Listen to this Playlist as you read! Advent 4 Playlist
Or you can search for your own version of the songs from this list:
Angels, from the Realms of Glory, Away in a Manger, It Came upon the Midnight Clear, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem, First Noel
Call to Worship and Invocation
One: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God.
All: And our spirits rejoice in you.
One: We will praise you as long as we live.
All: We will sing praises to you our whole lives long.
One: We will not trust in the powerful of this world,
All: But will trust in you–Creator of heaven and earth,
One: the One who gives food to the hungry,
All: the One who enacts justice for the oppressed.
One: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God
All: As we worship you in this place.
God of miracles, There is no miracle as grand as birth. As we prepare for the coming of your son, Jesus, create in us new life. Transform us so that we may reflect the light of your son, and become beacons of goodness, kindness, compassion, generosity, honesty, patience, and peace, for the sake of the one whose name brings deliverance and life to all the world, Jesus Christ, infant king. Amen.
Scripture and Meditation
Have someone read the scripture aloud before sharing the meditation.
Luke 1:26-55
It is no accident that Mary takes center stage this time of year. Mary is venerated by some, ignored by others, and misunderstood by everyone else. At times Catholics, have transformed the peasant Jewish teenage girl into an otherworldly Queen. At times Protestants and Evangelicals have pretended that she never existed, or they have missed the truth that she is the first disciple, that she displays radical faith and trust in God. Now outside this story we don’t know a great deal about Mary. Mostly from context clues it has been determined well assumed that she was a teenager, betrothed to a man probably much older than she was, she was devout in her faith.
God has been unseen but very real, invisible to the human eye.
So how did this seemingly invisible God who only ever became known “face to face” by a few prophets…male prophets, become known to this teenage girl.
This “invisible God” made know to some in burning bushes and parting seas, made known through the still small voice after the earth shook and the winds roared.
This invisible God who spoke through rambling prophets who wore sack cloth and fasted for days, weeks, months on end, who some listened but most ignored.
How is it that this “invisible God” became visible to this girl and yet we still have trouble seeing God today?
From the angel’s announcement to Mary song of praise we are reminded of some (not all) of the attributes of God that visible or invisible we commonly and continually hold to be true
• God saves
• God blesses
• God does great things
• God's name is Holy
• God is merciful
• God desires reverence
• God is strong
• God hates those who are proud
• God is on the side of the oppressed
• God feeds the hungry
• God remembers
• God keeps promises
We believe these attributes because our life experiences have grounded our faith and given us hope. We have hope in these attributes of God not because we can always hold the tangible evidence in our hands but because visible or invisible, God’s promise of unending love has gotten a hold of us.
Once we remember this- that God has God’s hand on us and what is impossible for us is possible for God. We could be an unstoppable force in the world. We tend to fall short, we tend to beat ourselves up, we tend to run and hide when someone asks us about our faith.
What if after the angel came to Mary, she had run away; hid until the baby was born and then started a new life somewhere far away, where no one knew her? What would have become of Jesus Christ; Son of God?
I am certain if Mary had responded in that way God would have worked it out, we could very well be hearing an entirely different story about how Christ, Our savior was born. God would have become visible in another way.
Fortunately, Mary reacted much better than any of us ever have. She, after she processed what was happening and the dust from the angel’s announcement had settled, she turned her heart over to God again and responded, out of faith and trust, that God’s unending love would not fail her.
In true Israelite fashion, many had started to turn away from God again this “invisible God”, who they had no tangible evidence for. But because of Mary and her response, God was becoming visible, as a baby, a face with a name, the Most High made lowly.
God’s love made visible in a stable, on a hillside in the country, out of the way, a baby born to two scared people who didn’t know what to do. They had nothing but themselves to offer. They heard the call of God, each in their own ways. And they responded in faith.
Christmas, for us, twenty-plus centuries later, is no different.
If we really hear the gospel, if we truly perceive the voice of the One who calls us, there is encouragement--you have found favor with God--but there is always one more thing and that is how you respond. Will you respond as Mary, so that you reflect in your own life the very nature of God:
• to save
• to bless
• to do great things for God
• to make God's name Holy
• to be merciful
• to be reverent
• to be strong
• to put away pride
• to remember that God is on the side of the oppressed
• to feed the hungry
• to serve, and
On this fourth Sunday of Advent when weather prevented us from worshiping together, how will you sing praises to the one who calls you with a promise of unending love?
Amen.
Talk with one another about how you will live out the promise of God's unending love this week!
Communion
Share in a meal with your family today remember the time Jesus gathered with his friends and family broke bread and share it with all. Communion doesn’t have to be bread and wine, it only needs to be a meal shared in love.
If you are single or live alone, say a blessing for those you wish to be around the table with today.
