You can watch the bible readings and sermon here, or scroll down to read the rest of the Sunday prayers and content, and watch this video at the point it occurs during worship.
WELCOME & ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF COUNTRY
If a cattle trough in a small village can become a sacred place then all of this land carries the footprint of God’s engagement with humanity for just as the Dharawal people saw the Creator at work in all places; we long for God to be present and alive where we live and work too. As we acknowledge their elders past and present we join with the Dharawal people in working for reconciliation and justice making. In that spirit of reconciliation you are invited and welcome here. For the story of God discovered at Bethlehem is more inclusive, affirming and welcoming than we can ever imagine. In that place there was room for the Christ, in this place there is room for you and me, so welcome! You too are loved.
ADVENT LITANY
In the bright heat of summer
we thirst for new life
longing for peace with Creation
as it cries out in suffering.
Jesus, we wait again for you
for the birth of your hope and peace in us
as we look forward to the story
of your birth, your coming to Earth.
We light our first and second Advent candles.
HYMN
Comfort, comfort all my people
With the comfort of my Word.
Speak it tender to my people:
All your sins are taken away.
Though your tears be rivers running
Though your tears be an ocean full
Though you cry with the hurt of living:
Comfort, comfort.
Every valley shall be lifted
Every mountain shall be low
Every rough place will be smoother:
Comfort, comfort.
Though your eyes see only darkness
Though your eyes can see no light
Though your eyes see pain and sorrow:
Comfort, comfort.
Every night will have its morning
Every pain will have an end
Every burden will be lightened:
Comfort, comfort.
Words and music © R Mann. Used with permission. CCLI Licence # 31951
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
As the Judeans gathered at the Jordan, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem entered the water,
so we come seeking forgiveness, we come to turn around, to turn back to you.
In the silence, we feel our sorrow, our regret, for the ways we turned from your way of peace.
Silence – leave at least 1 minute
We come to God seeking forgiveness, turning back to God’s way of peace.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE
And friends, God welcomes us back into God’s presence, to God’s peace.
Know you are forgiven, and live into that grace, transformed. Amen.
BIBLE READINGS Jan & Gordon C
ISAIAH 40: 1 – 11 Our God has said: “Encourage my people! Give them comfort. Speak kindly to Jerusalem and announce: Your slavery is past; your punishment is over. I, the Lord, made you pay double for your sins.” Someone is shouting: “Clear a path in the desert! Make a straight road for the Lord our God. Fill in the valleys; flatten every hill and mountain. Level the rough and rugged ground. Then the glory of the Lord will appear for all to see. The Lord has promised this!” Someone told me to shout, and I asked, “What should I shout?” We humans are merely grass, and we last no longer than wild flowers. At the Lord’s command, flowers and grass disappear, and so do we. Flowers and grass fade away, but what our God has said will never change. There is good news for the city of Zion. Shout it as loud as you can from the highest mountain. Don’t be afraid to shout to the towns of Judah: “Your God is here!” Look! The powerful Lord God is coming to rule with his mighty arm. He brings with him what he has taken in war, and he rewards his people. The Lord cares for his nation, just as shepherds care for their flocks. He carries the lambs in his arms, while gently leading the mother sheep.
MARK 1: 1 – 8 This is the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It began just as God had said in the book written by Isaiah the prophet, “I am sending my messenger to get the way ready for you. In the desert someone is shouting, ‘Get the road ready for the Lord! Make a straight path for him.’ ” So John the Baptist showed up in the desert and told everyone, “Turn back to God and be baptized! Then your sins will be forgiven.” From all Judea and Jerusalem crowds of people went to John. They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the Jordan River. John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey. John also told the people, “Someone more powerful is going to come. And I am not good enough even to stoop down and untie his sandals. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit!” May God speak to us through these words.
HYMN Cloth for the cradle
Chorus: Cloth for the cradle, cradle for the child
The child for every joy and sorrow:
Find him a shawl that’s woven by us all
To welcome the Lord of each tomorrow.
Darkness and light and all that’s known by sight
Silence and echo fading
Weave into one a welcome for the Son
Set earth its own maker serenading.
Hungry and poor, the sick and the unsure
Wealthy whose needs are stranger
Weave into one a welcome for the Son
Leave excess and want beneath the manger.
Claimant and queen, wage earners in between
Trader and travelling preacher
Weave into one a welcome for the Son
Whose word brings new life to every creature.
Copyright © 1997, Wild Goose Resource Group. Used with permission. CCLI Licence # 31951
MESSAGE Don’t look at me, look at Christ!
HYMN
Come, O God of all the earth:
come to us, O Righteous One.
Come and bring our love to birth:
in the glory of your Son.
Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you.
Raise your joyful cries,
Dance to the life around you.
Come, O God of flashing light;
twinkling star and burning sun;
God of day and God of night;
in your light we all are one.
Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you.
Raise your joyful cries,
Dance to the life around you.
Come, O Justice, come, O Peace:
come and shape our hearts anew;
Come and make oppression cease:
bring us all to life in you.
Sing out, earth and skies!
Sing of the God who loves you.
Raise your joyful cries,
Dance to the life around you.
Words and music: Marty Haugen Copyright © 1985 by GIA Publications. Licence # CCLI 31951
OFFERING PRAYER
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & LORD’S PRAYER Jan C
BLESSING & BENEDICTION
Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.
Bernadette Farrell OCP Publications, Portland Oregon Used with permission Licence # CCLI 31951
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