Liturgies Online

​​CALL TO WORSHIP

Advent calls us to prepare for the birth of Jesus – Emmanuel – God with us.. 
 
Are we prepared? God is coming.
    How do we prepare for such a great event?

We begin by smoothing out the rough places in our hearts.
    And by guiding our feet in the way of peace.
 

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LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE  (1)
This is the time of preparation.

Preparation for what?

Preparation for the birth of Jesus, Prince of Peace.

We pray that Jesus’ peace will be born anew in our hearts and lives.

We light the candles of Hope and Peace.  The candles are lit.
 

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LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE  (2)
Today is the second Sunday in Advent - the time when we prepare once again for the coming of Jesus.

     We light a candle each week to remind us that Jesus brings light into the

     dark places of the world.

God promises a messenger to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. We wait in faith for this promise to be fulfilled.

     We light the candle of hope to proclaim that God’s light is coming into the world.

             A candle is lit

We light the candle of peace to proclaim that God’s promises will be fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ -Prince of Peace.                
           A candle is lit

Faithful God, we thank you for choosing to fulfill your promise of a Saviour in the wonderful, yet so natural way of entering our world as a baby.  May the preparations we make for Jesus’ birth be pleasing to you.

TIS 286: “Light one candle for hope”  Verses 1 and 2

ALL TOGETHER OK 313: Christ be our light” - Verses 1, 2 and 5.

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PRAYER OF PRAISE AND ADORATION
All-powerful God, we praise you for choosing to save the world by becoming one of us - by taking on the flesh of a vulnerable baby.  Through this act of pure love, you dissolved the boundaries between heaven and earth and between divinity and humanity.  We pray that our response to such blessings and grace may be evident in the manner in which we worship, witness and serve you in Jesus’ name.  Amen

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CHILDREN’S TIME (1)
The Apostle Paul  wrote about “constantly praying with joy” in every one of his prayers…(Philippians 1:4)
William Barclay described how a nurse used her hands to help her to pray 1
– each finger stood for someone - invite young and old to follow your example. Hold up your thumb and say as this finger is the nearest to you it reminds you to pray for those nearest and dearest to you – you could ask children who that might be…(keep holding the thumb up while adding the other fingers)
The second finger is used for pointing – teachers point to us with it when they want to ask a question – so this finger reminds us to pray for those who teach us in any way…
The third finger is the tallest one and it reminds us to pray for leaders – whoever is appropriate for your situation…
The fourth finger is our weakest one, as every pianist knows, and it reminds us to pray for those who are weak, or sick, in trouble…
The little finger is the smallest and reminds us to pray for ourselves….

 

Link this to the quote above re “constantly praying with joy”

ALL TOGETHER WHATEVER 485: “Praying”
TIS 741: “O Lord hear my prayer”
 

CHILDREN’S TIME  (2):

A man who lived a long time ago - before Jesus was born was known as a  prophet and his name was Malachi.  He was very unhappy as the people who organised worship had become careless and people were forgetting to care for others and were failing to act with justice. Malachi said that such lack of care was not pleasing to God. Malachi believed and therefore told everyone that a messenger was coming who would be calling people to prepare for the coming of the Lord. He warned that the words spoken by this person would be extremely harsh. They would be like the searing heat of a furnace used to melt precious metal like silver so that any impurities could be removed, and also like very strong soap used to scrub away any ingrained stain on fabric.

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Ask the children/young people if they have seen commercials on television where really dirty paths, garage floors, roofs etc are cleaned by a high pressure hose - or an advertisement for a washing powder or bleach where you see the action of the powder/liquid actually getting rid of the dirt. Malachi’s message is that, as surely as these processes penetrate the dirt and get rid of it, so the messenger who is coming to prepare the way for the Lord will be penetrating people’s hearts and minds with his words and challenging them to get rid of anything that might cause God pain.  Ask if anyone knows the name of  the messenger. The Gospel - Luke 3: 1-6,  could perhaps  be read now and children/young people invited to listen carefully to see if they can name the messenger that Malachi was speaking about. …

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TIS 270/AHB 199:  “On Jordan’s bank” either verses 1-3 or all the verses.

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PRAYER OF CONFESSION (1)
We are forever grateful that you, O God, revealed that the landscape of your heart has no boundaries, so why do we believe that we can draw boundaries of your grace and love?...

Whenever we construct a boundary to your unconditional love by placing conditions  shaped by prejudice, race, gender…..(insert any others which may be relevant to your situation) 
       Forgive us….

