Lectionary resources Advent 2 Year B

Advent 2 - Year B

Lectionary

Isaiah 40:1-11 Prepare a way for the Lord
Psalm 85:1-2,8-13 Surely his salvation is at hand
2 Peter 3:8-15a while you wait strive to be at peace
Mark 1:1-8 John the baptizer appeared

Possible Hymns (Numbers refer to The Australian Hymn Book and Sing Alleluia.)

Light is dawning, fields and mountains [see below]
The Lord's Messiah comes
SA 25 Comfort, comfort all my people
SA 86 The voice of God goes out to all the world
SA 95 Where love and lovingkindness dwell
46 O God our help in ages past
66 God is love, his mercy brightens
148 Love divine, all loves excelling
192 Hark! a herald voice is calling
197 Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes
199 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
200 come thou long expected Jesus
368 On this day, the first of days

HYMN [tune There's a light upon the mountain AHB 207]

Light is dawning, fields and mountains shine the day's first hints of gold,
warming all our watching faces with earth's beauty rich and old.
We are worn out by our waiting: too much struggle, too much pain.
Now our hearts can soar with singing as God's promise comes again.

All around, creation pauses we can feel the eager sigh
as the breath of God blows through us, lifting eyes and voices high
to the Jesus who still calls us from the cross and empty grave;
every human hurt and hunger shares the prayer his dying gave.

Now the light comes spilling crimson on the road we help to build,
where all pilgrims can dance homeward; every pit and valley filled,
every lonely climb eased for us, we unite in one vast choir
to join praises for the God Child who is born in blood and fire.

You were here before we knew it and have never gone away;
word and sacrament reveal it from the dawn of that first day.
The whole cosmos joys to meet you, for you have made all things well:
let your light lead us that we may share your name, Emmanuel!

Sermon summary (click here for complete sermon)

The patience of our Lord

Members of an early generation of Christians who received the Second Letter of Peter were encouraged to remember the "the Patience of our Lord" [2 Peter 3:15a]. His patience with us comes from his love for us. We say with John the evangelist: God is love [John 4:16]. And love is patient: Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful [1 Corinthians 13:4-5.]

Sadly, all of us I fear can see how far we fall short of the love of God when we compare our own behaviour with these words. But the love of God for us is patient. He allows us time to learn to love him too: time to repent, to rid ourselves of those things in our lives that are unworthy of him, to remove the barriers and make a clear path for him to come to us. That was John the Baptist's warning: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" [Mark 1:2-3; from Isaiah 40:1-5]

When Jesus came he talked about a further coming of the Kingdom of God when all evil would be overcome. It was when a later generation of Christians were thinking about this final coming of the Lord that they were advised to remember the patience of God. It is like a person who cannot pay a debt who might say, "Give us more time to pay" and is then allowed a time of grace. So in Second Peter we read of how God allows us time: regard the patience of our Lord as salvation [2 Peter 3:15]. It was a time of false prophets [2 Peter 2:1] saying "Perhaps he is not coming",[2 Peter 3:3-4] but God's time is not like our time (A day could be like a thousand years: 2 Peter 3:8-9 from Psalm 90:4. See also 2 Peter 3:13-15a; 2 Peter 3:10 cf. Amos 5:18-20 and Joel 2:28-32; then Romans 10:13).

There is a story that when St Francis was told that the world would end in fifteen minutes and asked what he would do, he said would he would go on hoeing. He already knew the peace with which it is possible to wait for God when you know the patience of God. "Come, Lord Jesus" [Revelation 22:20-21]

Order of Service - Advent 2 Year B - | DB Home | RCL Resources Index | Questions and Comments |

The Gathering of the People of God

CALL TO WORSHIP

A voice cries out: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. -- Isaiah 40:3
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." -- Isaiah 40:5

Speak to us Lord. As you promised through your prophets Isaiah and John the Baptist, come to us now.
May all the barriers be removed so that we can receive your Word and worship you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

HYMN FOR ADVENT [Laurence Lee Levett-Olson, tune There's a light upon the mountain, AHB 207]

LIGHTING THE ADVENT CANDLE: Second Sunday
[A family group or individual comes to the table and one reads:]
On this second Sunday in Advent we remember John the Baptist who came to announce the coming of the light of the world.
[Two coloured candles are lit (including the one lit last week), and reading continues.]
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
John 1:6-9

THE JESSE TREE* [See below, at the end]
[Children go to classes]

PRAYER OF ADORATION
CONFESSION
DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS ... Your sins are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
DOXOLOGY: Praise to you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
WELCOME AND GREETING EACH OTHER

Service of the Word

INTRODUCTION OF THEME: Prepare for the Coming of One who gives us time.
OLD TESTAMENT Isaiah 40:1-11 Prepare a way for the Lord
[PSALM 85:1-2,8-13 Surely his salvation is at hand]
Choir: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
EPISTLE 2 Peter 3:8-15a while you wait strive to be at peace
GOSPEL Mark 1:1-8 John the baptizer appeared

HYMN 199 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
SERMON
HYMN SA 25 Comfort, comfort all my people

OFFERING AND DEDICATION
SHARING TIME [Notices, celebrations, requests for intercessions]

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
Come, Advent God by Bruce Prewer

Come, Advent God,
and complete the special work of love
which you began in Jesus of Nazareth.
Many are cast down with spiritual needs,
thirsting for the peace of your forgiveness
and the warmth of your healing love.
Come to them with the grace they desperately need.
At evening or midnight, morning or midday,
Come, Lord Jesus.

Many are in despair through physical hardship,
seeking relief from their burdens
and hope in the midst of their cares.
Come to them with the help they desperately need.
At evening or midnight, morning or midday,
Come, Lord Jesus.

Many have minds and souls filled with hatred,
lives shackled by prejudice and terrible obsession
in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, Africa,
South America, Asia, and in our own Australia.
[And this year we recall also the people of East Timor]
Come to them with the conversion they so desperately need.
At evening or midnight, morning or midday,
Come, Lord Jesus.

Your church in all the world also needs saving
from everything that threatens its mission.
Where it is persecuted, keep it faithful.
Where it persecutes, rebuke it.
Where it is seduced by affluence, shake it to its foundations.
Where it is self-satisfied, thoroughly unsettle it.
Where it is weak, poor, and meek, bless it with your joy, peace and strength.
At evening or midnight, morning or midday,
Come, Lord Jesus.

Come, Advent God,
and complete your work in Jesus Christ,
through whom we offer these prayers.

COLLECT FOR THE DAY

Almighty God, who sent your servant John the Baptist to prepare your people for the Messiah: inspire us, the ministers and stewards of your truth, to turn our disobedient hearts to you, that when the Christ shall come again to be our judge, we may stand with confidence before him; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and for ever.

THE LORD'S PRAYER [Front of the Hymn Book]

The Sending Forth of the People of God

HYMN SA 95 Where love and lovingkindness dwell
WORD OF MISSION
BLESSING
DISMISSAL Go in peace to love and serve the Lord:
In the name of Christ. Amen.

* THE JESSE TREE

A bare branched small tree stands in the sanctuary. It bears decorations prepared by the children including leaves with names of members of congregation. Gifts for people in need are placed at the foot of the tree to be distributed before Christmas. The name "Jessie Tree" is a reminder of the father of King David from whom it was promised a new descendant would arise as the Messiah, (Isaiah 11:1-2) A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. {2} The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

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