6th December 2020 - Light Of Love - Part 2

APC 6th Dec 2020                   “The Light of Love”
 
Part 1
Welcome and Introduction          
Good morning everyone and welcome to our Sunday Morning worship.  Today is the Second Sunday of Advent.
Advent means “Coming”.  The Advent season includes the 4 Sundays leading up to Christmas morning.  Last week we lit our first candle and reflected on the Hope that we have in Christ.  Today we’ll be lighting our second candle and reflecting on God’s love for us in Christ.
In a moment I’m going to lead us in prayer but first as is traditional at this time of year, Lara, Caleb and April are going to read the promise of the prophet Micah and light our second candle, the ‘Light of love’ after which Alison and our virtual choir will lead us in our opening Carol, Silent Night…
(END PART 1)
 
 Video       Lara, Caleb and April read and light the Advent Candle
 
Opening Carol          ‘Silent Night’          (Tara, Elaine, Pauline)
 
Part 2
 
Thank you so much Lara, Caleb and April and to our choir.  Let’s pray…
 
Opening Prayer
Loving God, we praise you again for this season of Advent, this time of preparation, thanksgiving, challenge and reflection.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
We praise you that in fulfilment of your eternal purpose you came to our world in Christ, revealing the extent of your love, showing us the way to life, allowing us to know you ourselves.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
We praise you that you came again in Christ to His disciples after His resurrection, bringing joy where there had been sorrow, hope where there had been despair and faith where there had been doubt.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
We praise you that through your holy spirit you make Christ real to us each day, filling us with His power, His peace, His love.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
And we praise you for the promise that Christ will come again to establish His Kingdom, to begin a new era, to bring us and all your people life everlasting.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
Loving God forgive us that so easily we lose sight of the message of Advent, allowing its wonder to be swamped by our busy preparations for Christmas, by concerns which are so often unimportant, by our carelessness and disobedience in discipleship.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
Forgive us that we forget your promises, we frustrate your spirit, we lose sight of your love.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
Meet with us we pray through this time of worship, through your living word, through the fellowship we share, and through the risen Christ.  Open our hearts to all you would say now, and help us to listen.
So may we truly celebrate the Advent of your Son, and be equipped to serve Him better, to the glory of your name.  Amen.
 
The Lord’s Prayer          (All say together – ON SCREEN)
 
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy Kingdom 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 Kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever, AMEN.
 
If you haven’t already got your children beside you then I’d like to give you a moment to pause the service and to invite them to join you as we show them our first advent animation as we journey with Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem…
 
Introduce the Kid’s Animation (“At Home for Christmas” Series)
It’s great to see you boys and girls.
Today is the second Sunday in this special season of Advent.  Advent means ‘coming’.  Last week we lit our first purple candle on our advent wreath to remind us of the Hope that one day Jesus will return to make this world perfect again.  Today we have lit our second candle to remind how God loved us so much He sent Jesus to die for our sins so that we could be God’s friends.
 
Each Sunday between now and Christmas I want to show you a short animation.  Each week we will follow the journey made by people in the Christmas story.  You know, this Christmas will be a little different for all of us because of Covid, but it will still be fun and Santy will still be coming.  You know, for most of the people in the bible that first Christmas was a very different time for them too.  In fact we will discover that all of the people in the story were not at home for Christmas that year.  Why did they have to leave their homes?  Where did they have to go in such a hurry?  And what amazing gift did they find when they got to where they were going?  Well over the next few weeks as you watch the animations you will find out.  Today we are going to hear about the journey of Mary and Joseph….So sit back and watch to find out why they were not at home for Christmas…
(End Part 2)
 
Kid’s Animation      ‘Mary and Joseph’
(PCI Website under At Home for Christmas, ‘Resources’)
 
Part 3
 
I hope you enjoyed that animation boys and girls.  To help you follow the journeys of all the characters in the Christmas story each week there will be something online for you to cut out and colour in and stick together. You can find the link to these things on our Facebook page and Website or on the PCI Website under the heading at Home for Christmas, teaching resources.  Today I want you to make an advent wreath out of card.  Then I want you to cut out and colour in the stable where Mary and Joseph stayed and where the baby Jesus was born.  Once you’ve done that you can stick it on your advent wreath.  There’s also a Map you can print off and trace the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem.  Next week we’ll watch an animation about the shepherds and there’ll be something else to cut out colour and stick on your wreath.  I really hope you enjoy following the story of the birth of Jesus that first Christmas and you enjoy making your wreath to remind you of the story.  Thanks so much for tuning in.  Have a great week in school.  Bye for now!
 
