9:00am - Worship Service
Welcome to Worship
Prelude “Once in Royal David’s City” Chancel Ringers
* * Call to
Worship & Lighting the 3rd Candle on the Advent Wreath
Leader: The wilderness and the dry land shall be
glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall
blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon
shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the
majesty of our God. … And the ransomed of the Lord shall
return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their
heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away. (Isaiah 35.1-2,9)
People: O come,
let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! (Psalm
95.1)
(The 3rd Advent Candle is lit)
Leader: We light this candle for the joy of this
season. May its light be a reminder that
in all circumstances, that the “joy of the Lord is our strength.” .
People: This is
the Lord for whom we wait waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
*Opening Song “Joy to the World” UMH 246
Kid’s Time
Invocation
Pastor: O Lord, open our lips
People: and our mouth shall show forth thy praise
Pastor: Praise the Lord
People: The Lord’s name be praised.
Pastor: Loving God, thank you for loving us so much that you
are jealous for our hearts. May our
worship of you be worthy of that same love.
Amen.
Prayer
of Confession
Heavenly Father, thank you
for fighting for our hearts—for my heart.
I confess that I easily wander away from you and give my heart to things
and people and I often love myself more that I love you. Forgive me and draw me close to you. Help me to understand the power of your love
for me and teach me how to show your love to others. Be first in my heart, Lord. Make me ready to receive all that you want to
do in and through me. Amen. (Under Wraps Study Manual, pg 61.)
* Statement of Faith Isaiah 9:2,6-7 (on screen)
* Hymn Gloria
Patri UMH 70
Introductions /
Sharing our Concerns / Sharing our Joys
Community Prayer/Lord’s Prayer
Choral Response Chancel
Choir
Scripture Lesson Isaiah
43.1-7
But
now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O
Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you
are mine. When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not
consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in ex-change for you. Because you are precious in
my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations
in exchange for your life. Do not fear,
for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the
west I will gather you; I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the
south, “Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the
end of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my
glory, whom I formed and made.”
John 13.1b, 34;14.6,15
Jesus
knew his time had come to depart from this world to go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world,
he love them to the end. … “I give you a new commandment. That you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” …
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. If you know me, you will
know my Father also.” … “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.”
Message “God is Jealous” Rev Malcolm Stranathan
Receiving God’s
Tithe and our Offering
Offertory Anthem “When
Will He Come” Chancel Choir
*Doxology
*Hymn “O
Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” UMH 247
*Sending Forth
Postlude “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” – Hopson Deb P.
Enter to worship
God, Leave to serve God’s people
Celebration and Praise Service
Welcome
Advent Candle Lighting
“Open
Up The Heavens’
Song Celebration
‘Our
God’
‘Love
The Lord’
Prayerful Conversations
Isaiah
43.1-7
John
13.1b, 34; 14.6, 15
“God
is Jealous”
Rev
Malcolm Stranathan
Reflection
‘The Power of Your Love’
Sending Forth
‘You Are Holy’
Bulletin cover and MS PowerPoint art and graphics
designed by Lori Stewart, 2014
Songs sung during the service are used by permission with
License No. 1415942.
Movie clips are used by permission with License No.
501045180
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A customer comes up counter where a clerk is busy answering the phone and attempting to help customers at the same time.
Customer: “Here, I’ll fix
that.” *picks up phone and hangs up*
Clerk: “Sir, you can’t do
that. The people calling are customers, too.”
Customer: “I don’t want
anyone to come between us.”
(The phone starts ringing again.)
Customer: “I need your
undivided attention while you attend to me!”
Clerk: “Sir, I promise not
to answer the phone until we’re finished.”
Customer: “I can’t take that
chance!” *hangs up the phone again*
God
is a “I can’t take that chance” sort of God!
God is jealous for our attention.
But let’s be plain about it though, it has been this way from the very
start of God’s relationship with the Israelites.
Picture
it … once enslaved in Egypt, the Israelite are now free from Pharaoh’s
oppression, they have escaped through the sea where they saw Pharaoh’s armies
swallowed up. They are now encamped
around the base of Mount Sinai while their leader Moses meets with the Lord up
on the mountain. In that meeting, the Lord gives to Moses the
Decalogue, Ten Commandments that the people will now be required to
follow. The first commandment makes it
very clear that God fully knows God’s intention in this new arrangement. Picture the words being drawn on tablets of
stone as the Lord writes the first commandment.
I am
the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You
shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in
heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the earth. You shall not bow down to them or
worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children
for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those
who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the
thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
One thing we can say about God and that is
that God is fully self aware. God is a jealous
God and I have to admit that this topic is a tougher adjective than last week
when God was dangerous. It was easier to
get to the point that God was dangerous because of the extent that God would go
to redeem humanity. God would put
everything on the line to bring us back into a right relationship. God would send his son, and that son would
redeem the people through a gift of obedience that resulted in his own death, a
death that would result in our own salvation.
