PIONEER
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 2nd Sunday of Advent
December 6, 2020
~~~~~~~~~~
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.
We will share the
Lord’s Supper as part of this worship service. So please pause
and gather your choice of bread and beverage. While the bread and grape juice
served in community and led by the pastor in person is our tradition, we are
facing times that call for us to do worship in new ways rather than being tied
to rigid tradition—much like the early church.
-
Saturday
at 10:30 a.m. is the PPW Christmas brunch. Bring a commercially packaged
consumable item valued between $10-15 for the gift exchange
-
Session
meets Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m.
-
Next
Sunday M&M meets following worship
-
M&M
has started the Christmas sock drive for Shepherd’s House, a homeless shelter
in Bend. 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.
-
-
Advent Candles
o
Today
is the second 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
Second Week of Advent – Peace
Isaiah
11:1-9
A
shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear
fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest
on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of
power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord—and he will delight
in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or
decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the
needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will
strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will
slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash
around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down
with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little
child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie
down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play
near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s
nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth
will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
[Light the first candle of the Advent
Wreath (the shortest purple), then light the second candle on the wreath
(purple).]
As
we light the first candle we recall the promise of Christ’s coming. It
symbolizes hope. As we light the second candle, we remember that the people of
God waited for the Messiah to come, believing in God’s promise to bring peace
to his people.
CALL TO WORSHIP
The day of God is coming; lift up your
voices.
Cry out with the strength God provides.
We
await God’s coming day with anticipation.
We
seek the peace and patience God provides.
Comfort, comfort my people, says our God.
Speak tenderly to my suffering people.
We
will prepare the way for One who is coming.
We
look forward to baptism in the Spirit.
God will feed us like a shepherd.
God will gather us in gentle, caring arms.
God’s
hand is upon us in blessing;
We
are welcomed by God’s steadfast love.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Righteous and Holy God, your glory is
revealed to us day by day as valleys of despair are lifted up and mountainous
problems are leveled. In your presence, we see more than our immediate situation.
We catch a glimpse of your eternal purposes. So come among us now and speak
your word of peace. Feed us with your truth, and equip us to welcome Christ’s
coming. Amen.
OPENING
SONG: “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” #82
CALL TO CONFESSION
Again, 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 to
the Eternal law of love. We who have taken this saving action for granted are called
to repent and be watchful. Let us confess our disobedience.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Caring
God, who wills that none of us should perish, we confess our unreadiness for
your rule in our midst. We live fragmented lives with no center of value.
Greed, ambition, and desire for safety battle within us. We become content with
the temporary distractions of the world and neglect your Word, which is
forever. Bring a new day to disturb and remake us, that we may be ready to
accept your forgiveness. (continue with personal prayers …..) 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 Zoey. Good morning Fiona. Today is the second Sunday of Advent.
Remember last week we talked about Advent as a time of waiting for Jesus and to
celebrate Jesus’ birthday? We lit a candle on the Advent wreath. It stood for
hope. Today we lit another candle. This one is for peace.
The
Bible said Jesus is the Prince of Peace and would bring peace to earth. Can you
imagine how wonderful that would be if everyone got along? The Bible says that
even the animals would get along and the lamb wouldn’t have to be afraid of the
lion. Peace is a good thing to
pray for. To remind you, I have an ornament for your tree. It’s a dove. Doves are
a symbol of peace and of the Holy Spirit. There’s a wire on its feet so you can
tie it to a tree branch. Let’s pray:
Dear
Jesus. Please bring peace to the world so that people will stop fighting and
arguing with each other. Thank you. 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: Mark 1:1-8 (NRSV)
The beginning of the
good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the
prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way; the
voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight,'" John the
baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of
Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins. Now John was
clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate
locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed,
"The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy
to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with
water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
SCRIPTURE 2: Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly
to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is
pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A
voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every
mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the
rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all
flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." A
voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All
flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass
withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely
the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our
God will stand for ever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good
tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his
reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like
a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his
bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
SERMON: “The
Beginning of Good News” Rev. Jean Hurst
What are you waiting for? Is it like children waiting for Christmas
with all the excitement of opening presents piled beneath the tree, eager to
see if their wishes have been granted, if their current heart’s desire has been
met? We might think that we long ago
lost that giddiness that goes with anticipating the opening of a brightly
wrapped package. But we haven’t lost it
completely. We hold the memories of our
own childhood eagerness for Christmas morning.
