearing distance to hear. Peter took Jesus aside and told him that he should not be saying that so publicly.
Jesus turned and looked at his disciples as he rebuked Peter saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Mark 8:27 – 33
Message Rick
Opening – Illustration of lady recognizing but not knowing
(Slide – leave screen on until just before closing illustration)
The Question —Who is Jesus?
Asked by followers and foes throughout narrative of Mark
Asked by Paralytic, Disciples in storm, Hometown
Moses – “I Am’ – sub names, healer, victory…
[Slide] Big View
Who do people say I am?
Who do you say I am?
Peter answers Messiah
Huge answer, first human to recognize, demons and evil spirits are only ones
Beginning of life long quest asking filling in blanks of ‘who is Jesus.
[Slide] Necessity of Struggle/Fixing our Soil
Letting of of incorrect names for Jesus that help understand Messiah
Peter tells Jesus to not talk about suffering and death – learns that Jesus is suffering servant, Peter wants to stay on mountain top – learns that Jesus/we are meant to life in the valley (sacrifice), Peter denies he knows Jesus after arrest – learns his own frailty
Peter has learned forgiveness & Love by the time of the resurrection, no fear
Peter has now defined Jesus by submission rather than power, by love rather than position, by healing compassion rather than revenge and force, acceptance and affirmation rather than judgement and condemnation, and the list goes on.
Soil correction even unto time as apostle goes back on the idea of everyone being clean. Life long learning, always improving soil. Same for us.
Everything is holy and spiritual – names of God can be learned in every circumstance and situation.
(End Screen Share)
Closing Illustration – Debbie with feeding station in Ethiopia (made some religious mad that it was feeding and not baptizing. Did not like the one world phrasing. Team saw through the sacrificial eyes of Jesus – Who is Jesus? Pray.
Music (Slides) Lynn/Team
Lead Me To The Cross
Verse 1
Saviour I come quiet my soul
Remember redemption’s hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Pre-Chorus
Ev’rything I once held dear
I count it all as loss
Chorus
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh lead me lead me to the cross
Verse 2
You were as I tempted and tried human
The word became flesh
Bore my sin in death
Now You’re risen
Pre-Chorus
Ev’rything I once held dear
I count it all as loss
Chorus
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh lead me lead me to the cross
Bridge
To Your heart
To Your heart
Lead me to Your heart
Lead me to Your heart
Chorus
Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Oh lead me lead me to the cross
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, 02.18, Mark 10:17-34, The Things We Cannot Do
‘In-Between’ Bible Study, Tuesday, Feb 13 at Nielsen’s house
Lent, what will you do to prepare? Lent begins this Wednesday
Closing Benediction (Slide per line) Rick
We leave this place to live a life that proclaims Christ as Lord
We leave this place to live a life of selfless worship and service before God
We leave this place to live a life advocating for those who cannot advocate
We leave this place to live a life of standing firm in the times of trials
We leave this place to live a life that proclaims God’s goodness
We live this place to live a life trusting in the God who is present
As we go, may God enfold each of us in tender and lasting love
May Christ be beside us in times of struggle and peace
And may the Spirit guide us always back to the Father’s path
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
Leader: God calls us to the risk of stepping out of the ordinary
Response: God calls us to push through the crowd to truth and healing
Leader: God calls us to truth
Response: God calls us to Jesus
Leader: God calls us to advocate for ourselves
Response: God calls us to advocate for others
Leader: God calls us to truth
Response: God calls us to Jesus
Leader: God calls us to not be trapped in the acceptable
Response: God calls us to not be caged by the judgements of others
Leader: God calls us to truth
Response: God calls us to Jesus
Leader: Join us in the prayer of Jesus,
[Slide]Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[Slide]Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.
[Slide]Give us this day our daily bread.
[Slide]Forgive us our trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us.
[Slide]And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
[Slide]For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Billy/Team
Goodness Of God Song # 7117726
Verse 1
I love You Lord
Oh Your mercy never fails me
All my days
I’ve been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
I will sing of the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Verse 2
I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In darkest night
You are close like no other
I’ve known You as a father
I’ve known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God
Chorus
All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
I will sing of the goodness of God
Sanctuary Song 24140
Chorus
Lord prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You
Passage (Slides) Rennee
One of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus, came to Jesus and fell at Jesus’ feet repeatedly pleading, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” So Jesus went with Jairus.
On their way a large crowd followed and pressed against Jesus. There was a woman in the crowd who had been suffering from hemorrhaging for twelve years.
The woman had endured much, and spent all that she had on medical care while only getting worse. She had heard about Jesus and thought that she would just touch his cloak unnoticed and be healed.
After pushing her way through the crowd and touching Jesus’ cloak her hemorrhaging stopped immediately, and she was healed.
Jesus was instantly aware that power had gone forth from him and turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my cloak?” His disciples said to him, “You can see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’”
As Jesus looked at the crowd, the woman in fear and trembling fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. Jesus said to her, “Your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed.”
Then people from Jairus’ house came and said to him, “Your daughter is dead.” Jesus overheard and said to the synagogue leader, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”
Mark 5:22-36
Message Rick
Miracles
Around 40 miracle acts performed by Jesus (depends on definition and boundaries of defined acts).
Over 20 acts of healing
Around 3 acts of rising from death
1-2 acts of releasing from evil spirits
Difficulty in preaching from healing and raising from death passages
This passage is a victorious confrontation with greatest enemy of humanity/eternity
Intercalation
Explanation
In today’s passage
Today’s passage
Jairus – Holy Advocate for daughter
Unnamed woman – Holy Advocate for self
Jesus – Holy Advocate for all (Sees needs, automatic compassion and mercy)
[Screen Share]
What do we do with these healing and rising stories?
[Slide] Jesus is Our Advocate. Focus on Jesus the actions of Jesus but rather what those actions teach us, that Jesus is our advocate, Jesus is a reflection of God – God is Compassion, Mercy, Love.
[Slide] We are called to be Advocate for others and ourself. God calls us to be an advocate for ourselves and for others. God calls us to see the needs of others. Holy Work – more so than fire and brimstone.
[Slide] We are called to trust the work of God in the midst of our advocacy. God calls us to trust God’s response to our and the needs of others.
Called to Holy and Risky Work
[Slide] James Langford, bipartisan immigration work, refugees/immigrants need advocate
[Slide] Alistair Begg, scorned pastor, advocate – your grandchild needs you – child needed an advocate
[Slide] Dr. Margaret Heagarty, Advocate, Children’s Health Harlem Hospital – children harmed by AIDS and crack cocaine epidemics of 80s. Children needed an advocate – Heagarty’s advocacy was contagious even in time of danger/risk
[Slide] We are called to Holy Work
We are called to see the needs of others, we are called to a Holy Work on earth.
How we embrace and accept, how we comfort, how we vote, how we work/live
[End Screen Share]
Pray
Music (Slides) Billy/Team
Sanctuary Song 24140
Chorus
Lord prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You
Community (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Next Sunday, 02.11, Mark 8:27 – 9:13, Struggling with Expectations
[Slide] ‘In-Between’ Bible Study, Tuesday, Feb 13 at Nielsen’s
[Slide] Lent, what will you do to prepare?
Closing Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we leave this place, may we do so with an ever increasing knowledge of the the length and breadth and height and depth of God’s grace and mercy while knowing that a full comprehension is beyond our understanding.
May we live in a state of gratefulness knowing that God hears the needs that we voice as well as those we carry in silence. May our lives be lived in a state of trust standing on the readiness and willingness of our God who hears, sees, and acts.
May we lay aside our own expectations while we watch for God’s works and as we settle into God’s embrace. May we take take the hand of God as we venture onto his path, and follow his lead as we hang on to God’s ways.
May God’s sight to see our needs be reflected through our lives in our world. May we take notice of the needs we see, hear, and feel. May we respect the pain of heartbreak, the misery of physical pain, the grief of loss, and the weight of caring for loved ones.
As we go, may we go in the arms of God.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
Leader: When the waves rise high above our ability to see your face
Response: Still my soul, Lord Jesus, calm the storm in me
Leader: When the howling wind and the pouring rain drown out the sound of your voice
Response: Still my soul, Lord Jesus, calm the storm in me
Leader: When the thunder and the lightning distract us from Your presence in every circumstance
Response: Still my soul, Lord Jesus, calm the storm in me
Leader: You are the Prince of Peace
Response: You are the Resurrection and the Life
Leader: You are strong and mighty to save
Response: Our hope and trust are in you
(adapted from the writings of Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia)
Leader: Join us in the prayer of Jesus,
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Lynn/Team
Verse 1
I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above
Of Jesus and His glory
Of Jesus and His love
I love to tell the story
Because I know ’tis true
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do
Chorus
I love to tell the story
‘Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old old story
Of Jesus and His love
Verse 3
I love to tell the story
‘Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it
More wonderfully sweet
I love to tell the story
For some have never heard
The message of salvation
From God’s own holy Word
Chorus
I love to tell the story
‘Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old old story
Of Jesus and His love
Verse 4
I love to tell the story
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest
And when in scenes of glory
I sing the new new song
‘Twill be the old old story
That I have loved so long
Chorus
I love to tell the story
‘Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old old story
Of Jesus and His love
Verse 1
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Verse 2
I am the Lord that healeth thee
I am the Lord that healeth thee
I am the Lord that healeth thee
Verse 3
In Thee O Lord do I put my trust
In Thee O Lord do I put my trust
In Thee O Lord do I put my trust
Verse 1
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Be still and know that I am God
Passage (Slides) Mitch
After Jesus shared the parable of the sower and the seed, as well as other stories, and, after he had explained the parable to his disciples and a few others, Jesus said to the smaller group, “Let’s go across to the other side.’
It was evening by the time they got into the boats and left the crowd behind.
In the darkness of night, as they were far from the shore, a great windstorm arose, the waves were beating into the boat, and the boat was filling up with water.
During this storm, Jesus was resting in the back of the boat asleep on a cushion. His terrified followers who were in the boat, and experiencing the wind and the waves, woke Jesus up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus, after he woke up, spoke sternly to the wind saying, “Be silent. Be still.” The wind ceased, and there was a dead calm.
Jesus said to his companions, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Jesus’ followers were shocked and surprised by the entire experience, they said to one another, “Who is this man that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They were all amazed.
Mark 4:35-40
Message Rick
[No Slide] Opening Illustration – Dogs staring at door
[Screen Share for most of message until noted]
[Slide] Afraid v. Fearful
[Slide] “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
[Slide] “Be silent. Be still” – Not bothered by the shouting/accustions at him of disciples – Punctuation
[Slide] “Why are you afraid” not accusatory ‘you sould not be afraid’
[Slide] “Do you still have no faith” – ‘does your soil need to be tended to?’
[Slide] Faith/soil opportunity
[Slide] Jesus’ followers were shocked and surprised by the entire experience, they said to one another, “Who is this man that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They were all amazed.
[Slide] Faith/Soil tending
[Slide] Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
Luke 2:19
[Slide] Infectious Generosity – Image
Said from a secular perspective while echoing a holy reality –
“Generosity is at the heart of being human. It’s how we’ve co-operative, innovated, and grown as a civilization. It’s what makes me into we, net-takers into net-givers, selfishness into selflessness.”
[Slide] Breath of God
[Slide] Life of Actions – not just words (evangelical movement)
[Slide] Every person needs to experience the love/embrace of God
[Slide] The church must step up to the task of welcoming all peoples the
way Jesus welcomed us, a welcome without judgment and
condemnation.
[End Screen Share] -Pray
Music (Slides) Lynn/Team
Verse 1
Hide me now
Under Your wings
Cover me
Within Your mighty hand
Chorus
When the oceans rise
And thunders roar
I will soar with You
Above the storm
Father You are King
Over the flood
I will be still and know
You are God
Verse 2
Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know His power
In quietness and trust
Chorus
When the oceans rise
And thunders roar
I will soar with You
Above the storm
Father You are King
Over the flood
I will be still and know
You are God
Community (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Next Sunday, 02.04.24, Mark 5:21-43, Seeing Needs
[Slide] ‘In-Between’ Bible Study, Tuesday, Feb 13 at Nielsen’s
Benediction (Slides) Rick
In the chaos of life do not forget that you have an ever present God.
