Welcome to our Service of Home Worship for the First Sunday of Advent– 28h November 2021 from St.Wilfrid’s Church, Old Arley
Welcome to our Service for the First Sunday of Advent
Our Opening Hymn is – Hark, the Glad Sound! The Saviour Comes (Mission Praise 210)
1) Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
the Saviour promised long;
let every heart prepare a throne,
and every voice a song.
2) He comes, the prisoners to release
in Satan’s bondage held;
the chains of sin before Him break,
the iron fetters yield.
3) He comes to free the captive mind
where evil thoughts control;
and for the darkness of the blind,
gives light dial makes them whole.
4) He comes die broken heart to bind,
die wounded soul to cure;
and with the treasures of His grace
to enrich die humble poor.
5) Our glad hosannas, Prince of peace.
Your welcome shall proclaim;
and heaven’s eternal arches ring
with Your beloved name. (by Fhihp Doddniljc (1702-51)
Preparation
The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart and mind.
Grace mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you
All: And also with you.
This is the day that the Lord has made.
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
We have come together in the name of Christ to offer our praise and thanksgiving to hear and receive God’s holy word, to pray for the needs of the world, and to seek the forgiveness of our sins, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we may give ourselves to the service of God.
All: We say Sorry
Jesus says, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’
So let us turn away from our sins and turn to Christ, confessing our sins in penitence and faith.
All: Lord God, we have sinned against you;
We have done evil in your sight.
We are sorry and repent.
Have mercy on us according to your love.
Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin.
Renew a right spirit within us and restore to us the joy of your salvation;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in His image to the praise and glory of His name through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Blessed is the Lord,
All: For He has heard the voice of our prayer;
Therefore shall our hearts dance for joy
All: And in our song will we praise our God.
Blessed are you, Lord our God,
creator and redeemer of all;
to you be glory and praise for ever.
From the waters of chaos you drew forth the world.
And in your great love fashioned us in your image.
Now, through the deep waters of death,
you have brought your people to new birth by raising your Son to life in triumph.
May Christ your light ever dawn in our hearts as we offer you our sacrifice of thanks and praise.
Blessed be God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.
All: Blessed be God for ever.
Collect for the First Sunday of Advent – 28th November 2021
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
All: Amen
Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.
All: And Christ shall give you light.
You have died and your life is hid with Christ in God.
All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead.
Set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on the earth.
All: And Christ shall give you light.
When Christ our life appears
you will appear with him in glory.
All: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.
Our First Reading is from Jeremiah Chap: 33
14 The Lord said, “The time is coming when I will fulfil the promise that I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 At that time I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will do what is right and just throughout the land.
16 The people of Judah and of Jerusalem will be rescued and will live in safety. The city will be called “The Lord Our Salvation.’
All: Thanks be to God
Our Second Hymn is – O Come O Come Emmanuel (Mission Praise 493)
1) O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Refrain : O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
2) O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Refrain : O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
3) O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Refrain : O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
4) O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Refrain : O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
5) O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.
Refrain : O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe. (from Latin 12th century)
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke Chap: 21
25 “There will be strange things happening to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On earth whole countries will be in despair, afraid of the roar of the sea and the raging tides.
26 People will faint from fear as they wait for what is coming over the whole earth, for the powers in space will be driven from their courses.
27 Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in a cloud with great power and glory.
28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and raise your heads, because your salvation is near.”
29 Then Jesus told them this parable: “Think of the fig tree and all the other trees.
30 When you see their leaves beginning to appear, you know that summer is near.
31 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the Kingdom of God is about to come.
32 “Remember that all these things will take place before the people now living have all died.
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 “Be careful not to let yourselves become occupied with too much feasting and drinking and with the worries of this life, or that Day may suddenly catch you
35 like a trap. For it will come upon all people everywhere on earth.
36 Be on watch and pray always that you will have the strength to go safely through all those things that will happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”
This is the Word of the Lord
All: Thanks be to God
Benediction
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel,
All: who has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour,
All: born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets God promised of old
All: to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all that hate us,
To show mercy to our ancestors,
All: and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:
All: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
All: holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
All: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
All: by the forgiveness of all their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
All: the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
All: and to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1.68-79)
All: Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever.
Amen.
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Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent – 29th November 2021
This Sermon was prepared and preached by Bernard Moss at St. Marys Church, Nantwich in 2019
Don’t you just love it!
There you are somewhat lost in a big city wondering how on earth you can find your way, even with your nose stuck to your l-phone and the navigation app, or like me holding a city map upside down pretending to know what I am looking for.
Desperation sets in – so you ask the next passing stranger for directions and they come up with the old chestnut –
Ah ! if I were you I wouldn’t start from here -don’t you just love it!!!
Losing our bearings, being unable to find our sense of direction, knowing vaguely where we are heading but not sure how to get there.
It’s all a bit disconcerting whether you are in London Manchester, the Potteries or Venice and especially in Venice !
Sometimes to get our bearings we have to turn round and try to work out where we have come from, once we get that bit clear we can move forward with perhaps some greater degree of confidence., at least we think we know where we are now, and that helps us find a way forward.
Well I am tempted at this point to say this is what Advent Sunday is all about and then leave it to you to work it out for yourselves but you might feel that you are being short-changed, so let’s explore it a fait further
Because Advent is among other things an opportunity to get our bearings, to check our direction of travel, to be reminded how we have got this far and to check out whether we are heading where we had thought, or even hoped, we were travelling towards. It is, if you like, the image of a big picture moment.
Yes we have to navigate some immediate obstacles and the demands and needs of our fellow travellers.
Yes we have to try to avoid cuts de sac or catching the wrong bus and then being told that
If I were you I wouldn’t start from here, you need to catch a different number bus.
We know the hazards only too well, but if we can keep sight of the big picture then it keeps things in perspective.
In a strange way Advent, which to be honest has its fair share of gloom and doom and a set of lectionary readings that can make your hair stand on end at times.
Advent is posing the question
Are we heading in the right direction?
When the world seems so chaotic, where there is so much bitterness and distrust,
• So much human carnage
• So many threats to human wellbeing
• So many ways in which people’s dignity and value is undermined or even destroyed
• Where so many political promises are destined to hit the buffers or take us up tantalising cuts de sac
In this bewildering kaleidoscope, we need to take our bearings and check our direction of travel.
Jesus of course was brilliant at doing this.
• He looked out at the developing political mayhem.
• He could foresee the damaging fallout and the havoc it could create as the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Romans drew near.
• and he delivered a profound sense of redirection – seek you first the kingdom of God
Yes the son of man will suffer and will face the chaos of human greed and envy and sinfulness.
But the direction of travel has a destination in resurrection where the love of God cannot ever be vanquished.
The early church was also good at that, for heaven knows they faced their own tumultuous times too and because they were.
As we are – an Easter people and Alleluia was their song, they were able to
“say our sense of direction has been set by the Lord Jesus and because of the resurrection there will come a moment in God’s good time where that victory will be ultimately celebrated”
Whatever language we use the second coming and so on. it is all determined by looking back at where we have come from, that Easter day and the Pentecost outpouring and that gives us hope and a profound sense of direction.
That’s the message if you like of Advent – yes it is stark for we live in stark times.
But it is a pointer for us?
Pointing back to that massive intervention in human life with the gift of Christ to the world and the resurrection power that sprang from him.
It is pointing forward to the hope we have given us by that same resurrected Christ in whom we believe the wellbeing and destiny of all things is securely located.
It is a pointer to us today here and now asking us about our direction of travel and where we think we are heading.
And as we gather to receive the gifts of bread and wine, the forgiveness and hope that is set within us by the living Christ.
We hear the words of encouragement NOT if I were you I wouldn’t start from here, but instead, If I were you I would start precisely here and the table of Christ, precisely where our human nature needs to be, with all our hopes and fears and failures, and where the hope of glory and the promise of eternity is both glimpsed and tasted.
Amen.
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Our Third Hymn is – Come That Long Expected Jesus (Mission Praise 102)
1) Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
2) Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
3) Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring
4) By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne. (by Charles Wesley 1745)
We Say Together:-
The Creed.
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
Prayers and Intercessions
Heavenly Father
Your love for us is unchangeable.
You have welcomed each of us into the family of your Church; in Jesus, you call us to be His Body in this place.
Send down your Holy Spirit upon us at this time of uncertainty and change, fill us with vision and energy and faithfulness in prayer, that we may be true to our common Baptism, and bring new life to our community.
Guide with your heavenly wisdom those appointed to plan the way ahead and a new Incumbent for this Benefice, that we may receive the priest you have prepared for us: ready to serve us with joy, to build us up in faith, and lead us by example in loving obedience to your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.
Generous God, we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.
We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the wisdom of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to make us wise to understand your will.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the peace of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to keep us confident of your love wherever you call us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the healing of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to bring reconciliation and wholeness
where there is division, sickness and sorrow.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to equip us for the work which you have given us.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the fruit of your Holy Spirit.
We ask you to reveal in our lives the love of Jesus.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
We thank you for the breath of your Holy Spirit,
given us by the risen Lord.
We ask you to keep the whole Church, living and departed,
in the joy of eternal life.
Lord, come to bless us
All: and fill us with your Spirit.
All: Generous God,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in heart and mind
to serve you with joy for ever.
Amen.
We gather our thoughts and prayers in the words our Saviour gave us
All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
Closing Blessing
Creator God,
you give seed for us to sow,
and bread for us to eat;
make us thankful for what we have received
and generous in supplying the needs of others
so all the world may give you thanks and glory,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Our Closing Hymn is – Lo He Comes with Clouds Descending (Mission Praise 424)
1) Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favoured sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
God appears on earth to reign.
2) Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.
3) Now redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear;
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
See the day of God appear!
4) Yea, Amen! Let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
O come quickly! O come quickly!
Everlasting God, come down! (by Charles Wesley 1707 to 1788)
The Grace
All: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
And the love of God,
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
Be with us all evermore.
Amen
Go in joy and peace to love and serve the Lord
All: In the name of Christ Amen.