 
Bible Reading         James 2 v 1-17
“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,”[a] you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,”[b] also said, “You shall not murder.”[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
 
Reflection               Advent 2 - ‘The Light of love’
 
Last week online we reflected on our First Advent Candle which symbolises ‘Hope’.  We saw that in the bible Hope is not just being optimistic.  It is choosing to wait for God to fulfil His promises to us no matter what our current circumstances are like.  It is to know that one day Christ will return to make us and this entire universe perfect again.   It is this Hope which enables us to bear so much of what is currently painful in life with faith.
Today I want us to spend a few moments reflecting on our Second Advent Candle which symbolises ‘Love’.  One day a man asked Jesus a very important question.  He said, “Master, which is the greatest commandment?”  In response Jesus said something very interesting.  He said, “The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbour as yourself.”  It’s a beautiful thought.  But what does Jesus mean when he says the greatest thing we can do in life is “to love God and to love other people like ourselves?” 
I ask that question because in the English language ‘love’ can have so many different meanings depending on the context.  We say we ‘love’ our mam or Man Utd or pizza, but clearly, we mean different things, even though we use the same word in each case.  So what did Jesus mean when he used the word ‘love’ in his language?
Well, the first thing to note is that when he said, “Love your neighbour” Jesus was quoting directly from a phrase that’s found in the Hebrew or OT scriptures.  There the word for love is the Hebrew word ‘Ahavah’.   However, the language Jesus spoke and taught in from day to day is a cousin language of Hebrew, called Aramaic.  In Aramaic, the word for love is ‘Rakhmah’.  To complicate matters further, as Jesus’ followers spread his teachings around the world they translated his words into Greek so instead of using ‘Rakhmah’ they used a different word ‘Agape’ for love.  So what does ‘agape’ mean?
Well here’s what is most fascinating of all - the earliest followers of Jesus who wrote the books of the NT didn’t learn the meaning of the word ‘Agape’ by looking it up in ancient dictionaries.  Rather they looked to the teachings of Jesus and the example of His life to completely redefine the very concept of love. 
So what can we learn from Jesus’ teaching about the definition of love?
When Jesus said that the most important thing was to love God He was quoting from an ancient prayer in the OT law called the Shema.  In the Shema it says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart.”
But then almost immediately, Jesus follows up by saying that another command from the OT Law is equally as important – “To love your neighbour as yourself.”  So which is the most important?  Loving God or loving your neighbour?  If you’d asked that question, Jesus would have answered “Yes.” 
You see for Jesus, loving God and loving people are two sides of the same coin.  Our love for God will be expressed by our love for people and vice versa.  The two concepts are inseparable.
All of this makes it clear that for Jesus ‘Agape’ love is not primarily a feeling for someone else that happens to us, like when we use the phrase “I fell in love.”  For Jesus love is Action.  It’s a choice that we make to seek the wellbeing of others.  Jesus also went on to teach that genuine love for God and other people means seeking the wellbeing of others without expecting anything in return.  This is especially true for people who are in difficult situations who can’t repay us even if they wanted to.  According to Jesus, this kind of generous and sacrificial love reflects the very heartbeat of God.  In fact, Jesus took this concept even further.  He said that the ultimate standard of authentic love is how well you treat the person that you can’t stand.  Or to put it in His words, “You shall love your enemy and do good to them, expecting nothing in return.”
For Jesus, this kind of enemy-embracing love imitates the very character of God.  We wouldn’t still be talking about Jesus today if he had only said things like “love your enemies.”  Jesus is followed all over the word today because this was how he actually lived.  Throughout the gospels, we discover that Jesus was constantly helping and serving people around him in very practical and tangible ways.  He healed the sick, he fed the hungry, he welcomed the stranger and he embraced those whom society despised.  Jesus consistently moved towards poor and hurting people who couldn’t benefit him in return.  He showed love for the forgotten ones, the people who usually fell through the cracks. 
When Jesus eventually entered Jerusalem he made himself an enemy of the leaders of his people by accusing them of hypocrisy and corruption.  But then, instead of attacking his enemies to try and overthrow them, he allowed them to kill him.  Jesus died on the cross for the selfishness and corruption of his enemies because he loved them.  That includes you and me, for all of us, if we are honest, at times ignore the advice of God, we live for ourselves, we do not love God and at times we hurt other people by the things we say or do.  The truth is none of us deserve the love of God.  We only deserve His judgement.
After Easter morning Jesus and his followers claimed that it was the power of God’s love for the world that was revealed in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  The apostle Paul put it like this- “God demonstrated His own ‘agape’ love for us in this- while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”  Or in the words of the apostle John – “God’s own ‘agape’ love was revealed when he sent His one and only Son into the world so that through Him we could have eternal life.”  The amazing thing is, even though we don’t deserve God’s love, God in Christ Jesus, took the just judgement we deserve for all the wrong things we have ever said or done.  Through that sacrificial act of love we are freed from our guilt and our relationship with God is restored. 
For the apostle John, it was clear that if we really understand how much God loves us in Christ, then it will cause us to respond in the same way.  He writes, “Beloved, if this is how God loves us, then we ought to show love for one another.”
That’s what advent and Christmas is all about.  It’s the season when we remember that at the very centre of this universe there is an amazing intelligent and powerful being who is overflowing with love for all that they have created.  That means that the main purpose of our human existence is to receive this love that has come to us from God through Jesus Christ.  And as we receive this gift, not just once, but every day, we are then to share it with the people around us in the way that we treat them and the things that we say to them.  As we live in this way, God creates an ecosystem of other-focused, self-giving love which points back to Himself, the one who is love.  This is the meaning of Christian love.  The love sent down at Christmas….
 
