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Woship Resources 2007-2008 — Year A: Passionate for Peace
Return to Year A: 2007-2008
Resource Index
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Leap with Joy!
Third Sunday of Advent (Joy)
Scriptures: Isaiah 35:1–10; Psalm 146:5–10;
James 5:7–10; Matthew 11:2–11; II Nephi 5:72–77; Doctrine and Covenants 36:10g–h
Sharing Christ’s Peace
Eternal joy and peace await those who grow in the grace of
generosity that flows from compassionate hearts without thought of return. Could
it be otherwise in the domain of God, who eternally gives all for the sake of
creation?—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
Prelude
Welcome
Light the two candles used last week.
Advent Theme Song: “An Advent Song”
(Tune: “Away in a Manger,” —HS 232/233)
Add a new verse each Sunday.
A candle is burning, a candle of PEACE,
A candle to signal that conflict must cease.
For Jesus is coming to show us the way,
A message of peace humbly laid in the hay.
A candle is burning, a flame warm and bright,
A candle of HOPE in December’s dark night.
While angels sing blessings from heaven’s starry sky,
Our hearts we prepare now for Jesus is nigh.
A candle is burning, a candle of JOY,
A candle to welcome brave Mary’s new boy.
Our hearts fill with wonder and eyes light and glow,
As joy brightens winter like sunshine on snow.
—Used by permission, Sandra Dean, Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada.
Light the third candle—the candle of joy.
Reader 1: Advent is a time when faith flows toward the known and
unknown. Certainly Mary faced the known and unknown. A teenager, like all
teenagers, Mary teetered on the edge of adulthood—a child one moment, a
woman the next. A young, inexperienced girl, betrothed, not married. Can you
see her? (Someone dressed as Mary comes slowly forward with bowed head
and stands in meditation on one side of the rostrum.)
Reader 2: Advent is a time when faith flows toward the known and
unknown. A young man soon to be a husband and father. Baffled by betrayal of
the one he loves. Unable to comprehend what she is about to tell him.
Knowing that culture and custom require him to “put her away.” Yet
unwilling—indeed unable—to dismiss the whisper of his heart over the demands
of his mind! (Someone dressed as Joseph comes slowly forward with bowed
head and stands in meditation on the opposite side of the rostrum.)
Reader 3: Advent is a time when faith flows toward the known and
unknown. Shepherds on a hillside doing what they have always done. Not
without thought or conviction. Not without full understanding that they not
only guide and care for the flock, but protect, with their lives, the soft,
dumb animals in their keeping. One dark, inky, starry night and suddenly
nothing was quite the same again. Can you see them? (Several people
dressed as shepherds come slowly forward with bowed heads and stand in
meditation in the center of the rostrum.)
Reader 1: Advent is a time when old news becomes “new” news—a time to
prepare for the inevitable that somehow consistently surprises us. At advent
the known challenges the unknown. It’s a time when freshness is wrapped
mysteriously in the familiar.
All readers: “Christ is coming! Christ is coming!” (Mary, Joseph,
and the shepherds move to the center and sit/kneel in the traditional stable
scene.)
Reader 2: Just like he came last year and the year before that.…
Reader 3: Christmas is the same yet never the same.
Reader 1: Something remarkable, something certain yet uncertain.
Reader 2: How will Christ come this year?
Reader 3: The answer is as unique and varied as they who seek and
welcome him. It’s something known and unknown.
—Adapted from Danny A. Belrose, Wave
Offerings (Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House, 2005), 117.
Introit Hymn
“Sing Songs of Joy” HS 241
OR “O Come, All Ye
Faithful” HS 238
Call to Worship: “Congregational Call to Rejoice”
Leader: O Come, all ye who are faithful, and rejoice in this day.
People: Let us lift up our hearts and let the cup of our joy spill forth
songs into the world.
Leader: For God so loved the world
People: that today the miracles of the gift of the Only Begotten yet
again enter into our lives.
Leader: Rejoice!
People: For God loves us!
Leader: Rejoice!
People: For the Christ is in our midst!
Leader: Rejoice!
People: For the love of God flows through creation!
Leader: Rejoice! For unto us a child is born.
People: Unto us a son is given.
Leader: And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall
be called Wonderful.
People: Counselor.
Leader: The mighty God.
People: The everlasting Father.
Leader: The Prince of Peace.
All: Come, let us rejoice, for this is a day of Joy.
—John Horner in Prayers and Readings for
Worship, Vol. 2, Peter Judd, ed.(Independence, Missouri: Herald
Publishing House, 1996), 10.
*Hymn
“Joy to the World” HS 258
OR “Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” HS 260
*Invocation
End with an invitation for worshipers to silently petition God so they
may make room for the gift of Christ in their busy lives. I--f desired,
include the words “Let every heart prepare him room” (HS 258).
Time of Silent Meditation
Disciples’ Generous Response
Each Sunday, as part of the Disciples’ Generous Response, we ask you to
integrate the message of “share equally” between Local and World Ministries
Mission Tithes. Offertory stories are provided to keep the church in touch
with how contributions to Mission Tithes spread the peace of Jesus Christ.
Please use the stories, testimonies, and up-to-date contribution information
as part of your offertory ministry. Visit
www.CofChrist.org/offertory
to print a copy, or contact your pastor, congregational financial
officer, or worship coordinator for a copy.
