Text of the Week: This is what love is: it is not that
we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his Son to be the means by which our sins are
forgiven. Dear friends, if this is how God loved us,
then we should love one another. God is love. 1
John 4:7,8,16.
Welcome to our services on the third Sunday of Advent and a special
welcome to any who are worshipping with us for the first time.
During our services today we shall be lighting the third of our Advent
candles and thinking of the love of God. It is that love of God that we
celebrate as we share together this morning in our Christmas
Communion service and this evening in readings and music for
Christmas. On Tuesday we shall be celebrating our Messy Christmas
from 5-00 to 6-30 - do join us if you can! At Explore afterwards we
shall be exploring the Russian Orthodox way of celebrating Christmas,
Ring out those Bells! On Wednesday we welcome the Bethlehem
Peace light at our Christingle Service at 6-00 for 6-30. Scouts and
Guides from Bethlehem meet a contingent from Austria and light a
lantern from the candle that burns in the church of the nativity in
Bethlehem. That living flame is passed from lantern to lantern until
we welcome it to Highbury. There is something very special
welcoming the Peace light with its accompanying message of peace.
On Thursday we have something new this year when we shall be
having our Community Café in church from 10-00 to 11-30 and
welcoming friends from St Vincent’s and St George’s. We’ll be singing
favourite carols from 11-00. On Saturday we will be carol singing for
Christian Aid at Sainsbury’s, Oakley, from 10-00 to 11-00: come and
join us – it’s amazing how much we raise in an hour! And then on
Christmas Eve, a Nativity service and carols by candle light and our
celebration on Christmas Day at 10-30.
Welcome
and Call to Worship
Christmas
Praise with Hy-Spirit
Prayer
and the Lord’s Prayer
Lighting
the 3rd Advent Candle
“Rejoice
in Hope, be patient when things don’t go well, and persevere in prayer.” Romans
12:12
Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Matthew
5:9
This
is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.
Dear
friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another. God is
love.
1
John 4:7,8,16.
Hymn:
Your Promises are coming true
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.
be
with us now,
Come,
Jesus, and be with us now!
Our
lives are troubled while we wait –
our
failure leads to fear.
Great
God, we need your healing peace,
both
now and ev’ry year.
Come,
live and die, that we may live
because
you’re always near.
Come, Jesus, …
Failed
people living far apart
with
selfishness undone,
oh,
heal us with your love, we pray,
with
loving make us one:
your
coming and your sacrifice –
in
us new life begun.
Come, Jesus, …
John Campbell
Activities
for all over 3 – getting ready for Nativity
Love
at Christmas
Reading:
Luke 1:39-45
In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you
among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened
to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound
of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who
believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the
Lord.’
A
Hy-Spirit Song
In
January we have an invitation for everyone to share.
On
the first Sunday of the New year we are going to invite everyone to renew their
commitment to the love of God in Christ in the fellowship of our church – if
you are already a member we are going to invite you to renew that commitment.
We are going to welcome new friends into Church membership.
Then on Tuesday evenings at Explore we are going to focus on prayer – for each of us, for our church family, for our mission and outreach.
And
on 21st January – at our next Communion service, we are going to do
communion very differently as we gather around the table and reflect on how we
can service Chrsit through the body of the church so that all of in the church
family can share in Giving for Growth.
We
hope as many as possible will share with us.
David
is going to be away for a couple of months at the start of the year and so we
are going to welcome David and Jim into church membership today .. in
anticipation of that service.
It’s
quite some while David and Jim have been worshipping with us. We have a simple statement of faith we
ask people to make and to commit to play their part as they are able in the
life and work of our church.
Do
you believe in God and in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
Ado
you promise, as you are able, to play your part in the life and work of our
church, in its worship, its prayer, its mission
We
do.
On
behalf of the church an din the name of Jesus, I extend to you the right hand
of fellowship, recognizing the grace of God at work within you.
For
all of us who belong we are called to share that love of God in Christ that was
made so real in the coming of Jesus we celebrate through Advent and into
Christmas.
Reading:
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved,
let us love one another, because love is from God;
everyone
who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever
does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God’s
love was revealed among us in this way:
God
sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
In
this is love,
not
that we loved God but that he loved us
and
sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved,
since God loved us so much,
we
also ought to love one another.
