 The Lord be with you! Welcome, Cheviot churches and also those joining us from elsewhere. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well and keeping safe. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 3rd Sunday after Epiphany.
Notices:
Call to Worship God alone is our rock and our salvation. We will not be shaken! Trust in God at all times, O people. We will pour out our hearts to God, our refuge. In this time of worship, let us turn our lives to God and accept the good news. We will listen for Christ’s call and follow him. Hymn 104 – The Lord of heav’n confess Prayers of Adoration and Confession O God of Life and Hope In these still early weeks of this year we gather in our different places, and yet mysteriously together, to worship you. We are here to be renewed by you, O God, so that we may be able to renew others; to hear in the quiet places of our beings that word of love and divine friendship; to gain fresh vision so that we may help draw others into that circle of truth, life and service that is your Kingdom. Our longings after you are deeply true, O God but they are not always wholly pure. We are dusty with sin; we have compromised when we ought not to have and in those things where love said “give way” we have instead held fast. Forgive us, and restore us in the many dimensions of our lives. Make our longings for you and for the life of your Kingdom, the truth of our lives. Make the words of our hearts and mouths, the actions of our hands, more nearly match our true hearts. The God of mercy, who forgives all sin, forgives us. May this God also strengthen in us all goodness, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So be at peace with God, with yourself and with each other, in the name of Christ our Lord Lord’s Prayer Readings – Jonah 3: 1-5, 10 Mark 1: 14-20 Hymn 340 – When Jesus saw the fishermen Weekly Prayer Almighty God, today finds us in the midst of the Week of Prayer for Christian unity; help us to listen to your voice still calling us to unity in our diversity. Help us to repent and believe the good news, and to follow Jesus as He calls us again today. Amen Reflection Remember the time when libraries were open? You could go in and choose from fiction or biography, the children’s section or so many different types of non-fiction from travel to gardening. The Bible is often called a library of 66 books and has history and poetry, biography collection of letters and far more beside - even, I would suggest, comedy. Comedy? Or maybe, gentle humour. Certainly, whenever I read the book of Jonah, I have a smile on my face. Now, today we are remembering Christian Unity, but also the 25th marks the birthday of Rabbie Burns, Scotland’s national poet. Burns had an uncomfortable relationship with the Church, though many friends were ministers. He lambasts the ‘unco guid’, those who had a high conceit of themselves. Jonah was one of the unco guid, who no doubt enjoyed being a prophet; it had a certain status in society. But then God drops a bombshell and wants Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach. Now, Nineveh was not just up the road; it was thousands of miles away in what is now Northern Iraq and was the capital of Israel’s dreaded enemy, Assyria. That was the last place Jonah wanted to go, so he went down to the harbour and caught a boat going to Tarshish, near Gibraltar, the ends of the earth at that time, entirely the opposite direction from Nineveh. He thought he could escape God, that he could leave God behind in Israel. On the boat he must have been smiling to himself thinking he has won, when there was suddenly a storm, when there was suddenly a great fish – which swallowed Jonah and which ultimately dumped Jonah right on the doorstep of Nineveh. He learned that there was no escaping God. In the passage we read today Jonah is given the same task – to call Nineveh to repentance. The humour goes on, for in a feat to make Billy Graham green with envy, he gives a 30 second sermon and becomes a preaching sensation: today, he would have millions of followers on Twitter. All the inhabitants of the city repent, even the animals wear sackcloth. You would think that would have made Jonah happy, but he is livid – he wanted God to destroy Nineveh. He doesn’t want them to be forgiven, he doesn’t want them to know God’s love. Many scholars think that Jonah was written at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah when some of the exiles had returned from Babylon to Jerusalem and found that people had intermarried with the other nations around. But some of the returning exiles were quite fanatical and wanted a stricter interpretation of the Law. They wanted people to send away their foreign wives. They felt that God only belonged to them and no-one else. The writer of Jonah was making a plea for greater tolerance. For them, the exile proved that God wasn’t confined to Jerusalem, but was with those exiled in Babylon too. God was far bigger than they imagined, and the book of Jonah is suggesting that God’s love is universal and that all nations are within God’s embrace. People may be very different from us, but that doesn’t exclude them from God’s love. It is an appropriate message for the week when we remember Christian Unity. People may worship in different ways, and that should be something to rejoice about. Yes, there are issues which still divide the churches, and we need to be honest about them. But there is so much which unites. We should rather focus on the call to show God’s love to others. Jonah was a reluctant prophet, but fortunately in our Gospel the fishermen accepted the call to follow Christ – and the world was turned upside down. Hymn 533 – Will you come and follow me Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession God of wisdom and integrity, you call your people to live together in joy and in justice. Hear us as we pray for the needs of the world. We pray for those whose faces and stories we have seen on the news this week; For those who live in places of fear and war, For those whose decisions affect the lives of nations, and we remember those making hard decisions about Covid, but also thank you for all involved in the vaccination programme. For Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as they take over leadership of the United States, where there are so many divisions. In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we ask you to help us to see clearly the divisions in our churches and be willing to engage in honest dialogue with those whose ideas and traditions differ from our own. We pray for the unity of your Church. Help us to see ourselves as rays from one sun, branches of a single tree and streams flowing from one river. May we remain united to you and to each other, because you are our common source of life. We pray for the leaders of our churches. As a church may we be faithful to your call to work together and share our resources with those in need. We pray for those who are sick or sad or in trouble and for those who care for them. We pray for those who have died and their families and friends who miss them so much. And in a moment of silence, we pray for our own needs and hopes and dreams. Amen Hymn 516 – We are marching.. Benediction May you know God’s peace in your heart and in your home. May you find God’s strength in the moments of your need. May the love of the Father, the grace of the Son, the friendship of the Spirit be yours today, and for every day to come. Amen.
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 The Lord be with you! Welcome, Cheviot churches and also those joining us from elsewhere. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well and keeping safe. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 2nd Sunday after Epiphany.
