Prayers for Advent, 2023

Sunday, 4 Advent, December 24, 2023

God of perpetual advents, your comings are ever fresh even as we trace the grooves of how you have come and been known in our past; as we create liturgical labyrinths of former paths to knowing you, let fresh insights of your coming anew be known.  Amen.

Saturday 3 Advent, December 23, 2023

God of the unpredictable, from obscurity Jesus became lionized as the Eternal Word, the All and in All, and the Glorified King above all; give us the eyes of faith to see the unpredictable goodness of Christ-likeness inhabit the peoples of the world.  Amen.

Friday in 3 Advent, December 22, 2023

Eternal Christ, we thank you that your life is conceived within us by the overshadowing of the eternal Spirit; help us not to limit your presence to a conceiving event and let our volitions participate with your continual growth within us to take us over with the work of love and justice through us.  Amen.

Thursday in 3 Advent, December 21, 2023

Gracious God of Hope, we await for what we already have in part, because the hope in us makes us expectant of more in love and justice for our world.  Amen.

Wednesday in 3 Advent, December 20, 2023

God, we are living and moving and having our becoming within the overall divine creative Becoming; let us not alight on any thing as final outcome but only as temporal occasions toward becoming surpassing persons toward more excellent future selves.  Amen.

Tuesday in 3 Advent, December 19, 2023

Christ, whose identity with Jesus in history we retrace in our season of Advent; we confess and tell the origin of our identity in the birth of Jesus whose story became worthy to tell in the aftermath of manifest post resurrection experiences of people who pondered why such things happened.  Let us know a continuity with the birth of Christ with new occasions of the sublime in us now.  Amen.

Monday in 3 Advent, December 18, 2023

God of the Song of Mary, the world awaits the casting down of the thrones of the tyrants and the lifting up of the lowly even while you have apparently left us with a responsibility to make such happen;  we ask for the end of those who abuse power and in greed control the vast proportion of the resources of the world to the neglect of the common good.  O God, defeat the greedy, we pray.  Amen.

Sunday, 3 Advent, December 17, 2023, Gaudete

God, you comprise the fullness of everything, and this fullness impinges upon us as an accessible joy; let us be lured by this accessible joy in the midst of the woes which confront us in the competition selfish egos in our world which often leaves us unhappy and disillusioned because we are not yet what we might be.  Amen.

Saturday in 2 Advent, December 16, 2023

God, who will always be the Always Already, in faith we know that we will reassess in different ways than how we interpret our current experience now; help us to cherish what appears good to us now and give us courage to bear what seems to be awful, knowing that future reconstitution of the traces of what has been will include all with expanding meanings colored by future outcomes.  Amen.

Friday in 2 Advent, December 15, 2023

God of All, we are often frustrated by such diversity in the world known poignantly when we encounter the newness of difference; give us the humility to know that we are but a small occasion of clusters within the Great All, and in this humility give us grace to have the wisdom of justice in living together.  Amen.

Thursday in 2 Advent, December 14, 2023

God, who tolerates everything, enlarge our hearts to embrace the diversity of people who want the conditions of justice and love in our lives, and let us never regard largesse of hearts to be a weakness.  Amen.

Wednesday in 2 Advent, December 13, 2023

God of everlasting time; let us seek the end of unjust conditions by bringing bad behaviors to the judgment of exposure followed by the transformation of wrongly used energy into the works of love and justice.  Amen.

Tuesday in 2 Advent, December 12, 2023

God of John the Baptist, let us like him be those voices who announce the good news about Christ, effacing ourselves behind the goodness of the Risen Christ who rises within us to help us achieve the love and justice that is needed in our world today.  Amen.

Monday in 2 Advent, December 11, 2023

God who gave us Christ as an example of what excellence can be in human appearance; help us not to misrepresent the excellence of Christ by identifying him with false triumphalism and disassociating him from the poorest of the poor and the most needy in our midst.  Amen.

Sunday, 2 Advent, December 10, 2023

God, who allows all conditions which are, we take comfort in the continuous sustaining of the world; give us the hope that believes the future will fulfill the past and that any particular moment of weal or woe does not stand alone in pride or regret after it has been relegated to being but amid a Greater Story.  Amen.

