Statutory Notice

                                                         The Ecclesiastical Exemption 

                         (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (England) Order 2010

 

Burton Joyce Methodist Church Nottingham (North East)

Meadow Lane, Burton Joyce 

 

 

 

 

The managing trustees of the above building wish to undertake the following work to the chapel, which is listed as being of special architectural or historic interest and/or is in a conservation area.

 

PROPOSED WORKS

Retrospective Listed Building Consent for Reducing Chimney Prior to Sale

 

If you wish to make any comment or objection to these proposals you should write within 28 days to:

 

              The Conservation office

              Central Buildings

              Oldham Street

              Manchester

              M1 1JQ

Sunday 16 January 2022

 

A service of worship to be used at home Sunday 16 January 2022

Prepared by Phil Colbourn, local preacher at Burton Joyce.
Hymns in Singing the Faith (StF)

Call to worship Psalm 36: 1-6

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: there is no fear of God before their eyes. 2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. 3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good. 4 Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.

5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You preserve both people and animals.

Hymn StF 476 - One more step along the world I go

1.One more step along the world I go, One more step along the world I go, From the old things to the new,
Keep me travelling along with you:

Chorus:
And it's from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

2.Round the corners of the world I turn,
More and more about the world I learn;

All the new things that I see
You'll be looking at along with me: Chorus

3.As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me travelling the way I should; Where I see no way to go

You'll be telling me the way, I know:

Chorus

4.Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving though the world is tough;

Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me travelling along with you: Chorus

5.You are older than the world can be, You are younger than the life in me; Ever old and ever new,
Keep me travelling along with you: Chorus

Opening prayer

Lord, our God, we bless you with our full heart. You are joy beyond all joy, peace above all peace, love above and beyond all love. All good comes from you and we praise your name. We praise and adore you. Hear us. Speak to us. Be with us. In Jesus name. Amen

Let’s share the prayer Jesus taught us: Our Father ...

Readings

Isaiah 62: 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her vindication shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendour in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.

Luke 2: 17 - 40

17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of
Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on
him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four.[e] She never left the

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temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Hymn StF 479 -The King of love my shepherd is

1.The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine for ever.

2.Where streams of living water flow, my ransomed soul he leadeth,
and where the verdant pastures grow, with food celestial feedeth.

3.Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, but yet in love He sought me,
and on his shoulder gently laid, and home, rejoicing, brought me.

4.In death's dark vale I fear no ill with thee, dear Lord, beside me; thy rod and staff my comfort still, thy cross before to guide me.

5.Thou spread'st a table in my sight; thy unction grace bestoweth;
and O what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!

6.And so through all the length of days thy goodness faileth never:
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise within thy house for ever.

Reflection Speaking out

There are three things we know about Anna:
she is a prophet; she is very old and she has been waiting a very long time. 

We all need to hear God say: “My grace is sufficient for you” and Anna knew this truth. When she saw Mary with the baby and heard Simeon sing, she knew God had come good.

She was full of gratitude and started to tell everybody about the child.

That’s all she needs: grace, patience, gratitude; the complete set. She is a prophet and she’d found her voice, so she speaks God’s word. Presented with the living Word of God in person, what else can she do but speak?

Psalm 36 begins: I have a message from God in my heart Isaiah 62 begins: For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent

It is a characteristic of God’s people all down through the ages, that they speak. It is not surprising: God spoke the world into being and Jesus is the Word of God from the beginning and at least three of the gifts of the Spirit are specifically speaking; one is prophecy. The gifts are given by the Spirit for a place and time; they don’t have to be once-for-all-time endowments. If God needs a prophet to speak here and now, it might be any one of us.

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Are we ready to speak? Have we found our voice? Do we know what God wants to say? I believe God needs prophets now: to speak truth to power, to speak into existence a new world, to speak new creation. Are we ready?

I’m reminded of the vision of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 where, by the river of grace flowing from under the “throne” of God, are trees whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Perhaps we can share something of that vision; something of God’s new & different Kin-dom.

Hymn StF 272 - From heaven you came

From heaven you came helpless babe enter'd our world Your Glory veil'd
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live

This is our God, the Servant King - He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering Of worship to the Servant King

2.There in the garden of tears
My heavy load He chose to bear His heart with sorrow was torn
Yet "Not my will but Yours", He said

This is our God...

3.Come see His hand and His feet - The scars that speak of sacrifice Hands that flung stars into space To cruel nails surrendered

This is our God...

4.So let us learn how to serve And in our lives enthrone Him Each other's needs to prefer For Christ we're serving

This is our God...

Intercession

Father, we pray for those in need
For those on our minds and in our hearts
For our neighbourhood and local community
For those in positions of power and responsibility
For those who live out your grace in humble obedience
For ourselves, that we may take the next step along the way

Silence

Help us to find our voices and speak your creative word into the void, into the darkness, into the chaos of our world; to speak healing, to speak peace; to speak hope; to speak love; to speak joy. Help us to speak truth without fear or favour; to teach, to encourage, to comfort and to speak light.

Hear our prayers for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

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Hymn StF 355 - Jesus, lover of my soul

1.Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide; Oh, receive my soul at last.

2. Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.

3.Thou, O Christ, art all I want, More than all in Thee I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy Name, Source of all true righteousness; Thou art evermore the same, Thou art full of truth and grace.

4.Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within.

Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart; Rise to all eternity.

Closing prayers

Thank you, Father, for your love that, in Jesus, brings in your new way of doing things. Thank you for the grace which is sufficient and more than sufficient. May we catch and live in your vision. Amen. May we express your desires, pray your prayers, in all our communication, face to

face, on the phone or via social media. In Jesus name. Amen

Blessing

The blessing of God, who makes all things new and gives grace upon grace and love beyond love, be upon you and remain with you, and with all you love, this day and always. Amen.

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Sunday 9 January 2022

 BURTON JOYCE 

COMMUNITY CHURCH

COVENANT SERVICE – Sunday 9 January 2022

Prepared by Rev Richard Byass and adapted by Phil Colbourn

Hymns in Songs of Fellowship (SoF)

Welcome

SoF 879 - Let all the world in every corner sing

We pray

Glory to God the Father, the God of love, who created us, preserves and sustains us. Glory to Jesus our Saviour who, though he was rich, became poor for us. Glory to the Spirit, the Lord and giver of life

God of grace, through your Son you call us into a new covenant. Help us as we draw near in faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Reading - Mark 14: 22-25

The Covenant 

God made a covenant with the people of Israel, renewed in Jesus our Lord, promising new life; such that everyone may be set free from sin and its power and united in love, no longer living for ourselves but for others. We seek forgiveness that we are slow to follow, impoverished in worship, neglectful stewards of creation and tolerant of injustice. 

Lord, have mercy. Lord, forgive

If we confess our sins, God, the faithful and just, forgives, restores and sets us free. Hear this gracious word: Your sins are forgiven. Amen. Thanks be to God

SoF 1205 – Come, now is the time to worship

Come, let us use the grace divine and all, with one accord, in a perpetual covenant, join ourselves to Christ the Lord. Amen

Sisters and brothers, let us again accept our place in this covenant and, with the help of the Spirit, accept God’s purpose for us in this call to love and service. Christ has many services to be done, some easy, others difficult; all requiring that we deny ourselves in Christ.

And so, we make this covenant our own:

I am no longer my own but yours

Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will,

Put me to doing, put me to suffering,

Let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,

Exalted for you or brought low for you,

Let me be full, let me be empty,

Let me have all things, let me have nothing;

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to you,

To serve you as and when you choose

Glory, honour, power and might be yours, O Lord most high!

Prayers of intercession

We pray for your church throughout the world. Pause

Lead all those in positions of authority or influence. Pause

Help anyone who is suffering sickness, grief or trouble. Pause

We hold before you all who have gone to be with you. Pause

Lord, you have helped us in the past, by your grace, grant that we may know you every day and, at last, come to you in your eternal home

We share in saying: Our Father in heaven

Take bread, take wine & in communion combine love, joy & peace with every word divine; and life be yours and life be mine. Amen

SoF 21 - And can it be that I should gain?

Faithful God, so feed, strengthen and guide us in the way of Christ, that we with all your faithful people may come to share in the banquet of your eternal kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The blessing of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you for ever. Amen

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord

In the name of Christ. Amen 

Sunday 2 January 2022

 

January 2nd 2022
A service of worship for use at home Prepared by Ian Wood

Call to Worship

Christmas Day is behind us, but the joy of the Incarnation resides with us always! The Old year is behind us and a New Year is begun

Let the whole earth shout for joy, and everything within, rejoice!
For Light has come into the world, and the darkness will never overwhelm it.

STF 330 Joy to the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiwrmYUXdS8

1Joy 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.

2Joy to the world, the Saviour reigns !
Let all their songs employ ;
while fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

3He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness

and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.

A prayer based on the Lorica of Saint Patrick, circa 377

We are here today
through a belief in the Creator of everything, through a mighty strength:
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

We are here today
in the strength of Christ's birth and baptism,
in the strength of his crucifixion and burial,
in the strength of his resurrection and ascension.

T oday
we have God's might to uphold us, we have God's wisdom to guide us, we have God's eye to look out for us, we have God's ear to hear us,
we have God's word to speak to us, we have God's hand to guard us,
we have God's shield to protect us.

Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Christ with us,
Christ before us, Christ behind us,
Christ in us, Christ beneath us, Christ above us, Christ on our right, Christ on our left,
Christ when we lie down, Christ when we sit down, Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of us, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of us, Christ in the eye that sees us,
Christ in the ear that hears us.

We are here today
through a belief in the Creator of everything, through a mighty strength:
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

A prayer of praise and adoration

Wonderful God, we praise and adore you:
that you came as the living Word to be the voice of the voiceless;
that you came as the Word made flesh to clothe our nakedness;
that you came as the light in the darkness to illumine our hope;
that you came as the Lamb of God to transform our brutality;
that you came from eternity to the earth to heal all creation;
that you came in Jesus as the child of humility and the servant of love, to release Christmas within our hearts.
We praise and thank you.
Amen.

Call to Reconciliation

We know all that God has done for us,
We also know all we could have done for others. Let us now confess to God our failures and frailties.

Prayer of Confession

We could proclaim your name, God of this holy season,
but we spend too much time talking about celebrities.
We could tell others about all your gracious deeds,
but we are more interested in the exploits of our favourite sports personalities
We could let your Word guide our lives, but instead we are swayed by our friends and social media. Forgive us when we forget who we are called to be.

Silence is kept

Assurance of Pardon

In the silence, in the dreams, in the wonder, in the words, God comes to save us and have mercy on us.
We offer our thanks and praise to the One who forgives us. Thanks be to God!

STF 208 Let earth and heaven combine

https://youtu.be/IboTqyWNVoE

1Let earth and heaven combine, angels and all agree,
to praise in songs divine
the incarnate Deity,

our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.

2He laid his glory by,
he wrapped him in our clay ; unmarked by human eye,
the latent Godhead lay ;
infant of days he here became,
and bore the mild Immanuel's name.

John 1 (New Revised Standard Version) The Word Became Flesh

3Unsearchable the love
that has the Saviour brought ;
the grace is far above
both earth’s and angels’ thought : suffice for us that God, we know, our God, is manifest below.

4He deigns in flesh to appear, widest extremes to join ;
and make us all divine :
and we the life of God shall know, for God is manifest below.

5Made perfect first in love,
and sanctified by grace,
we shall from earth remove,
and see his glorious face :
his love shall then be fully showed, and we shall all be lost in God.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him.

11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received

him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”’) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace

and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

StF 504 May the mind of Christ my Saviour

1May the mind of Christ my Saviour live in me from day to day,
by his love and power controlling all I do or say.

2May the word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour,
so that all may see I triumph
only through his power.

3May the peace of God my Father rule my life in everything,
that I may be calm to comfort
sick and sorrowing.

A reflection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7nmPUNdfkM

4May the love of Jesus fill me, as the waters fill the sea ; Him exalting self-abasing
this is victory.

5May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe, looking only unto Jesus
as I onward go.

Katie Barclay Wilkinson (1859–1928)

There are so many themes worth exploring in the Prologue to the Gospel of John it can be difficult to decide just where to focus. I suspect it to be an inexhaustible treasure house, with the potential to inspire hundreds, if not thousands of sermons. But time is limited, so I want to share with you today my thoughts on just two verses which stand out to me as relevant to this time and season.

The first is verse 5: “The light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

I love the confident note of hope in these words. Even in times of difficulty, when it may be hard to see the way ahead, there is hope. One the one hand, it is the declaration of a state of scientific fact: that light is stronger than darkness. At the same time, it is also a promise: even when it seems otherwise, when the newspaper headlines might cause us to despair, the light continues to shine and the darkness can neither overcome nor understood it.

There is a tension within this verse that seems to me to accurately capture the life of faith. We live confident of the promise that light is stronger than darkness, love stronger than hate, and life stronger than death. Yet this truth is not always apparent in what we experience around us, and even when we believe it most confidently, we can still experience difficulties, and at times it seems as if the light is struggling to overcome the darkness.

When friends and family struggle with infirmity or depression; When infections from Covid-19 have reached record levels, and every victory is followed by a new variant to give our doctors and scientists and immunologists fresh challenges, this verse proclaims encouragement.

In the last few days we have heard of the death of Desmond Tutu, a man of great faith, and great wisdom, who spent much of his life fighting against the evils of apartheid. There were times when it seemed that the battle would never be won, but he never gave up hope, and never gave up working. These are some words he wrote:

Goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness;
Life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through Him who loves us.

The other words which cannot be ignored are in verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

The word “flesh” is a word which for Christians may often evoke negative connotations. In my early twenties, I belonged to a house fellowship group, and the lady that ran it seemed pre-occupied with the battle against “the sins of the flesh.” She was so worried about the sinful possibilities of the human body she had a very suspicious, even hostile attitude towards the human body,

towards human flesh. She used to quote from Galatians: “what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit.”

And so when John writes “And the Word became flesh and lived among us” what is he actually saying? The Word, who was with God in the beginning; the Word who is God; the Word became flesh. The Word took human form, with a real body of real flesh, and made himself at home as one of us, flesh and blood the same as us. It is important to stress that God came to earth, not just like one of us but as one of us.

And if we take that seriously, it should warn us against following any versions of Christian spirituality which hold the human body as detestable and make out that the goal of our spiritual journey is to be released from the flesh in order to find some sort of out-of-body spiritual experience.

The God we worship actually became flesh. God honoured the human body by making himself known to us in a human body. And as our gospel reading said, no one has seen God in any other way than in the body of Jesus the Son. When God set out to make himself known to us as fully as possible, God came to us in a human body.

Our image of God begins with a human life, lived with the same human limitations that we all face. When we talk about the power of God, it is not a power that is able to end all violence and hostility at the click of a finger, but a power that is able to keep on loving even when suffering the worst of that violence and hostility. We don’t see a power that somehow magically eliminates hatred and torture, but one which is able to absorb the evil and transform even the most horrendous suffering into the source of hope and salvation for all who suffer under the weight of the sin of the world.

God became one with us, so that we might become one with God. In Jesus, we have not only seen what God is, but what we can become. We have seen human life lived to the full. We have seen the destiny for which we were created: human life lived to the glory of God, full of grace and truth.

True Christian spirituality is about spirit becoming flesh, not about spirit being liberated from the flesh. Everything of consequence in our faith must become incarnate, must take flesh, and be lived out in the here and now in real life bodily ways.

This is well expressed in Howard Thurman’s poem “The Work of Christmas”:

When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart.

