BELLS CORNERS UNITED CHURCH
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT / HUMAN RIGHTS SUNDAY
DECEMBER 5, 2021
The video recording of this service can be found here.
You can also dial-in by phone to listen to the audio recording at 613-820-8104
Gathering Music / Carol Sing:
Away in a Manger VU 69 (vs 1, 2)
(Words: Author Unknown; Music: William James Kirkpatrick, 1895)
1 Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
2 The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
but little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love you, Lord Jesus; look down from the sky,
and stay by my side until morning is nigh.
Joy to the World VU 59 (Vs 1, 2)
(Words: Isaac Watts, 1719; Music: attrib. George Frederic Handel, 1742)
1 Joy to the world, the Lord is come,
let earth receive her King!
Let every heart prepare him room
and heaven and nature sing
and heaven and nature sing
and heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns;
let all their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hill and plains,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
Welcome & Announcements Rev. Kim Vidal
Good day everyone! Welcome to this second Sunday of Advent – the Sunday of Peace as we prepare ourselves to welcome the birth of Jesus.
We continue worshipping in the sanctuary on Sunday mornings at 10 am. If you wish to attend the service, you are more than welcome. As a faith community called to love and serve others, we highly recommend getting vaccinated as one of the best precautionary measures to protect yourself and others. Let us continue to be mindful of the health protocols such as masking, social distancing, hand sanitizing and staying home if you feel unwell.
During this time of pandemic, the work of the church carries on. Please take time to keep in touch with each other through prayers, phone calls, emails or via Zoom. Check also the many announcements on our website including Sunday School resources for your children at bcuc.org.
Here now is Bill McGee, Chair of Finance to give us some financial updates.
Financial Update Bill McGee
Good Morning. The members of our Board have asked our treasurer Ross Mutton and me to give a short update on our financial position. This talk is based on complete results for the first 3 quarters of the year. I will concentrate on the Operating Fund which covers salaries, payments to the Mission and Service Fund and a United Church assessment, building expenses, support for local charities, and miscellaneous operating expenses.
Our Operating expenses are down somewhat. Although there was a furnace unit malfunction that has replaced, the efforts of Jean and Ross Brown around the church have kept the building in good order without the usual janitorial expense.
Our Revenues to cover Operating expenses are below budget. PAR receipts are as expected, and the successful Fall Fair has helped our balance sheet a lot. But envelope givings are down, and the rental situation is still below expectations.
The situation with Directed Funds is positive, but of course these cannot be used for operating expenses.
Here are our year-end projections. These are hard to make, but show our mean estimate. As shown expenses are expected to be down a bit, but income is expected to be lower than budgeted. Therefore, it seems that there may be a deficit of about 10 percent at year end. This follows some past years when the year-end gave small surpluses.
Here are a few ways to help us make up the difference. One is to check that our givings are up to date. The second is to consider a special contribution to the Operating Fund for 2021.
Thank you on behalf of the Board, our Treasurer, and the Financial Management team.
Centering for Worship Rev. Kim
Friends, in the hustle and bustle of the Advent season, it is easy to get swept up with the business of preparing our homes and finding the perfect gift for our loved ones. Let us take a moment to slow down and remember what Advent is meant to be: a time of waiting for the birth of Jesus. Let us now gather in worship.
Lighting of the Advent Candle: Hope Acolytes: The Fowler Family
(Eric Hebert-Daly, Gathering ACE 2021-2022. Used with permission.)
Reader 1:
Today we light the candle of Peace.
Peace doesn’t always mean being quiet.
We seek to be a people of peace, living from a place of justice.
We join our voices with others who want to give birth to a new way of being.
Reader 2:
Peace calls out to us, so that we may help it become a reality.
God is our peace.
Reader 3:
May we let God reconcile in places of conflict,
creating bridges where divisions have grown,
sewing all of creation into a new tapestry.
May peace be found in a manger and throughout the world.
(The Advent candle of peace is lit.)
Sung Response: Hope is A Star (Verse 2) VU 7
(Words: Brian Wren, 1985; Music: Joan Collier Fogg, 1987)
Peace is a ribbon that circles the earth,
giving a promise of safety and worth.
When God is a child there’s joy in our song.
The last shall be first and the weak shall be strong,
and none shall be afraid.
Call to Gather Rev. Lorrie
(Bill Steadman, Gathering ACE, 2018-2019, Used with permission.)
We are a people open to anticipation and ready for a celebration.
Behold the birth of the Christ Child is expected.
We are a congregation that remembers the message of peace.
Behold, the birth of the Christ Child is near.
We are a community inspired to live lives of service and of wholeness.
Behold, the birth of the Christ Child will transform our hearts.
As we gather today and beyond.
Opening Prayer and Silent Confession
(Larry Doyle, Bob Root & Darrow Woods, Gathering, ACE 2013-2014, Used with permission.)
Let us pray…
We live in a world where peace seems like a distant dream, O God.
And so, we pray – not just for the absence of violence and conflict,
but for the deep peace of knowing and trusting your will and your way.
As the darkness and coldness of December set in,
we trust that the light and the warmth of your Holy Spirit will enfold us and remind us of the shalom that is to come and the shalom that is already within us.
Let’s take a moment of silent confession…
Silent Confession
Words of Assurance
Take heart! The God of peace will encourage us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We are loved! Thanks be to God.
Advent Hymn: Come Thou Long Expected Jesus VU 2
(Words: Charles Wesley, 1744; Music: Psalmodia Sacra, 1715)
1 Come, thou long-expected Jesus
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
2 Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art,
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
3 Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
4 By thine own eternal Spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Storytime for the Young at Heart Rev. Lorrie Lowes
Here’s a fun repeat-after-me action poem that I think you will all recognize:
We’re going on a bear hunt!
We’re gonna catch a big one!
We’re not scared!
What a beautiful day!
Oh, oh! Grass!
Long wavy grass…
Can’t go over it
Can’t go under it
Can’t go around it
We’ve gotta go through!
Swishy swashy, swishy swashy…
Oh, oh! A river!
A deep, cold river…
Splash, splosh, splash, splosh…
Oh, oh! Mud!
Thick oozy mud…
Squelch, squerch, squelch, squerch…
Oh, oh! A forest!
A big dark forest…
Stumble, trip, stumble trip…
Oh, oh! A snow storm!
A swirling whirling snow storm!
Hoooo woooo, hoooo woooo…
Oh, oh! A cave!
A narrow, gloomy cave…
Tip-toe, tip toe…
WHAT’S THAT!
One shiny wet nose!
Two big furry ears!
Two big goggly eyes!
IT’S A BEAR!
Quick!
Back through the cave! Tiptoe! Tiptoe! Tiptoe!
Back through the snowstorm! Hoooo woooo! Hoooo woooo! Hoooo woooo!
Back through the forest! Stumble trip! Stumble trip! Stumble trip!
Back through the mud! Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch! Squelch squerch!
Back through the river! Splash splosh! Splash splosh! Splash splosh!
Back through the grass! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy! Swishy swashy!
Get to our front door.
Open the door.
Up the stairs
Into the bedroom
Into the bed
Under the covers
I’m not going on a bear hunt again.
Isn’t this a funny way to start a children’s story on the day we light the Peace candle?
This story doesn’t make me feel very peaceful at all! In fact, when I do this poem with kids, they usually get all excited and fired up and then I can’t get them to settle down again!
In our Bible reading this morning, we meet John the Baptist. He was a guy that got people all excited and fired up – like our Bear Hunt poem. Most of the descriptions of him in the Bible tell us that he was like a wild man, living in the wilderness. He dressed in the skins from animals and ate bugs and wild honey – and he shouted a lot! He told people they needed to repent – to change. I don’t think he made people feel peaceful at all.
John the Baptist told the people that they needed to prepare a path for God – to make it straight… to fill up the valleys and bulldoze down the mountains to make it flat… and to smooth out all the rough places. It sounds like hard work!
What a strange story for us to read on the day we light the Peace candle…
Let’s think about that Bear Hunt again…
We wanted to find a bear, right? But by the time we actually found one, we were exhausted and excited. We couldn’t quietly watch the bear sleeping and then tip-toe out of the cave; we ran through all of the obstacles again and finally jumped into bed and covered our heads – as if that would protect us from a bear!
But what if we followed John the Baptist’s idea and made a smooth and easy path to the bear’s cave… If the grass was cut, if there was a bridge over the river, if there was gravel filling the mud hole, if a smooth path was cleared through the forest, if we took the time to plan our trip for a day with no storm in the forecast …
Maybe then we would have arrived calmly – peacefully – at the bear’s cave. Maybe then we would be able to be quiet enough to not disturb the bear, to enjoy seeing him and then leave him in peace.