Saturday in 1 Advent, December 9, 2023

God, who sends prophets to let us know what is wrong; we thank you for not leaving with negative criticism regarding our failures as you show us what we can become in love and justice with the transformation of our life energies.  Amen.

Friday in 1 Advent, December 8, 2023

God, the higher power giving the grace of impulse control; we are inspired to set seasons of fasting to highlight the gross inequities in resource distribution throughout our world, so as to fast for employing more just distribution.  Spare us from making our fast serve but our selfish piety rather than taking from our excess to give to those who need more.  Amen.

Thursday in 1 Advent, December 7, 2023

Gracious God, give us the grace of higher power to fast, not to prove that we are religious, but to further healthful impulse control which in turn allows us to organize the resources of our lives to share with those in need.  Amen.

Wednesday in 1 Advent, December 6, 2023 (Nicholas of Myra)

Gracious Giving God, let the traditions which derive from Nicholas of Myra be foremost a care for the safety and well being of the children of the world in their having plenty of food, shelter, clothing, education, and caring mentors for their future success.  Amen.

Tuesday in 1 Advent, December 5, 2023

God who has empowered us in freedom, give us the courage to do want we can and keep us from expecting from you what we need to do ourselves; and let us commit the things outside of our strength and ability to your providence.  Amen.

Monday in 1 Advent, December 4, 2023

Great Giver of Goodness, you have provided so much for our enjoyment that we often linger such enjoyment into addictions  and over indulgence; restore us in the ability to fast for impulse control and for the sharing of our excess with those who need what is basic for their subsistence.  Amen.

Sunday, 1 Advent, December 3, 2023

God of Time, we have given you a calendar to invoke you into the times of our lives through a teaching curriculum so that we may ponder the manifold aspects of your appearances to us;  give us expectant hearts for your arrivals, even as we review your past epiphanies to us and to the blessed people of our heritage.  Amen. 

Empire Christianity and the Birth of Christ

Christmas Eve B  December 24, 2023                                           

Isaiah 9:2-7 Psalm 96                                                                   

Titus 2:11-14  Luke 2:1-14

Lectionary Link

If we are warm, well-fed, clothed, sheltered, money a plenty, safe, protected, and able to indulge in all kinds of Christmas season excesses tonight, how are we going to appropriate an identity with the Christmas story tonight?

Perhaps we are more honestly identified with the privileged members of the Roman Empire who enjoyed the benefits provided by their being members of the Emperor's wide sprawling entourage.

No one of any status was on the look out for a lowly couple in journey who could not find proper shelter for a woman in the late stages of her pregnancy.  The Emperor-identified people were on the side of the tax collectors, who according to the story caused the journey back home to Bethlehem for the census to verify the number of potential tax payers.

For the most part, we as American Christians have been in comfortable lifestyles, like those in who were identified with the  Emperor and having influence, safety, power, and privilege.  In the history of our American Christians ancestors we know that  they forced the Christian message upon people who lived more closely with the oppressed circumstances of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus.  Early American Christians brought the message of the love of Jesus to the people who were already in our land, and to the slaves who were forcefully brought to our land.  To these people, we brought the love of Jesus rather ironically with the hypocritical "do as Jesus did, but not as we are doing to you."  

Why would this preacher be so negative about our hypocrisy on this Christmas eve, of all nights?

To remind us about the total irony of the Christmas Story.

God's unique Son is born into a family of nobodies who were so less than ordinary that they would be unnoticed.

But what does the Christmas Story do?  It promotes a realm of understanding about this seeming ordinary birth with magical realism.  The Roman Senate does not confer upon Jesus the title god or son of a god, rather a heavenly choral senate of angels register their affirmation of the divine child through songs and a massive light show, and for whom, for a senate or court of influential people?  No, but lowly shepherds get the first scoop and first invitation to birth site.  Lowly shepherds are the nobility of heaven's kingdom.

But can people of means, power, knowledge, and privilege also have access to this special birth?  Enter the foreign magi, persons of wisdom and means; they too are included in the invitation to the site of the special birth.

But this birth of one who is called God's special child has its opposition.  Herod must uphold the Emperor's exclusive right of being humanly divine, and opponents must be eliminated.  There is open opposition to the meaning of this special birth.  Ironically, when everyone is God's child by virtue of God's image upon us, it becomes silly for people to compete over such designation.

