CHURCH LIFE

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

From Jordan’s waters

a messenger cries out:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight!”

New life is found in old words,

and God’s promise, remembered.

Let us worship God

for good news is on the way.

HYMN – On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry

All-Age Prayer

Prepare the way of the Lord

GET EVERYTHING READY FOR JESUS!

Father-Mother God,

there is a lot that needs to be done

when a baby is on the way.

We would like to help, if we can, to

Prepare the way of the Lord

GET EVERYTHING READY FOR JESUS!

The house must be clean,

and the bed must be comfy.

There should be clean water and towels;

nothing dangerous that might hurt him.

Show us what we can do to

Prepare the way of the Lord

GET EVERYTHING READY FOR JESUS!

But when this baby came,

the world was not ready,

and it certainly wasn’t safe.

If the germs in the stable didn’t kill him,

Herod’s soldiers would have a good try.

If only they had listened to the wild man

in the desert, who cried out:

Prepare the way of the Lord

GET EVERYTHING READY FOR JESUS!

Help us to listen, loving God.

May we sweep away all the dust in our lives,

and remove the dangerous boulders.

May we put up signs at the dangerous bends,

and have hot meals ready at the service stations.

Let us decorate our houses with fairy lights

that spell out ‘stop here!’ and ‘welcome!’

Let nothing – and no-one – be forgotten, as we

Prepare the way of the Lord

GET EVERYTHING READY FOR JESUS!

Amen.

Reading: Mark 1 v 1-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yIcZQ5Gm0M

Dramatised Reading:

Reflection:

HYMN – Comfort, Comfort O my People

Prayers for Others and Ourselves

God of faithful grace and goodness,

we give thanks for the words of hope and comfort

that echo down the centuries

from Isaiah to John the Baptist,

from Jesus of Nazareth through Mark the evangelist,

through translators, and publishers and printers

to us here today.

“Comfort them,” the prophet is told,

“tell them that they have suffered long enough,

their sins are forgiven”.

And so he does, so she does, so they do.

Faithful God, may we be open to hear your word,

and daring enough to look in unlikely places

for signs of your presence.

May we be wise enough to discern

which of the many voices that we hear

speaks for you, and brave enough to pass on

the radical good news that we hear.

As John spoke from a barren, desert place

to people on the margins,

far from the centres of power, so we pray

for those who live on the margins now,

their births uncelebrated;

their deaths not publicly grieved.

We pray for refugees and asylum-seekers;

for clients of food banks in this country,

and for others who lack even that safety net.

We pray for those whose fragile hold on coping

has been shaken by the effects of Covid:

those without secure jobs or money in the bank;

those for whom home is not a place of safety;

students without loving parents to go back to;

old people without children to look out for them.

We pray for those in positions of power,

the best of whom feel powerless, and admit it;

troubled by the huge responsibility that they bear.

May this be an opportunity for all of us

to reassess what really matters,

and what sort of world we want to live in.

May our vulnerability create a crack

through which your light can shine,

as the solid ground of our confidence is shaken,

may a tiny mustard-seed of faith drop in,

and your kingdom have a chance to grow.

God, in just such times at these

have you sent your prophets to challenge

the powerful and comfort the oppressed.

In just such times as these

have you slipped in alongside your people

to let them know that they are not alone,

for you are with them.

May we be among those who help

to prepare the way for your coming,

and may all the honour and glory be yours.

Amen.

The Advent Wreath – today we light the candle 2^nd candle, a candle for peace

The Offering – you can now give safely by online donation on the home page if you wish

Prayer of Dedication

Our God,

you give us always what we need,

and not what we think will make us happy.

We ask for success, and you show us

how to grow through failure.

We ask for peace, and you set us a challenge.

We ask for growth in numbers,

and you give us a microscope to search

for signs of the kingdom.

But when we are hungry, you feed us;

when we grieve, you console us;

when we are weary, you let us rest.

And now,

what do you need and want from us?

Not money; not right belief not ritual praise;

not even the doing of good unless

that springs freely from lives steeped in love.

So all that we can offer

is what you have already given.

We give it back with gratitude and joy.

Amen.

HYMN – O Come Divine Messiah

Sending:

As we go into this week,

may we prepare the way of the Lord,

making straight the paths

that lead to God,

in our hearts and souls,

through our words and actions,

by our choices and decisions.

May we go as God’s beloved,

filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen