Merry Christmas and welcome to our DIY Sunday Service Kit for this Christmas weekend!
We all enter Christmas with different aspirations and expectations ... but the sermon today revolves around the theme of unmet expectations and surprises the probably seemed weird.
Here's a taster:
But first, a prayer then some carols.
Lord and loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the freedom we enjoy today to be able to celebrate our Saviour's birth, free to worship, free to acknowledge you publicly before anyone and everyone on our land.
Please give us again today a sense of the joy of our salvation, and of love for our Saviour, that we may worship you with enthusiasm for the Gospel of our God the liberty that characterises the people of God.
We ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
Or this link for the sermon recording video
Thank you for being with us to worship this Christmas time.
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God bless you at Christmas and give you joy in His presence!
Let's pray.
Lord and father we thank you for the way we can put our trust in you through the unexpected and the seemingly un-planned circumstances of life.
Help us this Christmas and in this coming year to trust you more fully and follow you more closely as we prove again, through whatever surprises life may bring, the wonders of your love.
Welcome to carols and our pre-Christmas look at preparing for Christmas.
What's it about this week?
Here's the video sound-bite that introduces the sermon that comes later:
The weather outside has been pretty frightful, but the passage we're looking at today as Zechariah sings to hail the birth of his rather special son is quite delightful ... I just hope it's not going be allowed to snow any more this week!
Let's start the carols and readings ...
Now it's sermon time ...
click the button below for audio and transcript, or the YouTube link below that for the video version.
Here's the video version
In conclusion today, let's commit our lives and our place in His plan to Almighty God as we pray ...
"The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.”
Then the angel left her."
Lord grant us the grace to accept with gratitude the course set out for us, enable us to embrace it, willingly serving the Lord Who willingly laid aside all that was His in Glory, took upon Himself the form of a servant, humbling Himself to death - even the death of the Cross - and gave His life for our salvation.
Grant us Christ in our Christmas, the joy of His fellowship at this time of year and the joy of His salvation.
Enable us, with gladdened hearts, to prepare in our lives the Way of the Lord as He come to us afresh while we celebrate once more His gracious Incarnation.
We ask for Jesus' sake and Glory.
AMEN.
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Thanks for being here today, and may God bless your company, your fellowship and the deepest reaches of your own soul this Christmas.
Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for December 11th. 2022.
The second in our 'Prepare' sermon series getting us ready for Christmas 2022 takes us to the airport arrivals lounge with Malachi 3:1. Be sure to take a look at that using the link below!
But first, let's pray.
Lord and Father we thank you for our freedoms and liberties to worship you as we approach the season for celebrating the Lord Jesus's arrival on earth.
Help us to recognise afresh the privileges we have to know Him, and use us in new ways in this season of preparation for Christmas to engage with our world and make Him known.
For Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
Let's affirm our faith in this song from City Alight
Now here are today's Prayer Points
During the last week our news media seem to have offered us something of a world tour through the medium of football in their coverage of the World Cup ... and we now know more about quite a. few countries thanks to their coverage.
But what do we know of and what can we pray about the spiritual situation and needs of the countries we're being (re-)introduced to in this way?
Morocco
Arab armies invaded in the 7th century, introduced Islam, and erased a strong North African Berber Church.
Moroccans feel proud of their country’s heritage as a centre of Islamic civilisation and learning, and they resist Christianity.
Only a small percentage have heard the gospel.
Moroccans became aware of the indigenous Church when the media broadcasted negative and inaccurate reports about a large number of converts to Christianity.
There may be about 2,000 Moroccan Christians, with 20 to 30 small house fellowships.
New believers feel pressure from family, police, or religious authorities.
Pray for 'creative access' Christians trying to quietly share Christ with Moroccan people, for outreach at the World Cup by believing sportspeople and that Moroccan believers might grow amid such persecution as they experience amongst their own people.
Croatia
The deep impact of historic and recent hatred among Croat, Serb, and Bosnian may hurt the nation for generations to come.
Pray for true reconciliation, and for God to break these religious and ethnic bondages through the power of Christ!
The Catholic Church holds much influence in society, and some Catholic leaders work towards reconciliation.
Many people still suffer psychological and emotional trauma from the conflicts, and churches could have a great impact.
Evangelicals are one of the few groups that straddle the ethnic divide.
Many Bosnians, Croats and Serbs have been won to Christ and brought into fellowship together.
The churches' and missions' care and love for those who suffered in the war won much credit for the gospel.
Pray that evangelicals would continue to demonstrate the boundary-breaking, universal love of God.
Industrial unrest at home
Pressures in the wider economy with inflation running higher than it has for a while, and discontent with shrinking real-terms pay through the pandemic and previously has led to serious industrial unrest that is causing problems across our economy and services.
Let's pray for peace with justice, an economy where those who serve well feel valued and where people can have the sense that they have enough.
Let's pray especially for our NHS which is living in a time of crisis and where the services it is able to provide is so frequently less than its employees wish to deliver and we its beneficiaries have come to expect.
Lord, in your mercy please hear our prayers today for the things you have laid on our hearts, and intervene for the sake of your people's needs and for the Glory of you great Name.
AMEN.
