Welcome to our services
today and a special welcome to Kevin and Lorraine as they bring their
daughter Laura to be baptized and to everyone in their family as they share
with us in this celebration. Laura’s grandmother, Vera, has been a member here
for many years and was part of our church choir. It’s the first Sunday in
Advent and we will be starting our preparations for Christmas. During the first
part of our service our Open the Book team, who regularly take Bible stories
into Oakwood School, will be telling the story of the First Christmas. We’ll
also be lighting the first of our Advent Candles. On Tuesday we have a Messy
Church service for Advent specially for families – 5-00 for tea then crafts and
into church. On Saturday we have our Christmas café here in church from 10-00
until 1-00. Come along to enjoy coffee and home-made cakes, Christmas crafts
and the Word of Mouth Singers singing carols. Hy-Speed will be organizing
digital Scalextric racing. If you can
help, have a word with Jean Gregory or Felicity Cleaves. We’ll be welcoming St
John’s Infants to church this Thursday and Friday at 1-30 for their Nativity
Play and then Pittville School Year 7’s on Monday 11th December at 11-00. It
would be great if you can make it to any of those events so that we can give
the youngsters and their parents a really warm welcome from us all at Highbury!
And one more event to look out for! On Wednesday, 13th December, we have our
Christmas Lunch at 12-30 followed by Carol singing in church. Do sign up for what
it is always a very special occasion.
Welcome
and Call to Worship
286
Tell out my soul
Prayer
and the Lord’s Prayer
Laura’s
Baptism
It’s
great to welcome Kevin and Lorraine as they bring Laura to be baptized. It’s Kevin’s
Mum and Dad, Vera and David who for many years have belonged to the church
here at Highbury. Vera in the choir and a regular member of our evening
congregation. We miss David with his wonderful smile! So it’s lovely that Vera
is able to join us – and it’s great to
meet Lorraine’s family for the first time today as well – and all the family
and friends who have come specially for our service.
As
Kevin and Lorraine bring Laura to be baptised we all share in the Church’s
Sacrament of Baptism. It is a time for all of us to be reminded of the free
gift of God’s love which is poured out on us before ever we know anything about
it ... and it is a time for us to rejoice in the difference that love can make
to us all as we make it our own in faith.
Reading:
Mark 10:13-16
People
were bringing little children to Jesus in order that he might touch them; and
the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant
and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it
is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And
he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark
10:13-16)
Jesus
showed that the love of God has no limits as he went to the cross and on the
third day rose again from the dead. It was then that he challenged his
disciples to take the Good News all over the world, making disciples of all
nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that he had commanded you.
The
disciples bided their time until with the outpouring of the Spirit of God they
were empowered by God to go out into the streets with the Good News of Jesus
Christ.
Peter
was the first to preach the message. When the people in Jerusalem heard what he
had to say they wanted to know what they could do.
Repent
and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins
may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the
promise is for you, for your children and for all who are far away - everyone
whom the Lord our God calls to him. (Acts 2:38-39)
From
that day on Baptism became the sign of the change that God’s love in Jesus
Christ can make in our lives. Those coming to believe in Jesus Christ were
baptised and their families too. From the time of the early church, Christian
parents have brought their children to be baptised as a sign of the love God
pours on them all ... a love to which, it is their prayer, their children will
respond in faith as they grow older.
Baptism
Today
So
it is that Kevin and Lorraine bring Laura to be baptised today.
In
Baptism, God our Father welcomes us into a covenant relationship with him,
declaring that we are his children through Jesus Christ, our Lord, and that our
future lies with him through the Holy Spirit.
Baptism
is a powerful sign that God’s grace is not dependent on anything we do - but is
poured out quite freely on each of us. This grace of God in Christ Jesus has
the power to change our lives enabling us to die to the world and to rise again
to newness of life in Christ Jesus our Lord. But grace can only make a
difference to us as we make it our own, responding to the love of God in Christ
Jesus simply by turning and trusting ourselves to him in faith.
It
is our prayer today that at each stage of her development Larua will make the
promise of salvation her own until in adulthood she is able to make a full
commitment entering into membership of the Church by declaring her faith in
Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour.
God’s
grace is at work through Jesus Christ and through his Spirit working in the
lives of the parents, the family and the church. In presenting this child for
baptism we therefore acknowledge a threefold responsibility - of the parents,
the family and of the church - to care for her faith and character and to see
that she is brought up in the Christian way of life, in the nurture and
admonition of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and in the fellowship of the
Church.
