Sunday Worship 30 November 2025
Today’s service is led by the Revd Jenny Mills
Introduction
My name is Jenny Mills and I am a URC Minister of the Word and Sacraments currently serving in a General Assembly role as Deputy General Secretary (Faith in Action) which encompasses discipleship and mission. It is good to be with you this Sunday as we begin Advent and the Church year. I love Advent as a time of reflection, anticipation, and waiting. In a world where there is a lot of focus on much of Christmas happening before 25th December, it is interestingly counter cultural to pause and consider what God’s Word is for us today, in advance of the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Call to Worship
I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Welcome to worship.
Those who feel able to rejoice and those who feel weighed down.
Those who are bright eyed and bushy tailed
and those who are slightly drained.
Those who come with hope and those who come with fear.
Those filled with anticipation and those filled with worry.
God meets us where we are and welcomes us as we are.
“May those who love you be secure.
May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”
For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”
Let us worship the Lord our God
who wills good for the whole of humanity,
who plants the seeds of peace and love
and waters the hearts of followers and faithful alike
to step up and speak out.
Let us come together to listen, learn, reflect, and respond.
We are here and God’s Spirit is with us.
Come, now is the time to worship.
Hymn Come Now is the Time to Worship
Brian Doerksen © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire) OneLicence No. # A-734713. Sung by Chris Brunelle and used with his kind permission.
Come, now is the time to worship.
Come, now is the time to give your heart.
Come, just as you are to worship.
Come, just as you are before you God, come.
One day every tongue will confess You are God;
one day every knee will bow.
Still the greatest treasure remains
for those who gladly choose you now.
Prayers of Approach and Confession
God of all creation and all that is,
we come to worship you with all our being: mind, body and soul.
As we gaze at the wonder of your world,
we are humbled by the beauty, diversity, pattern, connectivity
and synergy of it all.
As we begin our journey to the birth of your Son, Jesus,
we come in anticipation on this familiar journey
that leads us to know more about you,
revealed in the presence of a tiny child
born into a hurting world where oppression was rife.
As we continue our journeys through life
and particularly through Advent,
we acknowledge the power of your Holy Spirit
leading, sustaining, inspiring and enabling us.
God of all that is,
we come in awe, wonder and humility to worship.
So much has changed since Jesus was born
and yet so much has stayed the same.
Our world is overrun with technological innovation and AI,
with new ways of doing things, greater knowledge
and amazing inventions and possibilities.
And yet, when we look around us, so much stays the same.
The poor get marginalised, the hungry are not fed,
those on the edges are refused a seat at the table;
yet, the rich get richer, the powerful wield more power,
those at the centre call the tune.
We fail to call out injustices,
we perpetuate poor practices,
we focus on difference and sow seeks of division.
We think that things are other peoples’ problems not ours.
We blame others and deflect responsibility.
We refuse to account for our actions.
All because it is too hard, or we are too busy;
or because we see it as someone else’s job.
We take the path of least resistance –
maybe posting on social media or sharing a meme.
Maybe highlighting the issue
but seeing the solutions as someone else’s problem
but making excuses about why we are not the ones
who should be stepping up.
However, as part of the global family
our lives are all intertwined,
and our responsibilities are collective.
As we come today to hold before God the things done and not done,
we do so as people seeking forgiveness
for the wrongdoing in our own lives
and the lives of those we know and love,
as well as for the times that our actions or non-actions
have hurt others who we may never meet,
or our choices have perpetuated
established behaviours and patterns of oppression
that are never challenged.
Whilst we journey through Advent once again,
may we seek God’s forgiveness for the institutional
as well as personal sins we have committed
and find ways to turn from them
and seek renewal and change.
Gracious God, hear our prayers and forgive our sins.
Declaration of Forgiveness
The birth of the Saviour of the world
heralded a new beginning with new possibilities.
Jesus was born, lived, ministered, died, and rose again
so we may start afresh each time we confess our sins.
God hears us and forgives us.
Let us forgive ourselves, forgive others and go in peace.
Today and every day. Amen.
Hymn Put Peace Into Each Other’s Hands
Fred Kaan (1929-2009) © 1989 Stainer and Bell OneLicence No. # A-734713. Performance © 2021 Joy and Ruth Everingham and used with their kind permission
Put peace into each other’s hands and like a treasure hold it,
protect it like a candle-flame, with tenderness enfold it.
Put peace into each other’s hands with loving expectation;
be gentle in your words and ways, in touch with God’s creation.
Put peace into each other’s hands like bread we break for sharing;
look people warmly in the eye: our life is meant for caring.
As at communion, shape your hands into a waiting cradle;
the gift of Christ receive, revere, united round the table.
Put Christ into each other’s hands, he is love’s deepest measure;
in love make peace, give peace a chance and share it like a treasure.
Prayer for Illumination
Lord of all, bless these words from Scripture
as we listen for your Word through them.
Bless our hearts as we reflect on them and seek to respond.
Bless the thoughts I offer and the thoughts they inspire.
These are words, thoughts and actions that can change the world.
These are radical ideas of inclusion and welcome,
of hope and healing, of love and peace.
May they inspire and challenge us,
and may your world be blessed by all that comes next. Amen.
Reading Isaiah 2:1–5
This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: in the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Reading St Matthew 24: 36–44
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Hymn Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) public domain. Sung by Lythan and Phil Nevard and used with their kind permission.
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.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a king,
born to reign in us for ever, now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit Raise us to thy glorious throne.
Sermon
Loving God, as we encounter your word through this sermon, may we find challenge and comfort. Through our listening, our musings and reflections, may we come closer to you and learn more about your love in the world. Open our eyes and hearts to your presence. Amen.
Isaiah gives us a vision of a world that is inviting. A vision of peace and harmony, walking in the light, coming together as God’s people. It is alluring and the sort of vision that many of us pray for, protest for and hope for. How many times have we shared the texts about beating our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks? How we long for a world where instruments of violence are not needed. Isaiah offers a vision of the end times where there is peace and unity. And yet we still live in a world where war is experienced and the effects of violence are seen, near and far. Our prayers are for God’s kingdom to come in all its fulness, we long for a day when hate and hurt and harm are no more, and peace reigns. As followers of the Jesus Way, we believe that our words and actions can be part of the vision of God’s kingdom; how we live, speak, treat others, share what we have, and respond to each other, all these things can promote peace (or not!).
In our reading from Matthew, we have a quite disturbing story that follows on from the first 35 verses of chapter 24 which speaks of the destruction of the temple and signs of the End Times. In the chapter Jesus speaks of what is to come in the future: societal breakdown, wars, conflicts, natural disasters….all as signs of the times. Signs that humankind has turned from God’s ways and as a result the bad stuff happens. Now this text has been interpreted in many and varied ways over the years! It has been used to instil fear about the end times that mean some will be taken away from their everyday life. (The reference to Noah makes it clear that those left behind are the ones that are regarded as faithful (as those saved by the flood were the faithful).) It says no one knows the time that the end will come, but that God will be there and faithful living will be rewarded and those living in ways that do not reflect God’s love and God’s desire for humanity, will perish. It is used as a key text for explaining that Jesus will return and no one knows when or how, and says how important it is to live the Jesus Way so that you can be regarded as one of the faithful. This text has also been taken, less literally, to mean that one day the whole of creation will be reconciled to God, that the end will come when peace shall reign and harmony rule, and that God will be there. And so used as a reminder to seek to live well. Then there is a more graded understanding of this text that sees the chapter showing the gradual demise of humanity and that this will be followed by a gradual restoration. When Matthew was writing they were still pretty convinced that this end time, the coming of Jesus to reconcile the world to God in all its fulness, the coming of the kingdom, would happen soon. And so the imminence of the event meant attention and care, and carried an urgency. As this has not come to pass and it is over 2000 years later, the urgency has dissipated. But the message of good living, attention to living as God desires, the need to come together to share love, and work with each other to ensure all have the opportunity for abundant living, still lives on. Alongside the belief that, one day, the world will end and God will be there, as God has been since the beginning, however that happens and whatever it looks like.
Whatever place we are coming from theologically and however we read this text, how we live, what we do, how we come together in worship, discipleship and fellowship in the here and now really matters. We can all see that the world currently does not reflect God’s vision for it. We see war and conflict, hate and harm, continued inequality and prejudice, division and a lack of unity. Our world is not as Isaiah envisioned, humankind is not living in ways that bless each other and the natural world around us, and so we are called to speak out, to show there is another way to live and to love. We are actively called to be peacemakers. Peace, following God’s way, being Christ’s hands and feet in the world, being harmony holders, thereby bringing God’s kingdom a little closer, revealing what the world should look like instead of what it currently looks like in many places. Through our actions, thoughts, ways and words we can be peacemakers.
Jesus appeared again to his followers following his resurrection, and still today he comes in the words and actions of helpers, peacemakers and protestors for justice. And at the end time, when the whole world is finally reconciled to God and peace reigns for eternity, Jesus will be there. The issue is, none of us really know what that will look like and so we keep the faith, follow the teachings of Jesus and respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit until that time.
This Advent and Christmas, once again, we recall how God came to earth to show humankind how to live. Christ came into the world as a vulnerable baby to show the world that power did not lay in might or domination but in humility and in weakness. It is God’s countercultural way. It was his incarnation here on earth that we give thanks for and celebrate each Christmas and seek to respond to through our lives. Each time we do a kind act, share with others, show compassion, live in harmony with nature and each other, Jesus comes afresh and new into the world. Each time we care for the least and the lost, we call out injustice, we speak out about inequality, then Jesus is seen, heard and known. Each time we share the love of Jesus and speak about our faith, Jesus comes to the world again through our words and actions.
Whether we believe that Jesus will return again in person, or whether we believe that God’s purpose is to reconcile the world to God and at some point in the future peace will prevail and we will live in harmony, or whether we take the texts this morning as an encouragement to continue to live out the Gospel message of love believing that what we do contributes to God’s ultimate purpose of a world where people live together in peace and in harmony with all of creation, what really matters is how we live, how we worship, how we care, how we talk, how we act, what we do as Jesus followers in this world. If it is good, kind, compassionate, speaks of love, builds up, breaks down barriers, means people learn about the love of God in Jesus, turns the world upside down in a really good way- that is what God wants from us. The time to live like this is now. Not because we are under threat of being punished but because Love came down at Christmas and showed us that this is how we are to live.
