Read-along Service for Sunday, December 22, 2024 – 4th of Advent

Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Order of Worship
Sunday December 22, 2024 – Fourth Sunday of Advent

Prelude

Words of welcome, announcements 

Lighting the Christ Candle
As we light our Christ Candle, we are reminded that we gather in the name of Jesus, who is the light of the world.  He bids us to come, just as we are, even if we are tired, worn, and weary.  As the winter season begins, may we seek to shine our light in the darkness.

Candle lighting song  “Isn’t he”
Isn’t He (Isn’t He)
Beautiful? (Beautiful?)
Beautiful, (Beautiful)
Isn’t He? (Isn’t He?)

Prince of Peace, Son of God,
Isn’t He? Isn’t He?

Call To worship
Among the poor, among the proud, among the persecuted, and among the privileged, Christ is coming to make all things new. That the kingdom might come, that the world might believe, that the powerful might stumble, and the humble might be raised up, Christ is coming to make all things new. Within us, without us, among us, before us, in this place, in every place, for this time, for all time, Christ is coming to make all things new. 

Hymn                  Good Christian Friends, Rejoice                       VU 35

1. Good Christian friends, rejoice
   with heart and soul and voice!
   Give ye heed to what we say:  News! News!
   Jesus Christ is born today.
   Ox and ass before him bow,
   and he is in the manger now.
   Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

2. Good Christian friends, rejoice
   with heart and soul and voice!
   Now ye hear of endless bliss: Joy! Joy!
   Jesus Christ was born for this!
   He hath opened heaven’s door,
   and we are blest forevermore.
   Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!

3. Good Christian friends, rejoice
   with heart and soul and voice!
   Now ye need not fear the grave: Peace! Peace!
   Jesus Christ was born to save!
   Calls you one and calls you all
   to gain his everlasting hall.
   Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!

Lighting the Advent Candle – Kurt Johnson & Jane de Snaijer

Reader 1: Today we light the fourth of our Advent Candles. The candles of Hope, Peace and Joy are already lit.
Reader 2: Today’s candle is called Love. Love is a gift which gives you strength. When you love someone it gives them courage.
Reader 1: God comes to as love. A love that changes us, and changes what is possible.
Reader 2: Come, all is ready. Let the light of these candles, called HOPE and PEACE and JOY and LOVE, bring brightness to your spirits.

Prayer of Approach
The darkest nights of winter are upon us. So we celebrate how the season of hope is dawning like sunshine glistening on freshly fallen snow. For God’s gift of peace and joy are already at work in the world. As the light seeks to be reborn in us, God is doing a new thing. The gift of love is offered to help heal a fractured world. Come, let us share the light of hope, peace, joy and love as we gather in God’s presence. Come, for God’s gifts are offered as a blessing to us all.

Scripture Reader:  Joy Curry
First Scripture: Luke 1:39-45    

Hymn         My Soul Cries Out (Canticle of the Turning)               MV 120

1. My soul cries out with a joyful shout
   that the God of my heart is great,
   and my spirit sings of the wondrous things
   that you bring to the ones who wait.
   You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,
   and my weakness you did not spurn,
   so from east to west shall my name be blest.
   Could the world be about to turn?

Refrain:     My heart shall sing of the day you bring.
                   Let the fires of your justice burn.
                   Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near,
                   and the world is about to turn!

2. Though I am small, my God, my all,
   you work great things in me,
   and your mercy will last
   from the depths of the past
   to the end of the age to be.
   Your very name puts the proud to shame,
   and to those who would for you yearn,
   you will show your might, put the strong to flight,
   for the world is about to turn.                    Refrain

3. From the halls of power to the fortress tower,
   not a stone will be left on stone.
   Let the king beware for your justice tears
   ev’ry tyrant from his throne.
   The hungry poor shall weep no more,
   for the food they can never earn;
   there are tables spread, ev’ry mouth be fed,
   for the world is about to turn.                    Refrain