Intercessions, with spaces for your own prayers

Circle us, Lord
Circle us with the light of your presence, bright within this dark world Enable us to overcome fear and temptation
Enable us to be victors over sin and despair
Enable us to become that which you would desire us to be.
(Silent prayer)
Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle us with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle our family within the shelter of your outstretched arms Be with them in each moment of their daily lives
Be with them in the decisions that they face
Be with them in their homes and relationships
(Silent prayer)
Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle our families with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle this nation with Incarnate love and hope
May all find within them a desire to listen to the Gospel message May all discover a willingness to understand and respond
May all realise a longing to reach out to the Christ Child
(Silent prayer)
Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle our nation with the light of your presence

Circle us, Lord
Circle this world with the joy of your Salvation Where there is sickness and disease bring healing Where there is hunger and despair bring hope Where there is torture and oppression bring release (Silent prayer)
Lord of creation, Lord of Salvation
Circle this world with the light of your presence

Amen

Our final hymn is fitting at the start of a New Year, assuring us that God is with us now and always will be.

STF 610 Best of all is God is with us

1Best of all is God is with us,
God will hold and never fail.
Keep that truth when storms are raging, God remains though faith is frail.

2Best of all is God is with us,
life goes on and needs are met, God is strongest in our weakness. Love renews, will not forget.

3Best of all is God is with us,
hearts are challenged, strangely warmed, faith is deepened, courage strengthened, grace received and hope reformed.

Blessing

And now may the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate love of the eternal God,
and the encircling fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with you forever more

Amen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig7qfNIeGuQ

4Best of all is God is with us,
in our joy and through our pain, till that final acclamation :
‘life is Christ, and death is gain.’

5Best of all is God is with us
as we scale eternal heights,
love grows stronger, undiminished ; earth grows dim by heaven's lights.

Andrew Pratt (b. 1948) Based on John Wesley's final words.

Christmas 2021

 

Christmas 2021

Christmas services in church have been cancelled

I have added some photos to the Virtual Church page:

-------------------------------

Sadly, for the second year, we are not able to meet in church but here are some glimpses of what it would have been like

Advent 4: Sunday 19 December 2021

BURTON JOYCE 

COMMUNITY CHURCH

with Nottingham North East Circuit 

Advent 4 Sunday 19 December 2021

Prepared by Jan Davies, adapted for Burton Joyce by Phil Colbourn

Hymns from Songs of Fellowship (SoF)

Prayer of approach 

Lord and Father: We to live in a dark world today where evil seems to be in control. This year has been difficult. We join with your people throughout the ages who have cried out to you for deliverance. Give us patience as we wait for your final victory. Amen

Advent Candles: Today we light four candles 

Let’s sing SoF 1419 Light of the World (So here I am)

Prayer: Praise and worship (A Song of Christ’s Glory) 

Christ Jesus was in the form of God, but He did not cling to equality with God. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in our human likeness. Being found in human form, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. 

Therefore, God has highly exalted Him, & bestowed on Him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth & under the earth; & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen

Readings: Malachi 2:17- 3:4; Luke 3:1-6

Hymn SoF 150 Hail to the Lord’s anointed

Sermon: Prepare for Change

In Advent, we traditionally concentrate on the message of John the Baptist. There had been 400 years since there had been a prophet in Israel so, when John the Baptist came preaching in the desert just like an Old Testament prophet, the people knew that there was big change coming. The prophet Malachi was just such an example. 

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had been hauled off to Babylon as exiles. They had been there for approximately 60 years when Babylon was defeated by the Persian Empire and, in the upheaval, a Jewish patriot called Zerubbabel led a hundred families back to Jerusalem where they found everything in ruins. They set about rebuilding the Temple. However, everything was a mess and, to be honest, those who came back were still influenced by foreign gods. 

It was now that the prophets Malachi in Jerusalem and Ezekiel in Babylon preached about great changes to come. They both condemned those who tried to compromise their faith and Malachi warned about thinking that God didn’t care about sin – surely, they had learned that lesson when they were hauled off into exile! Malachi preaches that God is preparing to act in Israel. He has sent Malachi, to warn the people that it will be a time of judgement – they will be refined like gold or silver. Sorting things out will be painful. 

Not long after this, Ezra and Nehemiah lead more exiles to return. The corrupt practices are cleaned away. There is huge opposition and the returning Jews learn to rebuild with a shovel in one hand and a sword in the other. The reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah came as no great surprise, because the people had been warned by Malachi. 