Notices:
Call to Worship Before we were born, God knew us. God knit us together in the womb. God searches out our paths and tracks our way. So we praise God, because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. There’s nowhere we can go where God is not with us. How wonderful are all God’s works! Let us worship God together. Hymn 52 – How lovely is thy dwelling place Prayers of Adoration and Confession God ever creating, ever loving, ever leading,You are stillness when we are frantic;You are truth when we are confused and perplexed.You give us freedom when we are paralyzed by fear;You send us light when we stumble in the darkness.You are love when we feel lonely and empty.For all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you will be for us,we praise you, Creator, Christ, Spirit.We turn to you in worship, to listen for your voice and seek your way for us. Merciful God, you call us to fullness of life but we have settled for much less.We have wandered from your ways and wasted your gifts. We ignore the pain of others, and turn our faces from injustice.Forgive us our small faith.Give us courage to listen and respond when you call. There is nothing on earth or beyond death that can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. You are forgiven. You are loved. You are reconciled to God. Go and live with the love of God. Amen. Lord’s Prayer Readings – 1 Samuel 3:1–10 John 1:43–51 Hymn 251 – I, the Lord of sea and sky Weekly Prayer Father God, you spoke to awaken Samuel with Your call, and as we listen to your voice again today help us to believe your message. Unite us with the Church worldwide, as we declare with Nathanael that you are indeed the Son of God. We rejoice in the call to belong to your Church. Send us out into the coming week ready to demonstrate our calling in all that we do and say. Amen Reflection Whenever we went to Edinburgh, when I was a child, we always drove from Ayrshire to Douglas and up what was called the ‘Lang Whang’. We passed a little village called Glespin – just a few houses in the middle of the moor, in what seemed the middle of nowhere. But I always thought that it must be the most dreadful place to live on the planet. I was reminded of it when reading the passage from John today. Philip has met Jesus and is enthusiastic for his friend Nathanael to meet him too. But when he mentions where Jesus comes from, Nathanael is contemptuous, is dismissive, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth’. Nathanael was from the lakeside, and Nazareth was up in the hills, hillbilly country. But to his credit, Philip persists and says, ‘Come and See’. Nathanael did ‘go and see’ and his prejudices immediately disappeared, as he discovered that Jesus truly lived up to Philip’s billing. If I had discovered more about Glespin, I may have found out that it was the most wonderful place where people were incredibly neighbourly. How important it is not to rush into judgements, because of where a person comes from or their background, but to ‘go and see’. Jesus had been baptised and immediately starts to gather around him a group of disciples. Andrew was the first; he had called Jesus ‘Rabbi’, teacher, and asked him where he lived. Jesus replied, Come and See. He did, and they spent the day together, at the end of which Andrew was not calling Jesus ‘rabbi’, but rather ‘Messiah’ and immediately sharing the news with his brother Simon. We see this again and again in John’s gospel – Jesus engages with people, letting them ‘come and see’ and offering them a new way of living. Niocodemus, the Samaritan woman, the man born blind, Martha and Mary. He offered them life in all its fullness. ‘Come and see’ meant discovering who Jesus was, but also who they were themselves, especially in their relationship to God. Our reading from Samuel is also about discovering God. It is one so familiar from Sunday School days, the boy Samuel hearing the voice in the dark and mistaking it for the High Priest Eli. Eli ultimately realises it was God calling to Samuel and tells him to respond. It is a story about discerning the voice of God, of being open to God speaking to us where we don’t expect. But also it was about Samuel taking the first steps in discovering more about God and learning to serve. Often we stop there at verse 10, It is not enough to say "here I am". We need to be ready to follow through as well. If we read on, God’s message to Samuel was actually a condemnation of Eli and his sons, whose shocking abuse of power was damaging the reputation of the priesthood. I suppose it was about accountability, and those in high office are always to be held accountable for their actions, especially when they do abuse power – that is something in the news just now over in the States, and nearer to home too, but equally we have to look at ourselves and ask whether we live up to God’s calling to be light in the world. For Philip, he had something good to share with his friend Nathanael and said Come and see. Jesus told Nathanael that he had seen him sit under the fig tree, and Nathanael was amazed, maybe by the fact that he had been noticed and valued. I am sure Jesus could have muttered under his breathe- ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’! This is a challenge to us today to share the good news that we have and to invite our friends to come to church / watch the video/ listen to the podcast and let them discover something about this Jesus for themselves. Hymn 602 – Is it spooky, is it weird? Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession God of new possibilities, receive our gifts. Use them and us to create new possibilities in the world for those who are uncertain about what the future holds. We remember before you today people living face to face with so much economic uncertainty, for those who have lost their jobs or worry what may happen as this year unfolds: God, speak to us a word of reassurance: Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with discrimination and social prejudice, for those who are bullied at school, at work or at home, for those who are made ashamed of who they are: God, speak to us a word of dignity: Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people living face to face with illness and suffering, for those struggling with disability, made more complex these days, and for those who know grief or anxiety, especially those cut off from comfort or support by months of pandemic isolation: God, speak to us a word of healing: Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today people divided by differences of race or creed, of culture, gender or generation: and we pray for all those who seek to build bridges of understanding and co-operation across differences: God, speak to us a word of reconciliation: Embrace us with your love. We remember before you today your whole creation and its many vulnerable facets and faces. Teach us how to care for the rips and tears in the fabric of the world you love so we may live together wisely: God, speak to us a word of wisdom: Embrace us with your love. Amen Hymn 530 – One more step Benediction God bless us today that we may be a blessing -in our seeing, In our hearing, In our speaking, in our thinking, In our feeling, In our loving: and may God’s blessing from Father Son and Holy Spirit be with you, now and forever Amen  The Lord be with you! Welcome, Cheviot churches and also those joining us from elsewhere. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well and keeping safe. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 1st Sunday after Epiphany.
