3rd Sunday of Advent 11th December

Christingle Service – The Third Sunday of Advent St. Laurence 11^th December 2022

Before we start today’s service, there is a messages we would like you to read and pray about the Interregnum:-:

A meeting has been arranged for Tuesday 13^th December for the Archdeacon to speak to the church representatives about the position following the lack of response to the last advertisement.

Thank you.

*****************************************

Greetings

Christ has broken us out of darkness;

To live in his marvellous light

Lighting of the Advent Candle’s

Third Candle – The Candle of Love – John the Baptist

Light and peace, in Jesus Christ our Lord

All: Thanks be to God Leader: Today is the Third Sunday of Advent and we will light the Candle of Love.

Last Sunday we lit the Candle of Peace.

We light it and the Candle of Hope again as we remember Jesus, born in Bethlehem, our hope and our peace.

(A person lights the Candles of Hope, and Peace.)

Today we light the Third Candle of Advent, the Candle of Love.

In their old age God gave to Zechariah and Elisabeth a son called John.

John spoke to the people bravely in the desert denying his own comforts and prepared to die for what he believed. John taught that we should share what we have with others, treat each other kindly and show Gods love.

He did this because he cared for people and wanted them to repent and find God’s forgiveness.

(A person lights the Third Candle, the Candle of Love here)

Love is like a candle shining in a dark place. As we look at the light of this candle we celebrate the love we have in Christ.

Let us pray: All: Lord God, Your witness John the Baptist grew up strong in spirit and prepared people for the coming of the Lord. He loved your people and baptized them in the River Jordan to wash away their sins. Help us to have the same love that we would be witnesses to him and spread the good news of your love. As Christmas draws closer day by day, help us to be ready to welcome him.

Amen

Prayer of Penitence

Father God, we are sorry for the things we do and say and think which make you sad, and for not thinking of others before ourselves. Please forgive us and help us to love you and other people more and more.

All: Amen

May God who loved the world so much that He sent His Son to be our Saviour forgive us our sins and make us holy to serve Him in the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Thanksgiving

Glory to Christ, Son of Mary; born a child, you are one with us:

All: Glory to God in the highest.

Glory to Christ, Son of David; born to rule, you reign in our hearts:

All: Glory to God in the highest.

Glory to Christ, Son of Man; born to save, you are the light of the world:

All: Glory to God in the highest.

Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent

O Lord Jesus Christ,

who at your first coming sent your messenger

to prepare your way before you:

grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries

may likewise so prepare and make ready your way

by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,

that at your second coming to judge the world

we may be found an acceptable people in your sight;

for you are alive and reign with the Father

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Our First Reading is taken from – Genesis Chap: 1

1 In the beginning, when God created the universe,

2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.

3 Then God commanded, “Let there be light” – and light appeared.

4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness,

5 and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night.” Evening passed and morning came – that was the first day.

6 – 7 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” – and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it.

8 He named the dome “Sky.” Evening passed and morning came – that was the second day.

9 Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear” – and it was done.

10 He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw.

11 Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit” – and it was done.

12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw.

13 Evening passed and morning came – that was the third day.

14 Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days, years, and religious festivals begin;

15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth” – and it was done.

16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.

17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth,

18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw.

19 Evening passed and morning came – that was the fourth day.

20 Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.”

21 So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw.

22 He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number.

23 Evening passed and morning came – that was the fifth day.

24 Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small” – and it was done.

25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.

26 Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.”

27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,

28 blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.

29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat;

30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food” – and it was done.

31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came – that was the sixth day.

Hymn – Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne and Thy Kingly Crown

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn, and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.

When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing,
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying “Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee.”
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.(by E. S. Elliot – 1864)

The Reading is taken from the Gospel of John Chap: 8

12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. “I am the light of the world,” he said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

13 The Pharisees said to him, “Now you are testifying on your own behalf; what you say proves nothing.”

14 “No,” Jesus answered, “even though I do testify on my own behalf, what I say is true, because I know where I came from and where I am going. You do not know where I came from or where I am going.

15 You make judgments in a purely human way; I pass judgment on no one.

16 But if I were to do so, my judgment would be true, because I am not alone in this; the Father who sent me is with me.

17 It is written in your Law that when two witnesses agree, what they say is true.

18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me also testifies on my behalf.”

19 “Where is your father?” they asked him. “You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

20 Jesus said all this as he taught in the Temple, in the room where the offering boxes were placed. And no one arrested him, because his hour had not come.

Hymn – O Sing About Christingle

The orange of Christingle

The world reminds us of,

And how our God created us,

And on us sheds His love.

Refrain – O sing about Christingle,

Your voices loud employ.

Your praises bring to God our King;

For Jesus and His joy.

The candle of Christingle,

With shining flame so bright

Reminds us of our loving Lord

Who is the world’s true light.

Refrain -O sing about Christingle,

Your voices loud employ.

Your praises bring to God our King;

For Jesus and His joy.

The red band of Christingle,

Which plainly we can see

Reminds us of how Jesus Christ

Was killed upon that tree.

Refrain -O sing about Christingle,

Your voices loud employ.

Your praises bring to God our King;

For Jesus and His joy.

The four sticks of Christingle,

With which the orb we spear,

Reminds us how God cares for us,

Thro’ the seasons of the year.

Refrain -O sing about Christingle,

Your voices loud employ.

Your praises bring to God our King;

For Jesus and His joy.

The whole of the Christingle,

It is a joy to see;

It shines to show how our Father God,

Loves even you and me.

Refrain -O sing about Christingle,

Your voices loud employ.

Your praises bring to God our King;

For Jesus and His joy. (Tune The Holly and the Ivy, (traditional).)

Hymn – He’s Got The Whole World in His Hand

Sermon for 11th December 2022 – Christingle Service

(Texts: Genesis Chap: 1 Vers: 1 to 31 and John Chap: 8 Vers: 12 to 20)

The Light of the World and the Fruits of the Earth

In the Beginning, God.

It seems appropriate that our scriptures begin with the words, “In the beginning.”

As we continue to travel through this time of Advent, as we wait for the celebration of the birth of Christ and the new beginning that signifies, it felt appropriate to revisit the original beginning, the original account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Some people see the Book of Genesis as a literal, factual document; others as a series of myths and legendary stories.

I am not here today to argue for or against either stance; whichever you believe, that is your choice, and one which is ultimately between you and God alone. But whichever you choose, whether you see the creation as a factual account or as a mythological story, there are some truths that are self-evident from the account.

I have mentioned one of them twice already, and I am about to mention it a third time: in the Beginning, God.

God is there at the beginning of all things, and all things exist because of the will of God.

God is the creator, the sustainer and the provider of all things.

That is the idea which Johannes de Watteville, Bishop of Marianborn, was trying to encapsulate when he created the first Christingle in 1747. He wanted a simple symbol to teach children the story of Jesus – but like all simple symbols, this one contains a lot of depth!

Quite a few of us are, I’m sure, familiar with the meaning of the various elements of the symbol, the orange is the world, the red ribbon or tape is the blood of Jesus, the four sticks represent the four directions, or perhaps the four seasons.

It’s the other two parts of it. the sweets and the candle, that I want to focus on today, and why I chose the readings that we’ve had this morning.

The sweets represent the ‘fruits of the earth’.

On the third day of the creation, God commanded the new-born earth to be filled with plants, producing grain and fruit in their own seasons. God’s plan for the earth, built right into it at its very conception, is for it to be a self-sustaining unit, continually producing enough, more than enough, food for all of its inhabitants.

God set up the world to provide us a wonderful bounty, to ensure the continued survival of all its species. Sadly, humans get in the way of that.

When Paul said in his first letter to Timothy that “the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil”, he was demonstrating a profoundly accurate view of the human race. Thanks to the actions, and inactions, of a small number of rich men, desperately trying to hoard money they will never, ever use, the world is in a pretty poor state.

It is up to us, as Christians, to answer the call of the world, to share the resources we control, and where we don’t have that control, to sting those who do into taking action. In this way, we will be following the teachings of Jesus, to love the least, to care for those who need our care, to alleviate the suffering that is all around us.

Jesus is present in the Christingle too, Christingle means ‘Christ-light’, and here we have the candle to remind us of the title Jesus took for Himself in our other reading from John’s Gospel.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.”

Jesus is the light of the world. his presence lights up our lives. I’m reminded of the very first thing that God creates in the Genesis account, light.

Let there be light.

Light is important, because only in darkness can things be hidden. The light of Christ is a strange thing.

For those of us who follow Jesus, who try our best to put his commands and teachings into practice, it is a gentle, comforting thing, a light to help us find our way in the dark.

But the light of Christ can also be a searing thing, harshly glaring into the dark corners, illuminating everything we try to hide.

Jesus is the light of the world, he shines on the whole globe. There are no dark corners from which he and his light are barred.

Hiding from Jesus is a futile thing; that is why he so freely offers us forgiveness – so we don’t have to try to hide.

The light of Christ will find us, so we should embrace it, and walk out of the darkness boldly, safe in the knowledge that our Lord and Saviour will light our way so that even if we stumble, we can never truly fall.

I want to end this morning on a slightly lighter note, if you will pardon the pun.

As I was writing these words, I suddenly found myself struck by a memory from my childhood, of a song we used to sing when I was in Primary School.

The tune is long gone from my mind, but the words I remember clearly, and they seem appropriate to the idea of the Christingle:

Jesus bids us shine

With a pure, clear light;

Like a little candle

Burning in the night.

In this world of darkness,

We must shine –

You in your small corner,

And I in mine.

As we go from this place today, bearing our Christingle’s, let us carry the light of Christ with us into each day, to illuminate the world.

Amen

Hymn – From Heaven You Came, Helpless Babe (The Servant King)

Prayers and Intercessions

We pray for God to fill us with his Spirit.

Generous God,

we thank you for the power of your Holy Spirit.

We ask that we may be strengthened to serve you better.

Lord, come to bless us