Scripture: Doctrine and Covenants 36:10g–h
Reflection
We express gratitude to God with each breath of life. Understanding
our stewardship of resources in our personal, family, congregational,
and community life will bless us and deepen our discipleship. It enables
us to respond more fully and joyfully to the great work in which we are
called and engaged. Remember, generosity is not a measure of what we
give in response to how much we have. Rather it is God’s boundless grace
in us. We give because God gives.—Becoming a Generous
Disciple (Independence, Missouri: Herald
Publishing House, 2004), 47.
Blessing and Offering of Mission Tithes
Litany
People: Sing “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” stanza 1. HS
252
Leader: Read Isaiah 35:1–4.
People: Sing “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” stanza 2.
Leader: Read Isaiah 35:6–10.
Morning Message
Based on Isaiah 35:1–10
Hymn
“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” HS 260
OR “Newborn of God” HS 247
Pastoral Prayer
*Closing Hymn
“Sound over All Water” HS 261
OR “Good News! Great Joy
to All the Earth” HS 243
*Sending Forth: “To Spread Our Good News”
We have been strengthened today—
We have worshiped, remembering our past—
Celebrating our present—
Looking forward to our futures—
We go today feeling we have been with you—
We are people of God.
We leave different—changed from
What we were when we came.
We go forth to serve—
To spread the good news of our heavenly parent—
Let us go forth now in the name of our parent in peace and love
To spread our good news. Amen.
—Carolyn Edwards in Prayers and Readings
for Worship, Judy Judd, ed.
(Independence, Missouri: Herald Publishing House, 1987), 125.
*Postlude
Sermon Helps
Scriptures: Isaiah 35:1–10; Psalm 146:5–10; James 5:7–10; Matthew
11:2–11; II Nephi 5:72–77; Doctrine and Covenants 36:10g–h
Exploring the Scriptures
So far during the Advent season we have anticipated the peace and hope that
comes with faithful discipleship. Now we turn our hearts towards the joy
of discipleship. As we return to the words of First Isaiah (chapters 1–39), we
see the story of Israel as a people living in Judah under Davidic kings. But
this is not the end of the story. Isaiah also tells of God being the One who
intervenes in the tumult of history and the earthly power strivings of humanity.
Isaiah’s experience, as well as the experience of Israel, was to understand that
God continually delivers and renews. God’s consistency and persistency with
humankind gave Isaiah and Israel (and gives us) reason to leap with joy.
In Isaiah 35 we understand how God’s glory will appear to all creation (vv.
1–2). God’s glory brings peace, reconciliation, and healing (vv. 3–4). God’s
glory transforms the current existence of humankind and provides a way for
prophetic people willing to take the path of the disciple (vv. 5–10). The very
words of this passage of Isaiah seem to leap with joy in great expectation of
Advent—in great expectation of what is coming.
Isaiah tells of the renewal of creation and human salvation that are upheld
together as a common fulfillment of God’s promises. Isaiah encourages the
faithful in anticipation of God’s coming and admonishes God’s people not to
accept the status quo. Like Israel of old, we are called into action: the result
of God’s coming is changed lives.
As God through Jesus is born anew in our lives this Christmas, we are being
invited into partnership with God. God is inviting us into a relationship with
ourselves, with each other, and with a God that brings peace, reconciliation,
and healing. Here are the challenges for us today: Are we willing to make room
for the birth of Jesus? Are we willing to allow Jesus’ presence in our life to
shape us? Are we willing to leap with joy responding to God’s invitation?
Our response to God’s invitation is to join with other faithful disciples in
walking a highway, called by Isaiah the “Holy Way” (Isaiah 35:8). We are invited
to follow this way and come to Zion with singing. We are promised that
everlasting joy shall be upon our heads, and we shall obtain joy and gladness,
while “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10). Our response to this
invitation is demonstrated through the generous sharing of our witness and
resources. Through our sharing, others may also leap with joy in response to
God’s invitation for them to journey in the Holy Way. The Advent message renews
and empowers the faithful to joyfully transform the world and bring forth the
kingdom.
Central Ideas
1. Our God is the God of all humanity and all creation. Sometimes
we forget that God is God for everyone and everything. We become so
preoccupied with our own circumstances, we forget the rest of the world.
Like Israel, we must remember to look beyond our own circumstances to the
whole world so we can behold the glory and majesty of God’s purposes
throughout the past, present, and future.
2. God invites us to experience peace, reconciliation, and healing.
God continues to invite all of humanity into a relationship with God and
each other. In these holy relationships we find healing for our troubled
lives and spirits. We also find reconciliation with ourselves, with one
another, and with God. Healed and reconciled, we find the peace of Jesus
Christ as we understand and seek to create God’s vision for the world.
3. We leap with joy in response to God’s invitation. Do you remember what
it was like to leap with joy when you received a much anticipated gift? You
were so excited that you simply couldn’t contain yourself. As we anticipate
the coming of the celebration of Jesus’ birth, our excitement of receiving
God’s love and grace through the birth of a child is rekindled. God breaks
through the despair and the darkness of our world with gifts of peace,
reconciliation, and healing. These gifts rebirth our sense of hope. How can
we not leap with joy sharing God’s invitation to be part of God’s community
with others?
Questions for the Speaker
1. What is necessary for you to make room for Jesus’ rebirth in your
life?
2. How is your life reshaped by Jesus if you let go of control?
3. What does it mean to leap with joy in response to God’s invitation?
4. What adjustments are required for us as disciples
to be more generous in sharing our witness and resources?
Return to Year A: 2007-2008
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