PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 3rd Sunday of Advent December 13, 2020
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WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to Pioneer’s blog worship service.
Though we are accessing this remotely and unable to look each other in the eye,
we are still the Pioneer faith community, gathered as children of God to
worship, to be spiritually fed, and to be equipped to go out to serve in
Christ’s name—though we do it differently during this pandemic.
Pioneer offers worship in several modes:
a)
The
blog.
b)
The
blog service mailed through US Postal service.
c)
Sermons
only, mailed to those who so request.
d)
Zoom
services at 10:00 Sunday mornings.
e)
Live
worship with masks and social distancing has plenty of room for additional
worshipers.
-
During
the December 13 live/zoom worship service the pledges for 2021 will be
dedicated
-
M&M
meets following worship
-
Women’s
Spirituality meets Tuesday at 10:30
-
Next
Sunday Worship & Music meets following worship
-
M&M
continues the Christmas sock drive for Shepherd’s House, a homeless shelter in
Bend. December 20 is the last day for drop off. Collection boxes are in the
Fireside Room or you can hand off socks to someone who is coming by the church.
Dark socks are better and no hats or scarves this year. Thanks for your
contributions to help homeless men.
-
Advent Candles
o
Today
is the third Sunday of Advent. Gathered in the sanctuary, our tradition is to
read a scripture, light the appropriate candles on the Advent wreath and
explain their meaning. You are encouraged to have your own Advent wreath or a
set of candles to light as part of worship in the Advent season. Typically,
there are three purple candles and one pink, plus the white Christ candle. You
can use colors of your choosing or all white.
-
Now allow yourself a brief time of silence
as you open your hearts and feel God’s presence with you, right where you are.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAPTISM: Friends, remember your baptism … and be thankful.
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT
CANDLES
Third Week of Advent – Joy
Luke 1:46-56
And
Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all
generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for
me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation
to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered
those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from
their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good
things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he
said to our fathers.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and
then returned home.
[Light the first two candles of the Advent
Wreath (purple), then light the pink candle.[
The
first two candles of the Advent Wreath represent hope and peace. We now light
the third candle which represents joy. This candle reflects the joy that is
promised in Christ’s birth. The long awaited for Jesus is the joy of every
loving heart.
CALL TO WORSHIP
God is in our midst, do not fear.
God rejoices to renew our lives in
steadfast love.
God
gathers us for this time of worship.
God
claims us and promises us a home.
Trust in God who is our strength and life.
Give thanks to God, the source of our
salvation.
We
will sing praises and exalt God’s name.
With
joyous shouts, we will tell of God’s glorious deeds.
Rejoice in God, whatever your
circumstances.
Remember the good fortune God as shared
with you.
We
will not worry as we seek God’s peace.
We
open our hearts and minds to God’s leading.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Loving God, we rejoice in this season of
anticipation as we remember your promises and look forward to ways that you
reveal yourself to us. May your presence be real to us in this hour. Strengthen
us for victories over temptation, for renewal of our love for you and one
another, for leadership and service in your church. We give thanks that you
have called us into community and commissioned us to make a difference in the
world. Equip us here for the tasks you set before us. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty” #35
CALL TO CONFESSION
In this Advent season we are summoned to
prepare for God’s coming to us in a form we can begin to understand. Jesus
accepted all our human limitations yet remained faithful, loving us exactly as
we are. We who have taken this saving action for granted are called to repent
and be watchful. Let us confess our disobedience.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
All-knowing
God, we confess our worry and anxiety over unimportant matters. We admit the
fears that make us defensive instead of loving. We acknowledge our resentment
over losses we have sustained and hurts we have suffered. We recognize that we
have been far more concerned for our own welfare than for our brothers and
sisters in need. We look for what we can gain more than for what we can give.
Save us from ourselves. (Let us continue our prayers in silence ….. ) Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.
The old life has gone; the new life has
begun.
Friends, believe the Good News!
In Jesus Christ we are forgiven and
restored to new life!
PASSING THE PEACE
May the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Let us extend the peace of Christ in heart
and prayer to one another.
GLORY
BE TO THE FATHER
TIME WITH CHILDREN
Good morning Fiona. Good morning Zoey.
Christmas is getting really close, isn’t it? Remember that we call this time
before Christmas Advent. It’s the waiting time. Each week we think about a
special part of the baby Jesus being born. This week is ‘joy’. Do you know what
joy is? It’s when you’re really, really happy. Can you think of a time when you
were really, really happy about something? It makes you feel good on the inside
and on the outside. Maybe you jump up and down and clap your hands and smile
really big. That’s what we feel when we know Jesus comes into the world. That’s
worth being happy about, isn’t it? I have another ornament for your tree to
remind you about being happy. This one is just the word “Joy”. Let’s pray:
Dear
Jesus, it makes us really, really happy to know that Christmas is coming.
