19th. December. 2021. Service.
Service of Worship 19th December 2021
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Prelude: The Shepherd’s Farewell by Hector Berlioz
Opening Prayer
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily presence with us, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a home prepared for himself, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Hymn 321 Come and join the celebration
Call to Prayer
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
We celebrate the coming of the Light.
O sing to the Lord a new song,
God’s salvation is at hand.
Celebrate the coming of Salvation.
For a child has been born for us, a son given to us.
Celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace.
I bring you good news of great joy for all the people.
Let us celebrate the coming of the Christ!
Let us pray:
Glorious and blessed God, maker of heaven and earth and sea and sky and all that is in them, we come into your presence with thanksgiving and praise. We worship you with gladness. Thank you for the good news of great joy in the Christ child of Bethlehem. Because he is with us, we are not afraid!
Thank you for the gift of your grace in this season and all year long. For daily health and security. For friends and loved ones. For newborn babies and the laughter of children at play. For the companionship of our pets. Thank you for watching over our sleep and dreams, always guarding our minds and hearts. Thank you for making us strong in ways we did not know we could be strong, and for helping us endure what must be endured, with patience.
Thank you for your forgiveness when we make poor decisions, when we accuse someone falsely, or thoughtlessly criticize those we do not understand. Forgive when we forget the poor, those who are sick or in prison or oppressed, those whose hearts are broken. Please understand when our disappointment in you causes us to lose hope. Hear now our silent prayers of confession. (Silence)
As we listen to the familiar story of your coming among us as a child of flesh and blood, give us fresh eyes and ears so that we may hear these wondrous events with new understanding, wisdom, and joy.
Thank you for your faithful love, and for your advent among us once more. We worship you. In your presence, Emmanuel, we find fullness of joy, and because you are with us, we are not afraid! We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus in whom we find our true rest, and who still teaches us to pray together, Our Father… (In the words most familiar to you)
Hymn 315 Once in royal David’s City
Lighting of Advent Candle
God of the ages, like Mary, may our souls reflect your greatness, and our spirits rejoice in you, for you have looked with favour on us and done marvellous things. May our lives be a response to the love you have shown us in Jesus, born of Mary, who lives forever and ever. Amen
All Age Talk
On Christmas morning, we may wake up to find brightly-coloured packages tied up with pretty ribbons and bows. If, on Christmas morning, you found a package with your name on it that was wrapped in plain brown paper and tied up with string, what might be your reaction? We might not be excited about a package like that.
Maybe that’s why so many people have missed out on God’s gift that we celebrate at Christmas. God’s gift of Jesus, His only Son, didn’t come in fancy wrapping. Jesus’ mother was a young virgin… His earthly father was a poor carpenter… He was born in a stable. Not a very pretty package, is it?
Despite the wrapping, Jesus is the greatest gift the world has ever known. He offered us salvation and eternal life with God!
The Bible tells us when Mary found out she was chosen to deliver God’s gift to the world, she was filled with joy. She hurried to Elizabeth’s home to share the good news. Elizabeth was also pregnant, and when she heard the news, the Bible says the baby she was carrying “leaped” inside of her! She exclaimed in a loud voice, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said.”
Through Jesus, God sent us the gift of His love, but some people are so busy unwrapping the beautifully wrapped packages this world offers that they have missed out on the greatest gift of all.
Dear Father, we are thankful that You loved us so much that You sent Your only Son to be our Saviour. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Intimations
On Christmas Eve there will be a joint Carol service in Inverkeithing at 6:30 pm. Worship will be as usual on Boxing Day in both congregations.
Messy Church
Our next Messy Church will be from 2-4 in the afternoon on Saturday, 15th January in the sanctuary. Everyone is welcome, especially families. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
The C-Word
Following on from Messy Church, the next C-Word will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, 19th January in the Children’s Church room. Continuing our examination of “Creed”, we will be discussing “Jesus Christ…who was born of the Virgin Mary”. All are welcome.
Invitation to the Offering
We bring our offering today with hearts full of love, filled with the hope and joy this season brings. Give knowing God’s love will spread everywhere through what we offer in Jesus’ name.
Prayer of Dedication
God of Life and Love, receive our gifts this day as tokens of our love for you and signs of our willingness to share that love in the world around us. Bless our lives as well as our gifts, so that we may be a blessing to others for the sake of the Christ Child, our Saviour and our friend. Amen
Hymn 309 Still the night, holy the night
Hymn 296 While Shepherds watched
Rocking Carol
Hymn 312 Away in a manger
Christmas thoughts
A few years ago we visited Spain and Portugal during December. In Cartagena and Lisbon we saw several Nativity Scenes which occupied entire town squares. Rich in detail they were filled with symbolism that in the days before universal literacy brought the Christmas story to life for ordinary people. Nativities depict the story in the style and fashion of the cultures where they are found.