In the moments where God seems to sleep, look for the heart beat of your deliverer
In the moments when you are overwhelmed, reach deep into the soil that is your faith
When the wind pelts your face and the waves threaten to sink you, look for the peace of the savior
When the shouting is all consuming, look for moments of stillness, calm, and silence
When you are afraid may you not be fearful
When you are fearful may you not be hopeless
Remember your rescue
Remember your deliverance
Remember your faith moments
Remember your choices of joy
Go into a world knowing that you do not go alone
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
Response: May my heart be soil that receives the seed of truth
Leader: May I release the Spirit to guide me in all I do
Response: May I permit the Spirit to enrich and heal me
Leader: May my heart hold a space where peace is understood
Response: May my heart lead me to the waters and nutrients of trust
Leader: May God break the stone away when my heart is cold
Response: May the Lord warm my mind so that I may accurately discern
Leader: When my heart is lost and my mind is cluttered, may the Lord Lead me on the way
Response: May the Lord remind me be good soil
(adpted from CCLI Song # 806698)
Leader: Join me in the prayer of Jesus,
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Lynn/Team
I Will Never Be CCLI Song # 1874911
Verse 1
I will never be the same again
I can never return
I’ve closed the door
I will walk the path
I will run the race
And I will never be the same again
Chorus
Fall like fire soak like rain
Flow like mighty waters
Again and again
Sweep away the darkness
Burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn
To glorify Your name
Verse 2
There are higher heights
There are deeper seas
Whatever You need to do
Lord do it in me
And the glory of God fills my life
And I will never be the same again
Show Me Your Ways CCLI # 1675024
Verse
Show me Your ways
That I may walk with You
Show me Your ways
I put my hope in You
Chorus
The cry of my heart
Is to love You more
To live with the touch
Of Your hand
Stronger each day
Show me Your ways
Passage (Slides) Mitch
As Jesus was beside the sea he began to teach. The listeners were such a huge crowd around him that Jesus finally had to get into a boat and speak to them from there – Jesus was in the boat and the listeners were on the shore.
Jesus taught the crowd through parables: “Listen! A sower went out to seed his land. As he sowed he wanted to use all of his land so some seed fell on a path, and the birds came and ate it up.”
“Some seed fell on rocky ground where soil was very shallow, so the seed sprang up quickly. When the sun rose, the sprout was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away.”
“Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the seed out so there was no grain for harvest.”
“The fourth group of seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
Jesus said to the crowd, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”
When Jesus was alone with the twelve along and some others, they asked him about the parables. Jesus said, “You have been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables.”
As Jesus explained, he echoed the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; so that they may not turn back and be forgiven.’
Jesus asked, “If you do not understand this parable, then how will you understand all the other parables?”
So, Jesus began to explain, “The seeds that the sower sows are God’s word, God’s truth. The soil is you and the other listeners.”
“The seed that lands on the path is immediately taken away by Satan. The seed on rocky ground is quickly received with joy but these listeners have no roots, they persevere for only a while but when trouble or persecution arises they immediately fall away.”
“The seeds sowed among the thorns are those who hear the word, but as they carry the worries of life and succumb to the lure of wealth and the desire for other things, the truth is choked out and yields nothing.”
“Finally the seeds sown on the good soil are those who hear the word and respond by accepting it and bearing fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”
Mark 4:1-20
Message Rick
It sounds like the stuff that conspiracy theories are made – a hidden message that only a select few can understand, a secret that has kept a majority in the dark, a hidden truth that is designed to keep the masses entrenched in ignorance, a centuries old process that benefits the entitled while leaving most humans in the dark and missing true freedom. A conspiracy that is leaked only to an inner circle.
[Screen Share]
[Slide] ‘so they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; so that they may not turn back again and be forgiven’ (Mark 4:12)
These were Jesus’ words as he began to explain to this small inner circle after they asked what he meant when he told them the parable of the sower and the seed.
‘So they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; so that they may not turn again back and be forgiven’ (Mark 4:12)
Words that seem to blatantly admit to an intentional effort to keep the average person in the dark, at least I think this is what it would seem to be a concerted effort to the weathered conspiracy theorist.
[Slide] Jesus admittedly saying, ‘I’m here for people to see me but to not truly recognize who I am, to hear my words but to not fully understand the meanings, because, it they do fully see and it they do fully hear, then they will turn back to God, for the uptenth time and then they will, again for the umptenth time, be forgiven.’
This kind of echoes the attitude of the prophet Jonah who fought against going to the people of Ninevah because he knew that they too would turn back again to God.
And, to make the conspiracy even deeper, Jesus was not the first ‘holy’ person to make this statement. Centuries before, the prophet Isaiah, had not only said these same words, but God seems to exhibit more vitriol as he instructs the prophet Isaiah to go and speak to the people on behalf of God.
[Slide] God says to Isaiah “Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but you will not comprehend; keep looking, but will not understand.’ Isaiah, make their minds dull.
[Slide] Mute their ears, and, while you do that, shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes and not listen with their ears.
[Slide] Do this so they will not comprehend with their minds and especially turn to God and be healed.”
(Isaiah 6:9-10)
[End Screen Share]
However, this conspiracy does not meet the bar of truth because it does not match the words, and especially the life, of Jesus – It does not match the words of God. So, we have to consider, contemplate, and investigate what is meant.
So, what did Jesus mean, what did Isaiah mean, what did God mean, in this use of these cryptic words?
Let’s take a look at the element of the moment starting with the prophet Isaiah. We have looked at this many times. Isaiah was speaking to a people who, either them or their descendants, were going to experience being conquered by another nation, their holy city of Jerusalem would be decimated and their even holier temple would be destroyed. On top of this, they would be exiled, enslaved, and they would, for almost a century, experience a life feeling abandoned by God. Isaiah’s call was for them to repent, to turn back to God before it was too late. Sadly, in that date and time, the people were going to hear Isaiah’s words, but never fully digest their meaning. The ancestors of this people had repeatedly turned back to God in difficult and hopeless times – these were the ancestors who had again, turned away from God in good and successful times.
This was the generational DNA of these people. This turning away, turning back, and then again, turning away from God, was a human trait that had settled into their very being, a trait that they had, as well, settled into. So they listened to Isaiah’s word but did not hear the truth. The ultimate consequence was the only way they, and their descendants, would turn back to God for real, it would not be an all in mentality, a full heart and mind commitment, a full sacrifice. Only then would they recognize the reason and purpose for turning back, only then would they understand the act of turning back.
This is also why John the Baptizer so passionately said to the crowds coming to the waters of repentance, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? You will know what this baptism means when you bear fruits worthy of this repentance, when you quit saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’.” (Luke 3:7-8a)
Jesus knew what John had meant when he said those words, John knew what Isaiah had meant when he said God’s words, the inner circle was now learning what Jesus was saying as they digested his words, as they carefully began a life of checking the condition of their soil.
[Slide- Screen Share]
Modern theologian Roy Harrisville labels the parables in Mark four as containing the ‘messianic secret’. In this label, Harrisville is saying that Jesus’ uses the literary form of parables to hide the deeper meanings. Basically keeping the message a secret so that the people will not turn back to God too quickly and then turn away again. If you are thinking that this motivation seems harsh, I agree, however, in being human, and knowing humanity, as well as knowing myself, and the fact that sometimes I am not ready, and all of humanity is not always ready, to fully digest many truths – then understanding the ‘why’ of this secrecy, is a bit more understandable.
[End Screen Share]
Before we sink into Jesus’ explanation, let’s face our modern religious reality – a look must be considered as we contemplate ourselves. – Jesus, and Isaiah, and John, were aware and weary of the short lived emotional impact of a crowd in making decisions. The three were also fully aware of the impact of a larger than life charismatic speaker who can woo an audience, or individual, with a words said with the use of volume, sentences put together with a tone of confidence and self professed expertise, and with the help of a reputation heightened by public relations, significant endorsements, teamed with numbers and crowds. Think of our methods of evangelism – emotion, ‘celebrity experts’, mass enthusiasm, scary facts and possibilities, judgment and condemnation. All are fashioned to bring a quick ‘transformation’ in a person and a quicker decision that 95 plus percent of the time does not last the test of time or life. Think of church youth camps, revival meetings, worship and praise nights, and other times when the intended act of praise evolves into a mob mentality aimed at religious fervor that seldom has a lasting impact.
In order to help his inner circle to understand this parable, Jesus breaks it apart. He explains humanity to the humans in front of him, and in doing so he explains all of us to all of us. Jesus explains how God works in our lives by enlightening us about ourselves.
So, having been human long enough to recognize the negative impacts of quick decision and fickle emotions, Jesus tells a parable, a story. A story that involves a sower, which I will refer to as the farmer, the seed that is planted, and the soil into which the seed is planted. Jesus, along with the Spirit, is the farmer, truth/God’s word is the seed, and we are the soil.
Soil can be healthy and fertile, welcoming the seeds without hesitation or, soil can be corrupted, and therefore very infertile. Bad soil can be repaired, either by outside forces and by inside forces – however, either way, it is a lengthy process. It can sometimes take years, decades, or more to make soil once again fertile and healthy. Time, an extended time, a long time, we already know how we humans are about waiting, we are not always patient, we almost never want to wait…for anything to happen.
So, let’s talk about those soils that keep us from truly hearing.
A hardened path, a rocky corner, a weed and thorns infested strip. A soil too hardened to ever receive the seed, a soil so shallow that roots are impossible so the seed cannot survive, a collection of invasive prohibitors that kill the seed almost as soon as it, if it, reaches the soil.
[Slide – Screen Share]
Subtly, as Jesus talks about the crowds who do not understand the parables, and explains to his inner circle what the parable means, he is saying that the inner circle is really no different than the larger crowd…except for the fact that he is about to explain so they can self check and self correct the soil that is them, the inner circle.
[Slide] So, again subtly, Jesus’ explanation is a caution to us about our own soil as well as the dangers of soil corruption that and are still ignored thousands of years later among followers of Jesus thousands of years later.
[End Screen Share]
Basically here is the simple version of what Jesus is saying…
The hardened path is a totally closed mind, this is what Jesus speaks about later Jesus as he warns us not to harden our hearts to the Spirit. A hardened heart and mind, like the hard path, cannot receive truth. Truth is quickly brushed away when our mind is closed and our heart is set not to even listen to anything other than the hardened path we have set our course on. Ultimately, this path of closed minds hardens our heart and then turning back to God is genuinely impossible. Note: Having a hardened heart yet still being able to sound and look religious is a reality Isaiah called out. If you willingly consider God’s confrontation or correction you do not have a hardened heart but, you still need to watch those you listen to.
The shallow soil, the rocky soil, is that which can listen but not last. This is where emotional and pressured choices cannot last because we have no healthy soil left to support them. Biblical scholars say that even Paul was not permitted to speak or preach until ready.
The final corrupt soil is the weed and thorns. When we allow our soil to be tainted, or crowded by others, religious leaders, effective preachers and Bible teachers, politicians, and others we allow to have undue influence over us. When their teachings, politics, and other elements take us over, our truth becomes dependent on, or choked out by their persuasiveness, untruths, and passionate agendas. Their interpretations, doctrines, and agendas become our truth rather that the true words of God.
Let’s go back to the baptismal waters of John the Baptizer where he baptised for the forgiveness – he was not giving forgiveness as in forgiveness from God – instead he was offering them the freedom to listen and to hear – the freedom to check their own soil. The freedom to shed their bad soil so they could truly hear Jesus.
Checking our soil may be the most abandoned practice and focus, and therefore, the greatest threat to Christianity that exists today.
Music (Slides) Billy/Team
Show Me Your Ways CCLI # 1675024
Verse
Show me Your ways
That I may walk with You
Show me Your ways
I put my hope in You
Chorus
The cry of my heart
Is to love You more
To live with the touch
Of Your hand
Stronger each day
Show me Your ways
Community (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Next Sunday, 01.28.24, Mark 4:35-5:20, After the Shouting
[Slide] ‘In-Between’ Bible Study, ?Begins this Wednesday?, January 24, Wednesdays at noon, Mark 5:21-43.
Benediction (Slides) Rick
May the heavenly Father open our eyes and ears to truth. May we be teachable to the Spirit, willing to adapt to the life of Jesus, and available to hear confrontation from the father.
May we have a heart that is open and prepared to search for God in everything said and all that is done. May we have a mind that accepts truth even when truth is unpleasant or uncomfortable.
May we grow in grace, increase in knowledge, and strive for the understanding of Jesus Christ. May we leave here with a desire to know God and to live lives that reflect God.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
‘This Child’ and Prayer (No Slides for reading/Slides for prayer)Martha
Few understood, fewer still were able to see
Regardless, God had come to earth for all peoples
The new parents saw the oppression and misery outside the stable doors
However, at least for now, they focused on the child laying in the manger
Wondering what he would be, what would he do, what was ahead
A stranger made room for the birth to take place
Shepherds excitedly shared about the news from the angels
Wise men, from another land, brought unexpected gifts
At the temple, Anna and Simeon rejoiced at the sight of the boy
A world would hear, a world would be released, a world would learn to rejoice
Many would share his hunger and thirst for righteousness
From teachers he would consume all the knowledge they could share
His understanding of what it is to be poor and to mourn would grow
Gentleness and mercy would be evidenced through his life
He would see God’s breath in the pure of heart and those who sought peace
His empathy would be with those who were reviled, persecuted, defiled, slandered, defamed, and rejected
His joy would be contagious, and his life would teach us about God
This son, who was born in a stable, this son who was laid in a manger
This son, would turn the world upside down
This son, would show us how to live and walk with us as we become
This son, would do what we can not do for ourselves
This son, God’s sacrifice, would open our eyes to hope and peace
This son would understand our struggles, our failures, our frustrations, our traumas, our pain, our mourning, our fear, and our sadness,
This son would understand our celebrations, victories, happiness, and our joy.
