Sermon Tone Analysis

Psalm of Isaiah

Opening Hymn

Advent Candle Lighting

Reader One:

Reader Two:

THE JOY OF HOME

Reader One: It’s a reunion, every time we go home, every time we embrace those we love, no matter how long it has been.

It feels like sunrise, like the clouds are parting and the rain has ended.

It is joy, nothing less than pure joy to grab hold of those who are home for us, who make home for us.

Whether we wake up to them every day, or travel many miles to see them again, it is joy to go home.

Reader Two: The prophet Zephaniah tells us to rejoice at the thought of going home.

The prophet tells us to imagine being set free, being unburdened, being released to live, to fully live in the grace and wonder of life itself, surrounded by those who love us like no one else.

And then to live like that was our truth even now, even here.

It is joy to go home.

Reader One: John the Baptist reminds us, however, that it takes choices to live in this joy.

It doesn’t just happen; we choose to make life a joy by how we love others, by how we serve and give and care for others, by how we do the job we do and how we impact the world around us.

We build joy as we build a home in this world and the next.

Reader Two: We light these candles, the candle of hope, and of peace, and of joy, as a sign that we are on our way home, and we walk with a skip in our step because we can see the destination, and it is pure joy.

It is time to go home.

Light three candles in the Advent wreath.

If using a rose or pink colored candle in the wreath, this is the time to light that one.

Video

Worship Set

Good News From the King!

Viruses have been a plague on human kind since the fall of man.

Not only do they harm us but even our computers are now infected with viruses.

However, there is a current virus warning that I am happy to report.

Allow me to sound the alarm.

(The Advent Virus-Anonymous via email)

WARNING……WARNING: ADVENT VIRUS

Be on the alert for symptoms of inner Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.

The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions.

This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.

Some signs and symptoms of The Advent Virus:

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.

An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

A loss of interest in judging other people.

A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

A loss of interest in conflict.

A loss of the ability to worry.

(This is a very serious symptom.)

Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

Frequent attacks of smiling.

An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Please send this warning out to all your friends.

This virus can and has affected many systems.

Some systems have been completely cleaned out because of it.

Well, I do not know about you, but I am sure I have been infected by this bug and I am not afraid to say so and I hope to spread it!

:-)

This week, our Advent theme is “Joy.”

Joy is not the same as happiness.

Joy is much deeper than that and it cannot be stolen by circumstances, but instead gives strength and power to us in the midst of the deepest and darkest circumstances.

It is rooted in our knowledge of who God is.

When we know God and understand that He has all things in His control, we experience peace due to our confidence in God’s love and His ability to see to all our needs.

The traditional scriptures for third advent speak of joy and judgement.

It is difficult to understand how the two can be compatible and today we will look at that.

However, there is another key component that keeps surfacing that I want us to notice today.

It is the component of relationship.

Not just a relationship with God, but our relationship to others as well.

Please stand with me for the reading of the Word.

Today, I am reading from Romans 15:1-13.

I am reading this out of the full context.

The fuller context includes 14:1-23, but I feel we can get enough of the meaning for today’s sermon.

The Word of God for the People of God.

Thanks be to God!

Pray

Good News From the King!

As I was thinking and processing my thoughts on joy this week, I came across a devotional that I felt explained well our source of joy.

This devotion is not talking about joy, it does not even mention joy.

However, I believe it relates to joy.

The devotion is from the collection found in the devotional book Streams in the Desert which has been a favorite of mine for many years.

Listen closely and see if you do not catch the connection with joy.

The devotion beings with 2 Kings 3:17-18.

You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.

This is an easy thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you.

(2 Kings 3:17–18)

To human reason, what God was promising seemed simply impossible, but nothing is too difficult for Him.

Without any sound or sign and from sources invisible and seemingly impossible, the water flowed the entire night, and “the next morning . . .

there it was . . .

!

And the land was filled with water. . . .

The sun was shining on the water. . . .

[And it] looked red—like blood” (vv.

20, 22).

Our unbelief is always desiring some outward sign, and the faith of many people is largely based on sensationalism.

They are not convinced of the genuineness of God’s promises without some visible manifestation.

But the greatest triumph of a person’s faith is to “be still, and know that [He is] God” (Ps.

46:10).

The greatest victory of faith is to stand at the shore of the impassable Red Sea and to hear the Master say, “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today” (Ex.

14:13), and “Move on” (Ex.

14:15).

As we step out in faith, without any sign or sound, taking our first steps into the water, we will see the water divide.

Continuing to march ahead, we will see a pathway open through the very midst of the sea.

Whenever I have seen God’s wondrous work in the case of some miraculous healing or some extraordinary deliverance by His providence, the thing that has always impressed me most was the absolute quietness in which it was done.

I have also been impressed by the absence of anything sensational and dramatic, and the utter sense of my own uselessness as I stood in the presence of this mighty God, realizing how easy all this was for Him to do without even the faintest effort on His part, or the slightest help from me.

It is the role of faith not to question but to simply obey.

In the above story from Scripture, the people were asked to “make this valley full of ditches” (2 Kings 3:16).

The people obeyed, and then water came pouring in from some supernatural source to fill them.

What a lesson for our faith!

Are you desiring some spiritual blessing?

Then dig the ditches and God will fill them.

But He will do this in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.

May the Lord grant us the kind of faith that acts “by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor.