Advent 1

CALL TO WORSHIP

Come, let us prepare to meet with God. Let us prepare ourselves to help bring in God’s kingdom. Let us prepare to worship.

Hymn 175: Light of the World you stepped down into darkness

PRAYERS

Lord, we do not know how or when you will call us to serve you. We do not know when we may have to face difficult times, or when the difficult times we face now may end. We do not know how and when you will come to us. Help us to pray and learn so that, when you call us, we may be ready. Help us to find courage to change, to trust you and to listen for your call. Amen.

We praise you, living God, for these days of Advent, for the opportunity they offer to reflect on Scripture, and to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of your Son. As we set out on our journey, may we find a stillness that is your presence with us, leading us on to Bethlehem where our spirits can soar towards the light of your eternal love, revealed in the Christ Child. Amen.

A Prayer of confession and Assurance

Advent God, forgive us, we pray, when our preparations for the coming of your Son are superficial and we don’t invest our whole selves into them prayerfully, practically or purposefully. May we not be left with regrets and ‘if onlys’, but adapt to the challenges of our lives and our world with the grace and agility of your Holy Spirit – in whose power we pray. Amen.

God of all creation, though the nights are long, the sun still rises; though the mornings are dark, the birds still sing; though the world isn’t ready, your Son still comes; though we don’t listen or prepare or deserve, you still love and forgive and renew us – in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Hymn 169: Come thou long expected Jesus

READING

Isaiah 2: 1-5

2 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Matthew 24: 36-44

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father.

37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;

39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.

40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Hymn 732: Day of Judgement Day of wonder

SERMON

Well, the advent season is upon us, we will soon hear Noddy Holden reminding us that ITS CHRISTMAS” last Sunday used to be called stir up Sunday, a time to stir people up but also the time to stir the Christmas pudding in preparation for Christmas day. The name has now been changed to Christ the King!

TV will have advert after advert showing us the most desirable gifts of the year, children will be writing letters to Santa to claim the must have toy.

Preparation must be considered we have to ensure we have enough food to last us for all the one day when most shops are closed! Unlike in the past that after Christmas Eve everything was closed, for the Christmas period and some shops would open the couple of days between Christmas and New Year. If you were given a toy on Christmas morning that needed batteries, then you were stuck unless someone had kindly provided them.

I can remember looking down on my new electric car in those days it was connected by a wire, but all I could do was look at it as it said on the box “batteries not included”.

Now things have changed society no longer looks at this time of year as a time of celebration of God coming to earth a time of good will and joy for all. Karon and I watched a program about Christmas toys over the years and how sometimes the demand outstripped availability it showed people physically fighting over the toy of the year, so their child could play with it for a few hours then it would be consigned to the toy box with all the other toys.

As I was typing up this sermon adverts were springing up with offers and discounts for Black Friday which now seem to extend for at least a week. We are inundated with offers that are the last chance to buy!

It seems that today business takes priority I’m not sure this is a good thing, we live in a world of profit over everything else, some corner shops are even open on Christmas day, and all the majority shops are open on boxing day.

But for all the issues this creates there is a lesson we can take from it, most if not all, businesses know the importance of being prepared.

Some shops need to order Christmas stock nearly a year in advance. The ‘just in time’ stock control system used in many industries today requires precision planning to make sure that what is needed arrives at the moment it is needed.

And we to have all had to learnt something about being prepared and being adaptable, thanks to periods of lockdown we experienced through during Covid.

Today’s readings ask us to consider whether we are just as prepared personally, in our spiritual and inner life.

It’s not that we don’t know about today’s message – it is not new! Every Advent we are reminded of it. Keep awake; be prepared.

We find in our old testament reading Isaiah reminds the Israelites that God had ordained them to practice justice and righteousness. That meant they were to be neighbourly toward everyone in the community. He told them previously in chapter 1 (vs. 17) “learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” As people of faith this was their calling, to be compassionate to others and show concern for the underdogs in society.

Walking in the light is not just believing in God, it is using our resources to reach out to any who are in need. During the Christmas season we have many opportunities to give resources to those who are less fortunate. Many refer to it as the “season of giving.” Isaiah, however, doesn’t make this a seasonal event. For him it is an all year-around process, faith in action, a constant expectation of God’s people. The result of this behaviour is the picture he presents in our reading of a peaceful existence.