Notices:
Call to Worship This the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. We are the family of God. And are called by God’s name. We are heirs of Christ’s kingdom. And born of the Spirit. Let us, therefore, come together in worship Hymn 327 – Brightest and best (vv 1,3,4) Prayers of Adoration and Confession On this first day of the week, you began your new creation, raising Christ out of the darkness of deathand breathing new life into your world and your people.On this first day of the week, you call us to waken from our slumbers and come together in your holy name. We gather, wherever we are, to listen and wonder, sing, pray, and be fed.You call us to be your instruments of hope in a hurting world, and so we come to answer your call and bring you our prayer and praise. Trusting in God’s steadfast love, we offer our prayers of confession:God of majesty and mercy, forgive our wrongdoing:things we have done knowingly…things we have left undone…hurts we have inflicted unintentionally…and hurts we have tried to disguise.Forgive our acts of selfishness,harmful things we have done to please others,and those done to please ourselves.In the week ahead and the year ahead, help us choose a better way. Hear the good news! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us. Believe the good news of the Gospel! In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven and set free to make a new start Lord’s Prayer Readings – Genesis 1: 1-5 Mark 1: 4-11 Hymn 334 – On Jordan’s bank (vv 1,2,5) Weekly Prayer Creator God, we thank you for the light of your love which shines upon us dispelling our darkness. Help us to be like the seed that fell on good soil producing much fruit, and thank you for the promise that you listen to our supplications and answer our requests. Amen. Reflection During the week I received a video of one friend and the photo of another, being vaccinated. Both live in Israel, where they seem to be quite forward in their vaccination programme. There was almost a party atmosphere, a sense of a new start after the long months of the pandemic. Here we too are excited by the roll out of the vaccine, but also face a stricter lockdown again. Some of us cope better than others, but all would agree that it can be quite oppressive. The people of Palestine at the time of Christ were feeling oppressed and longed for a new start. They were under Roman occupation and had to endure the daily humiliations that occupation brings. So, when John started to preach in the wilderness about repentance and a new start, people began to flock to him. He was somehow speaking their language and giving voice to their hopes and yearnings, especially when he talked of the Messiah to come. They came from all over and queued to be baptised in the River Jordan. And Jesus came from Galilee and joined the queue. Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at Matthew and Luke’s accounts of the Jesus’ birth. But Mark doesn’t focus on that at all. Mark dives straight in and tells us about the baptism. There are a lot of years between his birth and the baptism that we know very little about, but for Mark the baptism was the beginning, the new start, where his ministry all began by Jesus joining the queue to be baptised. Queuing has become a way of life for us, especially during this pandemic. We wait patiently till it is our turn to go into the shop or wherever. What would Jesus’ thoughts be as he joined the queue? He didn’t need to be there. We see Jesus as being without sin, so he had no need to repent. But for Jesus, being there was so important. He was standing shoulder to shoulder with the people; people who were not particularly religious, but were aware of their shortcomings, and so it was an act of solidarity with humanity. Although the Son of God, he stood alongside us – and still stands alongside us today in all the trials and tribulations that life throws at us. For Mark and the other Gospel writers the baptism was vitally important. Jesus goes into the waters and is baptised, and the heavens are torn open and the dove descends, the sign of the Spirit, the same spirit who was there in Genesis at Creation. And the voice comes from heaven, saying ‘This is my beloved son; marked by my love’. These words showed identity – Jesus was God’s son, God’s pride and joy. But it was also affirmation and acceptance, and with these words Jesus was able to start his ministry, strengthening, encouraging, showing the people that they are accepted by God. All of us need to be affirmed, to know that we are valued. The baptism of Christ was a celebration, where he was affirmed, but he went from there to affirm others in God’s love. The baptism was the start of Christ’s ministry; but every day can be a new start for us, as we ever seek to live our lives more like Christ. Hymn 336 – Christ is our light (vv1,2) Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession God our Maker, we bring our gifts to you in thanksgiving for your gifts to us in Christ and in creation. Bless what we bring and who we are, so that our gifts will bless the world you love in Christ’s name. We thank you for the work of your church and for all we are able to do to bring your love, healing and justice into the world. We pray for churches that are struggling financially, for churches enmeshed in conflict, for those that are tired and in need of renewal; and for congregations that have found a new sense of purpose. Give them all wisdom and strength. As the pandemic still haunts lives and nations, we pray for those struggling with COVID-19 and its lingering effects, for those whose emotions are raw from fear or isolation, and for those exhausted by caring for others and serving the public day by day. We bring all who work in the NHS before you. We pray for children and young adults as their schooling is disrupted; for parents and teachers, forced to adjust schedules. We pray for our brothers and sisters across the world who are striving for unity in places of division; for justice in the face of oppression; for peace where violence has broken out; We pray especially for the United States at this time of division and transition and pray for the Biden administration as they prepare to take over. Give them hope and courage as they face many challenges. We pray for one another, our families, our communities, our church. May we support those who are unwell or grieving. May we bring fresh hope to those who feel forgotten and are vulnerable, and may we – both practically and prayerfully – share our faith in your Son Jesus in whose name we entrust these prayers to you. Amen Hymn 331 – Unto us is born a boy (1,2,5) Benediction Go in peace; love and care for one another in the name of Christ; and may the Spirit of God which filled John and Jesus, fill your hearts, souls and minds; may the power of God which upheld them, strengthen you for each day; and may the love of God which directed their every action be your guiding light and your shining star, both now and forevermore. Amen  The Lord be with you! Christmas greetings, Cheviot Churches and also to those elsewhere! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this Epiphany Sunday.
Notices:
Passcode: 076150
Call to Worship In the beginning was darkness And God made the earth and the heavens and set the stars in the sky In the beginning was chaos And God created order and beauty and gave each star its name In the beginning was discord And all the stars sang together and the angels shouted for joy Carol 323 – The first Nowell Prayers of Adoration and Confession God of light and of life,we praise you for your creation,and for the Word made flesh in the child born in Bethlehem.Open our hearts and minds in this time of worship.Just as you led the Magi by the star, lead us by your Spirit beyond the limits of this world’s expectations, to the life where you make all things new through Christ, our Morning Star God of mercy and loving kindness,you sent Christ among us to be the light of the worldand to reveal your love to all people.We confess that our sins hide the brightness of your light.We waste our gifts,we ignore cries for justice,we harm the earth and we do not strive for peace in the world or with each other.In your mercy, cleanse us and make us new. Be assured of God’s love and forgiveness that shine for us in Christ Jesus. As a new year unfolds, make a new beginning with God and with one another. May the peace of Christ be with you all. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Isaiah 60:1-6 Matthew 2: 1-12 Carol 326 – As with gladness Weekly Prayer Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to guide your people, just as you sent a star to guide the Wise Men to worship Him. We bring our gifts, praying that we may be used in your service and asking your Holy Spirit to guide our Cheviot Churches as we begin a New Year. We pray that you will always be present as we take one more step along the journey of faith. Amen. Reflection In Greek mythology Jason and his Argonauts had a quest – they had to find the Golden Fleece and went through all sorts of adventures and dangers to do so. Indiana Jones had a number of quests, searching out the ark of the covenant or some other archaeological treasure, and again overcame many obstacles to succeed. But as we reach Epiphany, we think of another quest – that of the Magi following the star, believing that it would lead them to a child who would change the world. Over the centuries they have fascinated us. We call them the three kings from the Orient, though the Bible doesn’t mention any number nor does it mention that they were in any way regal. The Venerable Bede in the 8th Century reputedly suggested they represented the whole world and came from Africa, Asia and Europe. Certainly they were wise, they studied the stars and probably came from Iran. Today we might call them astrologers, and in their studies they came to the conclusion that something momentous, something earth-transforming was going to happen, and so they set out on