This son would understand our humanness, this son would identified with humanity
This son, through his life and sacrifice, would show us how to live
Leader: Join me in the prayer of Jesus,
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Lynn/Team
Verse 1
You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ
Chorus 1
What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Verse 2
You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
My sin was great Your love was greater
What could separate us now
Chorus 2
What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Bridge
Death could not hold You
The veil tore before You
You silence the boast of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring
The praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again
Bridge
You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names
Chorus 3
What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Ending
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Verse 1
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling for you and for me
See on the portals He’s waiting and watching
Watching for you and for me
Chorus
Come home come home
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner come home
Verse 4
O for the wonderful love He has promised
Promised for you and for me
Tho we have sinned He has mercy and pardon
Pardon for you and for me
Chorus
Come home come home
Ye who are weary come home
Earnestly tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling O sinner come home
Passage (Slides) Mitch
After Jesus’ baptism and God’s affirmation, Jesus faced a time of testing. Then, Jesus and his new disciples traveled throughout Galilee proclaiming the good news. Along the way, Jesus healed many.
News traveled fast as Jesus returned to Capernaum. Many crowded into the house where Jesus was staying and soon there was no room inside or even outside. Everyone wanted to hear what Jesus had to say.
Four men who had heard about the miracles Jesus had done approached the house carrying their paralyzed friend hoping that Jesus would heal him. They could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, but they did not give up.
They climbed up and dug a hole through the layers of roof, and then lowered their friend and his mat to the floor right in front of Jesus. The crowd made room for the man and his mat as they watched what was happening.
When Jesus saw the faith of the man and his friends, that they all believed so strongly that Jesus could and would heal, and that their belief led to such innovative actions, Jesus said to the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.”
Some of the scribes who were sitting and watching what was taking place began questioning Jesus’ words, “Why does Jesus speak in this way? What he is saying is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Jesus perceived what they were thinking and said to them, “Why do you raise such questions? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, to say ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk’? “
Jesus looked at the religious leaders and said, “Okay, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” then, mid sentence, Jesus turned from the scribes to the man,“…I say to you, stand up, take your mat, and go to your home.”
The man stood up, grabbed his mat, and walked away for all to see, everyone was amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
Mark 2:1-12
Message Rick
Today we begin a look at Jesus’ journey of becoming as depicted in the gospel of Mark. The gospel writer, an associate of the apostles Paul and Peter, does not give us a first person account of Jesus – instead, the writer collected all the eyewitness’ accounts of Jesus and carefully pieced them together.
[Screen Share]
[Slide] The introductory sentence of the gospel is, “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet.” A statement of the purpose of Jesus – Messiah, the identification of Jesus, Son of God, and a rare tie in this gospel to the long awaited promise and prophecies of Jesus. It is the only personal statement by the author, basically everything else is the stories of others.
[Slide] Let’s break the book down. The first 8 chapters explain who Jesus is by using the testimony of others through their 1st person stories. This is not a book of theology but instead it is an account of Jesus, on which our theology, our understanding, must be grounded.
[Slide] In the middle 3 chapters, we see the connection of Jesus’ time in Galilee and his journey to, and time in, Jerusalem – it was during this time we see the disciples struggle into an understanding who Jesus is and what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah.
[Slide] The final 6 chapters, we see the journey of ‘becoming’ the Messianic King.
Mark is a book about the journey of becoming, Jesus’ becoming, his disciples’ becoming, and ultimately, our becoming. Becoming followers, becoming transformed, becoming the righteousness of God.
[Slide] The book of Mark was written primarily for a gentile audience. An audience that did not carry the traditions of Judaism, an audience that would be much more impacted by stories of Jesus’ life rather than religious arguments. This was not an audience seeking a critical analysis of Jesus’s teaching nor were they searching for prophetic proof – theirs was a journey of seeing with their minds. It does not begin with a genealogy or a nativity narrative, it starts with Jesus, Jesus coming up from John’s baptismal waters and then God’s voice to Jesus declaring “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
[End Screen Share]
In today’s passage, as we see Jesus’ pure delight when he witnesses the paralytic man and his friends pushing boundaries to make room while at the same time inspiring others to do the same.
The story of the man lowered from the roof, the man to whom Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” we traditionally give a large chunk or our focus to the scribes, to whom we would consider, the antagonists of the story. (It is interesting how, with repeated visits to a passage or story in the Bible we gain a different perspective). Antagonists who were, incidentally, only doing their jobs. They are silent during the actions of Jesus and the crowd, but once the actions become intertwined with theology, their theories and beliefs, the scribes object. Jesus’ turns their attention back to the actions by asking “Which is more difficult to say without repercussions -Is it to say ‘your sins are forgiven?’ or is it to say to the man, ‘Get up and walk?’ The man had not yet gotten up, the man had not yet proven that he was healed – which was easy and which was risky? The scribes, as they began listening only to the words, became blind to the miracles happening around them.
Making Room – Pushing boundaries
As we are coming out of the official season of Christmas, I continue to be struck by the fact that, apart from the miracles of the birth of Jesus and John, the first extraordinary action taken was by the man who had no room for Mary and Jesus but, he still made room for the couple. He made room. It was not an earth shaking action, it does not warrant much acknowledgement in the Bible, in fact to many, the home owner is a villain. But, it was significant, he made room, he provided a manger, a bed, for the newborn.
Sometimes the most impacting actions are those done for another without us ever knowing the impact the action makes.
Years ago I was being pushed along in huge crowd when I heard my name being yelled out. I looked over to the see the building custodian glued to the wall attempting to not be swallowed by the crowd. There was no way I could make it over to him so he began yelling to me who he was. As I remembered him, he began to tell me that my words, almost a decade before, had been a daily affirmation and encouragement to me ever since. The words he said I had offered to him in a time of misery, words which maybe, kind of, sounded like something I would say, but not completely. I yelled back, ‘Are you sure that was me?’ He responded without hesitation that it had been my words. For me it had obviously been a small act but for him it had been life impacting, at least for ten years.
This is why Jesus is so impressed with the actions of the friends of the paralyzed man, none were limited by the availability of space, they make their way in and, as they do this, the people in the room follow suit and make room on the ground in front of Jesus for the man and his mat. Make space. Are they annoyed by the intrusion or is this an ah-ha moment where they ask, ‘why didn’t we think of that?’
Let’s talk about the mat that was lowered with the man. A piece of woven fabric, which had been his place of comfort or even refuge where he was sat by his friends each day. It was his security, and the friends and the crowd made room for the man as we was, not a man who was no longer going to need this mat. There was no judgement, they all just made room.
Being lowered with his mat was a bit the same as the baptism of John. Folks would walk into the water with those things they had held onto. Things such as fear, resentment, immorality, grief, insecurity, and many other things that kept them from being ready to soon see and hear Jesus, things that kept them from life, thing they would often confuse with being life. John didn’t say, ‘Stop, you cannot bring that stuff into my clean and pure water, get rid of that thing before you step anywhere near me’, no he said, ‘Come on in.’ And then, the folks would walk out, no longer needing those things.
[Screen Share – 2 slides]
Jesus looked at the man and said, ‘Stand up and walk…take your mat but you are not going to need it.’
We have to release those things that distract or make us deaf to Jesus words and his life. Sin is not necessarily our bad actions, rather it is those things that we hold onto that keep us from accepting and listening, keep us from being open to making room for Jesus and others.
John clarified, especially for the religious leaders, that the things they held, to would be washed away including their unholy perspective of their own religiosity, their own interpretations of the law, their own forgetfulness that God said to love God and others – those things that closed their minds from seeing truth.
From the very beginning, Jesus’ ministry shatters boundaries. He eats with the unclean, heals on the Sabbath, touches lepers, and even claims divine authority to forgive sins. God’s invasion of this world in Jesus is resisted by those who hold power, those whose lives are dedicated to keeping boundaries intact. Yet for the leper who is cleansed, for the paralytic who is healed, for the sinner who is forgiven and welcomed to the table, God’s voice through Jesus life and words is welcomed as a mission of liberation, healing, and life.
[Slide] “Jesus may very well be attempting to break down boundaries that we are desperately trying to hold in place. Yet this boundary-smashing Jesus is our only hope of deliverance from all that holds us captive…The old boundaries cannot contain the new reality of eternal deliverance.”
(Elisabeth Johnson, Pastor)
[End Screen Share]
Jesus is not challenging an institution to change, he is challenging individuals, including the leaders, to let God transform us so that we can then change the world. Not grow an institution but to go health and freedom through love.
This week, the Eurasia Group, released its much anticipated World’s Top Risks for 2024 report, offering a stark assessment of the year as a geopolitical minefield characterized by three dominant conflicts: Russia vs. Ukraine, Israel vs. Hamas, and the United States vs. itself. They labeled ‘2024 – A Year of grave concern.’ Their number one of all risks is us, the United States, and our internal battle with ourselves. They cite ‘US most dysfunctional democratic nation – and the only wealthy democracy that cannot guarantee a free and fair legitimate transfer of power. Allies are concerned, foes see opportunity to sow division. Americans no longer trust government institutions, the media, and especially the church. Americans do not share the same understanding of facts.’
The church in America has had a part in this dismal reality, in a world that seems incapable of making space for one another. We ceased to care about making a holy impact on the ‘least of these.’
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!” The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference for that one!” The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
As we look at this new year ahead, a year that might the most tumultuous
of our life times – how can we save some starfish?
Music (Slides) Lynn/Team
Make Room
Verse
Here is where I lay it down
Every burden every crown
This is my surrender
This is my surrender
Here is where I lay it down
Every lie and every doubt
This is my surrender
Chorus
And I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
To do whatever you want to
And I will make room for you
To do whatever you want to
To do whatever you want to
Bridge
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
Break down the walls of all my religion
Your way is better
Your way is better
Ending
Here is where I lay it down
You are all I’m chasing now
This is my surrender
Community (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Next Sunday, 01.21.24, Mark 4:1-34, ‘Hearing’
[Slide] Weather Permitting – ‘In-Between’ Bible Study Begins this Wednesday, January 17, Wednesdays at noon, Mark 2:23-3:35. Evening sessions w/expressed interest. Location?
Benediction (Slides) Rick
We leave here into a world that has great concerns. An unclear future. A very blurred reality. We doubt, we hope, we fear, we rejoice, we reject, we embrace, we hate, we love.
We go into a world that God loves. A world to whom God gave the dearest sacrifice. A world whose hope lies in an empty grave. A world overcrowded, a world alone.
We walk into this world incapable while also being empowered. We walk with confidence, not in ourselves or others, but in the mighty God who also walked in this world.
We walk into this world to make a ripple of magnitude to just one, and, eventually to many. We walk.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
[Slide] Leader: May the peace of the Lord go with you.
12.31.23, 1st Sunday after Christmas Eve, Rooted in Ritual, Luke 2:21-38
Order
Pre Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
Songs Billy/Team
Father of Love
Hallelujah He Reigns
Participatory Response and Prayer Cricklins
Songs Billy/Team
Give Thanks
Draw Me Close
Passage/Lord’s Prayer Renee
Message Ritual Rick
Music Draw Me Close Billy/Team
Community/Benediction Rick
Closing Peace Rick
Music Jesus, Name Above All Names Billy/Team
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Open and Close
Music (slides) Team
Your LovingkindnessCCLI Song # 818174
Verse
Father of love
Lord of all creation
I will bless Your name
Forever and ever
I will declare
Your grace and Your mercy
And tell of Your unfailing love
Chorus
Your lovingkindness
Is good to all
Your wings of mercy
Lift me when I fall
Your lovingkindness
Meets my ev’ry need
You cleanse me from unrighteousness
And You give new life to me
Verse
Father of love
Lord of all creation
I will bless Your name
Forever and ever
I will declare
Your grace and Your mercy
And tell of Your unfailing love
Chorus
Your lovingkindness
Is good to all
Your wings of mercy
Lift me when I fall
Your lovingkindness
Meets my ev’ry need
You cleanse me from unrighteousness
And You give new life to me
Hallelujah He Reigns CCLI Song # 290455
Chorus
Hallelujah
He reigns in majesty
Hallelujah
He reigns in glory
Hallelujah
He reigns in righteousness
Oh hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah
Hallelujah
He reigns in righteousness
Oh hallelujah
Participatory Response and Prayer (Slides)Cricklins
Leader: Eight days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Bethlehem church to be baptized. Now in the heart of community, they held him while holding to the ritual of the Law.