If this was the way the bear hunt went, rather than hiding under the covers with our hearts pounding and being afraid to go to sleep, I think we would be able to climb into bed at the end and doze off to sweet dreams.
Maybe that’s our message for today. Peace isn’t just about stopping wars – though that’s important too – it’s about making life calm and stress-free for everyone.
How can you make a peaceful path as you get ready for Christmas?
How can you make this season peaceful for the people around you?
How can we make life more peaceful for people in our world who are struggling to find enough food to eat, or warm clothes, or a safe place to sleep out of the cold?
How can we make their paths smooth?
Maybe that’s what John the Baptist meant when he asked us to prepare a path for God…
Let’s finish with another body prayer:
(from “Advent Unwrapped” UCC)
Holy One (reach up and look out)
May your peace (clasp hands over heart)
Surround me (circle arms in front of body)
May your peace (clasp hands over heart)
Work through me (use some force to push arms to sides with fingers up)
May your peace (clasp hands over heart)
Extend to the world (unfold arms in front with open hands)
Amen (head down, hands at prayer with palms together)
Hymn: CGS/Bell Canto with Erin Berard
(Words: Isaiah 40:3, adapt. & Music: Michael Burkhardt, 1990)
Prepare the way of the Lord!
Prepare the way of the Lord!
Make a straight for him,
make a straight path,
prepare the way of the Lord!
Prayer for Illumination Reader: Erin Berard
Open us, O God to your unfolding vision of peace.
Through your Word, shape us for shalom
by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Gospel Reading: Luke 3: 1-6 (NRSV)
The Proclamation of John the Baptist
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,
2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
May the peace of God dwell where the word is spoken. Thanks be to God!
Sermon: “Advent’s Yearning: Prepare the Way!” Rev. Kim
Let your spirit of wisdom flow through us, O God, as we reflect on your Word of life. Amen.
On this second Sunday of Advent, an important figure takes center stage, one who is the “front man”, the harbinger of Jesus, who with his outspoken and rash behaviour, prepares the people for Jesus’ arrival. Walter Brueggemann calls him the “checkpoint” and declares that one cannot get to Jesus on Christmas without passing through him. I guess you know who I’m talking about. Mark calls him the Baptizer. Matthew calls him the Baptist and Luke calls him “John, son of Zechariah.” We meet him this time of the year and we somehow can never get rid of him. It was Matthew who described John’s fashion and eating habits. Imagine for a moment if he was at your party! His outrageous outfit of smelly camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist would not blend in very well with red silk or tuxedos – or any designer’s clothing. His hair is unkempt and his beard long and straggly. You would also have difficulty cooking his favourite recipe: locusts drizzled with wild honey! And what a downer if he starts mingling with people and calling them brood of vipers!
As son of Zechariah, John comes from the line of priests. His call to ministry was similar to the prophets – the hopers, the demanders and the bidders who called for change, for transformation, for renewal. He was fearless, denouncing sinfulness and acts of injustices wherever he found it. For 400 years before his birth there had been no prophet in the land of Israel. Scripture reminds us, "There was no voice, nor any that answered." With John's emergence from the wilderness, the sound of the prophetic voice was again heard in the land. And this wildman prophet trot into our worship service today who promises us an Advent of repentance. Are we ready to listen to him?
According to Luke, John’s prophetic ministry took place in the first century during the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius, Governor Pontius Pilate of Judea and King Herod, ruler of Galilee – three infamous political leaders who were known for terror, cruelty, corruption and persecutions. Luke also added Annas and Caiaphas – High Priests of the Temple, in cohort with the Roman rulers, who took part in the trial of Jesus. They were people of power - the center of religious and political authority. But God’s word doesn’t come to any of them. Rather, the Word of God comes to John in the wilderness. Did I say wilderness? What is it about the wilderness that draws one closer to hearing God’s word? Debie Thomas writes: “In the wilderness, there’s no safety net. No Plan B. No fallback option. In the wilderness, life is raw and risky, and our illusions of self-sufficiency fall apart fast. To locate ourselves at the outskirts of power is to confess our vulnerability in the starkest terms. In the wilderness, we have no choice but to wait and watch as if our lives depend on God showing up. Because they do. And it’s into such an environment — an environment so far removed from power…that the word of God comes.”