what would be a long and arduous journey. They were wealthy, they could have sent someone and waited for their report, but they didn’t. They weren’t armchair observers: they wanted to see for themselves. We often picture the Magi at the stable presenting their gifts – at least that is how our Christmas cards show it. We forget about the journey. T.S. Eliot wrote the poem, ‘The Journey of the Magi’ and talks of the hardships and the regrets – how they remembered the summer palaces and the servants bringing sherbet. They had given up that life of ease to follow the star. It would have been hard, but they persevered and as often happens, just when they had almost reached their goal, they had a strange lapse. After following the star for so long, this 1st Century GPS, they reached Jerusalem and decided to seek advice from King Herod, and with remarkable folly rather than wisdom, asked the whereabouts of the new-born king, with enormous consequences for the children of Bethlehem. They did eventually reach the stable and presented their gifts – gold, frankincense and myrrh, but also their time and the many sacrifices they had made on their journey. They gave of themselves, and that is what true giving is. Then, we are told, they went home by another route. The Magi had succeeded with their quest; they had reached their goal, and had worshipped the baby. But they were not the same people that had started out on the journey. The journey and especially their time at the stable transformed them. Any encounter with Christ changes us. We are not the same afterwards. The Magi had to go by a different route to avoid the paranoid Herod, but at the same time, their whole lives had taken a new turn. As we go into this new year of 2021, we hope our lives will take a new turn and for the better. We have lessons to learn and cannot go back to what it was like before. But at this new year, let us also follow a different route, one that follows the dedication, sacrifice and commitment that inspired the Magi in their journey and ever seek to live out the kingdom values of the Christ child that they came to worship. Carol – We three kings We three kings of Orient are Bearing gifts we traverse afar Field and fountain, moor and mountain Following yonder star O Star of wonder, star of night Star with royal beauty bright Westward leading, still proceeding Guide us to thy Perfect Light Creed We believe in God the maker, who created heaven and earth, star-maker, singer, source of life. We believe in Jesus the storyteller, who walked the roads of Galilee, befriender, questioner, source of truth. We believe in the Holy Spirit, who is as close to us as our heartbeat, challenger, comforter, source of joy. We believe that God is in our midst, calling us to care for one another and to work for justice and peace. We look for the light of God to shine on us and in us through all the adventures of our nights and days. Amen (Ruth Burgess) Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession God of majesty and mystery, we bring our gifts to you, grateful that you are with us in good times and in hard times. We do not know what the year ahead will hold but your love shines like a star to guide us. Bless these gifts that they may keep the light of Christ shining through the church to guide and embrace the world you love. God of all time and space, as we gather in prayer, we recognize that our lives are but small details in the vast expanse of your universe. So we thank you for attending to the details of our lives. We thank you for the year just past, for walking through the hard days and uncertainties with us, and for the gifts of encouragement and friendship that cheered us. The year just ending has held so many sorrows and challenges for so many. We remember dear ones who have died and pray for those who look ahead in loneliness or sadness… God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER We pray for those who have faced challenges in health, in their families or at work… God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER We pray for the earth, that we may live on it responsibly. Teach us to recognise and respect you in the wonders you have made. God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER We pray for those who help us to wonder – for scientists, astronomers, designers of telescopes and planetariums, artists, poets and storytellers. God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER We pray for those who will sleep under the stars tonight – for travellers, refugees, explorers, for those fleeing danger. God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER We pray for ourselves, that you will give us dreams and the courage to follow them … God, in your mercy, HEAR OUR PRAYER God of beauty and mystery, you love each one of us and we are wonderfully and intricately made. Be close to us in our tears and our laughter. Keep us loving and just and full of wonder. Fill us with life. AMEN Carol 324 – Angels from the realms of glory Benediction Lead us on, to learn willingly, to love well and to live in trust. May the blessing of God, loving Father, newborn Son, and living Spirit, go with us, and to all those we are given to love, this day, in 2021 and always, Amen  The Lord be with you! Christmas greetings, Cheviot Churches and also to those elsewhere! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 1st Sunday after Christmas
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Call to Worship In our looking into 2021 May the God of hope be with us. In our lamenting the losses of 2020 May the God of peace be with us In our celebrations of Christmas May the God of joy be with us In our caring for the world May the God of love be with us In our living of life in all its fullness May we know that God is with us Carol 313 - See in yonder manger low Prayers of Adoration and Confession God of grace and glory,we praise you from the heights and from the depths;in the heavens, on earth and from the seas;in the courts of power and from the sidewalks of our lives.Your splendour shines from a manger, where the Light of the world was born to pierce the darkness.In fragile of flesh, you are revealed to us face to face.And so we gather with all people in every placewho have glimpsed your salvation and graceto rejoice in your love born for us.Together we worship and praise you as Creator, Son and Spirit;Source of life,Glorious light,Wisdom of the ages. Source of all hope, you invite us to live in the light and discover the splendour of your glory. We confess we often choose to remain in the darkness instead.We allow our fears and hurts to hold us hostage. Our expectations of life prevent us from seeing new and real possibilities. You offer us unconditional love, but we expect others to earn our love. Forgive us. May the new life born in the manger awaken new life in us and allow hope to dawn in the year ahead. Here is the good news of the Gospel: Jesus Christ is our light and our salvation. In him we are made new. Let us give thanks to God, and be at peace with ourselves and with one another. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Isaiah 61:10- 62: 3 Luke 2:22-40 Carol 319 – Of the Father’s love begotten Weekly Prayer God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose years never fail and whose mercies are new each returning day: let the radiance of your Spirit renew our lives, warming our hearts and giving light to our minds; that we may pass the coming year in joyful obedience and firm faith; through him who is the beginning and the end, your Son, Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Reflection The Sunday after Christmas is always a difficult one. We have been building up through Advent, lighting our candles each Sunday, opening the doors of our Advent calendars, in order to reach Christmas Day, when we rejoice at the birth of the Christ child. And afterwards, well there is a sense of let down. As a child there is the horror that it would be another 365 days before another Christmas! Also, the days after Christmas commemorate some gruesome events in the Christian Year. The 26th is the Feast of Stephen, which we sing about in the carol ‘Good King Wencelas’, and it marks the death of Stephen, the first martyr in the Church. The 28th is Holy Innocents Day, when we remember how Herod slaughtered the male children in Bethlehem, while the 29th will mark the 850th anniversary of Thomas a Becket’s death at Canterbury. It is therefore something of a relief that our Gospel reading focuses this year on the story of Simeon and Anna. If you go to Linton Kirk, you will find a stained-glass window near the communion table of an elderly bearded Simeon holding the baby Jesus in his arms, and there is something lovely about the old holding the young. Mary and Joseph had brought their child to the Temple in Jerusalem. They came for two reasons. After giving birth, a mother had to be purified, and so Mary came and offered two doves, a sign that they couldn’t afford a sheep. They also came to dedicate their first-born child to God. But in the Temple they encountered firstly Simeon and then Anna. Anna was 84 and had been widowed most of her adult life, and while we are not told Simeon’s age, we get the impression that he was an old man too. Both would have seen much in their lives. Perhaps they had even witnessed the coming of the Romans to occupy Palestine. Anna as a widow would have relied on the charity of others, and both seemed to frequent the temple, praying and hoping. They both were people of faith and believed that the Messiah would come to bring change and usher in the Kingdom of God. Both, in turn, held Jesus in their arms and recognised him as the One, as the Messiah. They just have a tiny cameo in the Gospel story, but Anna and Simeon represent the old and the wisdom that the elderly bring. There is a group called the ‘Elders’, made up of Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter and others, who tried to bring their wisdom and experience to situations of conflict. Simeon and Anna brought their wisdom and their faithfulness. But they also recognised something new was about to happen, and they were letting go of the old to pass on the baton to the new, to the couple and their baby. We come to the end of another year, and I don’t think many of us will miss seeing the end of 2020. We lament the sense of isolation, the heart-break, the loss of livelihoods as individuals and as a nation. 