The following are some worship notes for the December 16, 2007 service. These are the reading materials on which the sermon will be based, and some questions we hope to explore together during Sunday's sermon. Join us at 8:45am or 10:15am and explore with us!

Read: Matthew 11:2-6

At this point in Matthew's gospel, John the Baptist is questioning his own expectations of Jesus' ministry. John had preached a message of repentance and had baptized Jesus in the Jordan. He pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, the long awaited Savior. But even John wondered: if Jesus was the Messiah, why wasn't there a show of power and might? John expected God's judgement, an overthrow of earthly powers and a visible new reign of God established. So he sends word to Jesus: are you really the One? Jesus responds: see God at work healing, feeding, bringing new life and you have your answer.

1. What are your expectations this Christmas? Do you expect to 'see' God at work in the world? Might you miss 'seeing' God's ministry if it doesn't fit your expectations?
2. How will you be part of God's healing, feeding, new life-bringing work this December?

Read: James 5:7-10

The book of James calls Christians to action and in this text the action is patience. The season of Advent invites Christians to learn the practice of patience–not only at the mall but in all of life and faith. "If patience is a Christian virtue, it is not wimpy, passive, and silent. It is radical, vocal, trusting and actively waiting on God even when circumstances around us might try to rattle our resolve and shake our faith." (Baker, Hail the Heaven Born)

1. Think of a family waiting the birth of a child: they are active in getting ready to receive the child. How might you actively await and get ready for God's intentions for the world?
2. How is patience related to trust in God?
3. How might you be more patient this December?

Prayer: Come, God of Hope and Patience, focus our blurred and distracted sight that we might see clearly the One who is coming. Amen.

What I say to you I say to all: keep awake.

Mark 13:3

When we lived near Traverse City, my husband Tom had a nightly custom of stepping out on our front deck just before going to bed.  Our house was located up a hill and far enough away from city lights to offer a wide view of the night sky.  On clear nights the starry array was spectacular.  Tom ended his ‘watch’ with a sense of peace; he was keenly aware of his creatureliness in the midst of God’s vast creation.
On most nights, I missed that view.  I was asleep.  I didn’t take the time, and it seemed like a bother when I was so sleepy.  But I also missed the opportunity to connect with God and with God’s awesome creation.
 
Jesus admonishes the disciples to keep awake; it is what we need to hear in this Advent season before Christmas.  When we are awake, we are aware of God’s activity in the world—a touch of grace when we need it most, a word of forgiveness we don’t deserve, a need in another which calls for our response.  Even as we prepare to celebrate Jesus coming as a child in Bethlehem, we discover Jesus’ spirit alive in us and in others.
 
When we are awake we can take time, be present to each moment, and savor relationships with loved ones and strangers.  When we are awake, we have the opportunity to connect with the awesome God who we know in Jesus Christ.  When we are awake, even the busy month of preparation becomes a means of worship.
 
Jesus calls us to stay awake this Advent.  Avoid sleep-walking through the shopping and the parties and all there is to do.  Stay awake by taking time.
 
Take time ...
...to light an Advent candle,
...to use the Advent devotion book,
...to pause for quiet moments and pray,
...to join others in worship,
...to look up.
 
Don’t miss the wonder of that first silent night.  Keep awake and connect with the God who births love into our world.
 

Staying awake with you

The following are some worship notes for the December 9, 2007 service. These are the reading materials on which the sermon will be based, and some questions we hope to explore together during Sunday's sermon. Join us at 8:45am and explore with us! If you plan on attending only the 10:15am service and enjoying the Cherub Choir's presentation, you can still hear the 8:45am sermon by coming back to the website Sunday afternoon and listening to it online.

Read: Isaiah 11:1-10

The opening lines of this scripture point to Jesus' family tree. Too often we forget Jesus was a Jew rooted in the faith and life of Judaism. Isaiah's words helped Christians see and claim this connection. In the history of the church, there was an artistic expression of this (verse 1) called a Jesse Tree. "As early as the 11th Century, Jesse trees began to appear in Christian art and writings and can be found in many manuscripts, wood carvings, stone etchings, stained glass windows, and Orthodox iconography." (Baker, Hail the Heaven Born)

Isaiah also describes that this branch of Jesse will be a Spirit-led King who leads a totally different kind of kingdom. It is a peaceable kingdom where wolves and lambs live safely together, where the poor and meek are treated with justice.

1. Why is Jesus' lineage important?
2. What kind of peaceable world do you hope for?
3. What will you do to be part of God's bringing God's kingdom nearer?

Read: Romans 15:4-13

In the midst of a call for hope, author Paul calls the Roman Church to be welcoming.

• What is the relationship of being welcoming and being hopeful?

Read what Joyce Rupp has to say about hope:

"To hope is more than just to wish for something. It is to yearn for and to dream something so much that we really believe it can be, that it will happen even though the odds may be against it. To hope is to have a strong, clear, positive vision of the future. To hope is to know the God of hope, the God of promise, the one who has already taken us out of darkness into wonderful light." (Fresh Bread, p. 81)

Each day before you retire for the night, reflect and name a sign of hope you encountered in your day.

Prayer: God of hope, by your steadfastness and encouragement, draw us into your vision for the future. Help us to live as hopeful people.

The following are some worship notes for the December 2, 2007 service. These are the reading materials on which the sermon will be based, and some questions we hope to explore together during Sunday's sermon. Join us at 8:45am or 10:15am and explore with us!

Read: Matthew 24: 36-44

Christians live in a time in-between the First Coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ. Readers will discover the Son of Man described as a thief who comes by surprise in the night. "Matthew shocks us out of our illusion of control with words that reveal our ignorance and inability to govern God's future." (Baker, Hail the Heaven Born) The issue is readiness.

1. What would it take for you to be ready for the end of your life or the ultimate end of all time?
2. Why does Jesus call us to keep awake?
3. What does it mean to keep awake?

Read: Romans 13:11-14a

Paul's appeal to the Romans points to the urgency of the gospel. You know what time it is ... night is far gone, the day is near.

1. In what part of your life are you "sleepwalking?"
2. What will it take for you to wake up and be more alert to God and others in your life?
3. Paul calls us to put off works of darkness and put on works of light. How are you doing at keeping up the habits of the heart?

The challenge in both scriptures is not intended to generate fear or anxiety, but wakefulness and attentiveness.  Ask your small group or a friend to help you end a destructive behavior or begin a habit of the heart. John Wesley's covenant group had just such a function: "to watch over one another in love, that they might help each other work out their salvation."

Prayer: God, our Way and Truth, give us ears to hear the Gospel today. Prepare your way in our hearts. Turn our faces to the light of your love. Amen.