There’s lots of fun things about Christmas but we know the most important part
is that you came into the world. Thank you for joy. Amen.
HYMN: “Jesus
Loves Me”
Jesus loves me,
this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him
belong, they are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves
me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves
me. The Bible tells me so.
SCRIPTURE 1: Isaiah 61:1-4
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord
has anointed me to bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of
the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to
those who mourn in Zion -- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of
gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up
the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations
of many generations.
SCRIPTURE 2: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Rejoice always, pray
constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophesying, but
test everything; hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil. May the
God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body
be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who
calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
SERMON: “Give
Thanks in Everything?!!” Rev.
Jean Hurst
Which holds sway...our minds or our hearts? Our intellect or our emotions? Intellectually, we know we have much to be thankful for. The
Thanksgiving holiday was our traditional reminder of that. But Thanksgiving
sometimes feels like a coercive holiday where we feel obligated to say we’re
thankful even when we don’t really feel that way. We recite a litany of the standard fare---family, home, job,
freedoms, health, opportunities--when, in reality, we often feel those things
fall far short of our expectations.
Emotionally,
we don’t feel very thankful. A relationship may be going sideways. We may feel
stuck in a job where the paycheck runs out long before the month does. In the
land of the free we often have so many obligations that we’re far from free.
And we may well feel that opportunity has passed us by. What may be real for us is fear, loneliness,
uncertainty, or just an emptiness in our lives. Our hearts may ask, what is
there to be thankful for?
The church of Thessalonica likely felt
the same way. These new converts, under persecution and pressured to return to
their old lifestyles, are discouraged and at risk of falling away from the
faith. Paul’s letter is meant to encourage them to continue to live out the new
life to which God calls them--even in the face of their struggles. That message
is for us as well.
Paul says: be joyful....always; pray.....constantly;
give thanks....in everything! The praying is understandable, but how do you
feel joyful when your world feels flat? How do you feel thankful when life is
just a struggle? It seems counter intuitive--joyful always? Thankful in everything?
How?
There may be times when we feel too
wounded to be thankful. We may be enduring a struggle for which we can only
think in terms of ‘getting through’ not of being thankful or finding blessings.
Yet that place of woundedness, that place of struggle can, in fact, be for us
the very place of blessing. And that blessing may be something we would
otherwise never have known.
Rachael Naomi Remen, a doctor who
works with the terminally ill, was able to relate this to her own trauma. It
prompted recollections of her grandfather’s teachings. In her book, My Grandfather’s Blessings, she
remembered how her grandfather, a rabbi, would often tell her of Jacob’s struggle
with an angel.
Jacob had fled the wrath of his
brother many years before. It was after he had tricked his father into giving
him his brother Esau’s blessing. Jacob had already coerced Esau into giving him
his birthright for a bowl of stew. The loss of his blessing on top of losing
his birthright left Esau in a murderous rage. Jacob ran.
Now, after many years, Jacob was going
home. And he was realizing he couldn’t run from his past. Esau was coming to
meet him. Jacob was afraid that his
brother still wanted to kill him. I suspect that’s what he felt he deserved.
And maybe he did. Jacob tried to soften the encounter by sending gifts--sheep
and goats and camels and cows and donkeys, over 550 head--in wave after wave,
all with the statement that Jacob was coming behind.
Still, Jacob was afraid. He sent his
wives and children on ahead and he stayed behind for the night. Perhaps that
was a coward’s act. But haven’t we all at some time acted in cowardly ways?
Jacob wasn’t yet able to face his brother, to look him in the face, to see
mirrored there his own failings, to acknowledge betrayal of his brother, to be
reminded of his own failed love. I think Jacob was afraid, not only of facing
up to Esau and how Esau might react, but he was also afraid of facing himself.
It was in that dark night of his fear,
when he was all alone, that someone came and wrestled with him. The struggle
went on and on through that dark night of the soul, until finally dawn was
breaking. As the scripture tells us, when his adversary saw that he could not
overpower Jacob, he touched Jacob’s hip which was wrenched in the struggle.
Only Remen’s grandfather put a
different twist to it. He told her that the hip was injured in the struggle and
that the man, who turned out to be an angel, or perhaps, more literally, God,
had touched that wounded place in Jacob, that place he hurt, to forever remind
him of his struggle and the blessings he had obtained in the course of it.