2021 beckons. With the lockdown, we are starting the year quietly, but I think that with Anna and with Simeon we can look into the future with hope, with faithfulness and hopefully with a little wisdom, ready to face changes and make transitions in the knowledge that God journeys with us, the God who has been faithful in the past and beckons us on to a new tomorrow. Carol 314 – Child in a manger Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession Good and gracious God, your love overflows in the goodness we have met even in this challenging year. As one year closes and another begins, help us trust your goodness. Bless the gifts we bring to you so that they may provide others with the hope we know in Christ Jesus. God of love, as we celebrate the birth and life of Jesus, our Saviour, we are filled with thanks. Our gratitude overflows in prayers for our world, the world you love. We pray for all children. Guard their minds, protect their bodies, strengthen their characters, and give them joy. Help them look to the future with hope and trust. We pray for the most aged among us, those whom Simeon and Anna bring to mind. Protect them in the midst of the ongoing pandemic and reassure them of their value to you and to us, even when we cannot meet together. We pray for those whose hearts are filled with pain and fear. We pray for those for whom Christmas is linked with loss or grief. (Keep a time of silence) Surround each one with a strong sense of your comforting presence. We pray for those who do not have enough to eat, and for those who lack adequate shelter in our community and in desperate corners of the world… For those who eat alone, without the comfort of human contact… and for those whose hearts and lives have been broken by trauma and loss, and for those who struggle with the many costs of the pandemic. (Keep a time of silence) Surround each one with a strong sense of your comforting presence. We pray for family members and friends, those nearby and those we could not meet with this year. (Keep a time of silence) Remind them of our steadfast love, and to any who are struggling this season, O God, give your gift of peace. As the year draws to a close, we surrender to you, O God, the challenges it has held for us so that they will not remain as burdens. Remind us of the good things that have offered us encouragement in times of isolation. We give you thanks for the people who continue to care for us and care about us. Give us courage and wisdom for the year ahead. We pray that our leaders will have wisdom and generosity of spirit for the decisions they must make on our behalf. Guide scientists continuing to produce the vaccines against COVID-19 and support all those essential workers whose faithfulness to their responsibilities helps us all cope in these difficult days Amen Carol 295 – Who would think what was needed Benediction May we go, ready to see God at work in the world, open to hope for God’s ways in the world, and holding God’s love in our lives. And the blessing of God, loving Father, newborn Son, and living Spirit, go with us, and to all those we are given to love, this day, into 2021, and always, Amen  We gather on this Christmas Eve. This year we celebrate a little differently but we still celebrate the child who was born in the stable at Bethlehem, bringing joy and hope to the world. So we come as we are and offer our worship to Jesus. Lord, come close to us as we come close to you.
Notices:
Lighting of Advent Crown We light this candle for the new-born Christ, re-awakening hope and faith As we receive your promise, you are light, you are hope Carol 284 (verse 5)– Christ is the light Call To Worship Lord Jesus, for whom there was no room in the inn Help us to make room in our hearts for you. Lord Jesus, a star shone brightly in the sky to announce your birth Lead us to your light that we might worship you Lord Jesus, angels sang at your birth filling the heavens with a celebration of divine love Fill us with joy as we sing the praises of the Christ child, who is God-with-us. Carol 315 – Once in royal David’s city Prayer God beyond naming, God beyond defining, God for whom we yearn, we come before you this holy night: hear our prayer. We are not many wise, not many great, not many powerful, but we dare to ask for a word from you this night. We have looked for you in many ways and places, in desperate trouble, in deep despair, when all else fails, to come with might and power. Tonight, we would look for you in a different way, and in a different place. In tenderness and in pain, in quietness and in secret, in human need and parents’ love, in joy, but also in suffering. Show us yourself in the baby of Bethlehem and help us to see you as you really are. We pray in the name of that same child, Jesus, Mary’s Son. Amen Carol 312 – Away in the manger Reading – Isaiah 9: 2-7 Luke 2: 1-14 Prayer God of mystery and manger, as we listen to the familiar story of your coming among us as a child of flesh and blood, open our minds and hearts so that we may hear these wondrous events with new understanding, wisdom and joy. Reflection One of the first things I noticed when I moved to this area was that people like dogs, and wherever I went in the parish people would be out walking their dogs. What is it about dogs – and babies? You can walk down the road on your own and greet people, pass the time of day and then move on. But if you have a dog or if you are pushing a pram, everyone is suddenly your friend. There is an instant rapport. All barriers tumble down, and a bridge of understanding is established, as the other person oohs and ahhs at the baby or tickles Bonzo’s ears. A friendship is formed, often to be continued the next morning and so on thereafter. How clever of God, when he really wanted to grab our attention, to send a baby! Everyone loves a baby, and soon angels and shepherds and later the wise astrologers from the east, such a diverse group, would surround the crib and all bill and coo and wonder what the baby will become, though both the astrologers and the angels had some good ideas. If you believe some of the school nativity plays, you have the donkey, cattle and sheep and the occasional camel playing their part too, though strangely no dogs – though a shepherd would surely have a dog. Everyone loves a baby – apart from King Herod, that is. The prophet Isaiah tells us to expect a king from the line of David, and people immediately thought crowns and jewels and power, but no, God came as a baby, so that no-one would feel ashamed to approach him, no-one would feel too small in his presence. It was God’s sign that everyone was included and no-one was excluded. A few miles away was Jerusalem, God’s holy city, but God’s son was not born there but in Bethlehem, the least of the cities of Judah, on the margins, because God sent this baby to be the champion of those on the margins – the homeless, the stranger, the down-trodden and broken-hearted. In Jesus, God became a child for us, so that we could give our hearts to him, for everyone loves a baby. And so this night we celebrate the birth of the baby who would change the world. We all love a baby, but babies have a tendency to grow up, and so we cannot keep Jesus as a baby, wrapped up until next Christmas. We have to allow the boy to grow to become the prince of peace and saviour of the world. Carol 309 – Silent Night Prayers of Intercession God of hope and healing, 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, and where they will find shelter…(Hold a brief time of silence after this and each bidding) those who will spend Christmas alone, or in hospital, or weighed down by grief…(Hold a brief time of silence) those who work tonight or tomorrow, while we rest…(Hold a brief time of silence) those who have lost their sense of joy and wonder and whose vision is clouded by cynicism or despair;(Hold a brief time of silence) those who face the year ahead with fear and anxiety, because of the pandemic and the uncertainty that surrounds us… (Hold a brief time of silence) those who celebrate the birth of a new life, a new love, or a new way of being…(Hold a brief time of silence) those whom we have loved and who loved us, who now dwell in the eternal joy of your presence...(Hold a brief time of silence)Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. Amen Carol 301 – Hark! The herald angels sing Benediction May the news of the angels fill your heart with great joy. May the star that guided the wise lead you to the truth of understanding May the witness of the shepherds affirm in you the message of the Gospels May the presence of the sacred baby bring you peace and joy And May God this Christmas bless you, comfort you and inspire you as you journey into another year, Amen. Recessional Carol 306 – O come, all ye faithful  Christmas 2020 is going to be VERY different! At Cheviot Churches we will only have the one Christmas Eve service at Morebattle (6.30pm) and Christmas Day at Yetholm at 11am. However, many of us will be unable or even uncomfortable attending worship this year, so we have produced a Christmas video, which you can access at any time over the Christmas period and which features readings at our various churches. You can also sing along to the carols from the comfort of your homes. To view the video click HERE Thanks to all who took part and especially to Gordon McInally for all his hard work in putting it all together and Heather for the music. A few of the all-star cast can be seen in the image below ...   The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 4th Sunday of Advent.