Sovereign Grace will lead us in a meditation on Psalm 62
Click this Bible for the reading from Malachi 3
Let's sing
Let's close with prayer
Prepare our hearts, Lord we pray, for your coming.
For:
The celebration that will soon take place of your first coming at your incarnation
The times when you come particularly clearly and closely to us by your indwelling Holy Spirit
The time when you will come again in Glory at the end of days and redeem your inheritance from all the Nations.
And enable us to walk, freshly inspired by your Word, in the light of your truth and your grace.
Glory.
AMEN.
If you would like to join us in worshipping by giving, please click the offering bag
Thanks for being with us here again this week.
Next week we plan to be in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel as it really begins to feel like Christmas is drawing near ... check out v. 76 and we'll see you here again next week!
Welcome to the DIY Sunday Service Kit for December 4th. 2022 and our new pre-Christmas mini-series, on the theme: 'Prepare'.
Let's wait on the Lord
This week's sermon was produced primarily in an out-and-about video format, but we've posted the sound track from that under the 'Sermon' button below, with the video recording below that. This development is all part of our transitioning to being primarily YouTube based, in response to developments on the rapidly shifting social media scene.
As usual, the transcript (for those who like to use 'the words' alongside audio or video) is still available on the podcast website which you access through the 'Sermon' button.
But first, here's the Word for the Week:
Let's pray
Lord and loving Heavenly Father we thank you for the grace that you have shown us in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you have hold the situation we see in our world safely in your hand and under your control.
Help us to fix our eyes on you and what you tell us about society and not on the things that social scientists tell us about faith. Focus our dependency on you and not on our own slender wits and over-stretched human wisdom, and enable us to walk the way of discipleship with perseverance and joy.
We ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
Let's pray
Moldova
Sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has long been the traditional passageway between Europe and Asia. The small nation has been conquered by the Romans, Greeks, Huns, Bulgars, Ottomans, Romanians, and Soviets, leading Moldova to be extremely diverse and its citizens able to speak several languages.
Moldova also boasts the world's richest and most fertile soil, which supports vast wheat fields, vineyards, and orchards. The irony is that even though Moldova has so many natural and human resources, it is the poorest nation in Europe; 72% of its people live below the poverty line, 60-80% of its adult population is unemployed, and thousands of people leave annually seeking work throughout Europe, leaving children to be raised in single family homes or with their elderly grandparents.
Though a mere 3% of the population are evangelical Christians, they are zealous, dynamic and eagerly sharing their faith. Bible colleges are training leaders, churches are instituting youth programs and church planters are resolute in their goal to establish healthy churches in the 800 villages that currently have no gospel witness.
A Moldovan believer leads us in prayer for his country in this three-minute video:
Wales
As we pray for the world and as we consider the theme 'Prepare' (with Christmas in mind) during the sermon today, we pray for the people of this land of Wales who also have preparation for Christmas on their minds.
We pray
for households that are struggling financially to 'have a good Christmas'
for those struggling with how to meet the expectations that they feel are upon them
for those who are in fractured families, for whom relational deprivation will be intensified at this time of year
We pray
for those who will be working through this Christmas, especially those who feel underpaid and undervalued for their work
for those who are facing a Christmas with even less more to go around this year because the circumstances they are not satisfied with are being worsened by the impact of their industry's strike action at this point in the
for those in key worker jobs who are dependent on charitable help of one sorted another to feed the family and make ends meet over the holiday period
and for all those who fear that their circumstances are worsened and not helped by the pressures of the Christmas period
For the Welsh Church
And we pray for those whose are hearts are heavy, whose lives seem burdened and whose joy in the prospect of knowing the God of Christmas personally at this special time of year has completely departed.
We are conscious Lord that it is more than a hundred years since you last moved powerfully through this land pouring out your Holy Spirit on us, its people, and we are very conscious indeed of our great need that you would do so again, addressing the circumstances that have come to blight the situations of so many of us.
Would you Lord move again powerfully through this land of Wales.
Would you satisfy us with your goodness and your love.
Would you turn the hearts of many in this land, in our workforce, in our professions, in our government, to see and to follow in the ways of the Son of God Who came to this earth at Christmas, was crucified to pay the price of our sin, removing our alienation from the Father, and Who was raised to life again for our justification?
Would you, Lord, at this time when we celebrate the Lord's birth, restore our fellowship with you, heal the hearts of our people and rule again in our land?
We ask for Jesus's sake and Glory.
AMEN.
Click here for the Bible passage for today ...
Let's sing again as we prepare to hear God's Word
Here's the sermon video out and about ...
Here's a new song to finish but it's a great one for the pre-Christmas period
Now let's conclude in prayer
Lord enable us throughout the course of this week to ready our hearts for your coming.
Strengthen and empower us to turn afresh to you.
Engage us with your written Word, draw us again into your presence and keep us walking in the way that leads on to our Heavenly home.
Make us again people who live our lives conscious of your presence, making us people of your Way, your presence and your power.
We ask for Jesus' sake.
AMEN.
Thanks for using the DIY Sunday Service Kit again this week.
As ever, if we can be of help please contact us using the email address HoWChaplain@Gmail.com or text, WhatsApp or call 07748 644958, and if you feel led to join us in worshipping through giving please click the graphic below to visit our online giving link.