We still have glimpses of it. As
well, there is something that stirs within us.
Think for a moment. What is it you love about the Christmas
season--the music and lights and food...the trees and ornaments and
ribbons...the frost in the air and the smiles on faces--it’s all part of the
anticipation, the eager waiting. Almost
a breathless waiting.
And what are we waiting for? It’s not just presents. We can go out and buy those for ourselves any
time. And we can give presents any
time. It’s more, even, than families
getting together. Many of us just did
that at Thanksgiving and while it was wonderful, it still isn’t the same as
Christmas. I think what we’re looking
for is a little bit of magic, a miracle or two.
And somehow, during the Christmas season, somewhere inside of us,
perhaps really deep inside of us, we believe that magic is
possible. That is called hope.
The Judeans who were exiled to Babylon
didn’t have that hope. In 597 B.C., King
Jehoichin (juh-hoy-a-chin) and his
family were carried off into captivity in Babylon along with the first group of
exiles. Ten years later the conquerors
were back. Jerusalem was destroyed by the
Babylonian army. The walls were pulled
down, the temple was pillaged and burned, the remaining Davidic family was
removed from the throne and the rest of the elite were carted off to Babylon.
The people had been torn from their
homes and their land and their way of living and worshiping. They were assimilated into the Babylonian
culture--a common method of conquest.
The people were without hope. The
temple in Jerusalem, the center of their worship, the place of the presence of
God was gone. They could not imagine
ever being able to go back home.
And then, in the passage from Isaiah,
God speaks. God speaks of two
things. God speaks of judgement and the
people having paid the price for their sins.
And then God speaks of comfort and assurance. “A voice of one calling: "In the desert
prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our
God. Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the
rugged places a plain. And the glory of
the Lord will be revealed.”
In the Babylonian culture, special
processional ways were built, along which images of their gods were carried for
all to see. The people would understand
the allusion to the ceremonial highway to flaunt Marduk, (mar-duke) the Babylonian god.
But this wasn’t a lifeless image carved in stone that was paraded before
the people. This was the God of Israel
speaking and the message is twofold.
This figurative highway in the wilderness, in the midst of emptiness and
desolation and hopelessness is the pathway for the prophesied coming of the Lord
and it is the pathway for the return of the people of Judah to their homes,
their lands, their way of life, and their worship of Yahweh, God of Israel.
It is a lifting up of their valleys of
despair, the bringing down of the mountainous obstacles of their oppressors,
the smoothing out of pain, the resurrection of hope. They are told to prepare for the coming of
the Lord.
Advent — from the Latin Adventus
— means ‘coming’ and is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the
coming of the Christ. We light the
Advent candles each week during this season to remind us of that hope. In fact, the first candle represents
hope. Today’s candle is for peace. Next week will be joy and the last week of
Advent will be love.
Those are happy, warm thoughts,
perfect for the season. But the Advent
season isn’t just about warm and fuzzy feelings. The Isaiah passage states clearly that the
people of Judah, in exile in Babylon are suffering the consequences of their
sins. In the passage from Mark we hear
the gospel writer quoting from the Isaiah passage, ‘prepare the way for the
Lord’. And he speaks of John the
Baptizer calling the people to repentance and baptizing for the forgiveness of
sins.
Sin.
It’s not something we talk about much in the Presbyterian Church. We prefer to focus on God’s love and
grace. And.......we can’t ignore
all that the Bible has to say about sin and repentance.
In the sci-fi drama The Day the
Earth Stood Still, aliens take over the world to give us an important
message. A critical scene in that movie
occurs when Klaatu gives his long speech about aggression and peace, ending
with, “Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present
course and face obliteration. We shall
be waiting for your answer. The decision
rests with you.”