We are so used to the story that we may miss the fact that there are many elements that are off the mark. A detective today might conclude, there are too many anomalies in the story as told.
Let’s begin with the Shepherds
One might expect to find representatives of the brightest and best greeting the new-born Jesus. Instead, shepherds are there. While we tend to picture them as quaint, peaceful figures, the first readers of the story would have thought differently.
I recall meeting shepherds from the hills of the Moffat valley as a child. They were not easy characters to get to know, diffident, solitary men of few words and gruff manners. You don’t see shepherds like that nowadays.
In Israel shepherds had a less than stellar reputation. They were poor, unkempt, and sometimes stole the supplies they needed to get by. They were considered so untrustworthy that their testimony was not welcome in court.
The figurine in our family nativity set of the clean-cut, strapping young man with the lamb across his shoulders, would have been unrecognizable to the people in Jesus’ day.
The town of Bethlehem was filled that night with people registering for the census and paying their taxes. Yet God sent the angels to a group working the nightshift on the outskirts of town.
Instead of having well-respected businesspeople in my nativity we set up shepherds on one side of the stable.
The Magi
On the other side, we set up wealthy people who seem to fit the bill better. The wise men, or magi, were educated people of some means.
But the wise men are also outsiders. They’re not Jewish, as one might have expected, and may not have been particularly religious. They most likely noticed the Star of Bethlehem while looking for life-direction from the celestial bodies, a pagan practice. How many Christians today are horrified by astrologers? They don’t belong, yet there they are on that silent, holy night.
Mary & Joseph
Inside the stable, under the glow of a Christmas star, is a young couple. Joseph, a descendant of King David, has royal blood in his veins, as the genealogy that begins Matthew reminds us. But he is hardly living a life of privilege. He is a blue-collar craftsman eking out a living.
Mary, Jesus’ mother, is from a priestly family, which sounds promising. But it is her relative Elizabeth who is married to a priest, not Mary.
A byre in Bethlehem
Jesus’ birth, which our crèches depict, takes place in Bethlehem, an unlikely place. Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish world, is just over 5 miles away. Even the Wise Men assume the messiah would be born there, which is why they stop in Jerusalem for directions.
Finally, Jesus’ cot is a manger, a feeding trough in the byre or but of the house, because there was no room for them in the ben where a pregnant woman belongs.
Just missed
The whole scene has this “just missed” quality to it. It doesn’t quite fit expectations, the clues don’t add up to the expected interpretation of such a scene
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit this Christmas. We are hearing of racism and antisemitism and racial tension and mistrust are making news across the world. Fears over the spread of Covid-19 Omicron are sparking conversations about how much risk we should allow and whether the NHS will cope. Immigration law is a prominent topic, causing many to reflect on our responsibility for the well-being of the “outsiders” crossing the channel. Where is Jesus in all this?
I can’t help but wonder this Christmas if Jesus is still to be foundin places we might not expect today.
We expect to find him in the warmth of a secure home, but he’s out back in the byre.
We expect him to occupy a seat of power, but he’s lying in a feeding trough
I expect to find him among the rich and powerful, but instead he is surrounded by working folk, petty thieves, and those who don’t know where to go for direction. What unites all these people is their need of two things, love and acceptance. These are the gifts which Jesus brought with him and still
This Christmas, we don’t want to miss Jesus. Should we be concerned that we’ve been looking for him in the wrong places. Give the love you have without discrimination. Amen.
Prayer
As you came to us in love as the Christ child in Bethlehem, so we come to you with love and concern for the world.
In this time of quiet and contemplation we remember: families that live close to the edge of survival, worrying about where their next meal will come from, how they will pay their bills and where they will find shelter; those who will spend Christmas alone, or in hospital, or weighed down by grief; those who work today while we rest; those who have lost their sense of joy and wonder and whose vision is clouded by cynicism or despair; those who celebrate the birth of a new life, a new love, or a new way of being; those whom we have loved and who loved us, who now dwell in the eternal joy of your presence.
In deep gratitude for all the gifts of this life, we gather our voices to praise you for hearing all our prayers in the Name of Jesus whose birth we celebrate today. Amen.
Sending out and Benediction
“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.” Mother Theresa
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.
And the blessing of God Almighty,
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, will be with you
this day and always. Amen!
Postlude Chorus from the Christmas Oratorio J S Bach