Friends, how can we appropriate this Christmas story tonight in our time and in our lives, indeed a time when the current dangers of war has shut down Bethlehem for Christmas?  The good news of the Christmas story tonight is to receive the birth of the Christ again and again as the continuous opportunity for conversion to our better selves, yes even the selves who would see that no poor couple would be left in the cold but would be taken care of with the best possible health care.

The opportunity awaits us tonight for the birth of Christ to convert people in all kinds of situations, rich, poor, of different ethnicities, religious, social, economic, and educational conditions.  And how shall our conversion of Christ be known tonight?  By the harmonious reciprocity between ourselves.  Rather than the birth of Christ be but a reminder of our own past failures and hypocrisy in being Christ-like, we should see this Christmas Eve as opportunity to more fuller conversion in being more Christ-like with each other.  And being more Christ-like might mean some social and economic leveling where the rich find the poor as the fulfillment of their destiny to be more perfect sharers of the gifts of their lives.

Let us celebrate the birth of Christ tonight in us through the evidence of Christ-like behaviors in us that bring love, peace, and justice to fruition in our world.

Merry Birth of Christ in you tonight.  Amen.

Lessons and Carols for Children

Family Service of Lessons and Carols with Holy Eucharist

December 24, 2023: Fourth Sunday of Advent
Service of Lessons and Carols

Opening Carol: The Little Drummer Boy
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum, A newborn King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum,
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So, to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum, when we come.

Reader: A Bidding Prayer:
Dear People who love God: Christmas Season is approaching so let us renew our lives by hearing the Christmas Story. Let us hear the message of the Angels. Let us go to Bethlehem and see the baby Jesus lying in the manger. But let us also review the long story of our salvation. Let us remember that God created us. Let us ponder why we have the tendency to sin. But let us remember that God redeemed us from our sins by promising a special Savior and sending us the special Savior Jesus Christ. Let us also thank God for all of the good things in life that we enjoy and remember those in this world who do not have enough food, clothing or shelter. Let us remember those who suffer because of war and fighting and human cruelty. Let us also remember with thanksgiving the blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary and let us remember the great number in the family of Christ who share the same hope that we do, now and evermore. Amen.

Reader: The First Story In Salvation History: God Creates Man and Woman
In the beginning God created the world. After creating the sun, moon, the stars, the plants and the animals, God created a man and a woman who were named Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve lived in a beautiful garden call Eden. Since Adam and Eve had the ability to talk, they were given the job of naming everything. And God told Adam and Eve to take good care of their beautiful garden.

Carol: For the Beauty of the Earth
For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies. Lord of all to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon and stars of light: Lord of all to thee we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.

Reader: The Second Story in Salvation History: How Good and Bad Came to the World
God created Adam and Eve as innocent people in a perfect world. God created Adam and Eve to be able to make free choices. God did not make them to be like robots who could not make their own decisions. God gave Adam and Eve a test so they could know that they had real freedom of choice. He told them that they could not eat the fruit from one tree in the middle of the garden. God allowed a very sneaky serpent to talk to Eve and Adam. The serpent told them that they could be like God if they ate the fruit that God told them not to eat. Eve was tricked into eating and she tricked Adam into eating the fruit too. Perhaps that fruit was an apple or a pomegranate. So Adam and Eve knew that they had freedom to choose, but they made the wrong choice. Since imperfect people could not live in the perfect garden, they had to leave the garden. They started a family and began to farm, but they missed the beautiful garden.

Choral Anthem: Adam in the Garden, West Indies
Adam in the garden, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’.
Adam in the garden, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’ from the Lord.
Tell me where is Adam hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’, hidin’.
Tell me where is Adam hidin’ from the Lord.

Reader: The Third Story of Salvation History: A special person from the family tree of Jesse
The prophet Isaiah said that a special person would be born from the family tree of Jesse, King David’s father. This special person would have God’s Spirit upon Him and He would begin to be a wise leader. The prophet Isaiah wrote about a vision of wolves and lambs being able to play together because some day no animal will harm another animal and men and women will live in peace.