It
is for the god-parents to play their part together with parents, family and
church in fulfilling these responsibilities.
The
Baptism
Kevin
and Laura, as you believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and confess
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, do you promise, depending on the grace
of God, to teach Laura the truths and duties of the Christian faith; and by
prayer and example to bring him/her up in the life and worship of the Church so
that she can enjoy the security of love and the heritage of faith?
We
do.
I
ask those Kevin and Lorraine have invited to be God Parents to answer we do to
the question I ask:
Do
you promise to give your encouragement and support to Lorraine and Kevin as
they fulfil their promise to give Laura a loving home where the love of God in
Christ is shared?
We
do
I
will ask everyone who has come specially for the Baptism as friends and family
to stand as you are able and to say we do to the question I ask.
Do
you promise to give your encouragement and support to Lorraine and Kevin as
they fulfil their promise to give Laura a loving home where the love of God
in Christ is shared?
We
do.
And
then I will ask everyone who belongs to the church family here at Highbury and
any who have joined us for the first time this morning to stand as you are able
and say we do to the question I ask.
Do
you promise to give Laura and all little ones a welcome in this church family
where they can grow up knowing the love of God and the teaching of Jesus Christ
for themselves?
We
do.
Laura
Truda , I baptise you in the name of the
Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The
Lord bless you and keep you;
the
Lord make his face to shine upon you
and
be gracious to you;
the
Lord lift up his countenance upon you
and
give you peace.
The
Baptism Prayer
I
am going to invite Kevin and Lorraine to light the first of our Advent Candles,
a candle that reminds us of hope –
The
First Advent Candle
“Rejoice
in Hope, be patient when things don’t go well, and persevere in prayer.” Romans
12:12 for Jesus said,
I
am the light of the world; those who follow me will not walk in darkness but
will have the light of life. John 8:12
Hymn
Your Promises are Coming True – verse 1 and chorus
Your
promises are coming true –
Our
waiting hopes fulfilled.
Your
light has burst upon our world –
The
new dawn that you willed.
Your
coming gives us hope to live,
And
strength, with you, to build.
Come, Jesus, and be with us now,
Be
with us now
Come,
Jesus, and be with us now!
The
First Christmas – Open the Book
A
Hy-Spirit Song
Activities
for all over 3
Reading:
Isaiah 60:1-3 and 19-22
Arise,
shine; for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
you.
For
darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but
the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will appear over you.
Nations
shall come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
The
sun shall no longer be
your light by day,
nor
for brightness shall the moon
give light to you by night;
but
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your
sun shall no more go down,
or your moon withdraw itself;
for
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of mourning shall be ended.
Your
people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land for ever.
They
are the shoot that I planted, the work of my hands,
so that I might be glorified.
The
least of them shall become a clan,
and the smallest one a mighty nation;
I
am the Lord;
in its time I will accomplish it quickly.
543
Longing for light
Longing
for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing
for truth, we turn to you.
Make
us your own, your holy people,
light
for the world to see.
Christ, be our
light!
Shine in our
hearts.
Shine through the
darkness.
Christ, be our
light!
Shine in your
church gathered today.
Longing
for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing
for hope, many despair.
Your
word alone has power to save us.
Make
us your living voice.
Christ, be our
light!
Longing
for food, many are hungry.
Longing
for water, many still thirst.
Make
us your bread, broken for others,
shared
until all are fed.
Christ, be our
light!
Longing
for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing
for warmth, many are cold.
Make
us your building, sheltering others,
walls
made of living stone.
Christ, be our
light!
Many
the gifts, many the people,
many
the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let
us be servants to one another,
making
your kingdom come.
Christ, be our
light!
Bernadette
Farrell (b.1957)
Things
to Look Forward to
It
was great that first time I met little Laura. I had been visiting Vera in Windsor
Street and was about to go when Kevin appeared in the doorway, ready to take
Vera down as the family had arrived. Laura was only a couple of weeks old and
it was great going down with Vera in the lift and then meeting up with Laura
and Elaine. That’s something wonderful about a new born baby – and specially
wonderful seeing Laura cradled by Vera – a new arrival in the family.
Every
time I see a tiny little baby I am just amazed at the miracle of life – for me,
I feel the wonder of God’s creation.
And
with a new arrival in the family come so many hopes and expectations. Those
fingernails so perfectly formed, already some hair? Who does she look like? Who
will she take after? What football team will she support – that’s already been
decided! You could go so far as to say today’s the day when there will be a new
baby bird in the Robin’s Nest!
