Shepherd Song

This past Sunday, the fourth in Advent, our service took on a musical theme. We had special music from the choir augmented by trumpets and drums, a wonderful anthem by the hand-bells and a Calypso Carol for childrens time. My own contribution was the Shepherd song … a version of which can be found here.

In the midst of all the music one of our elders read from the King James version of the Bible the account of the angels and the shepherds. He had e-mailed me earlier in the week to say that he would prefer to read the traditional version rather than the version in our NRSV pew bibles. There is just something about familiar words that communicates the Christmas story in a special way!

He also shared how he was reading from a bible that had been presented to him in 1942 by one of his great-grandparents. After the service another member shared how they had been praying about whether to give their own great grandchildren and grandchildren the gift of a Bible for Christmas. The experience of hearing somebody share how precious such a gift had been to them, answered their prayer.

One of the themes of the Advent season is that ‘The Word’ becomes flesh. We are blessed when during worship we get a sense that God is at work in ways we had never anticipated and through actions that are very human.

Throughout this Christmas season may we continue to have experiences of the Holy Spirit that are truly ‘incarnational’… a theological term for God becoming flesh and hope being born into the midst of our everyday world.

Prayer ‘Lord, help us in this holy season to seek for Your love to be born in the midst of our celebrating. We thank You for this joyous season, and pray for all those we know of who are finding it hard to celebrate because of their life circumstances. Continue to shine the light that removes all darkness. Amen.’

Prisoners of Hope

Our lesson for the third Sunday in Advent focused on John the Baptist and his situation in prison. The sermon can be found here.

The majority of us have those times in our lives when we seriously question the validity of our faith. If Christianity is such good news, how come our world is still so full of bad news? If Jesus came to be the savior, how come so many seem to be on a path to nowhere? When we are going through a dark patch in our personal lives such questions can be particularly imprisoning.

In the darkness of his prison cell John found encouragement through Jesus quoting to him Isaiah’s words about the ‘blind receiving sight, lame walking and good news being proclaimed to the poor.’ Those words bid John look beyond the confines of his immediate circumstances and see a bigger picture. Not easy to do, for sure!

But whoever said the journey of faith was meant to be easy? Whoever said there wouldn’t be days of darkness and doubt and struggle? Such were certainly a feature of Jesus own spiritual journey. At various times we see Him weeping, angry, and sweating blood as He struggled with God’s will. On the cross He declares He feels forsaken by God.

Despite the struggle, to paraphrase John’s gospel, “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it”. It’s O.K. when we have doubts and our faith is more struggle than it is victory. It seems to be all part and parcel of what makes faith a reality rather than a fairy tale.

It’s partly what can make Christmas such a meaningful celebration. There is nothing particularly attractive about taxes, census taking and fleeing persecution. Having nowhere to stay and being forced to give birth in a stable is a desperate situation to be in. None of us would describe a life driven by visions of angels and vivid dreams ‘normal’.

Yet the eye of faith sees in these events the hope of redemption and dares to proclaim that through Jesus Christ we can all be prisoners of hope!

Prayer: “Lord in this Christmas season, guide us through our struggles to places where the light breaks through. Through Your Holy Spirit, be born in our hearts afresh and imprison us with Advent hope. Amen.”

Advent Sundays

During Advent our sanctuary is filled with the sights and sounds of the Christmas season. We have a number of special programs in worship … children sing, instrumentalists accompany the choir, families light the candles each Sunday. We also have a number of special collections. Mittens adorn the Christmas trees. There are boxes of food in the porch that will be distributed to local pantries. We receive a Christmas Joy Offering. And of course we still do all the regular stuff like confessing, preaching and praying!

We have a number of added programs. The Deacons provide a coffee hour after worship. Our Sunday School offers us an annual play after which we sit down together for Christmas Dinner. We have a special Jazz concert by one of our members. We visit some local homes carol singing after which one of our families opens up their own home for fellowship.

On Christmas Eve we have two services, one at 5 p.m. for families, then at 11 p.m. we meet for a service of Carols, Communion and Candlelight that extends into Christmas morning.

It is a good thing that we have these opportunities to remind ourselves of the Christian meaning of the season.

An Advent Prayer
Lord, as we travel through these crazy days of Christmas keep us in mind of the deeper meanings of the season. Take us to the hillside to hear the angels song. Help us to marvel at the wonder of Jesus birth. May we join with the Wise travelers who journeyed to Bethlehem. In a world often desperate for hope, may we fix our hopes in your love. Amen.