Carol: Baa, Baa, Little Lamb (Tune: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep)
Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way? Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.
Far from my shepherd, far from my home. Far from my flock, I ran off alone.
Baa, baa, little lamb, did you lose your way? Yes sir, yes sir, I was lost today.
Baa, baa, little lamb, who found you? My Good Shepherd who loves you too.
Left His flock of ninety-nine, looked for me with love so kind.
Baa, baa, little lamb, your Shepherd looked for you. Yes sir, yes sir, And He found me too.
Dear little children, does your Shepherd love you? Yes sir, yes sir, He loves you too.
If we sin and go from Him, Jesus brings us back to Him.
Dear little children your Shepherd loves you. Yes sir, yes sir, and He loves you too.

Reader: The Fourth Story of Salvation History: A Promised Child Named Emmanuel
The prophet Isaiah promised that a sign would be given to God’s people. A child would be born to a young woman and his name would be called Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. Emmanuel is another name for Jesus because when he was born, he was proof that God was with us.

Carol: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (tune, Farmer in the Dell)
O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Come and save your people now, O come Emmanuel.
Now let us sing with joy, now let us sing with joy. Jesus came to save us all, now let us sing with joy.
O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Live within our hearts we pray, O come Emmanuel.

Reader: The Fifth Story of Salvation History: The Angel Gabriel Delivers a Message to Mary
The Angel Gabriel came to Mary one day in the city of Nazareth. She was surprised to see the Angel. The Angel told her not to be afraid because God was going to give her a very special child who would be called the Son of God. And Mary said, “Let it be according to your word.” And Mary obeyed God.

Carol: Mary and the Angel (Tune: Reuben and Rachel)
Mary, Mary, look beside you. There’s an angel standing there!
It is Gabriel, sent from heaven with Good News for you to hear.
Mary, Mary, don’t be frightened. God is with you favored one.
You will have a little baby, Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son.
“How can this be?” Mary wondered. “I’ve not married anyone.”
“God can do all things,” said Gabriel. “The baby will be God’s own Son.”
“As you say,” then Mary answered, “As God says, so let it be.”
We join Mary in her praises; Jesus came for you and me.”

Reader: The Sixth Story of Salvation History A voice will cry out in the wilderness to prepare the way
The prophet Isaiah said that a voice would cry out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord. This voice would announce the coming of one who would be a strong and good Shepherd. The voice belonged to John the Baptist who help to announce the importance of Jesus Christ.

Choral Anthem: Prepare the Way of the Lord (Renew! # 92)
Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way of the Lord.
And all people will see, the salvation of our God.

Reader : The Seventh Story of Salvation History: Jesus is born in Bethlehem
Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem to register to pay taxes. While they were there, they tried to get a room at an inn but there was no room for them. So they had to spend the night in a stable. While they were in the stable, Mary gave birth to the little baby Jesus. That same night shepherds came to the stable because the Angels in the sky had told them about the birth of a special Christ Child who would bring peace on earth.

Handbell Anthem: Away in a Manger, arr. Anna Laura Page; Divine Jubilation 

Reader: The Eighth Story of Salvation History: Angels tell the shepherds to come to the manger
When future kings are born it is announced throughout the kingdom. When Jesus was born a choir of angels announced his birth in the heavens. When the shepherds heard the angels announce the birth of Jesus, they were told to go to the manger and worship the Christ Child. They obeyed and went to be the first visitors to see baby Jesus.

Carol: Christ Was Born In Bethlehem (Tune: Michael Row the Boat)
Christ was born in Bethlehem, Hallelujah. Born to save us from our sin. Hallelujah.
Songs of joy the angel sang, hallelujah. To see Jesus shepherds ran, Hallelujah.
Every girl and every boy, hallelujah, Join us in our song of joy, Hallelujah.

Reader: The Ninth Story of Salvation History: Jesus is called the Word of God
The writer of the Gospel of John calls Jesus the Word of God. And as the Word of God, Jesus was with God from before the beginning of time and he was God before the beginning of time. The Word of God became the man Jesus who was born into this world. And many people did not accept this man Jesus but those who received him became children of God.

Reader: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John (Please stand)
Response: Praise to you Lord Christ. At the end: Glory to you Lord, Christ

Carol: # 83, v. 6 Adestes Fideles, (blue hymnal)
(Word of the Father, Now in Flesh Appearing)

6-Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born on Christmas morning, Jesus to thee, be glory given. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing. O, come, let us adore Him. O, come let us adore Him. O come, let us adore Him. Christ the Lord.



Liturgist: The Peace of the Lord be with you always.
People: And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Anthem: Go Tell it on the Mountain, arr Patsy Sims - Chancel Choir
Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist.
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his family to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.

Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we
Forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might. Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar.)
Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
the bread and drink the wine, we can know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as
this food and drink that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we can we love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this Holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ; and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ. May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
Our Father (Sung): (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.
Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.
And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.
Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed by thy name.
Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People: Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia!

Words of Administration.

Communion Anthem: Rejoice, a Savior Comes, arr. Bill Ingram, Divine Joy Handbell Choir


Post-Communion Prayer
Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Closing Carol: Good Christian Friends Rejoice
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; give ye heed to what we say: 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!
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice; now ye need not fear the grave; 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!

Dismissal: Blessing for Advent and Christmas
The Almighty God bless us with his grace; Christ give us the joys of everlasting life; and to the fellowship of the citizens above may the King of angels bring us all. Amen.

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.
People: Thanks be to God!

The Annunciation as Mystagogy

4 Advent B December 24, 2023
2 Samuel 7:4,8-16 Ps.89
Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38

Lectionary Link

The Annunciation is the account of the angel Gabriel addressing Mary with the "Hail, Mary."  "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you."  And in this account we can find the entire mystagogy of the church encapsulated.

Mystagogy is the instruction into the mysteries of Christ.  The Jesus Movement was built upon the continual happening of the sublime experiences which were occurring within many persons who were having them following the preaching and teaching of the followers of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul, who wrote long before the Annunciation story came to its mystagogic form, wrote "Christ in you, the hope of glory."  Christ in you, the experience of the interior sublime identity whereby one realizes that one is a child of God.

Paul wrote mystical theology for these interior events which were spontaneously occurring in many people, even as he himself who never saw Jesus had a profound interior event with the Risen Christ.  The Jesus Movement was founded upon the mysticism of these profound interior experiences and the interpretations given for these experiences was the experience of the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

By the time the Gospels were written, there were gathering communities of people who had had this sublime experience of interior identity and they understood this as knowing themselves following Jesus, as beloved children of God.

The presence of the Gospels, written in an accessible language to many people in the Roman Empire, represents the institutionalization of the message because of the recurrence of these experiences of being identified with Christ.

How could this spiritual experience be promulgated and taught?  How could it be hidden within a narrative, a story about exterior events which encoded the interior event of "Christ in you, the hope of glory?"  How did they believe that these recurring interior Christ events were happening?  They believed that they occurred because of a heavenly word and message.  They believe it happened because of what they called a baptism, an immersion, in the Holy Spirit.  They believed that each person could be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and have the life of Christ conceived within their interior beings.

The mystagogues of the early Jesus Movement were Gospel writers.  They encoded the very mystery of Christ in you, within a narrative of Jesus of Nazareth.  The origin of Jesus is also the origin of each person who is conceived or born by the power of the Spirit, who becomes like a reiteration of the Spirit combining with mere dust creating the human being as God's child.

The word angel means messenger, and Gabriel is the personified messenger, signifying that each person is given a unique initiation into their identity event with God.  One is hailed by God's messenger into the reality of our realization as children of God.  Mary, is paradigmatic of the Christ in you experience.  Christ became in Mary, conceived by the over-shadowing of the Holy Spirit; it was not physical event involving the male seed.  One's spiritual birth is not one's physical birth, but it is a birth which happens because we are physically born with the potential of realizing our spiritual deep down God identity.

The Annunciation account is spiritual word art of the Jesus Movement encoding the reality of mystical union with God in Christ as the Christ nature arises within those who are willing to let that identity become the chief identity of their lives.

Mary is hailed by the messenger, she is favored by God because of the event which is going to happen within her, and this event which replicated in the souls forever will bespeak the blessedness of this event for all generations.

The Annunciation is the proclamation par excellence of "Christ in you, the hope of Glory!"  The Gospel for you and I today is to humbly embrace this sublime event within us and say with Mary, "Let it be according to your word."  Amen.