From the wilderness, John cries out to the people: “Prepare the way of the Lord! Get ready for God’s arrival!” He was like a thundering voice. He called for repentance for the forgiveness of sins - difficult words to ponder in this time of Advent. These words invoke a sense of guilt, of not doing enough, of not measuring up. A theologian once said that “Repentance doesn't mean to feel bad, but to think differently. To repent doesn't mean to grovel in self-hatred, morbid introspection, or pious sorrow. It consists of both outward acts and an inward disposition. When you repent you turn around, change directions, choose a different path, and make a radical rupture. Repentance signals an abrupt end to life on auto-pilot or to business as usual.”
Rabbi Eliezer taught his disciples to "Repent one day before your death." One of his disciples asked, "How will we know when that day is?" To which the Rabbi replied, "All the more reason to repent today, lest you die tomorrow" (Blomberg, 194). In the first century world where John lived and preached, the call to repentance, to scold the people of their wrongdoings, makes the people turn around, to change their ways, to come back to God. John proclaimed a baptism of repentance – a cleansing bath in the wild waters of Jordan. A bath that says it all: “Examine your life—examine your priorities, your values, and your behaviour. Check out your emotional, your spiritual, and your moral-ethical lives. Are you headed in the right, life-giving direction? Are you headed in the direction towards God? If not, then repent. Turn around. Have a change of heart.” John is drawing us to the paradox of our faith—that the free and lavish grace of God makes no difference unless we realize that we are accountable for our behaviour. The Rev. Susan Andrews writes: “the unconditional love of God cannot find fertile soil unless we first uproot the weeds in the wilderness of our souls. The truth of the gospel is that we must judge ourselves—we must face the truth of who we are and claim the hope of who we want to become. And after we judge ourselves—after we honour this call to accountability—then we can receive God, as God recreates us in holy image.”
Why do people need repentance then and now? The dark world of John is not too far from our world today. The present world is still in great distress. The crooked path is choked with consumerism and materialism. The rocky valleys are groaning with the cries of those whose human rights are violated, the indigenous community, people of colour, those from other faiths, the marginalized and the ignored. The mountains of power are the stronghold of leaders whose priorities are questionable. The unlevelled road is screaming from the cries of those who live in poverty, the homeless, or those who were denied access to resources because of their gender, class, or ethnicity. The highway is barricaded with armaments and weapons of war and destruction. The muddy plains are filled with refugees - children, women, and men fleeing their homeland and seeking refuge from countries of wealth. The earth too is groaning in pain. We sacrifice animals, plants, soil, water, and air for the sake of those who wield the most power. God’s voice through John calls us to repent! To repent of the things that betray the holiness and the love of God. To repent from words and actions which hurt our neighbours, the strangers, our loved ones and ourselves. To repent from plundering and destroying Mother earth. We need to repent from our sins – all those things that alienate us from God, from others, from ourselves and the whole of creation.
John did not stop there in the river of Jordan. John nudges us to listen to Second Isaiah’s words: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth.”
These words do not simply call us to be waiting patiently in silence or busying ourselves with pointless preparations, but rather, they call us to action. Friends, this is hard work! Who is going to buy into this kind of preparation? Is this the yearning of Advent - to undergo a road construction project? But this is how true repentance works. We need to undergo construction, deconstruction and reconstruction in order to fully access the Good News of God’s salvation.
At our lectionary discussion this past Tuesday, Susan Young shared a personal story that brings John’s words to life. With Susan’s permission, let me share her story with you:
“You don't always need a big four-lane highway to get where you need to go. When I was growing up, my family had an old log cabin by a small lake. It had been built long before I was born, by a distant relative that I never knew. We liked to go to the camp on weekends and holidays to fish, pick berries and mushrooms, swim or toboggan, depending on the season. Since there was no road access, we had to park our vehicle a few miles from the camp and then walk the rest of the way. The first part of the trail crossed a field and, in the summer, the grass grew very tall. I remember my grandmother cutting it with a scythe, so it would be easier for us kids to walk and we wouldn't get stung by the wasps that made nests in the ground. There were some swampy places along the trail too. My grandfather made a dry place for us to walk by putting some fallen logs in the mud. I remember my dad carrying my little brother in a packsack because it was too far for him to walk. That's how the whole family made many happy trips to the camp.”
