St Clement Church Community Sunday Service
Good morning
Advent 2 – only two more Sundays until Christmas – and so much to do! No, I don’t mean the decorations to put up, the cards to write, the presents to buy and wrap and the food to purchase and prepare. I mean, we have so much to do to prepare ourselves for the Coming of the Christ Child – well, I do. Although my intentions are laudable, somehow, so often, my actions get hijacked by the busy-ness of preparing for Christmas. May I get it right this year, and really use Advent for what it is meant to be – a real time of preparation for the coming of the baby King.
What about you?
God Bless Love to you all.
Liz xx
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, you sent your messengers to tell of the birth of your Son, that people might believe in Him. Open our ears to hear your call, to repent of our sins, and to seek our heavenly inheritance. May we profess Christ until we stand by His grace before the glory of your majesty; grant this for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Hymn: 10 Long ago, prophets knew
Our Prayers of Penitence
Dear Heavenly Father, we bow our heads before you and we confess that we have too often forgotten that we are yours. Sometimes we carry on our lives as if there was no God and we fall short of being a credible witness to you in our world. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength. Remind us to be who you would have us be regardless of what we are doing or who we are with. Hold us to you and help us build our relationship with you and those you have given us here on earth.
Amen
Collect for Advent 2
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, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit, be honour and glory, now and for ever.
Readings
Isaiah 11. 1 – 10
Romans 15. 4 - 13
Hymn: 14 The advent of our God
Gospel reading – Matthew 3. 1 - 12
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew Response: Glory to you O Lord)
In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his path straight.”’ Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor;” for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand; and he will clear his threshing-floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’
(This is the Gospel of the Lord Response: Praise to you, O Christ)
Reflection
I wonder what you think of when you hear the word ‘repentance?’ What does the word ‘repent’ mean to you?
In today’s Gospel reading we come across the word ‘repent’ or ‘repentance’ three times. Initially, John the Baptist is telling people to ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’
For most of us, I suspect, repenting means turning away from our sins, from the things we do wrong. But, if when we repent, we are turning away from sin, I wonder, what does God call us to repent toward? When we read or hear John the Baptist’s words shouldn’t we be thinking about what we need to turn toward when we repent?
For centuries prophets have been promising that God will send a Redeemer, but when John the Baptist appears, it has been four hundred years since a prophet’s voice has been heard in Israel. As John starts his ministry there are some who hope that perhaps he is the promised Messiah. He certainly speaks with prophetic authority. Interestingly, instead of going to the centre of a town where more people can hear him, he lives out in the wilderness (where no one wants to go) eating whatever he can find. Despite this, people flock from Jerusalem and all over Judea to hear him. His message is relentless and he doesn’t seem to care who he offends by his preaching. John knows that he isn’t the Promised One. Like those who listen to him, he too is eagerly waiting for the prophetic word he is preaching to be fulfilled. He tells the people, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!’ He tells them to ‘Get ready! The Messiah is coming and he is going to judge the whole world, so you’d better turn away from your sins, before it’s too late!’
That sentence, John’s first sermon, the simplest sermon ever written, is also the message that Jesus preaches as He begins His ministry. John not only says what needs to be done – ‘Repent!’ but also, why – ‘the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.’
Once we understand why repentance is so urgent, John tells us how this new way of living will look. It will be fruitful. Our lives need to show evidence that not only have we turned away from sin but we have turned toward God. Let’s be honest, talk is cheap! It’s easy to say what we’ll do, to say ‘Sorry – we won’t do that again.’ But, the arrival of the Kingdom will bring with it real spiritual life that produces change from the inside out. The decisive identifying mark of the Kingdom of God is a life that has repented from sin and bears the fruit of repentance. Worthy fruit is evidence of something so powerful, others want to turn towards it, too. It is a complete reversal in lifestyle, attitudes, and the way we interact with others. When we turn in the direction that God wants us to go, and follow faithfully, we demonstrate a life that is worth repenting for! Others take notice and begin to desire such fruitfulness in their own lives. We bear fruit that is worthy of repentance.
