We welcome everyone to our united service at Yetholm (11am) on the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Lighting of Advent Crown - Choir Call to Worship God comes to us in the cry of a child: Let every heart prepare a welcome. God comes to us in the whisper of a loving mother: Let every heart prepare an embrace. God comes to us, if we are ready or not: Let every heart prepare to receive the Christ. So we worship the God who has come, who is here and who will come again. Hymn 294 – Once in royal David’s city Prayer of Adoration and Confession God of mystery and mercy, you stir in our hearts and bring us joy. You stir in our minds and bring us wisdom. You stir in the world and bring hope for the future. You came as a little child, stirring up praise. So we come to adore you with the angels; to bow with the shepherds; to kneel in wonder with the magi; to ponder your mystery with Joseph; to love and cherish you with Mary; We come with humble hearts full of joy because you came to us first In Jesus, whom we hold on our hearts this night (day). God of grace and truth, In Christ you offer us the gift of yourself, but we are attracted to presents under the tree. You came to us in flesh and blood, but we fail to see you in the humans right beside us. You shine in the world, but we dwell on the darkness in the daily news.Forgive us. Renew our hope and our trust in you as you reach out to us from the manger. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! Walk in the assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness. Be people of light and forgive one another. Lord’s Prayer Mickey Mouse Play Carol 303 – It came upon the midnight clear Readings – 1 Samuel 2:1-10 (Pg 272) Luke 1:26-38 (pg 1026) Hymn 312 – Away in a manger Weekly Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, we come to your cradle with joy and wonder! We adore you for your loving kindness; thank you, Jesus. Accept our hearts as our best loving gift and send us out at the end of our Advent journey filled with love, joy and peace ready to receive that promise afresh into our lives. Amen Reflection There are certain songs, which when we hear them, immediately take us to a certain place to a certain time. We associate them perhaps with certain people. An introduction is played and the memories come flooding in. Maybe to childhood or a holiday. The carol Starry Night takes me to Machanhill primary school in my first parish in the late 80s, which is when I first heard it, while with the events in Gaza, the music that comes to mind is bizarrely Pet Shop Boys, as I played their Greatest Hits at full blast as I drove down the motorway when I made a visit. Just now we are singing a lot of carols, and many of them we know by heart, they have become so much part of us. Mary as a girl would have known the songs of her faith. When women had something to say, they often put it in song. After the crossing of the Red Sea, Mirriam sand about victory against the odds. We read today about Hannah, and after unexpectedly giving birth, she sang of the God who overturned expectations, redressed the balance and gave the world a new perspective. Mary would perhaps have known these songs by heart, describing as they did a God she was still getting to know. But they would not have prepared her for the time an angel came knocking at her door. The beautiful story we read of the annunciation. Mary must have been terrified. Gabriel would have done his best, but he must have been an awesome sight to a teenager, as Mary was. Then Gabriel said such incredible things., about God, about her, about a baby who would save the world. He laid out God’s plan, and asked Mary if she wanted to be part of it. What do you say to an angel? Well, Mary proved mature beyond her years and asked how it was to be. ‘How is this to be?’ Now, you can say that with resignation or with sarcasm, but I think she says it with trust. Or maybe she is just buying time, as she weighs up the cost of what the angel is telling her.
Mary wisely went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, whom Gabriel had mentioned was also going to bear a child and, as she approaches, Elizabeth hugs her and blesses her. No questions, no condemnation, but a blessing that she is truly favoured by God. Mary then takes Hannah’s song and makes it her own. A song testifying to a God who looks with favour on the lowly , who has not forgotten them. And that is all in God’s plan that Mary was part of, for she would bear a baby who would also let this song re-echo even in his hardest moments, a child who would become the saviour of the world. Christmas can be fun with the trees and tinsel and our carols, but here is also the promise God comes to dwell amongst us; the hope of God who will set things right; the joy of God who has not forgotten us, and the love of God born at Christmas, who turns the world upside down. Hymn 316 – Love came down Prayers of Dedication and Intercession Generous and loving God, your gift to us in Christ Jesus still draws us to manger and opens our hearts with wonder. Bless our gifts in his name, so that they may draw others to your love, to find the blessing we have discovered in the One born for us. Amen. God of hope and healing, Because you came to us in love as the Christ Child in Bethlehem, we come to you with love and concern for the world. In this time of quiet and contemplation we remember: people and families living close to the edge of survival, worrying about where their next meal will come from, or where they will find shelter… As Mary and Joseph travelled to Bethlehem, so be with all who travel at this time to meet up with family or friends. May it be an enriching time. We pray for those who will spend Christmas alone, in hospital, or weighed down by grief… those who work tonight and tomorrow today while we celebrate or relax… those who have lost their sense of joy and wonder and turned to cynicism or despair; those who face the year ahead with fear and anxiety, 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... Amen Hymn 301 – Hark. The herald angels Benediction May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise men, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ-child be yours this Christmas; and the blessing of almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you now and always, Amen.
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