Response: They brought him into God’s sanctuary.
Leader: Exhausted and bleary-eyed, these new parents were excited and overwhelmed. As Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into community, we also gather, bringing our prayers and praise into community.
Response: We bring exhausted prayers, bleary-eyed laments, and deep joy overflowing with gratitude.
Leader: We thank God for the backdrop of joy this season brings. We bring thanks for the candles and carols. We bring thanks for turning ordinary moments into holy reminders of God’s promise and sacrifice.
Response: In our abundance, may we also never forget the heartache carried by many.
Leader: 40 days after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple for the ritual purification of Mary and the blessing of Jesus. Holding to the Mosaic rituals – they found comfort and affirmation, they experienced connection with others.
Response: Jesus would identify with these, Jesus would be the sacrifice for these.
Leader: Like Mary and Joseph, in our weariness we seek to bring our best to lay before God, to bring hope and peace wrapped up in our swaddled joy. We come together so we can leave in awe and amazement, showing hope and peace to the world in which we live.
Response: Like Mary and Joseph, we strive to be a reflection of God’s light that pierces the darkness.
Leader: Join me in the prayer of Jesus,
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Music (slides) Billy/Team
Give ThanksCCLI Song # 20285
Chorus
Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ His Son
Verse
And now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us
Give Thanks
Draw Me CloseCCLI Song # 1459484
Verse
Draw me close to You never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend
You are my desire no one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way bring me back to You
Chorus
You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near
Ending
Help me know You are here
Passage (Slides) Renee
When the time came for Mary and Jesus’ purification according to the law, all three traveled to the temple at Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord – for the law states, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”.
They offered a required sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
There was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, and looking forward to the comfort of Israel, and, at that moment, the Holy Spirit rested on Jesus.
The Spirit had previously revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. Led by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple as Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the space. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying,
“God, you are dismissing me, your servant, in peace, according to your promise, my eyes have now seen your salvation, which you prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
Joseph and Mary were amazed at what Simeon said about Jesus. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and he will be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your soul, too.”
Also, there was also a prophet named Anna. She was 84 years old, and had been a widow for many decades. Anna never left the temple, worshiping through fasting and prayer night and day.
As she entered the building that day she saw the parents with Jesus and began to praise God speaking about the child to everyone who were also looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:21-38
Message Rick
How does a weary world rejoice? That has been our question during lent this year, a question that was possibly forgotten by the key figures in the birth of Jesus narrative. Forgotten because, after generations and generations of oppression and dismissal, those individuals along with most Isrealites had settled into the weariness just as their ancestors had gradually done. As I was preparing my end of year message my plan was to show pictures from the last year that defined our weariness. Pictures of brutal wars in other lands, trials of leaders and their followers who attempted to destroy democracy in our own land through words and physical brutality, destructive evidences of the effects of climate change in all of our lands, the rejection of entire populations of people around the globe and the rejection of women and other peoples in many denominations within our Christian faith, and an unwillingness in our nation to figure out how to figure out to work together to fix the root problems of immigration, 34rd world unimaginable living situations, homelessness, gun violence, and the dismissal of the inconvenient and people in our world that make us uncomfortable and fearful.
I think one picture sums up our weariness, – a picture of a Ukrainian soldier who has been killed in battle in which the Ukrainian forces lost an entire region to the Russians. As the Ukrainians retreated, there was no time to compassionately carry the body of this fallend young soldier and then the Russians chose to not show compassion for a fallen enemy. So, the body remained on a busy dirt road, slowly crushed as tanks and other vehicles drove over the lifeless body, until the body, a son, a father, a brother, a grandson, a husband, a friend, became a one dimensional layer in the dust. Fully identified as former human but also fully dismissed and disrespected in an inhumane moment of time.
This was the world to which Jesus was born into, a world where weariness had become the invisible reality of existence. This, is our world. The question is not just how do we rejoice, but‘what part can we play to change our world where rejoicing is possible in all moments’.
I chose not to begin with those pictures, you have surely seen enough of them over the past twelve months. Instead, I thought I would show you some picture of rejoicing that has taken place in the past twelve months.
[Screen Share through slides]
Here are some of those moments… (slides for each moment)
[Slide] Ukrainians celebrate Xmas on Dec 25, breaking w/Russian Church
[Slide] Girls play angels in Columbia Christmas procession. For nearly 200 years, the city’s Afro-Colombian residents have celebrated Christmas 40 days after the traditional date observing end of slavery.
[Slide] Although it doesn’t look like it, this is a celebration of 50 years of rap music.
[Slide] Over 70,000 Young women have participate in a program for adolescent mothers that has helped them stay in school.
[Slide] Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show fan favorite Striker the Samoyed, smiles for a picture after photographer gave up on tounge.
[Slide] Celebration of the end of Ramadan – Bangladeshi men nearly filling a whole block in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY.
[Slide] Midland Texas Chambelanes before a quinceañera in Midland, TX.
Incoming conductor Gustavo Dudamel leading the NY Philharmonic.
[Slide] Yusef Salaam on the night of winning a Harlem City Council seat 21 years after his wrongful conviction in the Central Park Five rape case had been overturned – he had spent 7 years in prison beginning when he was a15 years old.
[Slide] Gabbi Jones, after traveling from Michigan to LA for Taylor Swift concert on 13th birthday..
[Slide] Sophia Yoo with other students at the School of American Ballet, – training academy for the NY City Ballet. Sophia made her debut as an angel in “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.”
[Slide] Young teens frolicking on Yoff Beach in Dakar, Senegal- Projectection are that more than a third of the world’s young people will live in Africa by 2050. The implications of this “youthquake,” as some call it, are immense yet uncertain. Researchers are excited about a population that is getting ready to chang the world.”
[End Screen Share – next slides will be near the end]
Within the first two years following Jesus’ birth, he encountered an individual who found room for him when there was no room to be found; shepherds who crowded into the stable to see the child that angels had told them about while speaking over themselves to tell Mary and Joseph what the angels said; a Jewish Mohel who performed Jesus’ circumcision, a wholly unpleasant experience, which was the first act of shedding blood for his own people which would eventually be shed for all people; a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna, both of whom who had been waiting for Jesus for years; Wise men, pagans – non Jews, who had been searching for Jesus in the stars for decades; and a paranoid and controlling King who brutally acted impulsively on his own insecurities and fear.
How did Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ earthly parents, rejoice in the midst of their weariness, they rooted themselves in, and on, rituals. They took the steps they knew until God gave them a different path.
Columnist David Brooks writes: “Rituals provide comfort because they remind us we’re not alone. [We think to ourselves] ‘Billions of people have done this before as part of the timeless passages of life.’ Rituals comfort because they concretize spiritual experiences.”
While joy is not necessarily a prominent emotion named in the nativity story, we might imagine that Mary and Joseph are bolstered by the community that surrounds them as they name, circumcise, and dedicate their child. In these ritual acts, they are connected to their ancestors of the past, and those around them in the present. Through the words of the prophets Simeon and Anna, they are connected to those in the future. As they internalize the fullness of Jesus’ calling, they are not alone. Mary and Joseph, overwhelmed and out of place, do what they know to do, they follow the rituals of their parents, their ancestors, to take the next steps even when their situation is anything but a normal path.
Chad Fetzer, pastor of Newhaven Church in Lawton illustration.
On the way they received affirmations, the inn keeper made room because that was the ritual practice of his people. They listened in amazement as the shepherds excitedly repeated the words of the angels. These new parents took the child to the Jewish Mohel whose job was to circumcise the new child, shedding the same blood of identification with the Israelites which would later be the sacrificial act of blood that would deliver all people. They took the child to the temple to be blessed while Mary was purified and in doing so God had an old man named Simeon and a elderly widow to give the parents of Jesus moments of awe which would carry them through the coming backdrops of pain and misery.
Mary, Joseph, and Jesus lived in a weary world that would only become more exhausting and disappointing. Their world, the promised land, had been oppressed by brutal powerful nations. At Jesus birth Israel was ruled by Rome. Seventy years after Jesus birth, following a short rebellion of a small group of Jews, Rome became more and more brutal, the temple was destroyed and most of the Isrealites fled the promised land which was the beginning of the ‘2,000 year diaspora’. The people of Abraham’s promise became a scattered and disconnected people. These people of the land of promise became refugees and immigrants unwanted and mistreated. This people who were awaiting the promised blessing missed that blessing which was absorbed into a backdrop of pain and misery.
We live in a weary world, different but still weary. Few of us know and understand their oppression and mistreatment but we are weary nonetheless. We too step forward in the only ways we know how, reminding ourselves of the rituals of hospitality and compassion, we remember our faith rituals, we still gather on a regular basis, we still pray for each other, we still rejoice in the light given to others, we partake of the bread and wine that remind us of the empty grave. We step forward watching for God’s signposts along the way. All the while keeping our focus on becoming the righteousness of Jesus.
[Screen Share]
Nathan Clark George writes,
[Slide] What wonder filled the starry night when Jesus came with heralds bright!
[Slide] I marvel at His lowly birth, that God for sinners stooped to earth.
[Slide] His splendor laid aside for me, while angels hailed His Deity.
[Slide] Shepherds on their knees in fright fell down in wonder at the sight.
[Slide] The child who is the Way, the Truth, who pleased His Father in His youth.
[Slide] Through all His days the Law obeyed, yet for its curse His life He paid.
[Slide] What drops of grief fell on the site where Jesus wrestled through the night.
[Slide] Then, for transgressions not His own, He bore my cross and guilt alone.
[Slide] What glorious Life arose that day when Jesus took death’s sting away!
[Slide] God’s children raised to life and light, to serve Him by His grace and might.
[Slide] One day the angel hosts will sing, “Triumphant Jesus, King of kings!”
[Slide] Eternal praise we’ll shout to Him when Christ in splendor comes again!
(Nathan Clark George, Rise and Worship)
[End Screen Share]
Prayer (Rick)
God, we know that it is not enough to hear once a month, or possibly only once a year, that we are forgiven. We need to hear it every single week. Every single day we need to be reminded that we are held in Your loving embrace. God, show us those rituals, those objects and memories that serve to constantly remind us of your embrace, sacrifice, and compassion. May we regularly remind ourself of this good news: no matter where we are on our journey of life, love, and faith, and no matter what we have done or left undone, we belong to you. We are claimed. We are known. We are forgiven. We are loved. This is the good news you have given to us. Thanks be to you O God. Amen.
Music (Slides) Billy/Team
Draw Me CloseCCLI Song # 1459484
Verse
Draw me close to You never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend
You are my desire no one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way bring me back to You
Chorus
You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near
Ending
Help me know You are here
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, 01.07.24 @ 10:30, Baptism of the Lord, How does a weary world rejoice? We trust our belovedness, Luke 3:21-22 (Jesus is baptized and beloved) Devo books still available today, final week.
Weariness and Joy tree
‘In-Between’ Bible Study beginning January 10, Wednesdays at noon (Tuesdays during Lent). Evening BS if enough interest expressed. Covering passage in-between Sunday passages.
Benediction (Slides) Rick
When our world turns upside down or when the road ahead is unclear, we return to those moments where we saw God’s hands at work in and around us. Moments of ritual, moments of declaration, moments of evidence. Moments which, even though they may have been short were nonetheless real. God was present, God is present.
We come to the sanctuary whatever, and wherever, that is. We gather for connections, for encouragement and comfort. We break bread together at the table. We witness the symbolic, yet very real expression of our hearts and minds, at the pouring of water, the stepping into the stream, letting the flow remove our filth of rejection.
We gather and greet one another as family. And we listen to God’s truth, God’s Word. We pray, silently and vocally, in isolation and in the midst of each other, in gratitude and desperation. We meet in our rituals that anchor us and remind us of our hope.
As we go from here we listen for God, we listen to God. We draw near to God, we draw near to each other. We take of light to the world that God loves, we return to those who God lovingly created.
We go in the Father’s sacrifice, we go in the life and death and life of the Son, we go guided by the power of the Spirit.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
Leader: May the hope, peace, joy, and love of the Lord go with you.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the hope, peace, joy, and love of the Lord.
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Instrumental Christmas Jazz Mix Playlist
Opening Video
Christmas Stories Video
Lighting of Advent Candles/Participatory Reading Cricklins
Leader: In this Advent season, we light the candle of hope. We light it for all who feel hopeless. We pray that this light shines bright for prisoners, and for patients, for those struggling with debt, for refugees waiting for a safe place to rest, and for relationships that seem to have no clear way forward. Tonight, we light this candle for the hopeless.
Response: May God’s hope find them now.
(Light Candle)
Leader: In this season, we light the candle of peace. We light the candle of peace for all who find themself in chaos and in need of peace. May this light shine bright for the anxious and unsettled—for those in seasons of transition and discernment, for those who struggle with mental health, and for those navigating rocky, new beginnings.