Sunday School, December 24, 2023 4 Advent B

  Sunday School, December 24, 2023   4 Advent B

Theme:

Mary, the mother of Jesus

Review events in the life of Mary

The Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and told her she would have a special Son, who would be God’s child

Mary was surprised by this but she said “Let it be according to God’s word.”

Mary sang a song about God’s favor and about God’s justice winning in our world.

Mary, when see was expecting her baby, met with her cousin Elizabeth who was the mother of John the Baptist

Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register for paying taxes.  While in Bethlehem, Mary’s Son Jesus was born in a stable because she could not get a room at the inn.

Jesus was born to Mary.

The early Christians believed that the Risen Christ is born into the hearts of every Christian.

And this birth of Christ in us is done by the Holy Spirit.

Following the example of Mary, we say about the birth of Christ in us: “Let it be to us according to God’s word.”

In baptism, we celebrate the birth of Christ within us as our spiritual birth.

So, in important ways, our baptism is like Christmas.

Be thankful for the birth of Jesus to Mary and be thankful for the birth of Christ into our lives.

Sermon:

  What is the most popular and most often said prayer throughout the Christian church today?  It’s probably the Lord’s Prayer or what we call the “Our Father.”

  What is the second most popular prayer throughout the Church?  It is a prayer that is probably the most popular prayer in the Roman Catholic Church.  It is called the “Ave Maria or in English, the “Hail Mary.”  And many Christians use prayer beads called the Rosary to say the “Hail Mary” and to meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ.

  For football fans a “Hail Mary” is a last second pass thrown in an effort to score a touchdown just before the clock runs out.  But really the Hail Mary is a very popular prayer.

  And what are the words of the Hail Mary and where did they come from?  “Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed be the fruit of thy womb Jesus.  Holy Mary, mother of God.  Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death.  Amen.

  Some of the words of this famous prayer came from the words of the cousin of Mary, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was the wife of the priest Zechariah, and she was told that she was going to have a baby, even

though she was too old to have one.

  The angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have a very important son who would be the son of God.

  So, when Mary and Elizabeth met before their babies were born, the little baby who was in Elizabeth jumped in his mother’s tummy, because he was excited to meet the mother of Jesus.

  The baby of Elizabeth was John the Baptist.  And when Elizabeth saw Mary she said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

  So, these words of Elizabeth became a part of the famous prayer: Hail Mary.

  We know that famous parents can also make their children famous too.  But also, a famous child can also make their parents famous.

  Mary became famous because she was the mother of Jesus.  She obeyed God.  And she has become the second most important person in the entire Christian history.

  Let us remember today, Mary, who was a good mother.  She obeyed God and brought into this world the most important person who ever lived.  And so today, as we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we thank God for Mary, the mother of Jesus and like Elizabeth we say,

 “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Amen.

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

December 24, 2023: The Fourth  Sunday of Advent

Gathering Songs: Light a Candle,  

Song: Light A Candle   (tune: Jimmy Crack Corn)

1-Light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today, light a candle for hope today.  Advent time is here.  

2-Light a candle for peace today…

3-Light a candle for joy today….

4-Light a candle for love today…

Liturgist:         Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People:            And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

Liturgist:   A reading from the letter to the Romans

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together The Song of Mary

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *

the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers, *

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Liturgist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Offertory: Mary and the Angel (Tune: Reuben and Rachel)

Mary, Mary, look beside you.  There’s an angel standing there! 

It is Gabriel, sent from heaven with Good News for you to hear.

Mary, Mary, don’t be frightened.  God is with you favored one.

You will have a little baby, Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son.

“How can this be?” Mary wondered. “I’ve not married anyone.”

“God can do all things,” said Gabriel. “The baby will be God’s own Son.”

“As you say,” then Mary answered, “As God says, so let it be.”

We join Mary in her praises; Jesus came for you and me.”

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

 the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

 this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we can we love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

1.         I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

2.         I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

3.         As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

 Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song O Come, O Come Emmanuel (tune, Farmer in the Dell)

O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Come and save your people now, O come Emmanuel.

Now let us sing with joy, now let us sing with joy. Jesus came to save us all, now let us sing with joy.

O come Emmanuel, O come Emmanuel. Live within our hearts we pray, O come Emmanuel.

