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Preaching Notes for Nov. 30 to Jan 4

Advent to Christmas 2

December 28 (Christmas 1)

Lections
Luke 2: 41 -52   
       The 'lost' Jesus found in the temple
       the third day
       'Do you not know'
       Obedient to his parents
       Mary's treasure
       He grew in wisdom, experience, and favour.
Psalm 148
       'Praise the Lord' all creations from heavens to oceans
       All creatures and people are called to praise - inclusive!
1 Sam: 2: 18 20, 26
        Samuel at Shiloh serving in the temple.
        Loved by his mother, his parents blessed by Eli
        He grew in stature and favour with the Lord and with men
Col 3:12 -17
        Paul's practical advice to those who would call themselves Christian.
        Dress in love and do everything in the name of Jesus
        Be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, long-suffering,  forgiving, peaceful.

Call to Worship
        Praise the Lord all creatures;
        Praise the Lord all peoples of the earth
        Let every created thing praise the Lord,
        For God's wonderful deeds invite our praise.

Prayer of approach
Generous is your hand, O God, countless gifts and unnumbered kindnesses have been poured out onyour creation. The richness of your love and the grace of your forgiveness have found a focus in the Bethlehem story and its beauty  and simplicity have charmed the generations. With the shepherds we come to kneel and wonder, to celebrate and sing. Meet us here, Lord, and lead us on.

Well fed and replete with remembrance we have resisted the change
that might challenge our comfortable prejudices or demand of us more than we have offered in the past. We have set the incarnation story in history and
ignored the possibility that you might want to reveal it in the present. We
have seen you as the God of yesterday. Meet us here and now, Lord.

The thorns of past hurts we have gathered and held close and our guilt
we have worn like armour - a protective burden. Undo the tangled knots of
our pain, Lord, free us from the gathered pain of the past and show us the
way to peace , reconciliation and love. Set us free in the sunrise of your
love, Lord. Amen

Prayer for others
Lord of the Church, hear our prayers for the people of the earth.

We pray for the Churches that gather in the communities we know. Grant
to their leaders perception and wisdom that they may recognise the needs of
those about them and with a wise and loving concern offer the gospel in ways
that show your love.

We pray for our neighbours in community and remember their special needs;

     those who have suffered disappointments and feel let down;

     those with fresh memories of grief and bereavement,

     those who face difficult decisions that have shaken their confidence and left them with doubts,

     those who seem unable to let go the past and suffer repeatedly as they
relive their hurts, their failures.

Grant to them a vision of your healing hand and the touch of ours, gentle God.

We pray for those who rejoice and shine the light of good cheer on the world's gloom.

     for those who have found new love,

     for those who celebrate with old friends,

     for those with good news to share,

As you looked and saw the world was good help us to see it with your eyes, O
Lord. Amen

Suggested Hymns
                I love to hear the story
                The virgin Mary had a baby boy
                From heaven above to earth I come
                God rest you merry people all

Sermon suggestions
The shadow of the cross extends to the story of the nativity for Luke makes a point of the three days that Jesus is separated from his parents. Writing as he does from the other side of the resurrection, he ensures that his readers are reminded that the story is a whole and the beginning and the end are totally joined.

Many children have been distracted by what they regard as the most important  thing for the moment. Generations of boys have lost track of the time as they became absorbed in some venture or other. Jesus is here a perfectly normal child. He knows he is safe in the temple and he forgets his parents do not know where he is. But having said that Luke reminds us that otherwise Jesus is the model child for his parents. He borrows from 1 Samuel the expression that was familiar to every Jewish household  'he grew in wisdom , experience and favour'.

Mary's treasure: like a collection of baby photographs she holds these experiences as mementoes to be recalled , polished, relived as every mother does. 

Christmas is a time when with family gatherings we have time and opportunity to revisit the treasures of what makes us a family. The events, occasions, disasters and triumphs, the laughter and tears which are the natural stuff of love.

Paul attempts to distil the essential oils of Christian love in his letter to his friends as he remembers them. He recalls that what is great about his time with them, and which reflects the love of God is that store of graces among which he identifies compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, forgiveness and peace. He invites them to dress in the swaddling bands of Christian love.