Notices:
Passcode: 299267
Call to Worship Even if not everyone is able to gather in person Emmanuel, God with us Even if some Christmas traditions have had to go Emmanuel, God with us Even if we might not get to hug family and friends Emmanuel, God with us Even if we cannot sing carols beside each other Emmanuel, God with us Even if Christmas cheer is harder this year Emmanuel, God with us Hymn 320 – Joy to the world Prayers of Adoration and Confession ‘Joy to the World’ – As we gather, may your joy be in our hearts, that with the shepherds, we may adore you in wonder and praise. “Away in a manger no crib for a bed”: Lord, may we never turn you into some glitzy celebrity, but let you always be the God with us and besides us. “O come all ye faithful”: may we follow you in faith and let the meaning of the story change us that we may be ever more like you. “O little town of Bethlehem how still we see you lie” yet Bethlehem isn’t still. May we find you in all the places people need peace and hope and justice. “It came upon a midnight clear” but sometimes it isn’t clear; we don’t fully understand what all this means so may we live in faith today. “Hark! the herald angels sing!” Yes, may we tell out the news, proclaim the message of peace on earth and goodwill to all people. ‘O Holy Child of Bethlehem… cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today’ Silence For the widening gulf between those in comfort and those who are poor, Come Jesus, forgive and change us For the carelessness that treats our world as if there is no tomorrow, Come Jesus, forgive and change us For the suspicion of what is different that sets human against human, Come Jesus, forgive and change us Come, Lord Jesus, and as a forgiven people, let us serve you with joy and gladness, Lord’s Prayer Lighting of Advent Candle We light this candle for all saying ‘yes’ to God’s challenges. As we wait for your promise, give light, give hope. Hymn 284 –Joy is the candle (v4) Readings – 2 Samuel 7: 1-11 Luke 1: 26-38 Hymn 321 – Come and join the celebration Weekly Prayer Heavenly Father, who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of the promised Saviour. Fill us with your grace, that in all things we may embrace your holy will and with her rejoice in your salvation. Send us out to finish our Advent journey filled with love and joy and peace ready to receive that promise afresh into our lives as we reflect that "nothing is impossible with God". Amen Reflection Christmas can be very messy. Now some people can be very organised and have their cards all written by the end of November; their Christmas cake made and iced; the presents all bought and wrapped. But for many of us cards are still strewn across the table, we are putting off braving the supermarkets which will be packed. Even in this Covid year, Christmas can be messy. Christmas can be messy in other ways too. Somewhere, a husband grips the hand of their wife, awaiting news of diagnosis: “Where is God,” they wonder, “in this uncertainty?” Somewhere, a family member gathers around the bed of a loved one at the end of their long journey, “Where is God,” they wonder, “in the midst of our particular grief?” Or we open the paper or pull out our phones to read the news of the week, a new strain of Covid; Brexit trade talks; children snatched away from school in Nigeria, and wonder, “Where on earth is God in all of this chaos?” Our Advent claim is that God is right here in the middle of the mess with us. And God is in the middle of the mess with Mary. The first thing the angel, Gabriel, says to Mary is “The Lord is with you.” The next thing he says, “Do not be afraid.” Gabriel assured Mary that God was with her, but little did she know how close, how real, and how vulnerable the God she would bear was willing to become. Madeleine L ’Engle, an American poet, describes the birth of Christ in a messy world: ‘He did not wait till the world was ready, till people and nations were at peace. He came when the Heavens were unsteady, and prisoners cried out for release. He did not wait for the perfect time. He came when the need was deep and great’. Year after year we gather to hear the story of Jesus’ birth even when all the world is not sane. We raise our songs throughout Advent with joyful voice because although we know sorrow and despair and uncertainty, Love has been birthed into the messiness of our world, right into the middle of it. So, if it seems hard to live into the joy of Christmas this year because of the heavy burdens you bear, or the messiness of your life or your family, or the pain of being physically distanced from those you love know this: God does not wait. God does not wait until the world is ready or for a perfect time or for perfect peace. God does not wait for pandemics to end. God does not wait for all the messes to be tidied up. God does not wait because “Jesus is being born where people need him most.” God makes God’s home in the messiest of places—a stable—in the messiest of times— under the control of the Roman Empire—and with the most ordinary of people—a teenage girl and her fiancé and the shepherds. Jesus is being born where we need him most. In the messes. In the hard places. In the dark and desperate places. In the lonely and lost places. Jesus is born into exactly those kinds of places and he spends his life with the most vulnerable and ostracized and broken-hearted of people. And it is through the birth of this child into the mess of first-century Bethlehem and into the mess of our 2020 world that compels us to proclaim: Emmanuel, God-with-us, is here. God has become one of us. And today we know that God has become one of us and is in the middle of the mess with us—face mask and all. And so we raise our songs with joyful voice, for Love has come. And for this, we say, thanks be to God. Hymn 305 – In the bleak mid-winter Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession God of love and joy, God of peace and hope, we are so grateful for these Advent gifts, which bring comfort and courage even in the most challenging times. Receive our gifts as tokens of our love and loyalty. Bless them with your grace so that they will bring love to those who need it so much this year. Bless our lives, too, so that we shine with your love, blessing others in the name of Jesus, our friend and Saviour. Spirit of Hope, whenever the world seems confusing and bleak, you pierce the darkness with light, bringing hope and vision for the way ahead. This has been a difficult and confusing year of pandemic, and so we thank you for lessons learned and changes of heart, for new discoveries and hope restored. As nature around us prepares for the long sleep of winter, we pray for those who are ill or dying, and for those who are bereaved or feel any burden of loss. (A silence is kept.) O God, reach out to all of us in Christ, and give us hope for the living of these days. O Creator of Joy, we thank you for moments of joy and celebration in our lives, for pleasure given and received, for quiet times spent in reflection and remembering, and for happy gatherings, even if they had to be small. In these colder, darker days, we remember those who feel left out or neglected, those who have found the months of pandemic restrictions a heavy burden, and those we find difficult to love, even at a distance. (A silence is kept.) Be their light and their warmth, O God, reach out to all of us in Christ, and give us joy to share in the days ahead. O Love Come Down at Christmas, you call us to live in communion with you and one another. You form us into families, circles of friendship, and communities. Today we pray for our family members, whether we’re close or estranged, for our friends, whether nearby or far away, and for neighbours who share our community, like minded or not. (A silence is kept.) Help us express both our love and concern in gentle words and kind actions. O God, reach out to all of us in Christ, and strengthen our love for you and for one another. Amen Hymn 304 – O little town of Bethlehem Benediction May the song of the Angels, the joy of the Shepherds and the peace of the Christ Child be in your hearts this Christmas and may the blessing of God Almighty, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, be with you, now and always Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 3rd Sunday of Advent, sometimes called Gaudete Sunday.