Dismissal   

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Rejoice, Anyway

3 Advent b December 17, 2023, 3 Advent
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalm 126
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-8,19-28

Lectionary Link


The cauldron of the probabilities of what has happened, is happening, might have happened, did not happen, will happen, will have happened, is very full, yes teemingly full.  And some happenings are so horrifying that they can monopolize our thinking and energy into neglecting the reality of them being but mere happenings within the totality of everything happening.

What is happening to me right now can easily be generalized to characterize what is happening to all, and everything.

How do we live without generalizing our selfish interpretations of what is happening to me or us, and projecting our small interpretations as being the significant truth of everything?

The third Sunday in Advent is Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday.  It is an invitation to access the deep experience of joy as a way to live in relationship to everything that has and is happening.

But how can I have joy with the senseless war in Ukraine with many dying and a tyrant wanting to overrun a country because megalomanical disease?  How can I rejoice with the horrendous events in Israel, Gaza, Syria, and the complete impossibility of exacting precise justice to offending parties in real time resulting in bombing not being very smart but very indiscriminate among innocent people who end up being in harms way?

How can I rejoice in a country of relative plenty where people with a lot get much more and people with a little get much less?  How can I rejoice facing my own guilt of having plenty while accepting general helplessness of getting enough to those who need it?

The life conditions of the truly free play of probabilities means that life is always ambiguous in what might actually happen to us and to other people in our world.  How do we live best with the actual probable conditions?

Well, practically we adopt the best wisdom of probability living, namely, statistically approximation, which simply means we apply good actuarial thinking of what has happen onto what might happen in the future.  But we know that even good wise planning and good scientific thinking cannot guarantee future specific outcomes in our personal, social, and national lives.

What is required is to tap into the two inwardly known virtues of faith and joy to accompany us in our living with the probable conditions of what is and what may happen.

Jesus came to people who were oppressed people, people who were often trying to perform religious duties like the proverbial arranging of deck chairs on the sinking Titanic.  How can we live when it seems like the entire world is going down, sinking for me and my people who are living in the distressed conditions?

How can the people of Pauline churches live as tiny majorities within the cities which were dominated by the cult of Emperor?   Paul had the audacity to write, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances..."   Paul are you crazy, how can we do this?

Most of the biblical literature was written by and for oppressed people.  Most of white European Christianity has known the legacy of Christendom and Empire Christianity who have been more on the side of the oppressor than the oppressed.  And people on the winning sides of Empire Christianity need to be careful in how they appropriate a literature written during time of oppression and for people who were oppressed.

Our American founding documents invite everyone to the life goal of a pursuit of happiness.  Happiness is a valid quest if we regard freedom from all manner of pain to be what is normal for us psychologically and socially.  But on the pursuit of happiness we know that happiness often depends upon what happens, and so we and many are often unhappy in life.  We can hope that the experience of unhappiness builds within us grooves of empathy to help us aid others in their pursuit of happiness, especially when events of unhappiness occur.

John the Baptist, baptized, and so built a community of baptized people who practiced together the pursuit living lives of excellence.  John the Baptist predicted that Jesus would baptize with a Spirit and this Spirit would create a community.

How do we reconcile joy and happiness since joy is an underneath condition which can be experienced even when happiness is not our current experience?  Joy is the embracing of everything, all at once experience which totally relativizes the power and the effect of any specific thing which might be happening to us.  Joy is the experience of ultimate togetherness, and it is poignantly known in the mutual support of being in community together.  John the Baptist could baptize people into a community of mutual support during hard times.  Paul could tell his flock to rejoice, because of their covenant with each other to be together, no matter what happen to them while they tried to fly under the radar of the cult of the Emperor.

The Gospel, the good news for us, is to rejoice, which means learning to tap into the very native joy of having been born and having consciousness, but also of living in the Spirit with a community of people who share with us the conditions of the free probabilities what might happen to any of us at anytime.

Let us in our spiritual practice today discover how to access the All, of everything, all at once, impinging upon us deeply as the experience of joy.  And from this joy, let us go forth to live together with what may happen, and be thankful for the many occasions of happiness which have and will come our way.  The Risen Christ within us as the All in all, is our source of Joy.  Amen.