4. Though the nations rage from age to age,
   we remember who holds us fast;
   God’s mercy must deliver us from the
   conqueror’s crushing grasp.
   This saving word that our forebears heard
   is the promise which holds us bound,
   ‘til the spear and rod can be crushed by God,
   who is turning the world around.              Refrain

Second  Scripture:  Luke 1:46b-55 

Homily   “Only Love can Start a Revolution”

Special Music  “We Wait” 

The offering
We give thanks for everyone who continues to support TSA and our many ministries. Your gifts of support and encouragement mean a lot to us.  You can get more information about making a donation by contacting the church office or by visiting our website. There are also many opportunities to volunteer in our ministries so you can share your talents For all the gifts you share, for all the people you bless by your serving and giving as a disciple of Jesus, we give thanks.

Offering Song             For the Gift of Creation                   VU 538

For the gift of creation, the gift of your love,
and the gift of the Spirit by which we live,
we thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give. 

Offering Prayer
Loving God, bless every gift that we give and receive during these special days. May they be a sign of your love present in our world. Bless the givers and the gifts, that your peace might be made known for all the world to see.

Hymn                  Infant Holy, Infant Lowly                                     VU 58

1. Infant holy, infant lowly, for his bed a cattle stall:
   oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the babe is Lord of all.
   Swift are winging angels singing,
   noels ringing, tidings bringing:
   Christ the babe is born for all.
   Christ the babe is born for all!

2. Flocks were sleeping; shepherds keeping vigil
   till the morning new
   Saw the glory, heard the story, tidings of a gospel true.
   Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow,
   Praises voicing greet the morrow:
   Christ the babe was born for you!
   Christ the babe was born for you!

Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer 

Hymn                  Joy to the World                                                  VU 59

1. Joy to the world! the Lord is come:
   let earth receive her King!
   Let every heart prepare him room,
   and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing,
   and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

2. Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns:
   let all their songs employ,
   while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
   repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
   repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3. No more let sins and sorrows grow,
   nor thorns infest the ground:
   he comes to make his blessings flow
   far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found,
   far as, far as the curse is found.

4. He rules the earth with truth and grace,
   and makes the nations prove
   the glories of his righteousness
   and wonders of his love, and wonders of his love,
   and wonders, wonders of his love.
   

Benediction
May the peace of Christ, the love of God, the joy of the Holy spirit fill your hearts with hope this day and always. Merry Christmas!

Choral Amen               Gloria (Glory to God)                                          VU 37

Gloria, gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, gloria, alleluia, alleluia.

Glory to God, glory to God, glory in the highest!
Glory to God, glory to God, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Postlude

Only love can start a revolution. Text: Luke 1:46-55
Preached by Rev. James Murray at Trinity-St. Andrew’s United Church
Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22 2024

This morning we heard one of the most powerful revolutionary manifestos every created. It is also one of the most beautiful songs of praise in our religion. The song Mary sings when she learns she is pregnant is one of the most important love songs the world has ever heard. It is an important song because it speaks of God’s love for this world.

This song reveals the depths of Mary’s love for God. It shows how she trusts God. She loves God enough to take this risk of giving birth to a child. Mary’s love for God gives her the courage to be a part of God’s mission to start a revolution that will change the world. Mary takes the ultimate risk of her very life in order for this dream to become a reality. If you are to live fully you must be willing to live without a fear of dying. And Mary is literally putting her life on the line in order for God’s love to be born into this world. We cannot underestimate the risk Mary was taking. Mary was barely a teenager who was about to become an unwed mother. That is always a risky thing to be. In those days unwed mothers were either banished out of the country, or stoned to death along with their child. Even though Joseph is convinced that the baby is God’s doing, Joseph doesn’t marry her until after the baby is born.  His delay makes it obvious to everyone that the child is not his. In those days to be conceived out of wedlock was not a scandal that was quickly forgotten. The scandal of his birth hangs over Jesus for his entire life. Despite this cloud hanging over him, Jesus is able to realize his destiny as the son of God, because of the faith his mother has in him.