Response: May God’s peace find them now.
Leader: In this season, we light the candle of joy. We light it for those unable to hold onto because their joy has been absorbed by a negative backdrop. May this light shine for those who are overburdened, overstretched, worn out, and worn down. May this candle shine for those who need a good laugh, or the relief of contentment, even in seasons of grief.
Response: May God’s joy find them now.
(Light Candle)
Leader: In this season, we light the candle of love for those who need it. May this light shine for loved ones lost, for love that has been betrayed, for love that has been neglected or forgotten, and for all who long for love and find themselves lonely.
Response: May God’s love find them now.
(Light Candle)
Leader: Thanks be to God.
Response: Thanks be to God
Music (slides) Team
Light of the Stable CCLI Song # 1914616
Verse 1
Hail hail to the newborn King
Let our voices sing Him our praises
Hail hail to the guiding light
That brought us tonight to our Savior
Chorus
Halle hallelujah halle hallelujah
Halle hallelujah halle hallelujah
Verse 2
Come now where it shines so bright
To the knowing light of the stable
Kneel close to the Child so dear
Cast aside your fear and be thankful
Chorus
Halle hallelujah halle hallelujah
Halle hallelujah halle hallelujah
Angels we have Heard on High
CCLI Song # 27721
Verse 1
Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o’er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Chorus
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Verse 2
Shepherds why this jubilee
Why your joyous strains prolong
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heav’nly song
Chorus
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Verse 3
Come to Bethlehem and see
Christ whose birth the angels sing
Come adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord the newborn King
Chorus
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Verse 4
See Him in a manger laid
Whom the choirs of angels praise
Mary Joseph lend your aid
While our hearts in love we raise
Chorus
Gloria, In excelsis Deo
Gloria, In excelsis De
Passage/Christ Candle Lighting (Slides) Mitch
A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. All went to their own home towns to be registered. Joseph went with his fiance Mary to be registered.
Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth of Galilee to Bethlehem, the city of David, because Joseph was a descendant of David. Mary was expecting a child and while they were there the child was born.
Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a stable, because there was no other place to stay in Bethlehem.
In the fields that night, there were shepherds keeping watch over their flocks. An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and the shepherds were terrified.
The angel said, “Do not be afraid, for I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,the Lord. You will find the child wrapped in bands of cloth laying in the stable.”
Suddenly, with the angel was a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God shouting, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all people!”
When the angels left, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So, they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger.
The Shepherds told Mary and Joseph what the angels had told them about the child, and everyone was amazed. Mary was in awe as she treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
The shepherds returned to their fields, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them. (Luke 2:1-20)
(Light the Christ candle)
Music (Slides) Team
O Come O Come EmmanuelCCLI Song # 31982
Verse 1
O come O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Verse 2
O come Thou Dayspring come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Verse 3
O come Thou Wisdom from on high
And order all things far and nigh
To us the path of knowledge show
And cause us in her ways to go
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Verse 4
O come Desire of nations bind
All peoples in one heart and mind
Bid envy strife and quarrels cease
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem CCLI Song # 27879
Verse 1
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
Verse 2
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep
The angels keep their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And peace to men on earth
Verse 3
How silently how silently
The wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive Him still
The dear Christ enters in
Verse 5
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
Devotional Rick
[Slide] On September 1, 1939, 2 days before a declaration of war, and over a year before the 3rd Reight would begin its campaign of dropping bombs on the densely populated areas of Britain, a proactive effort to protect the vulnerable British populations began its first wave. On that Friday school teachers, local authority officials, railway staff, and 17,000 members of the Women’s Voluntary Service made room in their lives as they began loading what would eventually become millions of children on to trains to go live with other families they did not know in rural areas were the threats of attacks were less likely. Tearful parents, as they loaded their babies on the trains made room for their grief as they allowed their children a path to safety. Farm families across the rural areas made room for this new temporary family member. Making room was a sacrifice for all. Those that developed the strategy, those who were the hands and feet of getting the children safely to their new homes, all made room in their lives to aid in the thankless process. Stories told by families that took the children in as well as the children themselves document the room that had to be made for the interruption in their lives. Rural families were surprised, and sometimes horrified, by the parenting methods and of the city parents and subsequent behavior of many of the children , while the children were often shocked by the work and diets of the rural families – they especially did not understand all the vegetables they were served. Room was made, sacrifice was required, lives were changed forever. [End Screen Share]
Opposed to the manner in which we usually interpret the nativity story, the birth narrative is actually a story of making room. While we often blame a fabled hostile Inn Keeper for refusing to serve Mary and Joseph. A business owner who put profits over compassion, a man, how in reality did not exist, nor did his Inn. Money did not rule the culture and customs of the day, instead, sacrificial hospitality did. The citizens of towns would take in travelers who showed up in their town square. The community would make room, the community was expected to make room, for strangers. On this particular evening, Bethlehem would have been a busy place as the registration was taking place. Most likely, everyone had made all the room they possibly could, all the space was filled with travelers, in some households the owners had probably even given up their own beds for these strangers. So, as everyone had made room, this one person realized that he still had the stable filled with his animals, however, there was a little bit of room left there so he graciously offered to make this remaining room available to this man and his pregnant fiance.
And there, in that stable, possibly surrounded by smelly animals, a place made available because a homeowner made room, here, Mary and Joseph officially made room for this child, the Son of God, in their lives. And, it was here, in this borrowed space, that there was enough space for joy.
How does a weary world rejoice? We make room.
We make room. God makes room. The angels tell the shepherds, and they make room. There’s always room. There’s always more space. There’s always plenty of good room, just choose your seat and sit down. Where we find the lack of hospitality is where we find the lack of joy. The Rev. Dr. James Foster Reese once said, “We are better together.” Joseph and Mary were given the opportunity to be together even in a space that screamed, ‘there is not enough room!’ The shepherds went to Bethlehem to see this thing that had taken place, causing them to be together with the holy family. Not only did the shepherds come and witness this thing, but they also left telling everyone by glorifying and praising God, giving society a chance to be together. Our task during this Christmas season is to make room in the same manner. We need to acknowledge that the world is weary from grief, war, a pandemic, political strife, personal and corporate failings, and the list continues. Although these weary acts take place, our rejoicing happens when we encounter life together, in connections. When we seemingly interpret, or alter the story, to make room are also making space for collective moments of rejoicing. For no one knows the day nor the hour of the second Advent, so let’s not lean on our own understanding but in all our ways trust God to direct our paths—offering God our best by making room in a world that is most accustomed to protecting our space. The room we make will allow a weary world to rejoice.
Adapted from the writings of Rev. Cecelia D. Armstrong
Christ is born in a crowded, unlikely place. And yet, God makes a place there anyway. God draws the circle wider as shepherds and unexpected guests arrive. This Christmas, let us also make room—for strangers and neighbors alike. For this is good news of great joy for all people.
Jesus’ birth is a story about God making room for great joy to break beyond boundaries, for awe to push past the limits of our imaginations, for welcome to be extended to shepherds and strangers. This is a story about how God makes room.How can you make room for joy? How can you make room for God to accompany you through whatever this season brings?
Let us shine the light that can pierce the darkness in a weary world.
Music (Slides) Billy/Team
Away In A Manger CCLI Song # 38583
Verse 1
Away in a manger no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay
Verse 2
The cattle are lowing the Baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes
I love Thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle ’til morning is nigh
Verse 3
Be near me Lord Jesus I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, Christmas Eve 12.31.23 @ 10:30, Christmas Eve, How does a weary world rejoice? We root ourselves Luke 2:21-38 (Jesus is circumcised & presented in the temple). Devo books still available today.
Weariness and Joy tree
‘In-Between’ Bible Study beginning January 10, Wednesdays at noon (Tuesdays during Lent). Evening BS if enough interest expressed. Covering passage in-between Sunday passages.
Benediction (Slides) Rick
Gathered and connected, family of faith, as we leave this place, we go into a weary world. Our weariness does not have to stop us from rejoicing, it does not have to stop us from helping others rejoice – it does not stop us from allowing the hope of the stable to free us to rejoice.
May we speak tenderly to the hurts of those we encounter, may we do the good that is ours to do. May we choose to connect even in the darkness we will encounter. We hold onto hope, always remembering that Christ took on flesh for us. We are God’s beloved, the world out there is God’s beloved.
So, we go rejoicing because we need it. We go spreading peace because the world needs it. We go in joy, because the child born in the stable has given it.
Making Room/Lighting of Congregational Candles (Slides) Renee
The world may feel like one long stretch of night, like an endless winter, or a hovering rain cloud. And life may feel like walking into the wind, an uphill climb in every direction, but we can still open the door.
We can’t calm every storm, but we can turn on the porch lights. We can add chairs to the table. We can keep clean sheets on the guest bed, just in case.
We can hold the elevator, and know others. We can tell stories of belonging,
and take turns listening.
We can learn each other’s names, and plant trees for the children. We can study privilege and advocate for mental health. We can insist, every single day, in a million different ways that there is room, there is room at the table, there is room for all here.
We can’t calm every storm, but we can turn on the porch lights. We can spread the light to others.
(light first candle on each side as music begins)
Music
Silent Night CCLI Song # 4629513
Verse 1
Silent night holy night
All is calm I’m singin’ all is bright
‘Round yon virgin mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Oh sleep in heavenly peace
Verse 2
Silent night holy night
Shepherds quake oh at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
Verse 3
Silent night holy night
Son of God oh love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord at Thy birth
Jesus Lord at Thy birth
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick (as Candles are lit and held)
Leader: May the hope and peace of the light that glowed from the stable go with you, releasing you to rejoice, as you go into our weary world.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the hopeful glow of the child that was born for you.
Music Joy To The World CCLI Song # 7100235 Billy/Team
12.17.23, Advent 4 – Love, Songs of Hope, Luke 1:46-55, 67-80
Order
Pre Worship Music – Spotify – Advent 2023 Playlist
Opening Song (Video)
A Weary World Rejoices Video
Call To Worship/Participatory Reading Rick
Call to Worship – Songs Team
O Come O Come Emmanuel
O Come All Ye Faithful
PassageReading & Candle Lighting (Love candle) Dave
Songs Team
Away in a Manger
Silent Night
Prayers for a Weary World & Jesus’ PrayerMartha
Message Songs of Hope Rick
Music ? Team
Community/Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Advent 2023 Playlist
Opening Song
A Weary World Rejoices Video
Call To Worship/Participatory Reading Rick
Leader: How does a weary world rejoice? We sing songs of hope, allowing hope to change us, to strengthen us. We tell the stories of what could be.
Response: We listen for God’s word, we choose to resist the temptation to give up or give in.
Leader: We acknowledge our weariness and gather together to worship, to connect, to allow others to help us carry our burdens, to allow ourselves to help carry their burdens.
Response: We hope, against all odds, we hope.
Leader: We remember Mary’s words of rejoicing in weariness, “My soul magnifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, he has looked with favor on my lowly state.
Response: “The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Leader: Even in Mary’s weariness she continued to recognize that God’s mercy is for all who fear him from generation to generation.
Response: Mary sung of God’s strength and how he scatters the proud.
Leader: Voiced in a time of oppression and misery, Mary proclaimed that ‘God has brought down the powerful and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things.’
Response: Mary sang, ‘God is merciful, and remembers his promises.’
Leader: In the midst of our weariness may we rejoice. In the midst of this day that the Lord has made may we hope.
Reponse: On this day, as we gather, we worship our holy God.
Music (slides) Team
O Come O Come Emmanuel CCLI Song # 31982
Verse 1
O come O come Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Verse 2
O come Thou Dayspring come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Chorus
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
Rejoice rejoice Emmanuel
Shall come to thee O Israel
CCLI Song # 31982
O Come All Ye Faithful CCLI Song # 31054
Verse 1
O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of angels
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 2
Sing choirs of angels
Sing in exultation
O sing all ye bright
Hosts of heav’n above
Glory to God all
Glory in the highest
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 3
Yea Lord we greet Thee
Born this happy morning
Jesus to Thee be all glory giv’n
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
CCLI Song # 31054
Passage/Candle Lighting (Slides) Dave
John’s father, Zechariah, prophesied: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed us.”
“God has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of David, as God promised through the prophets that we would be saved from our enemies and from all who hate us.”
“God has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors and remembered the oath he swore to our ancestor Abraham, that we will serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness in God’s presence all our days.”
Then, Zechariah turned the prophecy towards his son John, “You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.”
“Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Luke 1:67-80
Light 4th candle
Music (Slides) Team
Away In A Manger CCLI Song # 38583
Verse 1
Away in a manger no crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay
Verse 2
The cattle are lowing the Baby awakes
But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes
I love Thee Lord Jesus look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle ’til morning is nigh
Verse 3
Be near me Lord Jesus I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever and love me I pray
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there
CCLI Song # 38583
Silent Night CCLI Song # 27862
Verse 1
Silent night holy night
All is calm all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Verse 2
Silent night holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heav’nly hosts sing alleluia
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
Verse 3
Silent night holy night
Son of God love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With the dawn of redeeming grace
Jesus Lord at Thy birth
Jesus Lord at Thy birth
Verse 4
Silent night holy night
Wondrous star lend thy light
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
Prayer (Slides) Martha
[Slide – Prayer Title slide through prayer until the Lord’s prayer]
Please join me in prayer.
God of yesterday, today and tomorrow, you are here, present with us as we pray. You hear our words, you listen to our hearts. Along with all of creation, we acknowledge we are a people who are weary. We are a people that need each other, a people who desperately need you.
We experience Zechariah’s song of the future and Mary’s song of the now. Words of rescue, redemption, and salvation – words of blessing, goodness, and protest. Words of hope, peace, joy, and love.
Holy God, we sing our own songs. Songs of the beauty that stands against the backdrop of landfills and battlefields. Songs of the hope of the empty tomb and the faithfulness or your Son we were yet unfaithful. Songs that come from Awe and Amazement.
May our songs name the moments of our genuine reflection of you as experienced in your Son. May we too call out injustice, lift up the poor and hungry, be a comfort to our sick and aching world.
God, may our lives reflect you.
God, with those in this room, and those online, we pray the words that your son taught us to pray:
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Message Rick
[Slide – Leave slide up until noted]
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast’ning rod felt in the days when hope unborn had died. …
[Slide] Out from the gloomy past till now we stand at last where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
[Slide] Lift ev’ry voice and sing till earth and heaven ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
[Slide] Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us….
(CCLI Song # 7071034)
[End Screen Share]
These words in song were first performed on February 12, 1900 by 500 school children at the Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida in recognition of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Words written by their principal, James Weldon Johnson to make a statement against racism and Jim Crow laws. Words meant to confront the rise of the Klan and the lynchings of black men and women. The song became an anthem always reminding the singers to not give into this evil..
How did James Weldon Johnson express his concerns and hope, he along with 500 of his students sang. How does a weary world rejoice? They sing. How do we rejoice when we are weary? We sing.
Songs are powerful. They can be sung with instruments and they can even be sung without instruments where the words carry the total weight of the message. Songs can take us back to a moment in our past, they can cement a moment in our hearts, they can confront us and encourage us. It is possible that words are most powerful when said in song. Just a few notes played at the end of a game over here at the stadium will bring the faithful to sing of their loyalty to their school. In Stillwater, a simple rhythmic musical beat will have arms waving over heads like wheat blowing in the fields. Our Star Spangled Banner reverently reminds of the sacrifice and pain that gave us our freedoms in which we live today.
In 1924 the first radio was installed in a car for $130 which was pretty significant considering that the car itself cost $540. Having that built in radio gave us, a century later, the ability to drive while not forgetting that Taylor Swift is never, never ever, going to go back to her boyfriend and that, in this time of year, that Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer.
As soon as Zechariah’s voice returned his first spoken words were gratitude and blessing said through song. A song of praise for God’s protection and promise, a showering of blessing on his newborn son, a story of hope.
[Slide – Leave slide up until noted]
After Elizabeth proclaimed blessings upon Mary, the response of Mary was in song: “My soul magnifies God; my spirit rejoices in God.” She sang about the God of liberation who pulls the powerful from their thrones and lifts up the lowly. As with Zechariah, Mary’s was also a story of hope in which justice and joy are interwoven.
Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah were on a journey that, so far, was similar. They had all begun with weariness, a weariness that was centuries long. These three, along with all of Israelites, were an understandably weary people. In was a generational weariness passed down for over 500 years, or over fifteen generations, their people had ceased to be a people, they had, in the eyes of some, ceased to be human. They were ruled and oppressed by others and other nations. They were continually aware that their destinies were not their own, their property, possessions, place, and even their families, could be taken away at any minute.
The promise from God that had been given to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a promise of a land, a people, and a deliverer, was a very faded fantasy that few dared to imagine and fewer still had let go of any and all expectations. Their God was a seemingly absent God whose caring and compassion was found only in stories of their past. Few remembered God, and fewer still looked for any evidence of God. For generations they lived under a dark cloud. They knew of no reason to rejoice, hope, peace, and joy were all frivolous dreams. Generation after generation had settled into a state of weariness considering hope and peace as an untenable reality.
But Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah has been pulled into an alternate reality than that of their ancestors and peers. They had, for nine months, watched for and witnessed God’s work. They were in awe as they saw the hand of God work, they were amazed as the words of the angel Gabriel came to be.
As they increasingly looked for God’s works, they increasingly saw God. Places they had never looked before were the exact places they witnessed God at work. As they watched more fervently they saw with a greater focus. Their eyes and ears, and even their hearts and minds, became more and more open to expect God. So they sang a song.God made the impossible possible, was their anything that God could not, or would not, do – was there anything that God had already done but had not been seen because no one was looking for it..
Mary did not quit singing songs, she kept tiny notes in her heart, notes about the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon and Anna in the temple, notes that became a treasure, a treasure that became a very personal song treasured in her heart and sung silently in her mind. There would come a time when she could no longer see God’s working, singing the treasured songs would become more and more difficult, those moments of awe and amazement would risk being absorbed into an ugly backdrop.
In the days of the birth narrative, singing a story was much like keeping a diary. The song put the moments of amazement as well as those moments of despair, into their hearts and minds. Zechariah’s song became a reminder to those around of this significant moment. For Mary, her song was personal, it was a treasure, which would hold to Mary as she struggled to survive the weariness of her life and sustain her. It would be a song that served as a constant reminder of God’s eternal love and how he had used her in the expression of that love.
[Slide]
How Does a Weary World Rejoice?…We Sing. We sing a song of rejoicing even in the midst of weariness, a song proclaiming the goodness of God, a song that confronts the backdrops that attempt to keep us from seeing the glory. We sing, of our awe and amazement which we have allowed ourselves to see God. We have intentionally worked to see God rather than to have a sole focus on our own frustration, fear, exhaustion, resentment, unhappiness, selfishness, and anger.
[Slide]
How do We rejoice in the midst of weariness?
[Slide] We choose to admit, to confess our weariness. It is a step that takes courage and humility. It may be huge, or we may think it too small to notice – weariness is real and can impact us in an exhausting manner. Weariness stops us, it blinds us to hope and peace, it destroys our ability to live joyfully which inhibits us from rejoicing.
[Slide] We choose connections. We connect to others, we connect to God. We let God help us carry our burden, we let others help us carry our burden. We learn to d the same for them.
[Slide] We choose Joy. Even in the midst of all the elements that cause our weariness, factors that can steal our hope and steal our peace – we recognize the reality of weariness but also we see the good, the happiness, the contentment. We allow weariness and happiness and contentment to coexist. This is joy, making space for both in our lives and an intentionality that the landfills and battlefields of our lives are not going to keep us from seeing God at work.
[Slide] We choose to sing songs, songs that remind us of the awe and amazing moments seeing the hands and feet of God.
Songwriter Mark Stephen Gersmehl wrote.
[Slide] We are His hands, we are His feet, we are His people, children of the Lord. We share the hope, we share the dream, believers in Jesus, children of the King.
[Slide] His Spirit lives within us flowing like a river, filling us with strength, so that we can reach out for our brother and help one another.
[Slide] Some of us build, some are teachers, some can sing like angels but all of us can love like He loved pure and simple so warm and gentle.”
CCLI Song # 15283
[End Screen Share]
This is rejoicing, this is living in God’s Love – singing the songs for ourselves and for each other, this is our song being for each other. This is our song – loving each other just as God loves us.
Prayer
“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who hast brought us thus far on the way. Thou who hast by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places Our God where we met thee. Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee shadowed beneath Thy hand. May we forever stand true to our God, true to our native land.”
Amen.
(Lift Every Voice, CCLI Song # 7071034)
Music (Slides) Team
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
Verse 1
O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of angels
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 2
Sing choirs of angels
Sing in exultation
O sing all ye bright
Hosts of heav’n above
Glory to God all
Glory in the highest
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 3
Yea Lord we greet Thee
Born this happy morning
Jesus to Thee be all glory giv’n
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
CCLI Song # 31054
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, Christmas Eve 12.24.23 @ 4:40/5:00pm, Christmas Eve, How does a weary world rejoice? We make room Luke 2:1-20 (Nativity story) , candlelight service – Birth narrative. No morning worship next Sunday …Devo books still available today.
Budget discussion and affirmation today following morning worship
Weariness and Joy tree
‘In-Between’ Bible Study beginning January 10, Wednesdays at noon (Tuesdays during Lent). Evening BS if enough interest expressed. Covering passage in-between Sunday passages.
Benediction (Slides) Rick
As we leave this place may our first step out the door allow us to hear the song of God’s creation. As we notice the withering grass and the fading flowers, may Creation’s song remind us that God’s truth, God’s word, never fades and never withers, but instead, stands forever.
May our ears be open to hear, may our eyes be willing to see. May the backdrop of winter not be permitted to mute the song or distract us from the beauty of truth. Let us welcome the lyrics and allow the words to sink deep into the marrow of our bones. May the amazement stick with us as the songs seeps into our brains.
May we leave here with hopeful hearts, open hearts and minds, and an understanding that we are loved by God.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
Leader: May the Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love of the Lord go with you into our weary world.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love of the Lord as you go into your world.
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Advent 2023 Playlist
Music (slides) Lynn and Team
Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn)
Verse 1
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With th’angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Verse 2
Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail th’incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Verse 3
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy)
Verse 1
Joy to the world the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and heaven and nature sing
Verse 2
Joy to the world the Savior reigns
Let all their songs employ
While fields and floods rocks hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat repeat the sounding joy
Chorus
Joy unspeakable joy
An overflowing well
No tongue can tell
Joy unspeakable joy
It rises in my soul
Never lets me go
Verse 3
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love
And wonders of His love
And wonders wonders of His love
Chorus
Joy unspeakable joy
An overflowing well
No tongue can tell
Joy unspeakable joy
It rises in my soul
Never lets me go
Chorus
Joy unspeakable joy
An overflowing well
No tongue can tell
Joy unspeakable joy
It rises in my soul
Never lets me go
Passage/Candle Lighting (Slides) Beth
[Slide] Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months and then returned to her home.
[Slide] The time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she birthed a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
[Slide] On the eighth day after the birth, they came to witness the circumcision of the child, they expected the child to be named after his father Zechariah. But Elizabeth said, “No, he is to be named John.”
[Slide] The friends and relatives of Elizabeth and Zechariah were shocked and corrected Elizabeth saying, “None of your relatives are named John.”
[Slide] Elizabeth was resolute about the name so they turned to Zechariah thinking that he would intervene and stick with tradition.
[Slide] Zachariah, who had been silent ever since the Angel Gabriel told him about Ellizabeth’s pregnancy, asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed, they were in awe.
[Slide] Immediately Zechariah’s mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.
[Slide] Fear came over all their neighbors and relatives and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea.
[Slide] Everyone who heard about Elizabeth, Zechariah, as well as the birth and naming of John were in awe as they pondered the news asking, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord is with this child
Luke 1:56-66
[Slide] Today, on this Third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of JOY.
Light 3rd candle
Music (Slides) Lynn and Team
What A Beautiful Name
Verse 1
You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ
Chorus 1
What a beautiful Name it is
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a beautiful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a beautiful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Verse 2
You didn’t want heaven without us
So Jesus You brought heaven down
My sin was great Your love was greater
What could separate us now
Chorus 2
What a wonderful Name it is
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a wonderful Name it is
Nothing compares to this
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a wonderful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Bridge
Death could not hold You
The veil tore before You
You silence the boast of sin and grave
The heavens are roaring
The praise of Your glory
For You are raised to life again
Bridge
You have no rival
You have no equal
Now and forever God You reign
Yours is the kingdom
Yours is the glory
Yours is the Name above all names
Chorus 3
What a powerful Name it is
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus Christ my King
What a powerful Name it is
Nothing can stand against
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Ending
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
What a powerful Name it is
The Name of Jesus
Silent Night (Stille Nacht)
Verse 1
Silent night holy night
All is calm all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and Child
Holy Infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Verse 2
Silent night holy night
Shepherds quake at the sight
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heav’nly hosts sing alleluia
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
Verse 4
Silent night holy night
Wondrous star lend thy light
With the angels let us sing
Alleluia to our King
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born
Prayer (Slides) Martha
[Slide – Prayer Title slide through prayer until the Lord’s prayer]
You, O God, can part the sea, you can bring water from a rock, and you provide bread in the desert.