That is the truth for each of us. The Advent season is truly a season of
anticipation and hope. It is a time of
waiting for the coming of the Christ child, yes. It is also a waiting for the return of our
Lord. And so it is a time of
preparing. Like Lent, it is a time for
examining our lives, of ridding ourselves of sinful attitudes and behavior, of
choosing to join in the life of Christ and living in peace or choosing to
continue in the present course of sinfulness and facing the consequences.
There is not one of us who has lived a
life without sin. For some it is action
or inaction that is buried in the past, yet still follows us, leaving a shadow
on our souls. For others it is a daily
struggle, a small-scale replay of the cosmic battle between good and evil. Sin comes in many forms like the things we
say or do that are hurtful to ourselves or others. It can be in our failure to
take action or speak out. Those sins can be inward where we harbor resentments,
refuse to forgive, or judge others. Sin is living lives of
hypocrisy--proclaiming to the world that we are the carriers of the Christ
light while inwardly we live in darkness.
Our sin can be compared to old shoes.
A traveler was touring West Germany a
few years after the end of World War II.
In one of the towns he was visiting, he was invited to spend the night
with a certain family. The family
consisted of a father and mother and a 12-year-boy.
The father began to tell the traveler
something about the family and especially about the circumstances surrounding
the adoption of his youngster whom they had rescued during the war years. The father said, ‘Our boy was just a poor
orphan when we first saw him. He was in
rags and very dirty, but his shoes were the worst of all. The upper parts were in tatters, and the
shoes had huge holes in them. When we
took him in, we gave him new clothes and threw his old ones away. We decided, however, to keep those battered
shoes as a reminder of how bad off he had been when he first came here. I keep them on a shelf, and when the boy
complains or becomes unruly, I merely walk slowly to the shelf, haul the shoes
down, and remind him of how much we have done for him.’
God doesn’t work that way. God is indeed a God of mercy and love and
grace. God is eager to forgive. God doesn’t drag out our old shoes. God doesn’t throw the past back into our
faces. There is hope even in the midst
of all our sinfulness.
The Isaiah passage speaks of
judgement, the price of sin. It also
proclaims the goodness of God. It speaks
of hope. It speaks of the steadfastness
of God. Though all else around us
changes, though our lives are fragile and temporary, God’s word remains the
constant--but not in a stagnant way. The
Holy Spirit works in us and in the world, revealing new life and new hope,
assuring us of God’s forgiveness, proclaiming that God is doing a new thing,
bringing new life, new hope. The passage
concludes, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his
arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have
young.” This is the tender God, the God
of love.
It is the season of Advent--a time of
waiting. It is the time of holding our
breath in anticipation, allowing our hearts to be stirred by wonder. It is a time when we dare to hope, believing
that the promises of scripture and song and season are really possible. It is the time of believing in
miracles--believing in miracles in our own lives and in the world. It is the beginning of the good news. Are you prepared?
HYMN: “Prepare
the Way” #106
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
God, we come before you as fragile
people. We struggle in our relationships with each other and with you. Open our
hearts and heal us of all unworthy thoughts. Create within us a desire for love
and wholeness in relationships that becomes more important than the hurts that
have separated us from others. Help us to reach across the distances and
barriers of old words and actions and to find the relationships for which you
created us.
Lord, we also pray for our country.
Draw us together. Remind us what we stand for, what we share in common, the
history of who we are as a people, how we want the best for our nation. Break
down the barriers that divide us. Unite us, we pray.
We pray for your peace for your world,
that people would no longer live in fear, that the nations would seek
non-violent solutions to their differences. We pray for those in poverty, that
they would have enough. We pray for those who are lonely and isolated, those
bound by addictions, those struggling with age and disease. We pray for end to
the Covid virus.
We pray for those close to us,
for Pastor Jean … George Sahlberg … Phyllis
Bauer … Beverly Patterson … Darlene Wingfield … Lois White … Pastor Jean … Virginia … Cherry … John
Matthews … Margaret Dunbar … Trisha … Dave … Jacob … Joyce … Jennifer … Chuck …
Courtney … Ethel … Helen. (Additional prayers …………)
God
who guides our lives, there are some prayers we can’t even speak out loud. You
know our hearts. You know our fears and our yearnings, our doubts and our hope.