Or you can search for your own version of the songs from this list:
Angels, from the Realms of Glory, Away in a Manger, It Came upon the Midnight Clear, Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem, First Noel
Call to Worship and Invocation
One: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God.
All: And our spirits rejoice in you.
One: We will praise you as long as we live.
All: We will sing praises to you our whole lives long.
One: We will not trust in the powerful of this world,
All: But will trust in you–Creator of heaven and earth,
One: the One who gives food to the hungry,
All: the One who enacts justice for the oppressed.
One: Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God
All: As we worship you in this place.
God of miracles, There is no miracle as grand as birth. As we prepare for the coming of your son, Jesus, create in us new life. Transform us so that we may reflect the light of your son, and become beacons of goodness, kindness, compassion, generosity, honesty, patience, and peace, for the sake of the one whose name brings deliverance and life to all the world, Jesus Christ, infant king. Amen.
Scripture and Meditation
Have someone read the scripture aloud before sharing the meditation.
Luke 1:26-55
It is no accident that Mary takes center stage this time of year. Mary is venerated by some, ignored by others, and misunderstood by everyone else. At times Catholics, have transformed the peasant Jewish teenage girl into an otherworldly Queen. At times Protestants and Evangelicals have pretended that she never existed, or they have missed the truth that she is the first disciple, that she displays radical faith and trust in God. Now outside this story we don’t know a great deal about Mary. Mostly from context clues it has been determined well assumed that she was a teenager, betrothed to a man probably much older than she was, she was devout in her faith.
God has been unseen but very real, invisible to the human eye.
So how did this seemingly invisible God who only ever became known “face to face” by a few prophets…male prophets, become known to this teenage girl.
This “invisible God” made know to some in burning bushes and parting seas, made known through the still small voice after the earth shook and the winds roared.
This invisible God who spoke through rambling prophets who wore sack cloth and fasted for days, weeks, months on end, who some listened but most ignored.
How is it that this “invisible God” became visible to this girl and yet we still have trouble seeing God today?
From the angel’s announcement to Mary song of praise we are reminded of some (not all) of the attributes of God that visible or invisible we commonly and continually hold to be true
• God saves
• God blesses
• God does great things
• God's name is Holy
• God is merciful
• God desires reverence
• God is strong
• God hates those who are proud
• God is on the side of the oppressed
• God feeds the hungry
• God remembers
• God keeps promises
We believe these attributes because our life experiences have grounded our faith and given us hope. We have hope in these attributes of God not because we can always hold the tangible evidence in our hands but because visible or invisible, God’s promise of unending love has gotten a hold of us.
Once we remember this- that God has God’s hand on us and what is impossible for us is possible for God. We could be an unstoppable force in the world. We tend to fall short, we tend to beat ourselves up, we tend to run and hide when someone asks us about our faith.
What if after the angel came to Mary, she had run away; hid until the baby was born and then started a new life somewhere far away, where no one knew her? What would have become of Jesus Christ; Son of God?
I am certain if Mary had responded in that way God would have worked it out, we could very well be hearing an entirely different story about how Christ, Our savior was born. God would have become visible in another way.
Fortunately, Mary reacted much better than any of us ever have. She, after she processed what was happening and the dust from the angel’s announcement had settled, she turned her heart over to God again and responded, out of faith and trust, that God’s unending love would not fail her.
In true Israelite fashion, many had started to turn away from God again this “invisible God”, who they had no tangible evidence for. But because of Mary and her response, God was becoming visible, as a baby, a face with a name, the Most High made lowly.
God’s love made visible in a stable, on a hillside in the country, out of the way, a baby born to two scared people who didn’t know what to do. They had nothing but themselves to offer. They heard the call of God, each in their own ways. And they responded in faith.
Christmas, for us, twenty-plus centuries later, is no different.
If we really hear the gospel, if we truly perceive the voice of the One who calls us, there is encouragement--you have found favor with God--but there is always one more thing and that is how you respond. Will you respond as Mary, so that you reflect in your own life the very nature of God:
• to save
• to bless
• to do great things for God
• to make God's name Holy
• to be merciful
• to be reverent
• to be strong
• to put away pride
• to remember that God is on the side of the oppressed
• to feed the hungry
• to serve, and
On this fourth Sunday of Advent when weather prevented us from worshiping together, how will you sing praises to the one who calls you with a promise of unending love?
Amen.
Talk with one another about how you will live out the promise of God's unending love this week!
Communion
Share in a meal with your family today remember the time Jesus gathered with his friends and family broke bread and share it with all. Communion doesn’t have to be bread and wine, it only needs to be a meal shared in love.
If you are single or live alone, say a blessing for those you wish to be around the table with today.
Benediction
May the God of surprises go with you.
May the promise of God's unending love, through Jesus Christ surround you.
May the Spirit of peace enfold you.
Go this week, to love and serve The LORD. Amen!
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