PIONEER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
Worship
via Blog 4th Sunday of Advent December
19, 2021
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.
-
Bring
men’s socks for Shepherd’s House in Bend. A box for them will be in Fireside
Room.
-
Bring
Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas gift bags for Christmas Joy. A box for
them will be in the entry.
-
Worship
& Music meets following worship on December 19
-
Prayer
Shawl Ministry meets @ 1:00 p.m. on December 19
-
Women’s
Spirituality will not meet December
21
-
Men’s
Prayer Group will not meet December
23
-
Christmas
Eve Service is @ 7:00 p.m. on December 24
-
Deacons
will not meet on December 26
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 CANDLE
Thank you for participating in the
lighting of the Advent Wreath. Lighting
of the wreath will follow the introit.
Come forward and stand by the microphone and read the scripture
passage. Another member of your family
or group will light the brass candle lighter to light the appropriate
candle/s. If children are involved in
lighting the candles, please assist them.
As the candle/s are lit, someone from your group should read the
statement explaining the meaning of that candle. Replace the candle lighter on the front
pew. After you have completed this, you
may return to your seat in the sanctuary.
Fourth Week of
Advent - Love
1 John 4:9-12
This is how God
showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we
might live through him. This is love:
not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends,
since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Light all four
candles of the Advent Wreath.
Say, “The first three candles of the Advent
wreath are lit
representing
hope, peace, and joy. We now light the
fourth candle which is love. It was out of God’s love for the world that
God sent his only son into the world to save it.”
CALL TO WORSHIP
Before the majesty of God, we gather to
worship;
in quiet expectation, we come to hear
God’s promises.
This
is where we belong; here we are warmly greeted.
Surely
God will feed our deepest hunger.
Before God’s strength and power, we bow
down;
in hesitant anticipation, we listen for
God’s judgment.
This
is our home, where our lives are redirected.
Surely
God will show us new ways to live.
Before the mercy of God, we lift our
hearts;
in humble imagination we welcome a new
visitation.
This
day God is present with us; we feel it.
Surely
God is preparing for us a time of joy.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let your face shine on us, mighty God.
Break through the obstacles that keep us from seeing your way. Melt down the
barriers that keep us from knowing the embrace of your love. Remove from us the
low self-esteem that keeps us from valuing the overwhelming gift of life that
you entrust to us. Speak to us here in life-changing accents. Amen.
OPENING
HYMN: “God’s Love Made Visible” LU #140
CALL TO CONFESSION
We do not like to think that God might be
angry with us. Yet, we know the emptiness of our prayers, the greed of our
consumption, the limits of our compassion. God understands more profoundly than
we our failure to become the people we are intended to be. In silent
reflection, be open to the wisdom and forgiveness of the Creator.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION
Merciful
God, when we sense who you are, we are ashamed. How do you tolerate our pettiness?
The abundance you have given us has make us proud more than thankful. We act as
if our accomplishments were all our own doing. We seldom acknowledge your
generosity or let you rule our lives. We go through the forms of worship, but
we try to keep you at a safe distance. We fill our lives with status-producing
activity that blocks out your call and limits our response. O God, we need to
change. Will you help us? (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
SCRIPTURE 1: Luke 1:39-45
In those days Mary
arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she
entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard
the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with
the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among
women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your
greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is
she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her
from the Lord."
SCRIPTURE 2: Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for
he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all
generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things
for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from
generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered
the proud in the imagination of their hearts, he has put down the mighty from
their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with
good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. He has helped his servant
Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and
to his posterity forever."
SERMON “Singing the Song?” Rev. Jean Hurst
Today
we hear the stories of an old woman, a young girl, and a child. The old woman
is named Elizabeth. She didn’t have any children. She’d always longed for a
child. She and her husband, Zechariah, like all young couples of their era and
culture, would plan and dream. But every month that passed was a
disappointment, a pain.
After
awhile people began talking. What had they done that God looked on them with
such disfavor and closed Elizabeth’s womb? The years pass and not only does
Elizabeth carry the ostracism that comes with barrenness, along with the sorrow
of empty arms, but she also knows that when Zechariah is gone, she’ll have no
one to care for her in her old age.
One
year it’s Zechariah’s turn to perform the priestly duties in the inner sanctum of
the Temple. As he’s doing that, an angel appears to him and tells him that his
wife, in her old age will bear a son and that son will do amazing things as an
instrument of God, preparing people for the Lord. His response, basically is,
“I’m an old man. She’s an old woman. Just how is there a baby in that formula?”
The angel Gabriel decides that Zechariah needs to learn to keep his mouth shut
and watch what God can do, so he makes him mute until the baby’s birth.