We entrust to you our prayers and our lives and pray as Jesus taught:
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
One way we prepare for Christ’s appearance
is to support the church’s mission in our community and beyond. Our church’s
programs share good news, our outreach provides comfort and practical help, and
our goals are nothing less than newness of life for all God’s children. May our
gifts reflect God’s generosity.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER
OF DEDICATION
We
are seeking, O God, to act as faithful followers. May these gifts offer hope to
all whose suffering and loss seem too heavy to bear and where hope seems dim.
Bless these offerings we pray and the offerings of our lives. Amen.
THE LORD’S SUPPER
Song of
Preparation: “I Come with Joy” #515
Invitation to the Table
The Lord’s
table is not a piece of wood with clay dishes, but a place in our hearts that
connects us to our Lord Jesus. It is a place to which we come as we remember
his sacrifice, as we seek to experience his presence, as we are nourished to
continue his work, as we recognize our community in him despite whatever
distance or disease or obstacle that might separate us. It is the place we come
to renew our commitment to continue his ministry and mission. Our Lord invites
us to the table without condition, simply because we are loved. Come with
grateful hearts. Come with joyful hearts.
The Great Thanksgiving
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 the Lord our
God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right, O Holy God, to
give thanks for your amazing grace, to praise you for who you are, for who you
created us to be. We marvel at the truth that you are with us wherever we may
be. Though we worship from home, separated and for some, isolated, it is still
in you that we find life and purpose. We are children of grace and nothing can
separate us from your love.
You have given us the gift of your
Holy Spirit who unites us, binding us together as one body across the miles. By
your Spirit of grace transform our social isolation and distance into a holy
community, connecting us to each other by your sacred presence.
Bless the elements we each have
gathered, elements common to our ordinary lives. Let them represent for us the
body and blood of our Savior who gave himself for us. Amen.
Words of Institution
As we share these symbols of bread and
cup across the distance, we remember the story of Jesus with the disciples that
last night before he was arrested. He took the bread and blessed it and broke
it and gave it to them saying “Take, eat, this is my body, given for you.” And
with the cup he said, “This cup is the new covenant, my blood poured out for
you for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink of it, remember me.”
And so we do. As we lift up many
pieces in scattered places rather than sharing the same loaf and as we drink
from separate cups instead of one, we do so remembering that throughout history
God’s people have often been scattered and in exile. Through the power and
mystery of the Holy Spirit, we are made one in Christ Jesus. These are the
gifts of God for us the children of God.*
The Bread of Life……………..
The Cup of Salvation …………….
*portions of
prayer adapted from prayer by Rev. Steve Kliewer, Interim General Presbyter,
EOP
Unison Prayer of Thanks
Gracious God, you have made us one with all
your people in heaven and on earth. You have fed us with the bread of life, and
renewed us for your service. Help us who have shared Christ’s body and received
his cup, to be his faithful disciples so that our daily living may be part of
the life of your kingdom, and our love be your love reaching out into the life
of the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “It
Came Upon a Midnight Clear” #123
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
It feels like we spend much of our
lives waiting. Yet in the waiting is also growth. In the waiting, let your
hearts be stirred by wonder. Believe in miracles.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~
LOOKING
AHEAD
December 8 6:00 p.m. Session meets
December 12 10:30 a.m. PPW Christmas brunch*
December 13 following worship M&M meets
December 15 10:30 a.m. Women’s Spirituality meets
December 20 following worship Worship & Music meets
December 24 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Service December 27 following worship Deacons meet
*bring a
commercially packaged consumable item for the gift exchange (value $10-15)
M&M has
started the Christmas sock drive for Shepherd’s House, a homeless shelter in
Bend. 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.
PRAYER
CARE:
Pastor Jean (ankle
surgery), George Sahlberg, Phyllis Bauer (aging issues), Beverly Patterson
(Sheila Cunningham’s mother) (aging issues), Lois White (lymphoma), Pastor Jean
(ankle surgery), 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 12/13/20
Isaiah 61:1-4,
8-11; Psalm 126; Luke 1:46b-55;
1 Thessalonians
5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28
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