LITURGY

Second Sunday of Advent

WORD OF GOD
Take off your dress of sorrow and distress,
put on the beauty of the glory of God for ever,
and wrap the cloak of the integrity of God around you.
(Baruch 5:1)
 

WORD FOR TODAY
Without God we would be left to our own devices, but Advent reminds us that God is always closer to us then we can ever imagine. The next few weeks call on us to take stock of how much or how little we rely on God in the daily decisions of our lives.

WORDS FOR WORSHIP
Lord Jesus, you are the daystar that dispels the darkness of the night:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ Jesus, you are the dawn that brings light to the world:

Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you are the promised Messiah of God:

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
By his coming among us, may almighty God enlighten our minds and hearts, lead us out of the darkness of our sins and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

FAITH IN FOCUS: BACK TO THE FUTURE
If ‘things ain’t what they used to be’, then Christianity makes no bones about proclaiming that one day they surely will be once more. For in Advent we walk in the shadow of a wonderful promise, that one day the rule of God will hold sway over all creation and life will be restored to that perfect balance that God intended us to have from the beginning.
That’s why Advent carries with it a tremendous sense of yearning and longing. We look back to the initial peace and tranquillity of God’s creation (as symbolised in the story of the Garden of Eden) and we remember the coming a of the Messiah in Bethlehem with the powerful promise of a kingdom where the meek and the humble shall rule.
But Advent is not locked in the past. It’s about now. We look around at ourselves and at our world and ask whether we can play a more active role in establishing the justice of God’s kingdom in our lives, on our street, in our family, in the place where we work. For Advent is also about change, changing ourselves and our world, and it beckons us to be renewed.
And like all feasts and seasons Advent has a future dimension to it. We look forward, beyond the Christmas scene, to the coming of Christ as he takes possession of this world once more and subjects all creation to the rule of God. None of us knows how or when this will happen, but Christians eagerly await the blessing that God’s coming again will bring.
Advent asks of us that we never lose sight of what God has offered us in Christ. It demands a rebuilding programme in our lives as we straighten our ways and smooth our roads for God. And it invites us to watch joyfully for the day, that day when the salvation promised us will be ours, when Christ will come again in his glory.
 

 

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