 

 

PRAYER OF CONFESSION (2)
Merciful God, we bring before you these things in our worship and in our lives which cause you pain.

A time of silence to reflect on these words

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Straighten out the areas in our lives which hinder people from discerning your way, O God and smooth any rough edges of our witness so that whatever prevents people hearing your word is cleared away.

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A time of silence to reflect on these words

Many people walk through shadowed valleys at this time, weighed down by painful, recycled memories.  When we fail to become involved with the needs of others by pleading seasonal busy-ness,

    Forgive us….

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ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS:

The apostle Paul prayed that our love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help us determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ we may be pure and blameless..(Philippians 1:9,10)  Jesus Christ was sent by God into the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned. (Based on John 3: 17,18a)

         Thanks be to God!

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PSALM: Luke 1: 68-79

EPISTLE: 1 Philippians 3-11

GOSPEL: Luke 3:1-6 (If not read previously)

 

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SERMON - MALACHI 3 & LUKE 3 1-6

Prepare ye the way of the Lord!  The message is virtually the same in both Malachi and Luke…. 

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Malachi is addressing the people when they have returned from exile, when the temple has been rebuilt, but nothing momentous had happened to indicate that God was present within the temple as Ezekiel had prophesied. And so, the round of religious duties continued to be carried on, but without enthusiasm.  Malachi rails against careless worship and corrupt social practices – linking them as cause and effect.  Immoral behaviour which leads to breakdown of family and community is evidence of a lack of respect for God.

 

A commentator on this passage wrote that religious apathy went hand in hand with contempt for moral standards. Sound familiar?  Was this really written about 2,500 years ago?

 

But Malachi's message is a positive one - one of promise and hope  “the one you are seeking”, he says, “will appear. God is sending a messenger to prepare the way”.  Today’s gospel reading picks up that prophecy, as John the Baptist strides on to centre stage, with a message very similar to that of Malachi, one that demands a response from its hearers.

 

How prepared are we to receive the Lord?...

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We put a lot of emphasis these days on purity. Purity is “in”.  We examine labels to see if contents are 100% natural, organically grown, with no additives, no preservatives, no artificial colouring - yes - purity is definitely high on people’s agendas these days. 

 

Purity is fine, however, for breakfast cereals, and other foods, but it sounds like the one ingredient that could spoil the fast life of modern society.

 

When we focus on moral or spiritual or ethical purity, things immediately become more complex.  There is no chemical equation, no formula that can guarantee the right result.

 

How do you purify a society that exploits people for economic gain? 
How do you purify an economy that is biased towards the rich and the powerful?
What can we do when many people equate purity with racial superiority and skin colour?...

 

Malachi could have asked similar questions -writing more than 450 years before the birth of Christ, he addressed an age as corrupt as our own.  Malachi's community was continually breaking covenant with the Lord, and he warns them with prophetic bluntness..."Who will remain standing when the Lord appears? For he is like the refiner's fire or a launderer's soap."

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John the Baptist takes up the prophetic theme of purification.  Luke tells us that he "went through the whole region of Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘A voice cries in the wilderness: prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled in every mountain and hill laid low’". 
 

We have to ask ourselves the questions:
How can we help people lost in valleys of grief or anger to find a way out?
What paths do we need to strengthen in our lives? 
  What valleys of doubt do we need lifted up?
   What mountains of misunderstanding and prejudice do we need laid low? 
     What do we need to purify in our lives?...

 

 

SUGGESTIONS FOR PRAYERS FOR OTHERS

“Prepare the Way of the Lord” Pages 84-86 Australian Psalms or “At Your Coming” Page 120 More Australian Psalms.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

 

OFFERING and OFFERTORY PRAYER

Holy God, we offer these gifts, this time of worship, and the service of our lives in the hope that they will be pleasing to you. We pray also that they may produce a harvest of righteousness, sincerity and love.  In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

 

NEW JOURNEYS SONGBOOK 89: “ Let there be peace on earth”
TIS 276/AHB 207: “There’s a light upon the mountain” (read and emphasise the last two lines of verse 3)

TIS 274: “The people that in darkness walked”

 

BENEDICTION:

May the purity and righteousness of God,

the grace and goodness of Jesus,

and the persistent power of the Holy Spirit prepare and bless each one of us

as we wait with anticipation the day of the Lord’s coming.

 

ALL TOGETHER WHATEVER 508: “Wherever I go”