You, O God, can walk on water, you can heal the sick, and you can turn water into wine.
You, O God, set the stars in the sky, and still, you hear our voice when we cry for you are closer than our own breath.
There is nothing that You, O God, cannot do. May we stand in awe, may we worship You with wonder.
You, O God, are the God that loves this world and all who inhabit your creation. May this weary world experience your presence and your love.
We pray, O God, that your hope, peace, joy, and love will be experienced throughout this world and in the midst of all humanity.
God, with those in this room, and those online, we unite our voices in joy, praying the words that your son taught us to pray:
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Video Journey Collective
Message Rick
Pat Barrett and Tony Brown describe the Joy with these words,
“God, You give me joy down deep in my soul, I’ve never been so free, I’m caught in Your love for me, I’ve never been more secure knowing Your heart O Lord. Oh you haven’t seen me till you see me filled with joy. You haven’t known me till you know me filled with joy”
CCLI Song # 7036678 Pat Barrett & Tony Brown
How does a weary world rejoice?
We have seen that it begins with acknowledging our weariness and then connecting with others in a healthy way. Others who can help us carry our weariness when needed. This is what Jesus came to do for, and with, each of us – to help us, and others, carry our burden, carry their burden. That is what makes the crucifixion narrative so tragic, it was the moment connection was disconnected. Jesus had so diligently and faithfully helped with the weary burdens of his followers, but in the moment he needed them to do the same for him, even his inner circle abandoned Jesus, it was also in that moment that even God disconnected from Jesus. No one was able to carry or even assist Jesus with that burden, but herein lines the evidence of God’s grace – regardless of the fact that they abandoned Jesus, after the empty grave, Jesus resumed helping them carry the burdens, their weariness. His connectedness was not determined by their action or inaction. Jesus did not turn on humans and he did not turn on God.
Admitting weariness is not always simple. Weariness is not always recognizable, whether the weariness is huge or small and subtle. It can be weary students who are worn out from studying and taking tests, a laborer’s boredom and exhaustion of repeating the monotonous neverending tasks everyday. It can be an annoying friend, the death or terminal illness of a loved one.
It is easy to not acknowledge weariness because our human nature is to settle in and accept the state of weariness. We pride ourselves on being resilient, getting back up when we are knocked down. However, weariness can be an undiagnosed and neverending chronic state which, when unaddressed, can become a state that steals our joy.
The usual self-treatment of weariness is to ignore or deny it – we recklessly continue to push ourselves regardless of the mental and/or physical toll it takes.
However, sometimes we cannot just push through. Sometimes it is loss or grief, sometimes it is related to trauma, sometimes it is just the continual weight of our tasks and responsibilities which are seldom unnoticed or appreciated by others. Sometimes it is an overload of watching the pain and misery of our fellow human beings on the other side of the world.
Today’s candle is joy. Joy is not a remedy for weariness but it is a state of living, of being, that allows us to live in the midst of weariness.
Joy is an enigma, it is seemingly impossible to understand. Is it an emotion, is it an unrealistic state of being, is it genuinely possible in our weary reality?.
In scripture we are told to ‘REJOICE’, the birth narrative introduces us to the statement “JOY to the World.” We are encouraged to consider everything as JOY, we are told JOY is an outflow, a fruit, and evidence of the Spirit’s presence in our lives. We are told that JOY provides us refreshment and nourishment, it revives our soul. Scripture tells us that knowing God makes us JOYFULL.
There seems to be a constant call on us to Know and Grasp JOY. JOY is evidently the key to answering the question, ‘How do we rejoice in the midst of weariness?’
[Screen Share]
[Slide] Last Sunday I shared the definition of joy as voiced by Brene Brown – “Joy is the happiness of seeing a loved one standing in front of a beautiful waterfall.”
[SlideI I altered this definition a bit by changing the backdrop from a beautiful waterfall to a landfill or battlefield.
[Slide] This week I revisited this definition and made one more alteration. “Joy is the state of being when we can settle into a reality where there is happiness and contentment while, at the same time, there is also a backdrop of misery, dread, pain, and anxiety. Joy allows the two to coexist, it is a state where we can hold space for both, neither controls us.”
[Slide] Caution – Wonderful and beautiful backdrops are also dangerous if we settle in on an expectation that all of life’s backdrops have to be encouraging and unthreatening for us to be happy or content.
[End Screen Share]
The problem is that our human fleshly nature is not designed to live with happiness and weariness. We were designed to live in peace and love. Sin changed all of that so we now must choose to look for the beauty, looking for the small moments of amazement and awe.
We are exhausted, but we continue to choose to take care of a loved one in their final stages of life while cherishing the holy moments. We are worn out, but we choose to continue in our grief of the loss of a loved one while remembering the happy memories. We are defeated but we choose to go to work under a boss that is unbearable while we also choose to notice the beautiful flower that a coworker has just set on their desk. Joy is living with the backdrop while refusing to quit looking and seeing the gifts of contentment and happiness. Joy is pervasive, joy is sustaining. The fuel in Joy is choosing to look for moments of Awe – looking for the ‘amazing’ all around us that is easily missed when we are consumed by the backdrop.
After Elizabeth gives birth, her neighbors and family celebrate with her. They are then shocked when she ignores tradition and names the child John instead of after his father. When those rejoicing object to the name, Zechariah agrees with Mary. In that moment Zechariah affirms the promise given to their ancestors beginning with Abraham. Zechariah’s speech is restored. Everyone is filled with awe. Then, instead of focusing on the backdrop of the shocking name, they allow themself to be amazed at the unknown yet intentional and purposeful destiny of this young child. Wonder is all around — we choose to recognize wonder, it or we choose to allow the backdrop to hide it. Rejoicing in a weary world requires us to leave space for amazement and wonder.
Amazement is a balm for the weary. Awe comes when we ‘allow ourselves’ to be amazed, it is a precursor for joy. Joy can’t be faked or forced. When joy feels out of reach we must allow ourselves to look for and notice the wonders in each mundane day, wonders that we miss like the carefully-crafted bird’s nest, the deliberate steps of a toddler, the beams of sunlight refracting through your window. I’ve been finding daily awe recently in my backyard as red, yellow and brown leaves scatter themselves against the backdrop of our freshly cut fescue.
Allowing ourselves to be amazed requires a posture of paying attention—and then saying yes to wonder when it washes over us. Amazement awakens those who feel numb. It renews our senses when our senses have been dulled.
Like joy, amazement is a frequent motif throughout the beginning of Luke’s Gospel. The amazement of John’s birth, the shepherds’ good news, Mary and Joseph holding their newborn, Simeon’s blessing and Anna’s excitement in the temple. Each moment holds the option to be overwhelmed by a horrible background seeking to blind those who are taking notice.
[leave screen share up for this slide and the following 11 slides]
[Slide]“When Zechariah’s skepticism succumbs to the reality of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, he is swept up into awe, giving thanks.”
Sharon Salzberg, Author
[Slide] “Awe is the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends our understanding of the world. Awe is accessible to everyone and critical to our well-being. Awe can calm down our nervous system.”
Dr. Dacher Keltner, Psychologist, Author, ’Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder’
[Slide] In 1972 , Psychologists determined that there are six basic emotions — anger, surprise, disgust, enjoyment, fear and sadness.
[Slide] Later research added the emotion of awe but placed it in its own category. Our bodies respond differently when we are experiencing awe than when we are feeling happiness, contentment, or fear. We make a different sound, we show a different facial expression. Awe activates the vagal nerves, clusters of neurons in the spinal cord that regulate various bodily functions, and slows our heart rate, relieves digestion and deepens breathing.
Awe quiets negative self-talk by turning off our internal critical voice, the part of the cortex involved in how we perceive ourselves. One of the most reliable ways to experience awe is found in the simple act of witnessing the goodness of others.
[Slide] There is a dialogue in the book/movie/play ‘The Color Purple’ which provides a simple yet deep truth about living in Awe – “I think it makes God mad if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it…
[Slide] People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see God is always trying to please us back…
[Slide] God is always making little surprises and springing them on us when we least expect…
[Slide] God wants to be loved just like the Bible say. Everything want to be loved”
[Slide] Rabbi Abraham Heschel, writes, “Our goal in life should be to live in radical amazement, to get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal, everything is incredible, never treat life casually.”
[Slide] Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: “The Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.”
[Slide] The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, anything worthy of praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8-9
[End Screen Share]
Think on these things, Look for these things.
Prayer
O God, as we are swept up in the wonder of your grace, we bow our knees before you O God, the one from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We pray according to the riches of your glory that you may grant each of us to be strengthened in our inner being with power through the Spirit and that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith; that we being rooted and grounded in love we may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with the fullness of You.
Amen.
Music (Slides) Lynn and Team
Noel
Verse 1
Love incarnate love divine
Star and angels gave the sign
Bow to babe on bended knee
The Savior of humanity
Unto us a Child is born
He shall reign forevermore
Chorus
Noel Noel
Come and see what God has done
Noel Noel
The story of amazing love
The light of the world given for us
Noel
Verse 2
Son of God and Son of man
There before the world began
Born to suffer born to save
Born to raise us from the grave
Christ the everlasting Lord
He shall reign forevermore
Chorus
Noel Noel
Come and see what God has done
Noel Noel
The story of amazing love
The light of the world given for us
Noel
Chorus
Noel Noel
Come and see what God has done
Noel Noel
The story of amazing love
The light of the world given for us
Noel
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, 4th day of Advent 12.17.23 @ 10:30am, How does a weary world rejoice? We sing stories of hope, Luke1:46-55 (Magnificat) & Luke1:67-80 (Zechariah’s song) , candle – Love …Devo books still available today, Insert with Calendar for devotionals and other resources. If you worship with us online and would like a digital copy of our devotional book send Rick an email or request.
2024 Budgets available today. Budget discussion and affirmation next Sunday, December 17 following morning worship
Christmas Eve, December 24, 4:40pm/5:00pm, No morning worship that day
Weariness and Joy tree
Benediction (Slides) Rick
We leave this place as a people who believe in the God who knows our names, who counts the hairs on our heads, and who carries the dreams in our hearts.
We go out into the world as a people who believe that God’s fingerprints are all over creation, and that God is forever speaking to us in a million different ways.
We walk among a people loved by God, believing that awe and wonder,
goosebumps and laughter, telling stories and paying attention, are all ways that we can express our gratitude to the creating, sustaining, and loving God.
Therefore we leave this place committing ourselves to moving through this world with eyes wide open, with porous hearts, and with grateful spirits.
We commit ourselves to living lives of awe, wonder, and gratitude, trusting that these things will forever draw us deeper into God’s loving arms.
We believe. We stand in awe. We walk in amazement.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
Leader: May the Hope, Peace, & Joy of the Lord go with you into our weary world.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love of the Lord as you go into your world.
12.03.23, Advent 2 – Connection, Luke 1:24-45 & Psalm 80
Order
Pre Worship Music – Spotify – Advent 2023 Playlist
Call to Worship – Songs Sharon & Team
O Come All Ye Faithful
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Passage Reading & Candle Lighting Isaiah
Songs Sharon & Team
What Child Is This?
Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Prayers for a Weary World & Jesus’ PrayerMitch
Lord’s SupperRick
A Weary World Rejoices Video
[Start video as Rick picks up the first element, bread, of the Lord’s Supper]
Message Find Joy in Connection Rick
Music Let There Be Peace on Earth Sharon and Team
Community/Benediction/Closing Peace Rick
Post Worship Music – Spotify – Advent 2023 Playlist
Music (slides) Sharon and Team
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
CCLI Song # 31054
Verse 1
O come all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem
Come and behold Him
Born the King of angels
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 2
Sing choirs of angels
Sing in exultation
O sing all ye bright
Hosts of heav’n above
Glory to God all
Glory in the highest
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Verse 3
Yea Lord we greet Thee
Born this happy morning
Jesus to Thee be all glory giv’n
Word of the Father
Now in flesh appearing
Chorus
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
O come let us adore Him
Christ the Lord
Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn)
CCLI Song # 27738
Verse 1
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With th’angelic hosts proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Verse 2
Christ by highest heav’n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail th’incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus our Emmanuel
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Verse 3
Hail the heav’n-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Ris’n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Verse 4
Come Desire of nations come
Fix in us Thy humble home
Rise the woman’s conqu’ring seed
Bruise in us the serpent’s head
Adam’s likeness now efface
Stamp Thine image in its place
Second Adam from above
Reinstate us in Thy love
Hark the herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
Passage/Candle Lighting (Slides) Cricklins
[Slide] After those days Zecharia’s wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me in this time, when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”
[Slide] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
[Slide] The angel came to Mary and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Mary was perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
[Slide] The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.”
[Slide] “He 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
[Slide] Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
[Slide] The 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.”
[Slide] “Right 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. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
[Slide] 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.
[Slide] Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town where Zechariah and Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.
[Slide] And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”
[Slide] “For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Luke 1:24-45
[Slide] Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of PEACE
Music (Slides) Sharon and Team
What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
CCLI Song # 30983
Verse 1
What Child is this who laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet
While shepherds watch are keeping
This this is Christ the King
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing
Haste haste to bring Him laud
The Babe the Son of Mary
Verse 2
Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding
Good Christian fear for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading
Nails spear shall pierce Him through
The cross be borne for me for you
Hail hail the Word made flesh
The Babe the Son of Mary
Verse 3
So bring Him incense gold and myrrh
Come peasant king to own Him
The King of kings salvation brings
Let loving hearts enthrone Him
Raise raise the song on high
The Virgin sings her lullaby
Joy joy for Christ is born
The Babe the Son of Mary
‘Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus (Trust In Jesus)
CCLI Song # 22609
Verse 1
‘Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His word
Just to rest upon His promise
Just to know thus saith the Lord
Chorus
Jesus Jesus how I trust Him
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus Jesus precious Jesus
O for grace to trust Him more
Verse 2
O how sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to trust His cleansing blood
Just in simple faith to plunge me
‘Neath the healing cleansing flood
Chorus
Jesus Jesus how I trust Him
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus Jesus precious Jesus
O for grace to trust Him more
Verse 3
Yes ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus
Just from sin and self to cease
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest and joy and peace
Chorus
Jesus Jesus how I trust Him
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus Jesus precious Jesus
O for grace to trust Him more
Verse 4
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee
Precious Jesus Savior Friend
And I know that Thou art with me
Wilt be with me to the end
Chorus
Jesus Jesus how I trust Him
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus Jesus precious Jesus
O for grace to trust Him more
Prayer (Slides) Mitch
[Slide – Prayer Title slide through prayer until the Lord’s prayer]
Loving God, the source of our joy, we turn our hearts toward you. As we pray, we first ask that you bend down and whisper in our ears. We pray for a weary world even as we, ourselves, may also be weary. We acknowledge our weariness before you. We acknowledge that we permit our weariness to create callouses on our hearts – we ask that you would soften them. We ask that you will weave yourself into our weariness, and our joy, releasing both to coexist in our lives. We pray the same plea for those suffering around our world as well as those living next door to us. And as you do this, like flowers toward the sun, we will turn ourselves toward you, eager to hear your voice so true that we cannot help but ask ourselves, “How can this be?”
God, with those in this room, and those online, together we unite our voices in hope, praying the words your son taught us to pray, saying together:
[Slides] 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 trespasses, while we forgive those who trespass against us. And, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Lord’s Supper Rick and Video
Zechariah lost his voice, Elizabeth escaped the judgment of other to isolating herself, Mary presumed the worst – they were all alone even when a world was all around them. A world with voices, community, and relationships, was outside, these three were alone and quiet, speaking only to an angel. Sinking into a pit of weariness, a weight that had only recently become much more to bear, needing a rescue but unaware the their rescue would take place in the presence of each other.
[Pass out elements, and partake, as video plays.]
Message (Slides) Rick
Ben Shive & Elizabeth Holcomb write…
After the silence of waiting so long we hear a baby’s first cry. Into our midnight a heavenly song whispers that hope is alive. Oh joy to the world on this holy night, sing with the angels that fill up the sky. Heaven broke through and now hope is alive. He is right here among us, our God is with us tonight and hope is alive.
In an old stable beneath the bright stars a young mother is holding her son. Oh the beauty of feeling the beat of God’s heart that tells us that we’re not alone. Our Emmanuel has come.
Into our aching, into our breaking, into our longing to be made whole, God’s arms are reaching, His love is holding us close. Into our suffering, into our weeping, into this need we have to be known, God’s arms are reaching, His love is holding us close.
Oh joy to the world on this holy night, sing with the angels that fill up the sky. Heaven broke through and now hope is alive. He is right here among us, our God is with us tonight and hope is alive.
This advent season we are asking the question, ‘How does a weary world rejoice? Rejoice…Joy…
Joy, the impetus of rejoicing, is a conundrum, especially in reference to the biblical birth narrative. ‘Joy to the world!’ Joy is sometimes a tough thing to define when the circumstances seldom match up to most any definition we give to the concept of joy and rejoicing. Actually, the Christmas story itself is not really conducive to our preferred definitions of joy.
Social Scientist Brene Brown defines joy in an interesting way. “Joy is a brief state of intense happiness.” Brown believes that joy stems from a feeling, or a sense, of deep connection and appreciation, and that it has a spiritual aspect—a sense of experiencing something greater or more powerful than ourselves. “Joy can occur in response to a person, an environment, or an experience—for example, seeing someone you love, standing by a beautiful waterfall.”
[Slide – leave screen share, latest slide, up until noted to stop share]]
I think I mostly agree with Brown’s definition, but, to make it more identifiable to our lives, as well as to the lives of the characters in the Nativity narrative, I would make one change…Instead of ‘seeing someone you love in front of a beautiful waterfall’ I would alter it to ‘seeing someone you love in front of a landfill, or a battlefield.’ A moment of joy but with the backdrop of the reality of your own reality. A moment in which we have the choice to attempt to force our focus on just one of the two things, or, an acceptance of both, together. Joy is not one or the other. Joy enables us to take it all in together.
[Slide]
Joy is the ability to coexist with happiness and weariness.
So, we face the choice to allow the two to coexist or we choose to take an unhealthy path attempting to retreat into a state of isolation, of denial. Like a monk attempting to withdraw into a monastery, or a religious institution maneuvering to control the politics, opinions, and behaviors of their external community. The best visual is a race horse that has side blinders on to keep him from looking at anything other than the lines of the race track. An attempt to force humans to wear blinders usually ends with paranoia and shameful secrets becoming the foundational core of our existence.
The Christ centered alternative is to acknowledge that weariness and joy do, in fact, coexist and that our attempts to deny this truth leave us sequestered in a fortress which we soon realize has become a prison.
[Slide] Last Sunday we lit the first candle, the candle of Hope. Lasting and persevering hope is only possible when our focus of our hope is not always standing in front of a waterfall but, instead, sometimes in front of the landfill. The savior in a manger, surrounded by smelly animals while an oppressive emperor and paranoid King stand at the stable threshold constantly threatening to break down the very fragile door. Hope was the small baby. Hope was evident to a young couple who fully recognized the paradox of their situation – weariness and rejoicing.
[Slide] Today, our candle is peace. Peace enlarges the irony of Joy. Peace is not really possible without hope – peace requires something beneath the surface, an inner core recognition of the reality of the backdrop, while still focusing on the unseen, ungraspable, and unnoticed hope that is standing in front of the reality.
For much of our world, at this very moment in our modern history, the background is a battleground crashing down on homes, destroying lives, with guns, bullets, and bombs.
Peace. Or to the hillside shepherds who lived lives of a mundane existence under the oppressive hand of the Roman politicians, the angels pronounced “Peace on Earth.”
[Slide] Peace and Hope are the two intertwined elements of joy that allow us to hold to the promise that just beneath the surface, under the soil on which we stand, waiting to emerge before our eyes is the evidence of our hope and peace.
[Slide] A loved one standing in front of a huge smelly landfill with armed soldiers running over it in our direction tugging to steal our joy.
[Slide] Our devotional reading this week reminded us that we are not sure about Mary’s journey, we just know it was a quick decision probably to replace her own isolation for connection with loved ones. We don’t know if Mary traveled alone, but even if she did, her mental and emotional state made it a journey of isolation. Imagination tells us what she was probably asking herself, “Does God know how young I am?” Her weariness surely led to questions asking how her how her family would respond, how would her community would respond, and sadly, questions of how the religious leaders would respond.
There was probably another, even bigger question Mary may have been asking. The Luke passage is the only passage that details the visit to Elizabeth, while the Matthew passage is the only passage that details the messenger to Joseph. So, it is more than probable that Mary left without any assurance that Joseph was not going to reject her. His response could provide comfort or it could destroy her life – this had to create a heavy and concerning backdrop.
While we don’t hear her questions – we do witness her resolve expressed in her travel to her relative Elizabeth’s house. Two pregnant women meeting and sharing their experiences with one another. Two pregnant women, who are related but surely different from one another. One is young and one is old. One is married and one is maybe engaged. One is carrying the Son of God and one is carrying the one who prepares the way for the Son of God. They were both separate when they got news of God’s plans for their lives. It is when they are connected that they experience their shared weariness and joy. It is when they come out of their isolation that weariness and joy becomes a powerful connection that makes joy a bit more visible.(borrowed from Rev. Cecelia D. Armstrong)
[Slide] Connection. Community.
When Mary arrives as Elizabeth’s house, Elizabeth has been alone for five months, probably due to the same reasons Zechariah was silenced. Elizabeth probably had questions, she whe needed to fully witness God’s presence as evidenced in his work without the distraction of the gawkers and those who had judged her and her husband for decades. Elizabeth and Mary probably had at least one shared question, “Does the Lord know how old I am?”
[Stop Screen Share]
When we are weary, we can find it hard to identify joy. When we are weary, we might find it difficult to share space with others because our weariness has seemingly stolen our joy. We naturally question if it is even possible to be joy-filled by yourself? Sure, there are things we can do that bring joy, but what external joy is possible without others to acknowledge it and affirm it? Could it be that internal joy can only be actualized in external connections? Shared joy, connections, community, empowers a weary world to rejoice.
In connection and community our joy expands and is sharable. When we are unable to rejoice, we can carry each other’s joy which is what Elizabeth and Mary do for each other. Perhaps Mary’s arrival is the moment that changes everything for Elizabeth, in that moment, Elizabeth’s child leaps in her womb and she is filled with the Spirit. She can’t help but to rejoice. Her joy is contagious and wraps around Mary like a hug, regardless of the backdrop. Through holy connections we often hear God speak tender words of comfort; words that open the floodgate of not just hope but also a sustainable peace.
Joy is rooted in connection – connection expands beyond our weariness. We usually emphasize how Elizabeth provides sanctuary for Mary, however Mary’s arrival seemingly pulls Elizabeth out of her seclusion, allowing her to experience the joy, the hope, the peace that is right in front of her. In this moment, Elizabeth recognizes the presence of the Spirit which makes space for her weariness and joy. Mary and Elizabeth enable each other to focus on the loved one and not just to see the landfill. There is a mutuality in their joy- they are both holding joy for each other, and in that connection, joy expands and grows.
What are you, what are we, doing with your weariness? How are you, how are we, seeing weariness and joy?
Prayer
God of our joy and God of our weariness, we bring our worn-down hearts to you. Hearts full of grief, hearts carrying fear, hearts that may be tender to the touch. We bring our weariness to you O God because we know that you are present with us in the valleys. You were born into moments of weariness like us, our tears of weariness are not unfamiliar to you. As we prepare to return to the backdrops of our lives, we ask that you continue to walk with us, to stay by our side through the valley, and as we climb our way out. We are grateful for your presence and your closeness. We know that we cannot move forward in weariness and joy without you. With honesty and gratitude, we release to you, O God, the weariness and joys of our hearts. We give them all to you.
Amen.
Music (Slides) Sharon and Team
Let There Be Peace On Earth
CCLI Song # 93690
Verse 1
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony
Verse 2
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now
With ev’ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Community (Slides) Rick
Next Sunday, 3rd day of Advent 12.10.23 @ 10:30am, ‘How does a weary world rejoice? We allow ourselves to be amazed.’ Luke 1:57-66 (The birth of John) & Psalm126, candle – Joy …Devo books still available today, Insert with Calendar for devotionals and other resources. If you worship with us online and would like a digital copy of our devotional book send Rick an email or request.
2024 Budgets available today. Budget discussion and affirmation on Sunday, December 17 following morning worship
Christmas Eve, December 24, 4:40pm/5:00pm, No morning worship that day
Weariness and Joy tree
Benediction (Slides) Rick
How does a weary world find joy, how does a weary world experience peace? What do we do when those days come, when the waters of fear rise, when isolation steals our joy, and corrupts our peace?
We allow God to comfort us. We let God comfort us like a shepherd with his flock. We avail ourselves to allow God to gather us into his arms and carry us to safer ground where we might experience hope, joy, and peace in the ways God has in store for us.
Until that promised day, like Mary and Elizabeth, we do our best to keep finding one another. Like Mary and Elizabeth, we will do our best to open the door to one another, to God, and to the joy and peace that connection brings.
We leave this place remembering the light of the advent candles of hope and peace – allowing God’s light to be our charge and our challenge. Remembering that with God’s help, we will be an instrument of peace and joy in our weary world.
Closing Peace (Slides) Rick
Leader: May the Peace, Joy, and Hope of the Lord go with you into our weary world.
Response: And also with you.
Leader: Go in the Peace and Hope of the Lord as you go into your world.
Order, Words, & Voices 