Second Lesson: Revelation 14:13 -15:4 (Pew Bible page 254)
10:00 A.M. - HOLY EUCHARIST
The Lighting of the Advent Candle
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee, stir up thy power and come:
and with great might deliver us, that with the help of Thy grace,
Thy merciful forgiveness may hasten what our sins impede.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn: 67 (Winchester New)
Collect for Purityp.67
Collect for the Dayp. 102
Collect for Adventp.95
Epistlep. 102
Gradual Psalm: 145: 18-22p. 517
Gospelp. 103
Creed
Hymn: 61 (St. Thomas)
Sunday School Pageant
Offertory Hymn: 63 (Stuttgart)
Confession, Absolutionp. 77
Thanksgivingp. 82
Consecrationp. 82
Hymns during Communion: 224 (Rockingham)
236 (Dolomite Chant)235 (St. Osmund)
The Lord’s Prayer p. 85
Exhortationp. 90
Closing Hymn: 62 (Veni Emmanuel)
Join us for in the Hall for Tea, coffee and conversation.
5:00 P.M. – EVENING PRAYER
First Lesson: Isaiah 40:1-11 (Pew Bible page 667)
Psalm: 25
Second Lesson: Luke 1:26-45 (Pew Bible page 56)
“Let us remember before God those of our brethren who
have departed this life and are at rest.”
Theresa Chase Freda & Lloyd Rawlines
Eunice RossBruce Crawford
Horace Steeves Ray Carson
The Sanctuary Candle burns this week to the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Jim McLeod, J.A. Godfrey, Hon. G.F.G. Brydge and Dorothy Branscombe, J.Gordon Balloch.
Layreaders:
8:00 A.M. – Ted Bartlett 9:15 A.M. – Nicholas Saulnier
10:00 A.M. – Keith Chapman
Many thanks to the older youth, and to our Sunday School teachers and children for their presentation of the Sunday School Pageant. May this be helpful to us as we prepare for Thursday evening’s celebration of the Birth –Day of Christ.
Readers needed to sign up now for Service of Christmas Carols and Lessons at 10 am on December 27th – see sign up sheet in Narthex, please.
2010 Envelopes – If you wish a set of envelopes for 2009 (and do not presently have an envelope number) please call Kathy Chapman at 861-0912.
SCENT FREE
With more and more people experiencing allergies to perfumes, deodorants, etc. we would ask that you consider coming to the Christmas Services scent free. It would be appreciated by all those who find difficulty breathing scented air. Thank you.
.
The Rector’s Corner
(Taken from 5 Minutes with John Pearce)
“Why was there a Christmas?”
As we look at the world, we see suffering and death. And we sigh, “If there is a Creator, how could He allow this to happen? Also, if He loves us, would He not do something about it?” The answer to both of these questions is “yes, He has done something about it.”
The Bible tells us “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Someone put these words into a verse.
“FOR GOD, the Lord of earth and Heaven,
SO LOVED and longed to see forgiven
THE WORLD, in sin and pleasure mad,
THAT HE GAVE the greatest Gift He had –
HIS ONLY SON to take our place,
THAT WHOSOEVER – O what grace-
BELIEVETH, placing simple trust
IN HIM, the Righteous and the Just,
SHOULD NOT PERISH, lost in sin,
BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE in Him.”
Our Creator, as a Loving Father, could not stand by and watch us suffering. His love drew Him down to the earth to save us. (Matthew 1:21)
So Christmas was:
A LOGICAL NECESSITY FOR GOD. For love cannot be separated from its loved one especially when that loved one is suffering. A mother cannot be separated from her hungry child, nor a father stand by when his child is drowning in a stormy lake. In fact, if Jesus had not come to earth, we might well ask the question “Why?”
A COMFORTING REVELATION FOR US. Other religions teach people to seek God – in order to try to discover Him. And that results in weird representations of Him. But Christianity teaches us that God seeks us – and reveals Himself. This results in a clear and accurate understanding of Him. So God was manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). And that is why Jesus declared ‘he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9)
This leads us to the next question:
HOW WOULD GOD COME TO EARTH?
In order to answer this, let’s take a quick look at the world. I have four levels of beings. To illustrate them I shall use objects beginning with the letter “C”.
Inorganic, such as Copper. This is the lowest level of any being, and is simply a volume of matter.
Organic, such as Carrots. This is the next higher level. In it is matter (like Copper), and also the ability to grow. So it is one stage up.
Animals, such as Cats. This is the next higher level. In it is matter (like Copper) and growth (like Carrots) and choice (like Cats), and also the principle of a soul.
Human, such as Children. This is the highest level. In it is matter (like Copper) and growth (like Carrots) and choice (like Cats), and also the principle of a soul.