Finally, John tells us that repentance is only the beginning of our faith journey. ‘I baptize you with the water of repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; …’ Now, I could give you a whole ‘sermon’ on baptism in Israel – but I won’t! Suffice to say, John’s form of baptism isn’t a standard ritual, it’s a symbol of repentance. The people who come to John to be baptized want to be ready when the Messiah comes. John’s preaching has awakened in them an awareness of what it means to be God’s people, holy and set apart. It has also awakened in them a hope for the future and the expectation that the future is nearer than they think.
To repent is to turn around. It’s what you turn toward that matters. As you turn away from old habits and patterns of sin, turn towards God’s love, made real in Jesus.
Today is the second Sunday of Advent, the season of the year we set aside to prepare the way of the Lord. The Kingdom of Heaven has come near. Repentance is how we prepare for the coming of the Messiah. It is time to turn away from our desires, as we turn toward God’s deep desire for us. It is time to turn away from our brokenness, and turn toward God’s all encompassing-love for us. ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
Amen
Affirmation of faith
Let us declare our faith in God
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father; from there 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
Hymn: 15 The Lord will come and not be slow
Intercessions by Helen Dunbar
Almighty God, you sent your servant John the Baptist to prepare your people to welcome the Messiah. Inspire everyone in our Church to turn their hearts towards you. Lord, we pray for your blessing on this congregation and upon the Church throughout the world. May you be present in what we do and say each day. We pray that your joy and love will flow in and through us and that we might be perfect examples of your love in action.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
Lord, we ask your blessing on all clergy and we pray for Archbishop Justin, Bishops Phillip and Hugh and for our own much love Revd. Diane, Ken and her family.
Lord Jesus, forgive us when we live our lives without trusting in your promise that you will come again. Help us to be watchful and prayerful, and living in such a sense of expectation that we use our time modelling our lives on your example. Help us to hear afresh the challenge of John the Baptist to make our lives ready for your coming. May we be filled with the expectancy, which causes us to make ourselves ready this Christmas for you to make your home with us.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray that the lines of communication between people and nations may be kept open, respected and honoured, and that where communication has broken down there may be a new desire for healing.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer
We pray for those we see and talk to every day or every week; for those we often argue with or misunderstand; for those who brighten our lives and make us smile; for a greater thankfulness and appreciation of those we usually take for granted.
Lord in your mercy; hear our prayer
We pray for all who are sick or struggling at this time whether in body, mind or spirit; for the exhausted, the weary, for those who can no longer cope on their own. We pray for people in any kind of need for whom any talk of ‘life in its fullest’ would ring very hollow. Be close today to the lonely, the despairing and the desperate. Bless with hope those who are unemployed, homeless, deserted or friendless. Give your deep healing to the sick, the disturbed and damaged and the lost. We think of those known to us – Revd Diane and Ken, Alison and Rob, Terry and Dot, Margaret, Maureen, Brian, Rupert and Linda, Paul and Jan, Lyn, Stephen, Mary, Alison, and baby Willow, those known to each of us and those who have no one to pray for them.
We pray for the dying and those who have died to this earthly life. May they know the eternal peace of your heaven, and those who miss them be comforted.
We pray for those whose anniversary falls at this time, and we pray for Marjorie Dunbar and Ruby Offord
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement and St Andrew and all the saints.
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.
Advent Calendar by Rowan Williams
He will come like last year’s fall. One night when the November wind has flayed the trees to bone, and earth wakes chocking on the mould, the soft shroud’s folding.
He will come like frost. One morning when the shrinking earth opens on mist, to find itself arrested in the net of alien, sword-set beauty.
He will come like dark. One evening when the bursting red December sun draws up the sheet and penny-masks its eye to yield the star-snowed fields of sky.
He will come, will come will come like crying in the night, like blood, like breaking, as the earth writhes to toss him free, He will come like child.
The PEACE
Peace to you from God the Father. Peace from Jesus Christ who is our peace. Peace from the Holy Spirit who gives us life. The peace of the triune God be always with you.
The peace of the Lord be always with us.
Hymn: 18 Ye servants of the Lord
The BLESSING
The Lord bless us, and keep us. The Lord make His face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon us and give us His peace; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among us and remain with us always. Amen