Prayer for others
Gracious God, you call us to love you with all our hearts and minds and souls.  You challenge us to love our neighbours as ourselves.  You tell us through Christ that the whole law is summed up in one single commandment – to love.  It all sounds so easy, so straightforward, but we know in reality it is so very difficult.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
Too often we love only ourselves, our every thought for our own welfare, our own ends, our own self-esteem, our own pleasures.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
Too often we reserve our love for the exclusive few – our families, closest friends, our church fellowship.  And too often we are forgetful of others, indifferent to them, even hostile.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
Yet worse than that, even when we think we love we are sometimes deceiving ourselves.  We are impatient with other’s mistakes.  We are slow to give help when it is needed, especially if it means putting ourselves out.  We are envious of others good fortune, more concerned with our own well-being than that of those around us.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
We are careless in what we say and self centred in the way we think, even prone to take offence, bearing grievances and harbouring resentment, even distorting or deceiving to get our wat r to avoid facing truths we would rather ignore.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
All too easily our love is destroyed. Instead of holding fast through difficulties, we automatically find ourselves believing the worst, feeling ourselves betrayed, giving up on love instead of working to nurture it.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
Lord of all it is hard to love, especially when love is thrown back in our faces or when those we are faced by seem unlovely or when love is costly and demanding.  We confess we wonder at times  whether love is the righty way at all or simply a naïve illusion, a pleasant but foolish fantasy.
Gracious God forgive us the weakness of our love.
But you have shown us the way of love, made flesh in Christ – love that came to our world despite rejection, that reaches out to us in all our unloveliness, that was willing to pay the highest price and make the ultimate sacrifice.  And trough that love you offer life, not only to us but to all people – a life that can one day be free from all things that divide and hurt and frighten us.
So now we pray, take the little love we have- nurture deepen and expand it, until we have learnt what love really means, until your love flows through our hearts, until love is all in all.
Take a moment now to bring your own prayers for one or two people to God…
All these prayers we offer in the name of Jesus Christ, the hope of all the nations, Amen.
 
Closing Words
It’s been a joy and privilege to share with you again today. Thanks again for logging on.  Do tune in again this Wednesday as we continue with our new Midweek series called, “Mind your head.”
Next Sunday we are planning a communion service which will be very special because it is so long since we have been able to have one.  We will have taken every precaution to make this a completely safe experience.  So you don’t need to worry in the slightest.  Then on Sunday 20th we will be having a Carol Service.  On Christmas Morning we will be having two services to facilitate as many people who wish to attend – one at 9.30am and one at 10.45.  This will allow for deep cleaning in between the services.  Then there will be a Sunday service on the 27th December led by Aleida.  We’ll be sending you out a request to let us know if you hope to attend a service on Christmas morning and if you have friends or family members who will be joining you.  Once we have done that we will allocate everyone a time and space so that we are all socially distanced.  Don’t forget as always, once church services do start up again, they will be at our normal time of 10am and you need to book your place by Friday evening at the latest.
 
Arklow Presbyterian Church has a longstanding relationship with Springboard.  This year because of Covid restrictions Springboard are unable to receive and deliver the Christmas hampers that we provide for struggling families.  But we would still like to support them as a church by giving them a donation.  I know there are many good causes that we have been announcing in recent weeks.  Please don’t feel guilty or pressurized that you have to support all of these.  But if you have supported Springboard in the past and would like to do so again, then you can transfer a donation directly into the church bank account using the details on our website. Simply mark it for the “Springboard Appeal”.  Alternatively you can contact our treasurer Aleida van der Flier to arrange a payment mechanism that is more suitable for you.
 
At the end of the service you will be able to enjoy our Virtual Choir as they lead us in the most beautiful of advent songs, O Come O Come Emmanuel.  But first let me lead you in a Benediction after which I will invite you as always, to say the grace together…
 
Benediction   
Be people of love.
Let love live in your heart and share the love of Christ with all you meet.
Share love by loving those you see regularly. Start by loving your community.
Share love by loving those you do not know. How do your actions affect the rest of God’s creation?
Share love by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share love.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share love, joy, peace, and hope with those you meet. And…
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and for evermore, Amen.”
 
Recording       ‘O Come O Come, Emmanuel’  (Virtual Choir)