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Event Series Event Series: 2nd Sunday of Advent – Year C

2nd Sunday of Advent – Year C

8 December All day

Below you will find the Bible readings set for this occasion in the Revised Common Lectionary, with our Australian idiomatic paraphrases of them, plus prayers and sermons based on them.

Bible Readings (paraphrased)

Lections from The Revised Common Lectionary. Copyright 1992 by the Consultation on Common Texts(CCT) P.O. Box 340003, Room 381, Nashville, TN 37203-0003, USA. Used with Permission.

Jerusalem, take off your funeral suit. The time of grief is over!
Dress to the nines in the beauty of God’s glory.

God has given you righteousness as a gift.
Wear it like a full length coat.
God has given you a share of divine glory.
Wear it as a crown.
God will see that every nation on earth
gets an eyeful of your splendour!

Thanks to God, you will gain a name for justice, for peace,
and for reflecting the glory of God.

On your feet, Jerusalem. Climb the lookout.
Scan the horizon. Look who’s coming!
God has given the go ahead to bring home your children.
From every direction they come,
singing with joy because God remembered them.

They were marched away from you on foot
with enemy soldiers driving them ruthlessly.
But when God brings them home,
they will be driven by chauffeurs
with bands playing and ticker tape raining down.

God has even ordered special road works for their coming:
no more dangerous mountain passes or river fords.
A spectacular new freeway
will make travelling a breeze for God’s people.
They’ll be able to come home safely,
enjoying all that God has done.

Even the hot sun won’t bother them,
because God has ordered shady trees to line the way.

God will lead the homecoming procession.
Everyone will return,
singing the praises of God’s mercy and justice.
God’s glorious presence
will light up the road before them.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

The LORD who rules over everything has this to say:

“Look, I am sending my own messenger to get things ready for my arrival. Then, all of a sudden, the Lord you have been looking for will turn up in the temple. You have been longing to see the messenger who will come to put my promises on the table. Well, he’s coming alright. But will anyone be able to cope with him when he does? Will anyone be able to stand firm in his presence?

You see, he’ll be like a bush fire that clears all the debris from the forest floor, or like paint stripper that takes a surface back to bare metal. He will tear through the whole family of priests and burn away the rubbish once and for all, until they shine like pure polished gold. Then they’ll do what they are supposed to do and bring the right kind of offerings to the LORD. That way the offerings of the people of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to God again, just like they were in the past.”

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We sing your praises, Lord God of Israel,
because you have smiled upon us and put things right for us.

From the family of your servant David
you have called forth a hero with the power to save us.
You promised this years ago, in the preaching of your prophets.
You said you would break us loose from the grip of our enemies
and from the traps of those who had it in for us.

You have been true to your word
and honoured the agreement you made with our ancestors.
Way way back, you swore to Abraham and Sarah
that you would snatch us clear of enemy hands
and give us the opportunity to serve you openly,
without having to watch our backs;
to dedicate ourselves totally to you
and to doing what is right for the rest of our lives.

And now you have given us this child.
He will be known as a prophet of the great God.
He will go ahead of the coming Lord,
getting everything prepared.
He will let your people know that you offer salvation
and make it clear that their sins are forgiven.

Our God, your tender and patient love
will dawn on us and light up the world for us.
Even in the darkest hours, in the blackest hell-holes of our world,
your love will break through and illuminate the way of peace.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Every time you Christians at Philippi pop up in my thoughts, I can’t help but thank God for you. It is a real joy to pray for you people and I do so often. Of course I do - you’ve shared so much with us in this new life we’re announcing, and you have ever since day one. It was God who commenced this great work in you, turning the first sod, and one thing I’d bet my life on is that God will stick to the job, without cutting a single corner, so that the completed project is ready for a grand unveiling on the day when Jesus Christ appears.

It is no surprise that I get so carried away about you and hold such a special place for you in my heart. You’ve always been so committed to me, sticking by me through thick and thin. I’ve experienced the generous love of God through you; I did when we worked side by side to present and defend God’s message, and I still do now, locked up here in prison. As God is my witness, I can assure you that I long to be able to show you how much I care for you. Sometimes I feel as though even Jesus couldn’t love you more than I do!