But many Christian teachers see in these words a message for later generations – perhaps ours. Malachi talks about the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. This is usually taken to mean the end of time when God will come in person and cleanse his people. But it is also seen as pointing to the coming of the Messiah who would be both saviour and judge. So, for us, these words look forward to the coming of Jesus as a vulnerable child and also forward to Christ’s second coming. 

We may want to ignore this but God has sent His prophets to prepare us – so we ignore it at our peril! If Christ were to return this week, it would be no good saying: ‘but we didn’t know that was coming’. 

For about 400 years, there were no more prophets, so it was quite a shock when suddenly a prophet, John, arose who said he was coming to prepare the way for the promised Messiah. Momentous changes were coming and people needed to be prepared. How? He preached repentance: only by completely changing our lives can we be ready for the coming of the Christ. They could never say ‘but we didn’t expect that – if we had known, we would have been ready’. 

Do we get any sense that God is moving again now? That He has a message for us? Or do we think that God has not spoken directly to us and so we carry on as though nothing will ever change and judgement is something that only the cranks talk about? 

This is Advent, the season of preparation. What are we preparing for? Each Advent I read an Advent book which takes me through the four weeks and then up to Twelfth Night. I find that this grounds me and it is good to just relax for half an hour and be reminded what all the fuss is about. But there is a second event which we are asked to prepare for – what the prophets called ‘the great and terrible Day of the Lord.’ 

Surely, we should prepare by doing the work God has called us to –Matthew 25: visit the sick, the prisoner, give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger. Simple to understand but hard to get on and do when there is so much call on our time and pockets. But when He comes, we can never say ‘we didn’t expect that – if we had known, we would have been prepared’. 

Meditation and confession: 

Here we are again Lord! It’s the middle of December and I still have a thousand things to do. I feel tired and harassed – I will never be ready. Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like, Lord, to forget it all, opt out, hire a cottage somewhere and sit it out until it’s all over.
But would I miss something important? I should be celebrating: You coming into the world is the greatest event since the creation.

I wonder if it’s worth all the hassle. Every year I say ‘this year it will be different’ but every year it’s the same. I spend too much, eat too much and I’m exhausted by Christmas day. How should we prepare for your coming? What do you think Lord? Forgive us Lord.

Lord, this is a time to celebrate. We, of all people know how much there is to be joyful about. Help us to resist the excesses. To care for the lonely, the homeless and refugee. To find time to stop, be still and worship you the King of Kings and to look forward to your Advent promise to come again in glory and establish your Kingdom of justice and peace forever. Then, we will get the celebrations right. Amen 

Prayers of Intercession: 

Lord of peace; bring peace where there is violence. We bring to you Lord, the people of Yemen, of Afghanistan and of those gathered on the borders of Belarus and Poland both civilians and soldiers. 

In the Darkness 

Let your light shine 

Lord of Justice; bring justice where people live in fear, governments and soldiers impose their will; for the peoples of the Holy Land. May all the communities find ways to live together with justice and peace. 

In the Darkness 

Let your light shine 

Lord of the poor and marginalised; in poverty, hunger, homelessness or suffering, move our hearts to share fairly; for refugees living in terrible conditions in camps; mercy, compassion and practical help. 

In the Darkness 

Let your light shine 

Lord of creation; forgive us for misusing your created world. Give courage to all who work to save the environment; people suffering because of climate change, because of violent floods or wild fires. 

In the Darkness 

Let your light shine 

Lord of healing and wholeness; we bring to you those who are known to us personally who need your healing power............
In the Darkness 

Let your light shine 

Lord of the Kingdom of God, who came, not to condemn but to save, give us courage & wisdom as we bring the message of your love and forgiveness to a needy world. Send us out with your Holy Spirit.
In the Darkness
Let your light shine. Amen 

Hymn SoF 154 Hark the glad sound! The Saviour comes 

Sending out prayer
Lord our God, keep your servants alert and watchful as we await the return of Christ your Son, so that, when He comes and knocks at the door, He may find us vigilant and in prayer. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen