St Clement Church Community Sunday Service
Good morning to you all as we celebrate the 2nd Sunday of Advent.
We will be holding a Eucharist in our church building, this service is if you are unable to attend with us and will be worshipping at home.
Much love and prayers and may Christ’s love sustain you always.
God bless you all. Love Rev Di and family xx
Let us pray;
Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as judge and saviour we may be ready to receive him, who is our Lord and our God. Amen.
Hymn: ‘Lo! He comes with clouds descending’
Our prayers of Penitence
Heavenly Father, you call us to repent of our sins: soften our proud and stubborn hearts.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy
Lord Jesus, you declared the forgiveness of God: teach us to forgive one another.
Christ have mercy. Christ have mercy
Holy Spirit, you search our hearts and show us the truth: direct us in your way of righteousness.
Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy
May our Almighty and merciful Lord grant us pardon and forgiveness of all our sins, time for amendment of life, and the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray our Collect for today
O Lord, raise up we pray, your power and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness we are grievously hindered in running the race that is set before us, your bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Readings:
Isaiah 40. 1-11
2 Peter 3. 8-15a
Hymn; ‘Come thou long expected Jesus’
Gospel Mark 1. 1-8
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Mark.)
Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” ’,
John the baptiser appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptised by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.
I have baptised you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’
(This is the Gospel of the Lord. Response: ‘Praise to you, O, Christ’)
Reflection
The season of Advent is quite often described in church nowadays as a ‘mini-lent’ a time of waiting and preparation. But, I must admit, and I’m probably sticking my head over the parapet by admitting this, I find living this comparison difficult.
Of course the theology is there, during Advent we wait and prepare for the birth of our Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, and during Lent we undertake the same for his death and glorious resurrection at Easter.
But being honest, there’s always so much to do in Advent isn’t there, everything kicks up a gear as Christmas approaches, and as much as we try not to get caught up in the commercialism of the festival, the pressure is on to send cards, and buy presents, so it’s no wonder we might not feel able to give ourselves time to prepare for the birth of Jesus with a Lenten mindset, with all that’s going on around us.
In preparing this sermon during the week, I became aware that my notes, jottings and usual ramblings were more of a Bible study than usual, not a bad thing to do in Advent. So here’s today’s offering to you, my thoughts on how the gospel reading might enable us to be filled with Christmas spirit, though sadly perhaps, not with the alcoholic variety…
From the reading I took the Lenten theme of waiting, humbling, listening, repentance and forgiveness.
John announced to the people of his time that the Christ, the long-awaited Saviour would be coming soon; “The one who is more powerful than I, is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.” By saying this, John announced to folk that their wait was nearly over, that Jesus was coming, but John also acknowledged that he himself was but a servant of God.
So, with a Lenten mindset perhaps we too should make such a humble acknowledgement that we are but servants of God. But humility isn’t always an easy idea to grasp is it, as it needs us to come to grips with recognising we’re only human. But the Christmas spirit can’t enter our souls until we’re willing to humble ourselves, and learn that we are mere mortals, in need of a powerful and eternal God.
John also told people to prepare for their lives to change; and to take advantage of that opportunity they had to trust in his word. He was God’s messenger, “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” So, in addition to humbling themselves as servants of God, they also needed to listen.
A story….back when the telegraph was the fastest method of long-distance communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse code operator.
When he arrived at the large, busy office it was filled with noise and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background.
A sign on the counter instructed job applicants to fill out a form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner room, so he filled out his form and sat down with the other applicants. But after a few minutes, he got up and went into the inner office. Naturally, the other applicants wondered what was going on, as they hadn’t heard any summons, so they assumed he’d made a mistake.
Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of the office and said to the other applicants, “Gentlemen, thank you very much for coming, but the job has just been filled.”
One of the other applicants spoke up saying, “Wait a minute, we never even got a chance to be interviewed, that’s not fair!”
The employer said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse code: ‘If you can understand this message, then come right in, the job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did, the job is his.”
All of the applicants presumably knew Morse code, or else they wouldn’t have bothered applying for the job – but only one of them listened to what he knew.
All of us know Christ – but sometimes because of the bustle going on around us we completely miss his message. While we wait then this Advent, we must keep ourselves listening.
Last but not least, our lives are open to the Christmas spirit when we’re willing to change. John’s message was about repentance, and repentance means a change of direction, but we’re often stuck in one place, trapped by mistakes of the past, or because of chasing our own personal agendas.
And as a result, we’re never fulfilled or satisfied, life can become nothing more than a treadmill with no way of getting off. But John proclaimed a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Forgiveness enables us to move away from the past and embrace the present.
The transformation of Scrooge in the novel; ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Dickens is a classic. In the story the world of Scrooge became a better place, but one part of the story that doesn’t get as much attention is the fact that the people who knew Scrooge forgave him.
Forgiveness, like John the Baptist proclaimed, is at the heart of God’s spirit. And the Christmas spirit can become a reality to us when we accept the forgiveness of God for our past, or we are willing to forgive someone else for theirs. Study over. Amen.
Hymn; ‘Hail to the Lord’s anointed’
Affirmation of our faith
Let us declare our faith in God.
We believe and trust in God the Father, source of all being and life, the one for whom we exist.
We believe and trust in God the Son, who took our human nature, died for us and rose again.
We believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the people of God and makes Christ known in the world.
This is the faith of the Church. This is our faith.
We believe and trust in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Intercessions this week are written by Daphne Hawkins
In the power of the Spirit and in union with Christ let us pray to the Father.
Almighty God our heavenly Father, be with us here this morning as we prepare to celebrate the birth of your Son Jesus Christ, our congregation and those who cannot be with us but are here in mind and spirit.
We pray for your Church, Lord, that it will grow in strength and number overcoming the difficulties it faces each day in a modern world and an uncaring society. We pray that you will give strength and vision to Archbishop Justin and all Church bishops and Church leaders as they strive to promote our Christian faith.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
We pray for our diocese at this time of uncertainty and challenge. We pray for Reverend Diane as she continues with her work in our beloved St Clement Church and our community. We also pray for Ken, her rock, always at her side.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
We offer our prayers for our dear King Charles and Queen Camilla and all the royal family who are working hard to strengthen the monarchy and uphold our much-loved traditions.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we come to you with heavy hearts as we witness so much hatred, violence, cruelty and evil in our precious world. We see the dreadful wars, fighting and bombing in the Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. When we should be celebrating the events in the Holy Land, all we can watch is devastation, despair, and suffering and the loss of so many innocent children. Dear Lord, help us put an end to these atrocities. We pray that the leaders of these countries will find it in their hearts to bring about a ceasefire and find a solution to the many problems they all endure. May they see the birth of Jesus as a turning point to peace, forgiveness and love.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
We bring to you all who are suffering in body, mind or spirit at this time – those in fear, despair, homelessness and poverty; those alone with no one who loves or cares for them. We pray for those close to us at this time: Reverend Diane and Ken, May, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Alison and Rob, Maureen, Brian, Rupert and Linda, Barrie and Sandra, Pam and David, Diana, Jan, Michael and Patricia, Stella, Alison, Callum, Jay, Andy and Nigel. Please lay your healing hands on all who need you at this time. Please bring healing, comfort, and peace to all in need. May they know that they are never alone as you are always there bringing light and hope in the days ahead.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
We pray for all those whose earthly journey has ended. May there be a place for them in your eternal kingdom. We remember all those whose anniversary falls at this time - those we love but see no more. We pray that they are all in your eternal kingdom.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, help us to remember that behind every dark cloud the sun is shining. Remember always that faith is putting your foot down in the mist and finding you step on a rock.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Andrew, St Clement, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, we commend ourselves and the whole of creation to your unfailing love.
Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as Jesus taught us; 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.
Hymn; ‘Love divine, all loves excelling’
The Peace
May the peace of Christ sanctify us: may he so strengthen our hearts in holiness that we may be blameless before him at the coming of our Lord Jesus with his saints. Amen.
Blessing
May God give us grace to follow his saints in faith, hope and love; and may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among us, those whom we love, and remain with us always. Amen.