A
few months pass and the angel Gabriel is at it again. This time he appears to a
young girl who is engaged to a man named Joseph saying, “Greetings, you who are
highly favored.” I don’t know about you, but this is where I usually hang up
the phone. Mary hears him out. It’s the same line as before. You are going to
bear a son who will do great things for the world. But there’s more. This baby,
he says, will be called the Son of the Most High. God will give him the throne
of David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.
There’s
one major catch to this announcement and Mary names it. “How can this be since
I am a virgin?” Gabriel is a little gentler with Mary and explains that the
Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow
her. Then he tells her that her elderly cousin Elizabeth is also going to have
a baby. For nothing is impossible with God. “Uh ... okaaay,” says Mary. She
actually said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”
Mary
hurries off to see if Elizabeth really is pregnant. It’s no small trek for a
young girl. Mary lives in Nazareth up by the Sea of Galilee while Elizabeth
lives down in Judea near Jerusalem. She arrives and greets Elizabeth and the
baby leaps in Elizabeth’s womb as Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. She
sings out a blessing to Mary.
Mary,
in turn, sings a song, which we call the Magnificat, praising God and telling
of all that God will do in turning the world upside down, unseating the power
mongers, validating the poor, and establishing justice.
Now,
it might be easy to leap to the conclusion that these two women were so joyful
about their circumstances that they couldn’t help but sing. Perhaps. More
likely, however, is that they had very mixed emotions. Both their worlds had
just been turned upside down.
Elizabeth’s
lifetime heart’s longing is being fulfilled. What she has wanted so desperately
is finally happening. She’s going to have a baby. The downside is ... she’s
going to have a baby. She is long past the age for having babies. How many of
you would look forward to going through childbirth at this stage in your life.
Would it change your life--if you survived the birthing? Do you figure
Elizabeth might have some mixed feelings? Don’t you think her world is soon to
change drastically and that’s going to create some anxiety?
Mary,
on the other hand, is young and healthy ... with the emphasis on young. She’s
probably 13 or 14. But the worst of it is that she’s not married. Under their
religious laws, Mary could be stoned to death. And though the angel (Gabriel
was very busy) convinced Joseph to wed Mary despite her pregnancy, it wouldn’t
stop the talk or the finger-pointing.
Mary’s
world had just been turned upside down. This was a huge scandal. On top of all
that, she understood what Gabriel was getting at--he was using Messiah
language! She’d grown up with the prophesies and the hopes of the people. And
she, this nobody from the backwater town of Nazareth, was supposed to birth the
Messiah. That would be panic-inducing in itself. Mary could lament her lot in
life. Instead, Mary chooses to sing.
The
third story is in current times about a little girl named Elyssa and it’s told
by Karyn Kedar in her book “God Whispers.” She prefaces the story with
the statement, “Ultimately, we are not in control of our lives. But we act as
if we are.” Elyssa was a normal, active, bright and energetic nine-year-old.
One
day she and a friend were horsing around on the sofa and fell off, the friend
falling on top of her. All evening she said that she was in pain and her
parents thought that she might have fractured her leg so they took her to the
emergency room. The X-rays showed that a tumor had eaten four-fifths of the
bone in her thigh. More tests were scheduled before surgery.
When
Elyssa was undergoing the MRI, her mother and others were there watching and
keeping her company. There were speakers in the machine so that they could
communicate with her and calm her if needed. Suddenly, they heard Elyssa
singing from within the MRI machine. They listened closely and realized she was
singing Hebrew songs she had learned from Sunday School.1 Elyssa
could have cried. She could have fought being in the machine. She chose to
sing.
Sometimes,
when life goes wrong, when our world is turned upside down, we want to lash
out. We want to scream and cry, to hit something. We seek a reason, something,
someone to blame, even ourselves, even God. That’s understandable, a natural
reaction. Ranting and raving will let out some of the negative energy which is
probably better than keeping it bottled up inside and having it release at the
wrong time with the wrong person.
And
perhaps each of the people in these stories did just that. Elizabeth had
already had six months to work through her mixed emotions. Mary had the time it
took for the trip to Judea. We don’t know the length of time between diagnosis
and the MRI for Elyssa. For whatever they might have gone through, at the point
of these stories, they had each made another decision. They chose to sing the
song.
The
song is a song of trust, a song of faith. Despite all the fears and
uncertainties each must have faced, they still made the choice to trust God
with their lives. Sometimes there are things in our lives we simply cannot
control. When we reach that understanding, what do we do? In what, in whom will
we put our trust? For Elizabeth and Mary and Elyssa that trust was in God and
expressed in song.
To
trust God is to have faith that one way or another, God will bring us through
the crisis, that God will work for good in our lives despite all that seems to
be going sideways. A plaque that was given to me at the start of my illness
says it well. “When you come to the edge of all the light you have known and
are about to step out into the darkness, faith is knowing one of two things
will happen ... there will be something to stand on or you will be taught how
to fly.”