So humankind contains all the principles of the other levels of being. It is the apex of creation. Because of this, it best enables God to express Himself to the world. And that is the form in which He chose to come to the earth.
The next question is:
WHEN WOULD GOD COME?
And the answer is “He would come when He had prepared the world.” And He did that in stages:
1.He chose a certain People (the Jews) to whom to show Himself (described in Genesis 17). And He trained and taught them in the ways and words recorded in the rest of the Old Testament.
2.He selected certain individuals as Prophets, and told them that He was coming to earth, and they in turn told the people that He was coming (as in Isaiah 7:14 and 53:1,3,7,12 and in Micah 5:2).
3.He fashioned the Greek language to be spread and used over the known world (like English in the modern world). It was a universal means of communication. Therefore the news of His coming could be heard and understood.
4.He developed writing, so that the news of His coming would be preserved.
5.He caused roads to be built, especially by the Romans – so that the news of His coming could be taken throughout the civilized world.
6.He chose a certain woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to be the mother for Himself on earth.
The next question is:
WHERE WOULD GOD COME?
He came to an oppressed nation, to a poor family, in an out-of-the-way village, in one of its worst buildings, in the smallest form possible. He came as a baby in the year 1.
The apostle Paul says He “was made in the likeness of men” and “humbled Himself” Philippians 2: 7, 8).
How would you like to be a worm?
“That lowering of yourself would be no greater, in fact much less, than the lowering which Jesus experienced when He became a man.”
So Jesus didn’t come here on stilts. He came in on the ground floor – sharing our temptations and sufferings and loneliness and death.
And because of this fact He understands us. He sympathizes with our feelings of rejection and weakness. He too has been at the bottom of the heap. Picture that scene:
“O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by:
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.”
Yes, the “fears” of the past with all its sin, and the “hopes” of the future with our God having come to help us, were met in Bethlehem that night. That was called the INCARNATION – the “being made flesh” of God. It was the Greatest Miracle the world had ever seen. And the coming of God to where were are happened for only one reason – that we might go to where He is!
And that opens up the last question:
FOR WHOM WOULD GOD COME?
It’s not enough to say that He came just for the people at that time, or for humanity as a whole. He came, as John says, for “as many as received Him” (John 1:12). That is, He came for each person who would open his or her heart to Him, and believe in Him.
Have you done that? That is the way to make the Christmas event complete for yourself today! So why not pray?:
“O Holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the heavenly angels
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!”
Would you like to go Christmas Caroling around our parish neighborhood?
The “greening” and decorating of our Church for Christmas is scheduled for Wednesday, December 23rd beginning at 3:45pm. We need help greening the window ledges, decorating the Christmas Tree and setting up the Nativity Set. At 5:00pm we will stop for Evening Prayer and then some supper in the Church Hall (free of charge). Then, we will set out around the
neighborhood to sing some Christmas Carols. If you plan to join us for supper, please call the Church Office by Monday, December 21st. Hope to see you then! Please come and bring a friend!
Thank you to all who have contributed in prayer and in kind to our Christmas Outreach. The response has bee wonderful. Some details of the project will be published in the Christmas Eve bulletin.
The SpencerHome Eucharist will be held this Wednesday, December 23rd at 10:00 A.M.
Grief Share will resume on Wednesday, January 6th at 7 P.M.
A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols will take place next Sunday, December 27th at the 10:00 A.M. Service.
The flowers on the organ are given to the glory of God and in Loving Memory of Mark Andrew Rothwell by Rocky and Judy.
Other Christmas Services at St. George’sChurch, 2009
Christmas Eve, December 24th
* The Thursday 10:00 A.M. Service will be held at Camden Terrace
7:00 pm Blessing of the Crèche and Holy Eucharist
10:30 pm Carol Sing
11:00 pm Traditional Eucharist
Christmas Day, December 25th
10:00 am Holy Eucharist
5:00 pm Evensong
The Feast of St. Stephen, December 26th
8:30 am Holy Eucharist
The Feast of St. John the Evangelist, December 27th
8:00 am Holy Eucharist
9:15 am Mattins (Morning Prayer)
10:00 am A Service of Christmas Carols and Lessons
5:00 pm Evensong
The Feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28th
8:30 P.M.Holy Eucharist
5:00 P.M. Evening Prayer
On the twelfth day of Christmas, please join us at the Rectory (56 Williams Street) as we mark the end of the Christmas Season with some apple cider and some sweets…
Tuesday, January 5th: 2:00 to 5:00 pm and 7:00 to 9:00pm.
Christmas Memorials – If you would like to place flowers in the Church for Christmas in memory of a loved one please call the Church Office 855-5209. If you wish to make a donation to the Memorial Fund for Christmas in memory of a loved one please call John Lingley 389-1361. Thank you.
Saint George's Anglican Church