What do our readings mean this morning for our 21st century lives in this Advent season in a broken and hurting world? One day we believe there will be peace. We know not when or how, but this we believe. And we believe that how we live in our everyday lives can help make the world a better place. This is what Jesus showed us to do and what God calls us to. Not exclusive, pious, judgemental faith that criticises and condemns, but open, honest, loving and welcoming faith that reaches out and speaks of joy, peace, hope and love through Advent and beyond. Trusting in God to guide, enable, sustain and inspire us.
We are today’s prophets, what we speak of and how we live can attract or scare. How are you sharing the love of God revealed in Jesus with those around you? What does ‘keep awake and be ready’ mean to you as a Jesus follower this Advent?
Offertory
God calls us to think about how we use all we have. So, we come as people of faith, bringers of God’s kin-dom, called to share with others that which we have received. Through our giving God’s love can be more clearly seen, known and experienced. Come, let us pray:
Gracious God,
we are fortunate to have shelter, warmth, food and freedom.
As you give to us, so we respond, with our lives, our time, our hearts.
We offer our gifts, talents and money
to be used for your purposes in your world.
May all we offer bring light and love as it is shared.
May all we offer be a force for good.
May all we offer be a blessing.
In your world, for your people, until your kingdom come. Amen.
Hymn Light of the World You Stepped Down Into Darkness
Tim Hughes (born 1978) © 2000 Thankyou Music One Licence No. # A-734713. Performed by Christafari
Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness,
opened my eyes, let me see
beauty that made this heart adore You,
hope of a life spent with You.
So here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that You’re my God;
and You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.
King of all days, O so highly exalted,
glorious in heaven above.
Humbly You came to the earth You created,
all for love’s sake became poor.
So here I am to worship, here I am to bow down,
here I am to say that You’re my God;
and You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy,
altogether wonderful to me.
And I’ll never know
how much it cost
to see my sin upon that cross.
(Repeat)
Intercessions
Lord we are happy that we can come together to worship. We are thankful for those who provide this facility each week and are grateful for their commitment and time given. We are also grateful for the blessings that have surprised, sustained, and been ours this week. We give thanks for the joy of this season and the opportunities this brings for community and conversations.
But Lord we are also sad that there are people who cannot count their blessings or be thankful because they are unwell, oppressed, are victims of crime, living in areas of conflict or find themselves unable to see the positives. We are concerned for those who find life unbearable, who struggle to function each day, those who are depressed and those with suicidal thoughts. May the words of our prayers and the sharing of your love, touch their hearts and offer hope.
Gracious God, we are angry with the injustices that we see around us- in our communities, our country and your world. We see so much suffering and hardship that we almost become immune. Shock us into caring, prompt us into challenging where we are able, inspire us to act and speak out knowing that your heart is for humanity to live in peace and harmony. We bring our prayers for those who are fearful and worried, those whose lives do not speak of flourishing or abundance. May the words we offer in prayers change us and our attitudes, may they stir up an emotion in us that refuses to accept the status quo, and may we consider the ways in which you are prompting us to respond.
In a short time of quiet, we will offer the prayers of our hearts – for ourselves, for those whom we love and care for and for those people, places and situations in the news at this time.
Silence
As we hold all these prayers before you, we know that your love is stronger than anything else in this world and we conclude our prayers reassured and renewed.
Bless us, we pray.
Bless those for whom we have prayed.
And bless those who need our prayers but are unable to ask for them.
In Jesus’ name, who came to earth as a vulnerable child, lived, died and rose again that we might live. Amen
Hymn The Spirit Lives to Set Us Free
Damian Lundy (1940–1997) © 1978 Kevin Mayhew Ltd One Licence No. # A-734713
Frodsham Methodist Church Cloud Choir. Accompanied by Andrew Ellams and produced by Andrew Emison and used with their kind permission.
The Spirit lives to set us free, walk, walk in the light.
He binds us all in unity, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
Jesus promised life to all, walk, walk in the light.
The dead were wakened by his call, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
He died in pain on Calvary, walk, walk in the light,
to save the lost like you and me, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
We know his death was not the end, walk, walk in the light.
He gave his Spirit to be our friend, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
By Jesus’ love our wounds are healed, walk, walk in the light.
The Father’s kindness is revealed, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
The Spirit lives in you and me, walk, walk in the light.
His light will shine for all to see, walk, walk in the light.
Walk in the light, walk in the light,
walk in the light, walk in the light of the Lord.
Blessing
May the love, hope, joy and peace of the Advent season be ours.
May we embody, express, and experience all the blessings.
May God’s promise, faithfulness, and love
sustain and inspire us all as we live the Jesus way.
May we find ways to share this with others,
especially those who find themselves on the margins.
And may this year’s journey to the Saviour’s birth
be eventful, exciting, thought-provoking, reflective,
hope-filled, and precious.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.