Skip to main content

Introduction to Worship for 12/4/2016

By
Advent is the beginning of the church year.  “Advent” means “beginning” or “coming”. We begin, not with the birth of Jesus, but with a time of waiting and preparation for his coming.

Advent is about actively preparing for and anticipating God coming into our lives – not only preparing for the celebration of Christ’s birth in a few weeks but actively preparing for God to come into our lives EVERY DAY! God’s presence with us – and our presence with those who are precious to God – brings us closer to God. We grow spiritually, love deeply, and work for peace and justice for all God’s people. During this Advent season we hear God’s message of love, peace, and justice from the Prophet Isaiah. Isaiah challenges us with a message of peace that demands us to work for the well-being of everyone, not simply to set aside our weapons (Isaiah 2:1–5). God’s peace requires our participation and energy – just as much energy as we might have spent fighting. Isaiah also shares a vision of power that’s up-ended, reversed – “And a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). But how can this be? This is the hope filled vision of a new world, a world of peace and harmony. A world we’d like to live in today.

Advent can be a very busy time of year. It’s a time when the church says, “Wait,” and savor these four weeks of preparation for the coming of Christ into our lives. But many people find themselves rushing to parties, shopping malls, Christmas plays, and family gatherings. During this hurried season, it’s important to pause and get ready for Emmanuel, God with us, to actually be with us. Advent prepares us for the message that Jesus will bring – peace, love, hope, justice, and liberation for all people. Now that’s something to celebrate!

This Week:   Isaiah 11:1-10


The prophet shares a hope-filled vision with us – a vision of harmony and understanding – and presents an unlikely subject for leading us toward this vision – “a little child.” Even more unlikely, Isaiah explains that animals who are enemies will lie down together. They will reconcile and be adversaries no more. These verses seem unbelievable, but longing for their fulfillment is the stuff of hope. Isaiah’s vision pushes us to re-think the way we understand power dynamics today and show us that no matter what, peace inside ourselves and in the world is possible. 

This week reach out with a note or phone call to someone with whom you often clash.

Family activity (can be adapted to families of all ages)


    • Who preaches messages of peace, hope, harmony among all people today?
    • How might you set aside time this Advent to prepare for Jesus’ arrival into the world and into your own life? 
    • With the birth of our Savior, what do you think you need to be saved from? What are you being saved for?


    Comments

    Post a Comment

    Popular posts from this blog

    Introduction to Worship for 4/30/2017

    By
    Followers of the Way: Renowned Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan made a profound statement about this week’s gospel reading. “Emmaus never happened,” Crossan wrote. “Emmaus always happens.” What we are invited to grapple with in that statement is the truth that the factual (historical) significance of the resurrection stories is secondary to a more profound truth: the risen Christ is with us. Now. Here. That is what the early church began to learn, and it is what enabled them to move on. Luke 24:13–35 The exact location of Emmaus is not known. Perhaps this uncertainty forms a commentary on the focus scripture. Emmaus may be anywhere. Hearts burning and eyes opening do not take place in only one place, either geographical or spiritual. Emmaus comes into sight wherever a path leads us toward communion with God and whenever we recognize the risen Christ among us. On the day of Jesus’ resurrection, two disciples walk along the road to Emmaus with Jesus, informing this “strange...
    1 comment
    Read more

    Introduction to Worship for 2/26/2017

    By
    Matthew 17:1-9 And so the Season after the Epiphany closes: on a holy mountain where God may be found. It is a place of sacred mystery, where shining and shadow convey a holy presence. It is a place of community across time, where God’s people of past and present meet. It is a place of silence and witness, where visions are kept quiet and God says of Jesus, “Listen to him.” From here, we go forward into Lent: the 40 days and 6 Sundays that take us through Jesus’ progress toward Jerusalem and the conflict with the government of Palestine that would lead to his crucifixion. We will have special worship stations in the sanctuary, for reflection and prayer; a Tuesday morning prayer group; a book study on “Gifts of the Dark Wood,” a book that reflects on the hard places and what we find there; and in worship, we will tell the stories of Jesus and his encounters with people who were on the margins, that he brought into the center.  So this week, we pause to reflect on the insight tha...
    Post a Comment
    Read more

    Introduction to Worship for 9/3/2017

    By
    Misfits: As we come to the close of our journey through the Dark Wood, we are considering one final gift. Eric Elnes calls this the gift of “Misfits,” and by that he means two things. The first is the experience each of us sometimes has of being a misfit in our cultural context or our community, when it seems that who we are and what we want is at odds with the world around us. And the second is the gift of others who are also misfits, who guide and challenge us along the way as we strive to find our place and our purpose in God’s commonwealth together. He names this second category of misfits as “mentors”, and invites us to identify and to keep regular contact with those who can mentor us toward living fully in the gospel, and keep us from becoming too comfortable on the wrong paths. Psalm 137: 1–6 The Psalm is the classic cry of the broken hearted, finding themselves in a faraway land and a world that does not value “Zion”—the reign of God on earth. By crying out their grief a...
    Post a Comment
    Read more