Notices:
Passcode: 588691
Call to Worship God has performed mighty deeds with a strong arm; and has scattered the proud. God has brought down rulers from their heights; but has lifted up the humble The Lord reigns forever; Praise the Lord! Hymn 303 – It came upon the midnight clear Prayers of Adoration and Confession God of majesty and mercy, you are powerful, you are holy, and you are loving. You come among us not as a warrior or tyrant, but as a child, new life born among us and for us. And so we come to worship you this day, trusting your wisdom with Joseph, pondering your mystery with Mary. We offer you our love for all that you have been, all that you are and all that you will be, one God, holy and loving. God of mystery and mercy, you came to be with us and offer us new life in Christ, and yet we often stray from your side. You came to offer us love, but we confess that we can be stubborn and selfish in the ways we live. You came to reconcile all people, but we confess that we often resist repairing relationships and so remain divided. Forgive who we have been, amend who we are, and direct who we shall be ,through Jesus Christ who reaches out to us from the manger and the cross. In Jesus Christ, we are a new creation. There is nothing we have done, nothing we could ever do, that can separate us from the love of God shown to us in Christ. Know that you are forgiven, and with this joyful truth, have the courage to forgive one another Lord’s Prayer Lighting of Advent Candle We light this candle for all God’s messengers, Preparing the way for change and pointing to the new age to come. As we wait for your promise, give light, give hope. Hymn 284 – Love is the candle (v3) Readings – Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 Luke 1: 47-55 Hymn 286 – Tell out my soul Weekly Prayer Faithful God, as we continue on this Advent journey, teach us to turn to you in times of joy and pleasure as well as we do when faced with fear and sorrow. May our souls glorify the Lord, may our spirits rejoice in God our Saviour and may everlasting joy be ours, as we seek to follow in the steps of the Christ Child. Amen Reflection The decorations are up, there are lots of coloured lights around our villages, and this week my first Christmas card came. Being a minister, people tend to send me religious cards and true enough, it was of Mary and the baby in the stable. Mary is dressed in blue and is sitting at the manger, maybe singing a lullaby. That is the picture we have of Mary, pretty submissive. In the carol ‘Once in royal David’s city’ we sing that ‘Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ that little child’. Think again! Certainly from our reading today we get the impression of a determined young woman. Mary was just a teenager, very young. But the angel Gabriel had approached her with the news that she had been chosen to bear the Messiah. Mary didn’t ask her parents what they thought: she took the decision herself and said YES. Yes, she would bear the child. She was a woman who said Yes to God. She then made the long journey to see her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist and there she sang the song we read this morning. It was not a lullaby, but more a song of defiance, a song about God turning the world upside down. I remember at Sunday School singing songs like ‘We shall overcome -one day’, and Mary’s song was in the same mould. We call the song ‘the Magnificat’, because that was the first word of it in Latin. God was being magnified or glorified. The word ‘magnify’ reminds us of a magnifying glass, which makes things bigger. Mary was praising God and praising the wonderful things God had done. God’s name was great. But equally the lens of the glass should be turned on us as God’s children, but what would people see? Would they be able to see Christ in us? Would the lens be cloudy or would it be transparent, so that Christ could be seen clearly? What would the lens see if turned on us? A friend tells the story of one Christmas day in her youth. The family were all together, enjoying the day, when the doorbell rang. It was a woman who had recently separated from her husband rather acrimoniously. She was going through a bad time and had taken to drinking more than she should. She was wallowing in melancholy, but my friend’s parents sat with her, talked with her and gave her something to eat, despite it disrupting their plans for Christmas. They offered hospitality and compassion, and by that God was magnified. Simple acts of compassion are important, and there are so many who will struggle this Christmas for whatever reason. Mary in her song draws attention to the hungry and the lowly and reaffirmed a divine No to the hungry going unfed and suffering going unrelieved. Mary sang her song and in doing so was saying Yes to God’s power and greatness, a God who had the whole world in God’s arms. But she was also singing a NO to hunger and oppression and inequality. Our world is going through a difficult time; our world is hurting. More than ever we need to hear the angels’ song of peace and goodwill to all, but also Mary’s song – a jubilant Yes to the greatness and love of God, and a defiant No to injustice. May it be our song, and by our song may God be magnified. Hymn 285 – The angel Gabriel Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession Come, Christ Jesus, be our guest and enter our lives today with your blessing. We are lonely for you and the peace you bring. Draw near to us in friendship and faithfulness so that in this season which combines celebration in the face of uncertainty, we may know your presence. Come, Christ Jesus, be our guide and show us the way to wisdom and gratitude. We are thankful for the kindness we know in friends and good neighbours which hold off the darkness and fear for the future. Encourage us to reach out to those who need your embrace and ours. Come, Christ Jesus, be our hope and touch us with your healing and grace. We remember before you all those we know and those know to you alone who are living with loss or illness this season, those who face depression or discouragement, and all who will find it hard to be merry this year. (silence) Shine the light of your comfort into their lives. Come, Christ Jesus, be our king and claim your rightful place in our hearts. Our world is struggling for the justice and mercy you bring. Draw near to our leaders and all working for peace and justice, and those striving to contain and heal the effects of the pandemic. We remember also the talks over a trade deal with the EU. Encourage honourable action and co-operation on all sides. Give hope to people under oppression and to those who live with fear or hunger day by day. Hasten the day when the world’s peoples will live as neighbours reconciled in your truth and freedom. Silence Amen Hymn 476 – Mine eyes have seen the glory Benediction Bless to us, O God, the road that is before us. Bless to us, O God, the friends who are around us. Bless to us, O God, your love which is within us. Bless to us, O God, your light which leads us home. May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and those whom you love and those whom we are called to love, this day and even forevermore. Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on this 2nd Sunday of Advent.