Her child’s mind equated touching with
healing, so Remen asked if the angel touched Jacob’s hurt place to help it get
better. What he told her was puzzling to one her age. He said the angel touched
Jacob’s hurt place to remind Jacob of
it. All his life, Jacob would carry the discomfort of that God-touched spot. It
was, her grandfather said, Jacob’s place of remembering.
Do you have a place of remembering? Is
there some tender spot, some residual impact of a pain or struggle that you
continue to carry with you? Often we think of those spots as something we
should get rid of, proof that we haven’t really healed. We think it’s like not
having let go of the past. If we were truly over it, there wouldn’t be painful
spots left to relive. Yet those God-touched spots keep us from losing the
importance of life’s events, however traumatic or painful. They also help us to
see God’s action even in the worst things that happen in life. Those places of
remembering remind us of the blessings claimed in the struggle.
Jacob, in the midst of his pain, had
persisted in his struggle, kept wrestling with his demons--or angels--until he
had secured a blessing, until he could make sense of it, until he could find
something to be thankful for, from that dark night’s struggle and the events
that led up to it.
I wonder, even, how much of that
struggle was with himself--his past, his choices, his estranged relationships,
his fear of going home, of facing up to what he’d done and how he’d hurt others
and how that had alienated him from them for so many years. Yet Jacob would not
relinquish that battle until he had his blessing. And the blessing, along with
the pain, he carried for the rest of his life.
He could never forget the things he
had done, the consequences of his actions. Nor could he forget how God was there
with him in his pain and fear and mistakes. God was there with him even though
it was Jacob’s own self-serving actions, his own poor choices that put him in
that spot that lonely night. It was an event that shaped who Jacob would be for
all his remaining years. It was what allowed Jacob to go and meet his brother,
to face up to his past, to find redemption for the future.
Jacob’s experience foreshadowed Paul’s
urging for us to be thankful in all things. All things. Even the things that
seemed least worthy of thanks, things that seemed more deserving of laments and
questions of “Why, O Lord?” “How long, O
Lord?” Paul said, ‘give thanks’ even
though we can’t see why.
Remen had lived all her life with
serious medical problems. As a result of her condition, one day she had a
massive internal hemorrhage that left her in a coma and hospitalized for
months. The residual fallout from that lasted for many years.
She reflected on her grandfather’s
words. She said, “How tempting to let the enemy go and flee. To put the
struggle behind you as quickly as possible and get on with your life. Life
might be easier then but far less genuine. Perhaps the wisdom lies in engaging
the life you have been given as fully and courageously as possible and not
letting go until you find the unknown blessing that is in everything.” 1
Paul said, be thankful in all things.
But he didn’t stop with that. He gives
them some very interesting counsel. Paul tells them not to quench the Spirit.
Do not quench the Spirit. We do that, you know. We frame life around our own
sense of reality and we close out anything that contradicts that reality.
Paul is saying, however, that there is
a different reality awaiting us. It is found in the living “as if.” Live as if life were joyful. Live in
thankfulness of knowing that God’s action in the world is stronger than the
limits of any struggle we face. Live in hope, knowing that God is faithful.
Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t
extinguish that spark of the Holy Spirit that would enable the hope to exist.
Don’t squelch the power of God’s action in our lives and in the world.
We are called to open ourselves to the
Spirit working in and through us. And yes, it’s risky business. The Spirit
doesn’t work according to our agenda. The Spirit doesn’t stay within our
comfort zones. The Spirit doesn’t bend its will to our desire for control. The
Spirit is not constrained by our sense of what joy should reflect and what
thankfulness should embody. Jesus said that like the wind, the Spirit blows
where it will. And sometimes the Spirit touches the very place that is the most
painful to us. It is the Spirit that creates that place of remembering.
In the process God changes us. We are
changed when we live in the promise of God’s kingdom on earth. We are changed
when we open ourselves to the Spirit and follow where the Spirit leads. We are
changed when we act on our hope in Jesus Christ. We are changed when we respond
to God’s grace. And we are changed when we extend that grace to others--even to
those who don’t deserve it. For after all, that is what grace is--blessings,
merit for the undeserving.
Despite the struggles in our lives, we
can be thankful in all things because we trust in a God who is able to bring
good out of all circumstances. We don’t know how God will work in the midst of the tragedies, struggles, and
disappointments of life. But God does.
That enables us to live in joy, in prayer, in thankfulness--not for the current
suffering or struggles, but because of what God will ultimately do.