When
a new arrival comes in a family we can’t help but think back and remember those
who have gone before us – as we do of David now. But with the arrival of a little
one there are all sorts of hopes for the future ahead. A new born baby brings
hope into our hearts.
But
it feels as if it’s a scary world that Laura is born into. It’s a time of so much uncertainty. There are fears for
the future as well. What will the future hold for little Laura? It’s such a
fragile world, a world of all sorts of complexities, all sorts of
uncertainties. What will this world be that she will grow up into? What will
become of her?
With
all those hopes come all those fears as well.
And
all too often the fears seem to get the better of the hopes.
Seeing
a little one makes me feel the wonder, the miracle of life – and makes me feel
the wonder of God’s creation. I cannot help but feel that there must be
something more than I can see that makes.
There’s
something very appropriate about sharing in a baptism service on the first
Sunday of Advent just as we are beginning that build up to Christmas.
At
the heart of my faith as a Christian is not just some general idea about God –
beyond all things and in all things, the God of creation, the God of the
enormity of the universe, the God of the tiny little baby.
At
the heart of my faith as a Christian is a God who comes into the mess of the
world, shares with us not only in the wonder of life, but in the awfulness of
the mess of the world.
So
it is that this God comes into our world as a baby born into a cruel world
filled with uncertainty and fear. It’s a brutal regime that forces the birth to
happen not in the comfort o fa home but the squalor of a stable. It’s a brutal
regime that forces the young family to flee as refugees across Sinai to Egypt.
It’s against the backdrop of a brutal regime and a cruel world that the baby
grows into a man who sets out a way of life to follow based on care and concern
for others that extends loving your neighbour into loving your enemies too.
It’s a way of life that brings healing where people are hurting. And the
brutality of that world leads to the God-forsaken loneliness of death by the
most cruel form of execution.
It’s
as if in this Jesus, God comes alongside us in the cruelty of a cruel world –
but the brutality of that cruel world does not have the last word. It is in
resurrection victory that Jesus shows that God has the last word – and that is
a resurrection victory we too can share.
And
it’s all there in microcosm in the birth of a baby in Bethlehem.
One
of the carols we shall be singing is O Little Town of Bethlehem
1 O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee to-night.
Phillips
Brooks (1835-1893)
The
hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
I
take that story and it brings me back to the world of today. Yes, a world of
fears. But it’s always been like that – each generation has fears of its own –
for us who were born into the height of the cold war, a previous generation
born into the uncertainties and fears of the war, a previous generation, the
depression and another war.
The
Christian message is one for the real world – it offers a way of life to follow
that’s worth passing on, and I for one would love to pass that on to Laura.
It’s more than a way of life to follow. It’s a way of making sense of the world
– that sees the preciousness of life and sees that for all the uncertainties
and fears the world hurls at us, there is something more, beyond what we can
see - God has the last word. The victory is ours to share.
What’s
this God like? All sorts of things come to mind he is the light that breaks
into the darkness. – among them as Christmas approaches is that God is like the
littlest of babies.
Maybe
we need to see God not in the awesome majesty of incredible power, but in the
vulnerability of the tiny little baby.
Judi
has shared with me a poem she came across by Lisa Debney that invites us to do
just that. She thought we could use it over Christmas – it’s a great moment to
share it as we think of Laura and share in her baptism on this the first Sunday
of Advent.
It’s
title is Shepherd and the poem imagines a shepherd seeing the Christ child in
the manger that first Christmas night.
Shepherd
Until
tonight,
I
could not fit the size of God
into
my head.
I
thought he was a God
for
prophets and kings,
men
of words and wisdom.
But
tonight I am looking at God made small,
small
enough for me,
small
enough to pick up
and
hold like a lamb.
I
could not talk to a God in the clouds;
but
tonight when I look and smile
and
talk nonsense to this
tiny
thing, I know that I am
talking
to God.
And
it is God who smiles
back
at me and waves his
perfect
hands in delight.
And
tonight in your smallness, God,
you
seem bigger and more powerful
to
me than you ever did before.
I
can hold you now,
hold
you in my head
and
hold you in my arms,
and
know that you are holding me in yours.
Lisa Debney in
Burgess, R. (2005) Hay and Stardust: Resources for
Christmas to Candlemas. Glasgow, Wild Goose Publications.
519
Love divine
Prayers
of Concern
167
Guide me
Words
of Blessing
Retiring
Collection
Music: Alan Berry
/ Hy-Spirit
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