Susan’s story resonates well with John’s call to repentance and transformation. There is hard work involved. But at the end of it all – when all the tall grasses were cut off, when swampy places were turned to dry land, when logs are laid down in the mud, when we carry each other’s burdens and joys – then the journey will be happy, comfortable and meaningful – “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Friends, what kind of wilderness are you experiencing in this Advent season? How is God calling you to participate in that uncomfortable but essential work of leveling, straightening, smoothing out those rocky roads and filling those potholes in your life? Whether we agree with John or not, repentance is something that we should aim for in Advent. John’s invitation is a call to root ourselves in truth rather than false pride. Because when we repent, truth emerges and our self-deception ends. God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah in the wilderness. May God’s word come to us too, as we prepare for the birth of Jesus into our own lives. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer Rev. Lorrie
(Written by Ted Dodd for DOTAC and the Diakonia World Federation)
In the second year of the reign of COVID,
when climate change governs over the planet,
when racism and injustice rules in so much of the world,
when siblings, violence and war, preside in so many regions,
and the high priests of inequity and imbalance dominate our earth,
please, dear God,
we pray for your Word to come to this wilderness.
We long for a prophet to speak your good news, for this time.
We urgently plea for a proclamation of hope,
for the particular places where we live and interact with others and Creation.
In this Advent time,
As we make ready for Christmas,
may the tender, strong voice of the divine reach us.
May we prepare in your way of compassion.
May we walk paths of reconciliation and respect.
May the valleys of
poverty and hunger,
grief and loss,
loneliness and desperation, be filled with comfort and kindness.
May the mountains and hills of the powerful and the privileged,
be brought low with sharing and equity.
May the roughness of addiction and homelessness be made smooth.
Transform us, individually and corporately.
Change us, personally and collectively.
Turn us around, God of grace.
And may we all feel your presence,
alive in our lives.
Reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Disclose the divine in our human encounters.
Expose the miraculous in the everyday.
We pray as we hear the cries of John and Isaiah; we pray in the words of Jesus, the long-awaited one:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kin-dom come, thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kin-dom, the power and the glory,
Forever and ever, Amen.
Invitation to Offer Rev. Kim
In this busy season, our most important preparations will happen here in our hearts when we make a way for God to come into our lives, when we "prepare the way of the Lord." In the midst of our preparations, we bring gifts to share so that God's love will shine brightly through the ministry of this church and in our own lives as well.
Let us gather our time, talents and treasures together and present them as an offering to God.
If you are not on PAR and wish to send in your offering and donations, you can drop them in the slot by the kitchen door of the church or mail them to BCUC. You can also send in your support through e-transfer. Thank you for your continued love and support to BCUC.
Offertory Prayer: (spaciousfaith.com)
Holy One, this Advent season we wait in peace,
And we give in peace.
A peace deeper than our anxiety and fear.
A peace growing from our trust in your loving power.
Receive these generous offerings,
And use them to bring your peace to our world. Amen.
Sending Forth Rev. Kim
As you go from this worship,
may the light of peace burn brightly in your hearts.
Go and be signs of peace in the world
as you prepare the journey towards Bethlehem.
And may you always know that you are not alone.
May God’s peace sustain you now and always. Amen.
Hymn: Herald! Sound the Note of Gladness VU 28
(Words: Moir A. J. Waters, 1968; Music: adapt. From Joachim Neander, 1650)
1 Herald! Sound the note of gladness!
Tell the news that Christ is here;
make a pathway through the desert
for the one who brings God near.
Sound the trumpet!
Tell the message!
Christ the Saving One has come!
2 Herald! Sound the note of judgement,
Warning us of right and wrong.
Turning us from sin and sadness,
Till once more we sing the song.
Sound the trumpet!
Tell the message!
Christ the Saving One has come!
3 Herald! Sound the note of pardon!
Those repenting are forgiven;
God receives these wayward children,
and to all new life is given.
Sound the trumpet!
Tell the message!
Christ the Saving One has come!
4 Herald! Sound the note of triumph!
Christ has come to share our life,
bringing God's own love and power,
granting victory in our strife.
Sound the trumpet!
Tell the message!
Christ the Saving One has come!
Carol: ‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime VU 71
(Words: Jean de Brebeuf, 1641, English trans Jesse Edgar Middleton, 1926;
Music: French Folk Song, 16th century
Advent Memorial Flowers
Departing Music: African Advent Carol Michael Barrett
– sung by BCUC choir Advent 2015
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