When
your world is in a turmoil, when you’re faced with the unexpected, when you’re
uncertain what tomorrow will bring, sing the song. Join with Elizabeth and Mary
and Elyssa knowing that this is the season God does the impossible and changes
the world. Amen.
1Karyn D. Kedar, God Whispers: stories of the soul, lessons
of the heart, p. 116-117, Jewish Lights Publishing, Woodstock, Vermont,
2013
HYMN: “O
Little Town of Bethlehem” Glory #121
PRAYERS OF THE
PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER
Loving God, how do we even begin to
comprehend the love that you have for us? You are the creator of all that is.
You are holy and mighty and powerful. Yet you chose to come to us in the lowly,
vulnerable form of a newborn baby in order to be Immanuel—God with us. And you
chose Mary, a simple young girl of humble status to give birth to that baby.
Our world—our lives—are different because of your act.
God,
you know that we want to be as obedient as Mary, as ready to do your will, to
respond to your call. You also know all our hesitations, our fears. You know
our sense of unworthiness. God, open us to your Spirit. Grant us the courage to
listen, to accept, and to follow. Stir our hearts, Lord. Guide us Jesus. Show
us how to be your light in the world. Help us in your words and our actions,
that others will understand the blessing of Christmas. Direct us in being your
hands and heart in the world. Even now we lift up to you our church family and
community, praying for peace and wholeness. We pray for those who particularly
need your comforting presence and healing touch. We pray for Linda Kaesemeyer …
Ron Schirm and family in the death of Jennifer. For Dave Clark … Tina Bossuot …
Verna’s sisters … Mary and Ray Swarthout … Sandy Cargill … Elaine LaChapelle …
Somer Bauer … Tasha Sizemore … Beverly Patterson … Margaret Dunbar … Virginia … Darlene … Trisha … Jacob … George and Joyce
… Chuck … Courtney … Ethel … and Pastor Jean. (Additional prayers …………)
During this Advent and Christmas
season, we especially pray for a wounded world that is so in need of your light
and love. We pray for those who find the holiday season to be a painful time,
for those who are alone or lonely, for those who are estranged from family, for
those who hunger, who have no home, who are cold, who are suffering in body or mind,
for soldiers who are far from home and family, who are in harm’s way. God
surround them all with your presence, your love, and your peace.
God of grace, we
entrust these prayers and those that remain in our hearts to your tender care
as we 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
In this season, we remember the greatest
offering of all time, God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. The only appropriate
response is our giving of ourselves. What we place before God symbolizes the
depth of our commitment. May we show how thankful we are.
DOXOLOGY
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Thank you, God, for your mercy and protection, for
feeding us physically and spiritually, for caring for us like a shepherd. We
present our offerings as an act of gratitude. What we can never repay we pause
to appreciate. In the name of generosity we cannot match, we seek to be
generous toward others. May these offerings do far more than support our
church. We dedicate ourselves and these gifts to honor Christ through ministry
in the world. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “It
Came Upon a Midnight Clear” Glory #123
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
Christmas is almost here and with it
the remembrance of the event—the birth of Jesus, that changed the world. Your
charge is to live this time as a proclamation of what you believe.
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
-
Bring
men’s socks for Shepherd’s House in Bend. A box for them will be in Fireside
Room.
-
Bring
Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas gift bags for Christmas Joy. A box for
them will be in the entry.
-
Worship
& Music meets following worship on December 19
-
Prayer
Shawl Ministry meets @ 1:00 p.m. on December 19
-
Women’s
Spirituality will not meet December
21
-
Men’s
Prayer Group will not meet December
23
-
Christmas
Eve Service is @ 7:00 p.m. on December 24
-
Deacons
will not meet on December 26
PRAYER
CARE:
Linda Kaesemeyer
(multiple health issues), Ron Schirm and family (Jennifer’s passing), Tina
Bossuot (Alzheimer’s), Verna’s sisters (Covid recovery), Mary and Ray
Swarthout, Sandy Cargill (breast cancer), Somer Bauer (breast cancer), Tasha
Sizemore (Crohn’s), Jacob Cunningham, Trisha Cagley (health problems), Dave
Clark (recovery from brain surgery, kidney cancer), Virginia DesIlets (age
99!), Margaret Dunbar (Ashley Manor), George and Joyce Sahlberg (health
issues), Chuck VanHise (leg/walking rehab), Darlene Wingfield (pulmonary
fibrosis, breast cancer), Courtney Ziegler (Huntington’s), and Pastor Jean
Hurst (kidney cancer).
LECTIONARY
FOR 12/26/21
Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalm 98; Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12); John
1:1-14
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