God was dangerous because God was willing to put it all out there for
humanity’s benefit. BUT WHY? Because God is jealous! Because God expects this Child of Christmas
to change us and the world, and because God dangerously goes to the brink to
redeem us, all because God is jealous that nothing should come better God and
ourselves. Other than the word that is
used to describe this emotion is “jealous” and “A wholly unsavory
characteristic trait,” complete with the image of the “the Green Eyed monster
that lies within us.”
Our book study determines that the Hebrew word used to describe this “jealousy”
is only ever applied to God. It is not
used to describe human to human jealousy.
Perhaps there is a reason for this.
God’s jealousy for us implies God’s best interests for us which are for
our best interests. Perhaps that is why
this word is only used to describe God’s jealousy. Because of the self giving of God’s nature,
even God’s own jealousy is the other focused.
Let’s admit it, when we are jealous, we aren’t thinking about the other,
we are thinking about ourselves and what we don’t have. We don’t have the job, the house, the car, the
benefits, the spouse or suitor … or if we do they become our sole focus, like a
Gollum we rub our hands and coo to that of our hearts desire and call out “my
precious, my precious” In oh so many ways, human jealousy is actually
breaking commandment number one. You
shall have no other gods before me, says the Lord God. And when our Green eyed
monster pops up in ourselves it says we have to have that which our eyes desire
over all others … that sounds like a break with God.
The book of Isaiah is a realization of what happens when the Israelites
forgot the number one commandment. I
encourage you to read the book of Isaiah during this coming week. In it you will find, particularly up to this
point that the Israelites are sent into exile because they forgot the Lord
their God. They turned to other idols,
trusted in their human made contracts and found them lacking the haughtiness of
their women, and more unsavory ills and so the indictments against Jacob and
Jerusalem are specific, and yet there are tender moments where God is providing
hope … from this time of trial will come a remenant. By chapter 43, the image of the remnant being
return is one of great hope. From those
who are left, from the north, south, east and west, God will bring them back to
the holy Mount and once again, they will be restored.
Because
of Jesus Christ God isn’t content on anyone being outside of this
covenant. God is no longer intent on
giving up some for others, just one son for everyone. God’s intention for us aren’t any different
than that for Israel. And while there is
no word to specifically describe the jealous nature in Greek like there is in
Hebrew, and therefore we have no references in the New Testament that describe
God as jealous, let us not forget that on the night before Jesus gave himself
up for us, he turned to his followers and told them “that he and his father
were one, if they have seen him they have seen the Father.” Jesus was giving to them a new commandment,
one that would intentionally embody the holiness of God’s jealous nature. Jesus shared this earlier in his account to a
scribe … that that moment he said that the greatest commandment was that you
shall love the lord your God with all your heart and your soul and your might
and your neighbor as yourself. On the
night before Jesus prepares to leave the disciples, he tells them to love each
other, just as he has loved them. For in
doing so, people will know you are his followers.
What does the life of those who walk in the way, that loves the Lord God
before all else. Well, things seem to
fall into place. Everything flows
naturally. God isn’t intent on our keep
our love directed at Gods own self, God redirects it toward the needs that God
see apparent.
Study book story … Excerpt Love in Action pg 55-57
How can putting God first in this Advent season change you?
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Upcoming December Events
December 14 - Third Sunday in Advent
ROOM FOR CHRISTMAS
Youth Dinner
Theater Presented at 6pm by Trinity Choir &
Youth with Live Nativity
Bring
a dish to share
and join us for dinner and a show. Our potluck theme is Southern Cuisine. Admission is free and we will open the
Secret Santa Shop from 6:45-8pm for children to purchase Christmas
gifts. The cost of each gift is $2
and our elves will help them wrap their gifts for free.
For
more info, see the Youth Ministry Announcements page in this bulletin.
December 21 - Fourth Sunday in Advent
Voices of Christmas –
A cantata by Joseph M.
Martin: presented by the Chancel Choir at 9am and the Praise Band at 11am
Pot Luck Dinner &
Gingerbread House Workshop
[5 & 6 pm]
Olde Tyme Service on the
Longest Night
at 6 pm
in the
Chapel
Wednesday, Dec. 24
- Christmas Eve Services
4pm Children/Family Service
7pm Christmas Eve and Candlelight – With a Beat
9pm Christmas Eve and Candlelight—Traditional
11pm Candlelight and Communion
December
28 - 9
and 11am Worship; join us for a time of fellowship between services. (No Sunday School 12/28)
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