No
one has ever seen God;
if
we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By
this we know that we abide in him and he in us,
because
he has given us of his Spirit.
And
we have seen and do testify
that
the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world.
God
abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God,
and
they abide in God.
So
we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God
is love, and those who abide in love abide in God,
and
God abides in them.
Love
has been perfected among us in this:
that
we may have boldness on the day of judgement,
because
as he is, so are we in this world.
There
is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear;
for
fear has to do with punishment,
and
whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.
We
love because he first loved us.
Those
who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars;
for
those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen,
cannot
love God whom they have not seen.
The commandment we have from him is this:
those
who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
316
Love came down at Christmas
Where
is God’s love made real?
In
the joy of those two cousins each expecting a baby they are convinced will make
a difference in the world.
In
the birth of the baby in a world of rejection where so many make room for him
in their hearts.
In
the teaching that maps out a way of life that is built on love.
In
the healing he brings to people whose lives are broken, whose hearts are
broken.
In
the words of forgiveness that come from the cross – Father, fortgive them, in
the realiation of forgivbeness that streams into our hearts.
In
the love of the one who is risen and his command to make that love real – feed
my sheep.
But
then in the life of love that those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus
follow.
It
is that life of love and service that makes all the difference.
Life
of service … in Hamper Scamper and our support of the Food bank.
Life
of service .. in Winston’s wish and its care of bereaved children
In
Embrace the Middle East – in the scouting initiative that brings the peace
light – in the visit of Paul Clarke
In
the tiniest of gestures we make that makes a world of difference.
And
in our gathering together in the name of Jesus there is a presence that we feel
that is real here in this place.
There’s
something special in this communion service as under the table we have our
nativity scene.
It
is that presence as we break bread drink of the cup that is caught in John
Betjeman’s poem, Christmas which Helen is going to read.
Christmas
by John Betjeman
The
bells of waiting Advent ring,
The
Tortoise stove is lit again
And
lamp-oil light across the night
Has
caught the streaks of winter rain
In
many a stained-glass window sheen
From
Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.
The
holly in the windy hedge
And
round the Manor House the yew
Will
soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The
altar, font and arch and pew,
So
that the villagers can say
'The
church looks nice' on Christmas Day.
Provincial
Public Houses blaze,
Corporation
tramcars clang,
On
lighted tenements I gaze,
Where
paper decorations hang,
And
bunting in the red Town Hall
Says
'Merry Christmas to you all'.
And
London shops on Christmas Eve
Are
strung with silver bells and flowers
As
hurrying clerks the City leave
To
pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And
marbled clouds go scudding by
The
many-steepled London sky.
And
girls in slacks remember Dad,
And
oafish louts remember Mum,
And
sleepless children's hearts are glad.
And
Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!'
Even
to shining ones who dwell
Safe
in the Dorchester Hotel.
And
is it true,
This
most tremendous tale of all,
Seen
in a stained-glass window's hue,
A
Baby in an ox's stall ?
The
Maker of the stars and sea
Become
a Child on earth for me ?
And
is it true? For if it is,
No
loving fingers tying strings
Around
those tissued fripperies,
The
sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath
salts and inexpensive scent
And
hideous tie so kindly meant,
No
love that in a family dwells,
No
carolling in frosty air,
Nor
all the steeple-shaking bells
Can
with this single Truth compare -
That
God was man in Palestine
And
lives today in Bread and Wine.
That God was man
in Palestine
And lives today in
Bread and Wine.
Hymn:
The hush of midnight
The
hush of midnight here below,
the
shining stars above,
a
night of wonder long ago
when
in the stable lantern's glow
is
born God's gift of love.
To
all the waiting world belongs
the
child now brought to birth,
who
comes to right our human wrongs,
his
praises told in angel songs,
proclaiming
peace on earth.
Judean
shepherds stand in awe,
in
wide-eyed wonder dumb,
to
see amid the stable's straw,
fulfilling
all the ancient law,
the
Lamb of God is come.
The
kings of earth in homage ride
to
where the child is born;
a
King to whom a star shall guide,
whose
throne is at the Father's side,
his
crown a crown of thorn.
This
child, whose birth the angels tell,
whose
death our life restored,
by
whom at last shall all be well,
is
God with us, Immanuel,
our
Saviour, Christ the Lord.