Notices:
Passcode: 096353
Call to Worship Now is the time to get ready: Let us prepare the way of the Lord! Now is the time to be changed: Let us repent and seek forgiveness Now is the time to welcome God into our midst: Let us worship God in humble expectation. Hymn 277 – Hark the glad sound! (1,4,5) Prayers of Adoration and Confession Loving God, we gather at this season of promise to worship you. We praise you for your love and your faithfulness, for you are the source of all hope and from you all joy springs. You are the one we expect, but your coming is always unexpected. You turn everything upside down and make all things new. Advent God of surprises, we worship you and wait for you to awaken our wonder and astound us with your arrival. Lord God, in this season of excitement and weariness, open our hearts to your presence, for we know you meet us and hold us; In and beyond the glitter, in and beyond the busyness and the rush. When we are tired and frayed, when we lose sight of what it is all about, when we put ourselves first and forget that you come to bring love, come close and restore us and forgive us we pray. Smooth down the mountains of our pride, and lift up the valleys of our doubts. Open a path in the wilderness of our lives that we might find our way to you again. Loving God, mend our broken hearts and help us to know ourselves forgiven and loved. In our thankfulness help us to wait and to watch for you, faithfully and truly all our days Lord’s Prayer Lighting of Advent Candle We light this candle for all God’s prophets, Confronting injustice and restoring the dream of a world of freedom and peace. As we wait for your promise, give light, give hope. Hymn 284 – Peace is the candle (v2) Readings – Isaiah 40: 1-11 Mark 1: 1-8 Hymn 543 – Longing for light (1,2) Weekly Prayer Everlasting God, as we come before you in this Season of Advent, we ask you to prepare us for the coming of your son Jesus Christ, in whom the glory of the Lord has been revealed. Hear us when we pray in faith for the needs of the Church, and give thanks for your goodness as we are gathered in His arms and carried close to His heart. Amen Reflection Every morning I sit at my desk and I write a ‘To Do’ list. My memory is such that I have to jot everything down – emails to reply to, people to phone, things to do, and gradually I tick them off as ‘Done’. Maybe you are the same? But someone recently recommended a ‘Not to Do’ list – a list of things NOT to do over Advent. It could be NOT to spend more money buying books on Amazon. NOT to buy a second packet of chocolate biscuits. Or it could be NOT to worry. There are some things we need to let go of over Advent. Maybe you could try it! If the Jews in exile in Babylon had a ‘Not to do’ list, Don’t worry would be at the very top. For they were so anxious. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, they had gone through the catastrophe of seeing Jerusalem captured and destroyed by the Babylonians, their Temple razed to the ground. Everything they held dear was taken away, and many of them were forcibly relocated to Babylon, thousands of miles away. They were in exile and they were homesick. Generations came and went, and still they longed for Jerusalem. Everything they counted on had gone, and they questioned, ‘Where is God? How long must we wait till God comes and takes us home?’ They prayed and pleaded and watched. The world they knew had been turned upside down and the things that used to give them strength had been ripped from their grasp. Maybe we know a bit how that feels. After all, since the arrival of Covid, we have been living in a confusing world and things dear to us like hugging family members, singing our hymns or going to coffee mornings with friends seem a long way away. During this Covid exile, we can ask, ‘When will it finish?’ It was to these homesick people at their lowest ebb that the prophet Isaiah spoke, and he spoke words of comfort. ‘Comfort, o comfort my people. Speak tenderly to Zion’. He didn’t condemn like other prophets had and say that it was their fault and that they had sinned. Instead, he offered comfort and hope. Hope that their exile would end and God would take them home. ‘Every valley will be exalted, every mountain made low’. God was preparing the way and God was in fact with them in exile. ‘Here is your God’, Isaiah says. ‘The shepherd will gather them in his arms and lead the way’. Their world was confusing and strange, but the prophet offered them hope of a way home. With the hope of vaccines rolling out this week, we have the hope too of our Covid exile finishing, though maybe not immediately. But we have a God who speaks tenderly to us, a God who is with us. John the Baptist had obviously missed the pastoral counselling courses at college. He didn’t speak tenderly or empathetically; in fact, he was quite judgemental. But he pointed the way to the One who would usher in the Kingdom of God – the one who in Jesus was there already, with the people, offering peace. In Advent we ponder on the God who comes, who draws near to us, who meets us where we are, in all the predicaments in life, and who speaks tenderly to us; a God who leads us home. Let us be ready to welcome the One who comes and be energised to reach out in love to all God’s people around us. Hymn 281 – People look East (1,4) Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession God of Wisdom and Patience, In this season of Advent, we wait for your gifts of hope and peace to claim the world once more. We wait on you in prayer, knowing you hear us even before we speak. Prepare our hearts and minds to welcome the coming of your Son once again, and prepare our courage and conviction to follow the way of the Lord. Thank you for leading us on the Way, especially in these difficult days when the pandemic still threatens, and people are so divided. We are grateful that we can rely on your strength and comfort when so much around us has become uncertain. Comfort those who are troubled in mind or spirit as the days grow shorter. Strengthen the bodies and spirits of those who are tired or suffering. Embrace those who are living with loss, and protect children and young people for whom the future seems confusing and unimaginable. We give thanks for the vaccine and pray for all who have the logistical nightmare of organising its distribution to those most at risk. Today we pray for the work of the Church of Scotland HIV Programme and for all the project partners around the world. For people caring faithfully for the wellbeing of others and showing Your love in practical ways. We remember today all who are unable to access antiretroviral medicine, particularly at this time, when Covid-19 is affecting us all. Strengthen us so we never to grow weary of doing good in Your name, of offering the hope to others. Help us to raise our voices in solidarity with those who have been silenced. Help us to always seek justice for those whose lives are so much harder than our own. Thank You for being the Good Shepherd who cares equally for us all and help us to follow Your example In a moment of silence we bring before you those whom we are concerned about. Amen Hymn 477 – Lo, he comes with clouds descending (1,4) |
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