13 December 2020 ~ Advent 3 ~ Sunday Bulletin

                                                 

Ante-Communion Morning Prayer

13 December 2020

3 Advent 

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us

Advent

A time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas as well as the return of Jesus at the second coming. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "coming".  

Prelude

The Word of God

The Celebrant says

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

People And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

The Collect of the Day

The Celebrant says to the people

The Lord be with you.

People And also with you.

Celebrant Let us pray.

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

The Lesson

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners;

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

They shall build up the ancient ruins,

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

For I the Lord love justice,

I hate robbery and wrongdoing;

I will faithfully give them their recompense,

and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge

that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

The Gospel

John 1:6-8,19-28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

The Sermon

The Prayers of the People

Prayer is offered with intercession for

The Universal Church, its members, and its mission

The Nation and all in authority, the welfare of the world

The concerns of the local community, those who suffer & those in any trouble

The departed 

All those on our Parish Prayer List

Celebrations  ☩  

We ask for God’s continuing blessings on all those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries this month:

13 Stephen Zartarian

29 Jane Cassel

Confession of Sin

Let us confess our sins against God and our neighbor.

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done,

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us;

that we may delight in your will,

and walk in your ways,

to the glory of your Name. Amen.

The Priest says

Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life.  Amen.

The Peace

All stand.  The Celebrant says to the people

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

People And also with you.

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, 

and make good your vows to the Most High.  Psalm 50:14

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,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.

The Blessing

The Dismissal

Priest Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

People Thanks be to God.

Hymn

Postlude

 

"May the God of peace sanctify you entirely" - Sermon for Advent 3 - The Rev. Peter M. Carey

The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Sermon preached at Emmanuel Episcopal Church 

Greenwood, VA

Advent 3, December 2011

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely.”

Are we ready to have our life stirred up? Are we ready for transformation?  Are we ready to prepare the way of the Lord?

Sometimes we think that we are not really ready for Advent and this is why we rush to Christmas.  However, Advent has great gifts for us. 

We would be missing out if we rushed the ending.  You see, Advent has these wonderfully challenging readings.  Today, we begin with this most excellent Collect of the day, “stir up your power.”  Are we really ready for God to stir things up?  Are we feeling relatively secure with the way that we have things brewing and simmering on our own stovetops?  Are we ready for the great master chef to enter into our world and start stirring up things in new ways, putting spices in our bland soups, heating up our lukewarm entrees, and throwing us into momentary spiritual turmoil?  Probably not.

God enters into this world at points through the voice of the prophets, who definitely stir things up.  Isaiah appears and is anointed by God, to bring “good news to the oppressed,” “release to the captives,” “comforting all who mourn” “repairing ruined cities.”  This would stir things up, good news to the poorest of the poor – which might mean that those of us who are not the poorest of the poor may have to give up some of our material goods, some of our myth of security.  Release to the captives would mean that those we consider to be guilty would need to be not only forgiven, but reenter society. 

How does this stir it up stuff sound to you?  Isaiah also shouts praises to God, and has become fully enmeshed in God’s presence, in God’s glory, in God’s hope.  “My whole being will exult in my God,” and I will be wearing garments of salvation, and a robe of righteousness!  What if the stirring up that God is doing will enable even us, in our somewhat placid and bland and lukewarm lives, to be spicier, to be heated up, and to be thrust into spiritual turmoil, but with the reward that “our whole beings will exult in God!”  I want some of that cooking, how about you?

“Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy!”

“Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.” 

How wonderful is this?  How crazy are these words, written so long ago, and inscribed in millions of Bibles around the world.  Those who sowed with tears, who planted while in mourning, who bent low to prepare the ground and put seeds into the earth, watering the seeds with their salty tears…these same folks will receive the fruits of these seeds and sing with Joy!  How could this be?  How does this God turn salty tears and small mustard seeds into great great trees of life.  How does this God turn our tears into Joy.  How does this God transform our weeping into song?

It is not ours to know the how.  But we do know the who. God does it.  As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always,” and how difficult this is, when we are sowing with tears, when we are going out weeping.  But Paul, no stranger to punishment, jail, and loneliness, claims “rejoice always”…”pray without ceasing” “give thanks”…”hold fast to what is good.”  And then he recognizes what might happen when God stirs things up.  He recognizes what happens to us when God enters into this world; even amidst our tears and weeping, even admidst our disappointment and loneliness. 

Like Isaiah, Paul believes that the entirety of our selves will become filled with God’s love.  Our entire selves, our minds, our souls, our bodies, our brains, our fingernails, our aching backs, our thinning hair, our weakening eyesight, all of it will be filled with God’s Spirit.  Paul prays, “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely.”  This is the kind of stirring up that I can handle, even if the pots on my stove are going to be disturbed.  Perhaps I need some disturbing.  Perhaps I need some spice in the bland soup.  Perhaps I need my entrees warmed up.  Perhaps I need a whole new diet.  God will do it.  This is what “stir it up” Sunday is all about.  “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.”

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.