Don’t quench the Spirit. Act as the
Spirit leads and live in joyful thankfulness for new life in Jesus Christ that
changes us and changes the world. Amen.
1 Rachel Naomi Remen, My
Grandfather’s Blessings, p. 25-27, Riverhead Books, New York, 2000.
HYMN: “Lift
Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates” #93
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
During this Advent season, O God,
remind us who we are and what you can become for us. May the sweet music, the
lovely colors and designs create in our hearts a new sense of purpose and
excitement about our future.
May we find a way this Advent season
to light a candle of hope in someone’s life, to be a source of healing to
someone in emotional distress, to bring company and delight to one who is
isolated and alone, to be a source of comfort for someone for whom the holiday
season is a time of loss or painful memories. Help us to dare to risk loving
the unlovable, the outcast, the unloved.
There is much pain in the world and
among your children Tender God. We lift them in prayer—the hungry, the
homeless, the fearful, the lonely, the ill and the aged. Surround them all with
your love and open our hearts in compassion to do what we can to bring them
life and hope. And again, God of our lives, we pray for an end to Covid.
We pray for those close to us,
for Pastor Jean … George Sahlberg …
Phyllis Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Darlene Wingfield … Lois White … Virginia … Cherry … John Matthews … Margaret
Dunbar … Trisha … Dave … Jacob … Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck … Courtney … Ethel …
Helen. (Additional prayers …………)
Lord
God, perhaps it is our own lives that need that extra measure of comfort, that
has a tender place that has not healed, that longs for love and to be able to
believe in the hope you promise. Hold us gently, God, hold us gently as we
entrust to you all that is in our hearts. We join together to pray as Jesus
taught us:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
CALL TO OFFERING
This is a season of giving. It is a time
we remember all that has been given to us, how God has blessed us. Now let us
consider what, of ourselves, we are willing to give to God.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Today
we dedicate the pledges we have received from the church family for the 2021
calendar year. Let us pray:
Gracious and loving God, you are the giver
of all that is good and true and beautiful and life-giving. These pledge cards
represent our sweat, they represent our lives, they represent our dreams. The
pledges we make on them are but tokens of the awesome gifts that have been
given to us and they are pledged in thanksgiving for all we have received, for all
we have been inspired to be, for all we are challenged to become, in this
place.
May they be the first fruits of all we
have and not what we have left over, so that we may live out as closely as
possible how you give to us. May we see them as our offering to you, sacred,
holy, yet earthy, filled with possibilities. We pray that as these funds are
received, we will be guided in their use so that Pioneer can be the people of
faith you call us to, that all we do through this church would be according to your
will, that our presence and action in this community and our reach beyond it
would be a reflection of your love and grace, that others would see Jesus in
all that we do and say. May we hold this image in our hearts and minds so as we
watch our offerings each week come to your table, we can see our very selves
being part of this offering, it is us on the table, living sacrifices to you.
Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Joyful,
Joyful, We Adore Thee” #611
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Your charge for the week and for the
season is to look for the good in the world around you and be thankful. And
where you can’t see the good … create it.
As you do the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with you now
and always. Amen.
CHORAL RESPONSE
May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and keep you forever.
Grant you peace, perfect peace, courage in every endeavor. Lift up your eyes
and see his face and his grace forever. May the Lord, Mighty God, bless and
keep you forever.
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LOOKING
AHEAD
December 13 following worship M&M
December 15 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality
December 20 following worship Worship & Music
January 5 10:30
a.m. Women’s Spirituality
M&M continues
the Christmas sock drive for Shepherd’s House, a homeless shelter in Bend.
December 20 is the last day for drop off. Collection boxes are in the Fireside
Room or you can hand off socks to someone who is coming by the church. Dark
socks are better and no hats or scarves this year. Thanks for your contributions
to help homeless men.
PRAYER
CARE:
Pastor Jean (ankle
surgery), George Sahlberg (infection, heart problems), Phyllis Bauer, Beverly
Patterson (Sheila Cunningham’s mother) (aging issues), Lois White (lymphoma),
Virginia DesIlets (broken hip), Darlene Wingfield (heart valve, pulmonary
fibrosis, breast cancer), Margaret Dunbar (fall/broken tailbone), John Matthews
(cancer), Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave Clark (kidney cancer), Jacob
Cunningham, Joyce Sahlberg (health issues), Jennifer Schirm (Parkinson’s),
Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), and Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s).
LECTIONARY
FOR 12/20/20
2 Samuel 7:1-11,
16; Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26;
Romans 16:25-27;
Luke 1:26-38
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