This morning we got to sing a version of Mary’s song, which is known by its Latin title as The Magnificat. I don’t believe the words of the Magnificat were spoken just this one time. I believe the reason these words are remembered and recorded in the Gospel is because Mary said these words many times. How else could she remember them many decades later to tell to Luke if she had not repeated it many times. I believe the Magnificat would have been her daily manifesto in how she raised her son. These words are the guiding principles she taught her baby as he grew into a man.

In the Magnificat, Mary says
“God knocks tyrants off their high horses.
 God pulls victims up out of the mud.
With God the starving poor sit down to a banquet;
while the callous rich get left out in the cold.
God embraces all his beloved children.
 God always remembers us and piles on the mercies.
God loves us enough to bless us all.” (Luke 1:46-56, paraphrased)

These are the kind of values Jesus grows up to share in his ministry. The Book of Proverbs says “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) To put it another way, “Point your kids in the right direction— when they’re old they won’t be lost.” (The Message)

His mother’s words become his manifesto for the divine revolution he puts into motion.

There is lots of evidence that Jesus has taken his mother’s words to heart. When Jesus does begins his ministry he starts by quoting the prophet Isaiah. He quotes the words of hope the prophet offered the people during their darkest time. He says
“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.” (Isaiah 61:1)

By these words, Jesus shows he is ready to start a revolution based on love. He rejects the temptations of violence, power and wealth. He comes to start a revolution where love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness are at the heart of all we do. It is a revolution which casts our fear. It is a revolution which dissipates anger and overcomes hatred.  It is a revolution which is powered by a love that seeks to serve others. It is a love which lifts others up.

We need such revolutionary words of hope in our world today. Our world right now is full of a lot of confusion, fear, and anger. No one is happy with how the economy is going. No one is happy with how politicians can’t seem to solve any of our pressing problems. Many people are so fed up that they feel bold enough to say hurtful things to others, without any regard for the consequences of their actions.  Now to express your anger can be liberating. But fury alone cannot save the day. Anger alone cannot change the world. Anger is power that has been frustrated. It is passion that has been blocked.

We can see this anger being directed in many different directions. These days a lot of people are blaming recent immigrants for our troubles.  At different times we have expressed our hatred of people who are different in many ways. Canada has a long history of treating its Native people poorly. There has been a lot of hatred and mistrust directed against immigrants who are Black. The Jews, and the Japanese have all found themselves to be the target of discrimination at different times. After the events of 911, that hatred was focused on Muslims. Today it is immigrants from India and southeast Asia who are feeling that burning anger. The sad truth is the way people are speaking out against immigrants from India is the same way we spoke against the Irish a century ago.  In time such hatred will burn itself out. Because hatred cannot change the world. Hatred has the power to tear things down. If we continue to we hate those who are different from us, we cannot build a brave new world together.

Such a fear of the other is a common theme in politics today. The truth is nothing can ever make us perfectly safe. Whenever you are in a relationship, whether it is with another person, or even with another nation, you are vulnerable. Both good and bad things can happen when you are in a relationship. Fear destroys the trust that relationships need in order to survive. Fear cannot heal the world. Fear will not make our world a safer place.

So how can we make our world a safer place? How can we dare to live alongside people who are different from us? How can we change this broken hurting world for the better if all our guns will not bring us peace on earth. Truly, only a gift of love can bring peace to the world. Only love can change the world. Only love has the power to heal the world.

The message of Christmas is that God’s gift of love has come among us. There’s a modern translation of the Blble called “The Message” which puts it this way. “The word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood.” God is giving us a living example of the kind of love which can heal our conflicts. God is giving us a love that is more powerful than our fears. Christmas reminds us that love is what we are born with. Fear is something we learn here when we forget that love. When the angels come to announce the birth of Jesus, the very first thing they say to the shepherds is “Be not afraid.” The good news of Christmas is stronger than the worst of our fears.

In these dark days of winter, we come here, seeking the gift of such a love. In these dark days, may we hear once more the words of the angels as they announce the gift of this love which is given to us all.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards all people.” (Luke 2:10-14)