Timothy
Dudley-Smith (born 1926)
©
administered by Oxford University Press in Europe (including UK and Ireland)
and Africa, and by Hope Publishing Company in all other territories (including
USA)
Prayers
of Concern
An
Invitation to Communion
Come,
let us follow the light that shines for us and leads us to a stable with a
manger and child.
Lord, we have
followed the light.
Come,
let us listen for the voice that calls us to find new life in the broken
corners of the world
Lord, we have
heard the voice.
Come,
rich and poor, neighbour or stranger, let’s gather round and share a
celebration with the Prince of Peace.
Lord, we have
gathered here to met you.
Come,
like wealthy kings with priceless gifts or poor shepherds with only themselves
to bring, for the Spirit has led us to this place where we are offered the
promise of new life.
Lord, fill us with
new life.
The
Story of Communion
From
being a child in a manger dependent on his mother’s milk for food he grew to be
the Living Word made Flesh offering everyone the bread of life.
He
travelled from the manger to the cross where his body was broken, his love
poured out, but God held him like a mother and nursed him back to life.
May we see the
guiding light
May we find you in
a stable
May we follow you
to the cross
May we find new
life through you
As we gather round
the table to celebrate the beginning of a journey
From the manger to
the cross and back to life again.
A
Hy-Spirit song
"Lord
I Lift Your Name On High"
Lord
I lift Your name on high
Lord
I love to sing Your praises
I'm
so glad You're in my life
I'm
so glad You came to save us
[Chorus:]
You
came from heaven to earth
To
show the way
From
the earth to the cross
My
debt to pay
From
the cross to the grave
From
the grave to the sky
Lord
I lift Your name on high
O Lord, open our
minds to a new understanding of your wonderful Word which is such a mystery but
is the root of our faith.
Open our eyes so
we can see the Spirit guiding us and open our hearts to share the Christ within
us as we continue the journey of faith thankyou you for all that has gone and
the future to come:
For the faith of
mothers and fathers through history and the sons and daughters who followed
them,
For the visions of
prophets and dsiciples
Who shared your Word and all who
believe them.
For the obedience
of Mary and Joseph,
Called to serve you as parents of
Jewsus
And for the wise
people and shephereds who sawa guiding
light and heard angels sing so followed to a stable where they found new life
ina manger,
It was the life of
a child, born to be King of a Mingdom to come, who grew to be the man of trhe
cross who died for living your Word but walked from the tomb to give us the
hope and mystery of our faith.
So, thank you, Lord, for the Manger and the Cross and the journey between that gives us new hope when we walk with your Son.
The
Lord’s Prayer
A
Time of Preparation
Jesus
knew what was to come when, in that upper room, he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the feet of his disciples with a towel saying, “If I do not
wash your feet, you have no part with me.”
Lord, we confess
that our lives and the life of the world have been broken by our sins but we
come for you to wash us clean so that we may walk in new life with you.
Then,
as they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray
me.” And they were sorrowful and began to ask, as we do: “Is it I?”
May our lips not
betray you, our deeds not cruficy you and our love never leave you as we commit
ourselves anew to walk with you.
So
Jesus took bread, broke it and blessed it and asked his disciples to remember
how his life was given for them and the generations to come.
Thank you for
giving your life so that we may be forgiven.
Holy
Spirit, gift of Christ, come among us and bless this bread which we take and
break, remembering how Jesus gave his life for us.
As
we take the bread, let’s hold it in prayer and remember how the body of Jesus
was born, lived and was broken for us … and then we will eat together, united
in the one body.
We
share the bread
In
the same way after eating, he took the cup and asked them to remember how his
love was poured out as a sign of a new relationship with God and for the
forgiveness of sins.
Thank you for
giving your life so that we may have life anew in all its fullness.
Holy
Spirit, gift of Christ, remain among us and bless this cup as we remember how
you love was poured out for us.
As
we take the cup, let’s hold it in prayer and remember how Jesus poured out his
love for us and meets our needs when he lives in our heart.
We
share the cup
Thank
you for bread and wine through which we have remembered your life and love and
all you taught and may we now be filled with your Living Word.
Build a stable in
my body
Place a manger in
my heart
Fill it with your
love
As if it were a
new born child.
Amen.
319
Of the Father’s love begotten 1,2,5
Words
of Blessing
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