For the week of November 30 – 1st Sunday of Advent
Morning Prayer: In the hushed anticipation of Your coming, O Lord, kindle in us the desire to remain awake; that we might be ready for Your coming and eager to pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Morning Hymn: #211 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel verses 1-4
- O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
- 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. Refrain: - O come, O come great Lord of might, who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain:
- O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree, an ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall; all people on Thy mercy call. Refrain:
Romans 13:11-12
11 As you do all this, you know what time it is. The hour has already come for you to wake up from your sleep. Now our salvation is nearer than when we first had faith. 12 The night is almost over, and the day is near. So let’s get rid of the actions that belong to the darkness and put on the weapons of light.
Lighting the Candle of Hope: If you have an Advent Wreath at home, please light one of the purple candles.
Hymn: #196 Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus
- Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. - Born Thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by Thine all sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Offering envelopes are inserted in today’s bulletin to give the opportunity to contribute to the United Methodist Student offering. The United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry manages 70 different scholarships. Every dollar donated goes directly into student aid. None is spent on administration of these funds. Scholarships support students worldwide.
Offering prayer: Ever-Watchful God, You call us to live not in fear, but in faithful anticipation. As we offer these gifts, we do so as people preparing our hearts, our hands, and our world for Your coming reign. We confess that we often cling too tightly to our comforts and schedules, forgetting that Your kingdom calls us to loosen our grip and lift our eyes. Awaken us, Lord, to the “someday” You are already shaping through our love, our justice, and our generosity. Let these offerings be signs of readiness, trust, and joy as we wait—and work—for Your future to break into our present. In the name of the one who comes, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of preparation: #369 Blessed Assurance
- Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
- Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
(Refrain) - Perfect submission, all is at rest; I in my Savior am happy and blest,
watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
(Refrain)
Scripture: Matthew 24:36-44
36 “But nobody knows when that day or hour will come, not the heavenly angels and not the Son. Only the Father knows. 37 As it was in the time of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 They didn’t know what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. The coming of the Son of Man will be like that. 40 At that time there will be two men in the field. One will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken and the other left. 42 Therefore, stay alert! You don’t know what day the Lord is coming. 43 But you understand that if the head of the house knew at what time the thief would come, he would keep alert and wouldn’t allow the thief to break into his house. 44 Therefore, you also should be prepared, because the Son of Man will come at a time you don’t know.
Message: Christ Coming in the Chaos Pastor Becky
You are all resourceful people. You know what you need to do to accomplish goals. I'm not talking about big, lofty goals like world peace or conquering lands or altering weather patterns. I mean, you're able to accomplish the To Do List goals.
You got here this morning dressed and ready to be together. You're ready to worship and to respond to God. You know how to organize your life to get yourself out the door. You may have forgotten something you wanted to bring with you, yet you made it here. You accomplished your goal.
Hopefully and prayerfully it wasn't a struggle, although I am completely in awe and have all the respect and appreciation for those of you who have children and still made it here. I remember the days when Sunday mornings were a bit like Olympic training to get to Sunday morning worship. Sunday morning obstacles tend to be a breed of their very own, and yet…
You made it. You had a goal and a mission to accomplish. Get to worship and you did it. I'm certain there were distractions and ways to get sidetracked. But you got here; you are resourceful people, you know what is needed and you put a plan in place. For some of you, Sunday morning is a routine that you have followed since infancy. For some, coming to worship is a newer adventure which you are making into a routine. I applaud your commitment to your faith. Doing something new can be unsettling. You're changing from the known to the unknown. And change, even good change, disturbs us.
As a fellowship, we're also gifted in achieving goals and working towards accomplishment of a mission. We can point to our short term goals like the Christmas wish list tags with KidsPeace. We can look to long term missions – The warmth of Jesus, which has an end date, yet starts again in earnest the next day for the next distribution. There are some missions that until the root cause is dealt with we will be dealing with for the foreseeable future. So our Blessings Box becomes an ongoing mission.
For everything that we do, there is a plan. The plan has goals and its entirety is the mission. For example, our mission statement as a church in the United Methodist configuration is: The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
I've taught a lot about discipleship as of late. A disciple is a follower of Jesus who is committed to belonging to the body of Christ, becoming more like Jesus and blessing the world. The entire focus is on Jesus because He is who we are following. Each of us has decided on some level that we desire to be in relationship with Jesus. That's the whole point of being gathered here this morning. We may each be looking for a different connection point. Maybe it's prayer, praise, being here to hear the scriptures read or being in anticipation for a word from God. To quote a Christmas saying, “Jesus is the reason for the season.”
Advent is the preparing time those weeks in anticipation of celebrating the birth of Jesus. It's also the preparing time for Jesus to come into people's lives and transform them. And we also look to the final return where Jesus completes the work of redemption. We proclaim it each time we come to the table: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.
Advent declares Jesus was born, Jesus comes to each of us, and Jesus will come again. In this threefold proclamation, there are two parts in which we have no agency. God sent Jesus again – The reason for the season – and the part where Jesus comes again. Jesus' birth was foretold. It was God coming to us to dwell with us. We remember it in grand scale as we decorate our church. Our music changes, we decorate our homes, we retell the story, we read the prophecies in remembrance of the birth. We tend to think of the baby in a manger and only hint at His death.
When Jesus is to return, even Jesus doesn't know. His final return is in God's timing. We aren't to be looking for signs or guessing about the time because there's nothing that we can do to summon it and there's nothing we can do to stop Jesus from returning. All we know is that time spent speculating is time that takes our focus off of being ready.
Being ready is the only part of the coming of Jesus that we have any input or say in. Being ready means actively working within God's will for the Kingdom of God. This is the hands on stuff of acts of mercy and acts of justice. It's the spiritual training of prayer and worship and study. Being ready means sharing the good news of Jesus Christ so that others would come to know Jesus so that they too can have a relationship with Jesus.
Advent reminds us that Jesus is already with us because sometimes that we can forget. We get consumed by our daily lives, the responsibilities, the weight of the burdens, illness and suffering. While we lean on our faith in Jesus, the hope that we have Advent reminds us that Jesus isn't in our past. Jesus is here in our very presence with us and that Jesus is waiting for us in our futures.
In the chaos of our lives, Jesus is here. He comes to us over and over, calling to us to Himself and calling us to each other. Advent reminds us that the entire world is waiting for what we already have, a relationship, a connection to Jesus that sustains us and points us to the Kingdom of God. Because the Kingdom of God is God's desire for all humankind.
Be reminded that you are resourceful people. You have all that you need to speak life into other people's lives so that they are ready when Jesus comes into their lives. You have been praying for five people that you have identified in your lives to share your faith with.
Advent is the time that hearts are most open and soft. People are expecting you to talk about Jesus. It is His birth that we celebrate, yet it is the work of the Man that has changed our lives, so be ready. Be ready to usher in a new time, a new chapter in your faith life and to find yourselves written into someone else's faith life. Because after all Jesus is the reason for this season.
Closing Hymn: #218 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
- It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
from angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, good will to men, from heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing. - Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled,
and still their heavenly music floats o'er all the weary world;
above its sad and lowly plains, they bend on hovering wing,
and ever o'er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing. - And ye, beneath life's crushing load, whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing! - For lo! the days are hastening on, by prophet seen of old,
when with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold
when peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendors fling,
and the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
