Worship November 26, 2021
Let us worship!
We enter into the Avent season,
a time of Hope,
a time of Peace,
a time of Joy,
a time Love.
We await your coming, so many years ago.
We await your coming, in the days to come.
We await your coming, here with us now.
We wait, for you O God. Come, Lord Jesus, Come!
A prayer to center you
As we wait for your coming, most Holy God,
center our hearts on you.
This Christmas season, may we look for signs of your presence
in the faces around us, in the preparations we are making, in the giving and receiving of gifts, in the gathering around of friends.
May we see you.
May we await your arrival with hope, joy and love.
May this season of preparation be one in which our hearts are set on you
and in which we remember the promises of your love and your salvation.
Amen
Holy Scripture
Jeremiah 33:14-16
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”
Luke 21:25-36
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Reflection:
The turkey is put away. The left overs are being polished off. For many the tree is already up. Thanksgiving is behind us and Christmas season has begun. For many faith traditions the four weeks before Christmas are referred to as Advent—the official Christian beginning of the Christmas season (and the beginning of the Christian year…so Happy New Year!). This week is that week, the first week of Advent—and it begins the time of waiting.
You know that old saying “as slow as Christmas”? It is meant to reflect on the anxiety of awaiting something special. It, to me, expresses how slow time moves as the wonderful day approaches. It is a saying that always resonated with me. I love Christmas. As a child I was the one that was always awake in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for everyone else to wake up (how could they sleep past 5 am? It is Christmas!). I was the first to hit the living room just to see the beauty of the Christmas morning. The stockings hung and filled. The tree aglow. The presents scattered around. The excitement, the energy of that day…just what I had been waiting for. But even that morning, I still had to wait. I had to wait for everyone in the house to make an appearance... not an easy task!
I would be lying if I said that I am not the still the first one up, even after all the running around Christmas Eve, I am still up bright an early. A true testament to my excitement because I am not a morning person. Even now I have to wait on Christmas morning for everyone else to wake up. The waiting is hard. As the kids have gotten older and sleep in later, it takes everything in me not to go wake them up early to start the celebration. The waiting is hard. Y’all, I am in my forties—I know I should be a little further along, but what can I say. The excitement of Christmas morning still brings me great joy.
That waiting, that is the hard the part. But the waiting is a reminder. This waiting at Christmas time is an important remember that we are still waiting, we are still waiting for Christ to come again. We are living in the already and the not yet. At Christmas we are celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus who came into the world, but we are also proclaiming our hope that Christ will come again. Throughout Advent we experiencing the already and not yet, celebrating what has been done for us and proclaiming what we know will come again.
As Christians we believe that Christ will come again for the ultimate salvation. As we await Christmas this year, let us remember that we are also walking in hope that Christ will come again and proclaim final victory over sin and death. We still wait for his promised coming, with hope and expectation.
Advent calls us wait with the excitement of kid (or forty something) on Christmas morning for Christ to come again. We believe that we will indeed see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory and that that will be a great day of rejoicing. As we live in the already and the not yet, we should do so with excitement, anticipation, and hope for Christ coming again.
This Advent may you wait with hope.
Amen
HYMN: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel
Translated: John Neal, 1818-66
Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come O Rod of Jesse's stem,
From ev'ry foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow'r to save;
Bring them in vict'ry through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, O Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav'nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
Hymn # 31 from Lutheran Worship
Author: French Processional
Tune: Veni Emmanuel
1st Published in: 1854
Prayer of sending
Oh, God of comfort and hope
This advent season, help us to wait for you with expectant hearts.
We know that you have walked amongst us. Help us to live into the deep hope that you will come again.
Amen
Going out.
Go out into the world, renewed and revived by the word of God.
and in all that you do, may the love of Christ Jesus uphold you,
the peace of God sustain you and may the Holy Spirit guide you each step of the way
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