Isaiah’s vision of nations streaming to the mountain of God is global in its scope – so too is Matthew’s picture of the Son of Man bringing in a new world order.

Today we might think of ourselves as being like the disciples that Jesus called from mending their nets – who immediately left all that and followed him. But, in reality, we are probably more like those who said, ‘First let me bury my father’ and ‘Let me say farewell to those back home’ – the one’s that did not fully commit to Jesus.

Partly this is about not putting off things we know need to be doing in our lives.

Perhaps it is our prayer life that needs some attention, or maybe we need to make ourselves more familiar with exactly what it is that Jesus said and did by reading Scripture more often, or with greater depth.

Maybe it is making the connection between both of those and everything that makes up our everyday life or, to put it another way, are you sure that you are being a follower of Jesus, walking God’s way, are we each playing our part in making God’s kingdom a present reality is it something we are doing, and not just something we know and talk about?

If you don’t belong to one maybe, consider joining a house group where you can share and discuss God’s word.

In our gospel reading Jesus tells his disciples that only the Father knows when the Son of Man will come to gather his people. So, they must ‘keep awake’ and ‘be ready’ because he is coming at ‘an unexpected hour’.

Every day we prepare for lots of things; they may be big or small, significant, or fairly trivial. We go about preparing for a future we have no real control over. For example, many of us are looking at a holiday next year, but can we be confident that all will be well. We only need to look back at the pandemic we have recently gone through, how many plans were ruined, I was in London preparing a new Dunelm store at the time of the outbreak and was told my team had to leave site. The whole job was put on hold for months, in fact I never went back, and that was unexpected. I had to re-evaluate my lifestyle.

What about today as we look towards this time of celebration?

What exactly is coming? By celebrating Christmas, as we once again celebrate the birth of Christ, the intervention of God’s love in the world, the reign of peace over God’s world. Isaiah told of a time to come when all nations would cease to be at war, and everyone would turn to God. This would be a time when everyone would “walk in the light of the Lord.” Isaiah gives us a vision of the ideal society, a time not yet realised but a time that will come, a time of peace and harmony. And how do we know this? Well God promised it.

but we need to be prepared, and we need to be adaptable.

On a walk in the Cotswold's, TV journalist and presenter Kate Garraway came across a tree that had been uprooted for some time but had then grown a new, strong, upright trunk from the fallen tree. She commented that when we think about trees, we usually think about their strength, but not about their adaptability. Paul speaks of putting on the armour of light – of being prepared, ready and adaptable to meet the challenge of any attack. Isaiah calls for people to ascend the mountain of the Lord, to listen and learn God’s way.

Isaiah, pleaded with the people of his day to give peace a chance. Does that seem to be the same call today as we see violence and war is still raging around the world. But who is to blame? the walls and fences that we build, around our homes and properties our countries in all the places we establish boundaries, these things don’t help to allow God’s plans to come to fruition.

Mathew’s gospel is rather like a town crier in full regalia Someone ringing a bell and shouts out: ‘Oyez, oyez! Time for your wake-up. Time to get up! Time to get ready! Time to prepare! Time to collect your thoughts! Time to decide what’s important! Time to think on your feet! Be ready whenever Jesus calls!

OFFERING DURING HYMN

Hymn 518: Father, hear the prayer we offer

PRAYERS OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION

We praise you, living God, for the words of Scripture that breathe life into our prayers, urgency into our complacency, energy to our discipleship, depth to our faith, and warn, challenge and equip us to prepare for Christmas more deeply, more fully, more honestly and more purposefully. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God of hope, where things seem to be one big tangle of pain and unhappiness, intervene with your saving love; where people are in conflict or locked in a stalemate, release them from the cycle of war; where your name is outlawed and your children are forced to hide, break through their darkness and be God-revealed to them; where despair takes centre stage and depression and anxiety sharpen their claws, fill those situations with unexpected peace and joy. God of hope, God-with-us, God of all time and of every place: may the earth be filled with the knowledge of you, and may your light flow over the world like a covering, bringing protection from the darkness and from the evil that often frightens and wounds us. Amen.

Hymn 378: Be, thou my Vision

BLESSING

Lord, we pray that in all our preparations for the coming week and for Christmas, we may find time to spend time with you. Help us to be prayerful, watchful, and full of hope for your coming. Amen.