Author: Gayle Taylor

Please note that although we had hoped to livestream the service from Mayfield and Easthouses Church today, due to illness and self isolating requirements, none of the members of the livestream team were able to come to the church – let us keep them all in our prayers.

Sitting in different chairs, joining in at different times throughout the day, God’s people still gather for worship on this, the Lord’s day. Welcome, to Sunday worship.

Call to worship – with parts in bold to say aloud

In good times and bad times,

Oh God, you are with us.

In glad times and sad times,

Oh God, you are with us.

Right now, in these tough times,

we wish you were here.

In wretched and rough times,

we wish you were here.

Oh God, always with us,

Come quickly, we pray.

Oh God, always with us,

on this first day of advent, be with us today.

HYMN – Lo He Comes with Clouds Descending

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

God of mystery and majesty,

comfortingly close and disturbingly distant,

worryingly near and comfortably far away,

we bring ourselves tentatively

into awareness of your presence,

wondering what today’s encounter may bring.

Will we be awed by your greatness,

or humbled by your vulnerability?

Will we know, without a doubt,

that you are here,

or grieve for the old certainties,

now gone?

If you did come amongst us once,

do we really expect you to come again?

All these thoughts are in our minds

as we prepare to celebrate the birth

of a child, who grew into a man in whom

your spirit was so powerfully distilled

that they called him Immanuel,

“God with us”.

Eternal God,

we want and need you

to be with us now,

but we fear your presence too.

Will you come with words of comfort

or of judgement?

Will you be pleased with what you find,

and the welcome you receive,

or will we disappoint you

and reject you as we did before?

We have plenty of sins to confess:

we have not been good stewards of creation;

we have not made the best use of our time;

we have not lived up to our own ideals,

never mind your hopes for us.

And we are sorry.

But it is hard for us too:

hard to know what to pray for;

what to do for the best;

hard to go on waiting and hoping

as one millennium gives way to another

and nothing seems to change.

So deal gently with us, God.

Come among us with encouragement

and hope, as well as forgiveness.

Show us a new and better way to live,

and give us strength and courage

to follow in your way.

Amen.

THE ADVENT CANDLES will be lit in the church today symbolising the gifts of God given for the whole world in this season: PEACE, HOPE, JOY and LOVE.

HYMN – Like a Candle Flame

Reading: Mark 13:24-37

Reflection:

HYMN – O Come O Come Emmanuel

Prayers for Others and Ourselves

Creator God,

we bring our prayers from a world

in deep distress.

There are signs and portents all around us,

and no-one to tell us what they mean:

fires and plagues and pestilence;

a shaking up of all we thought we knew;

leaders who are corrupt, or foolish,

or just as helpless as we all feel

in the face of forces we cannot control.

And yet we dare to believe

that it is your world.

We go on asserting that you care,

not just because to do otherwise

is unthinkable, but because

the old stories have a hold on us

and we hold on to them.

We kneel with shepherds and sages

by the straw-filled crib

and we worship.

We listen, spellbound, to the stories

told on hilltop and sandy shore,

and we are hooked.

We watch, aghast, as softly

the agony ends, and the final breath escapes.

We grieve and we despair.

We wake early and we wonder

if maybe, just maybe,

new hope may come with the dawn.

God of birth and growth, decline and death,

God of whatever came before

and whatever may come after

the brief, troubled lives that we know,

we commit to your care and keeping

our lives and our loved ones…

Silence

our world and our worries on its behalf…

Silence

We long for you to come and save us.

May we be ready when you do.

Amen.

HYMN – People Look East

Sending

Go with your heart and soul

in eager expectation,

awaiting the coming of Good News.

Be a living witness of that hope,

sharing the blessing of God

in word and action. Amen

Sitting in different chairs, joining in at different times throughout the day, God’s people still gather for worship on this, the Lord’s day. Welcome, to Sunday worship.

Call to Worship

Based on Psalm 100 with parts in bold to read aloud.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord,

all the earth!

We worship the Lord with gladness,

we come into his presence with joy.

Know that the Lord is God,

and it is God that made us.

We are God’s people

the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise.

We give thanks to God

and bless God’s name.

Let us worship the Lord our God.

HYMN – Majesty

All-Age Prayer

What does Jesus look like?

Like the homeless woman who sits outside Tesco.

What does Jesus look like?

Like the beggar who sits on the bridge.

What does Jesus look like?

Like the geeky guys we leave out of our games.

What does Jesus look like?

Like that nosy neighbour who never misses a trick.

What does Jesus look like?

Like everyone we meet throughout our day…

Those are the ones Jesus asks us to love.

Lord help us,

in loving,

to see each other differently,

knowing you are in all.

Amen.

Reading: Matthew 25 v 31 – 46 read by Mabel Currie

Dramatised reading:

Reflection:

HYMN – Make Way, Make Way

Prayers for Others and Ourselves

Lord we see you,

kneeling at our feet,

showing us how to serve

and be served.

Lord we see you,

touching the unclean,

showing us how to heal

and be healed.

Lord we see you,

hanging out with outcasts,

showing us how to be in community.

So may we follow your example,

seeing the need in our world

and being first in line

to step up and make a difference.

May we also recognise

our own limitations

and make room for those

who are differently abled and differently gifted,

knowing that in the economy of your kingdom,

no gift is wasted,

no talent rejected.

Lord, when we despair

at the state of our world,

may our despair compel us

to join you in the work

of peace and justice for all,

beginning wherever we are,

following your lead.

Lord may we know your healing,

in our lives,

in the life of our community,

in the life of the world.

May we live so conscious

of your presence in all

that we cannot turn our back

or withhold your love from another

but know fulfilment

only when we have given our all

to serve you by serving our neighbour.

So God,

one radical act of kindness at a time,

may your kingdom come,

on earth as in heaven.

Amen.

HYMN – King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Offering – if you would like to make your offering online you can safety do so using the button below:

Prayer of Dedication

Lord,

make us willing to share what we have,

for without you we have nothing.

And help us to see the wealth of others

as they share their gifts with us.

And so, together, may we work

to build your kingdom now.

Amen.

HYMN – The King of Love my Shepherd is

Sending

When, Lord, did we see you hungry,

naked and thirsty,

sick and imprisoned?

When Lord, did we care for the stranger

with food and water,

care and love?

At the turn of the Christian year

let us commit ourselves

to being Christ in the world.

As we step into Advent,

and once more prepare

to welcome the infant Jesus

go purposefully,

loved by God,

guided by Jesus

and inspired by the Spirit. Amen

NEXT SUNDAY, 29th November – for the 1st SUNDAY in ADVENT we will join together both in the church building at Mayfield and Easthouses and on-line via livestream at 11am. If you would like to come to the service in the church building, due to the Covid -19 restrictions, you need to book a place by phoning the church office on 0131 663 3245.