So I’m praying for you, that you may be so full of love that it just pours out in all directions! And I don’t mean sentimental mushy stuff. I’m praying that your love will be the kind that sharpens your senses and puts steel in your backbone so that you can discern what is right and see it through no matter what. With that kind of love you can be sure that when Christ turns up there’ll be no mud sticking to you. Between now and then you’ll have been working together with Jesus like a well oiled machine producing one good thing after another, all bearing the marks of justice and integrity which draw attention to the glory of God’s goodness.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

John, the son of Zechariah, received a message from God in the desert. This happened when Tiberius had been Roman Emperor for fifteen years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea at the time, and Herod the Second held the reins up in Galilee. Herod’s brother Philip had the job in the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and in Abilene, Lysanias was in charge. In Jerusalem, Annas and Ciaphas were jointly holding the office of High Priest.

When he received the message from God, John went up and down the Jordan valley preaching to the people. He called them to be baptised, to completely turn their lives around and receive God’s forgiveness for their toxic ways. The prophet Isaiah had foreshadowed this when he wrote:

“In the desert a voice is shouting:

‘The Lord is coming!
Get the road ready.
Clear the track. Straighten it out for him.

Fill the potholes. Bridge the valleys.
Cut through the obstructions to level the grade.
Replace meandering tracks with a new direct route.
Lay a new surface over the old corrugations.

The Lord is coming to save the world
and everyone on earth will see it happen.’ ”

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Prayers

Let us lift up our hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is indeed right to give you our thanks and praise, O God,
for from your deepest mercy comes our hope of salvation.

In the beginning you began creating the world
and you will bring it to completion at your final appearing.
Through your prophets you promised to save us
from all that would drive us into slavery.

You sent your servant, John,
to prepare the way for your anointed one
by proclaiming a baptism of repentance,
a refining fire to purify your people.
In your child, Jesus, we have seen the dawn of justice,
and the glory of your mercy and righteousness.
When he was crucified
you raised him to new life with the power to save.
Now we eagerly await the glorious day of his appearing,
when all your children will be gathered home,
overflowing with love, joy and the fruits of righteousness
to your glory and praise.

Therefore with .....

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

We give thanks for our hope of salvation
which springs from your deepest mercy.
Like a refining fire, you sent your servant John,
to prepare the way for your anointed one
by proclaiming a baptism of repentance,
to make us pure and blameless before him.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

(Preface reformatted for use apart from communion)

We give you all thanks and praise, O God,
for from your deepest mercy comes our hope of salvation.

In the beginning you began creating the world
and you will bring it to completion at your final appearing.
Through your prophets you promised to save us
from all that would drive us into slavery.

You sent your servant, John,
to prepare the way for your anointed one
by proclaiming a baptism of repentance,
a refining fire to purify your people.
In your child, Jesus, we have seen the dawn of justice,
and the glory of your mercy and righteousness.
When he was crucified
you raised him to new life with the power to save.
Now we eagerly await the glorious day of his appearing,
when all your children will be gathered home,
overflowing with love, joy and the fruits of righteousness
to your glory and praise.

Therefore, with our hearts lifted high,
we offer you thanks and praise at all times
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

©2003 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

In God’s deepest mercy,
we were called to a baptism of repentance,
so that our sins might be forgiven
and we might be pure and blameless
before the coming Christ.

Sisters and Brothers,
  your sins are forgiven;
    be at peace.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Go now and prepare the way for the Lord.
Share in the gospel of God’s grace;
Proclaim salvation and the forgiveness of sins;
Make straight paths for justice and mercy.

And may God complete the good work begun in you;
May Christ Jesus rejoice in your faith and compassion;
and may the Holy Spirit fill your love with wisdom,
and produce in you a harvest of righteousness.

We go in peace to love and serve the Lord,
   In the name of Christ. Amen.

©2000 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net

Sermons

Sermons will open in new tabs from our SYCBaps church website.

  1. Inviting Trouble
    A sermon on Malachi 3:1-4 & Luke 1:68-79 by Nathan Nettleton
  2. Shaping up for the Coming Future
    A sermon on Luke 3:1-6; Malachi 3:1-4 & Philippians 1:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  3. Who can endure Christmas?
    A sermon on Malachi 3: 1-4 & Luke 3:1-6 by Nathan Nettleton
  4. Open Up The Way
    A sermon on Luke 3:1-6 & Malachi 3:1-4 by Nathan Nettleton
  5. Welcoming Fire
    A sermon on Luke 3:1-6; Malachi 3:1-4 & Philippians 1:3-11 by Nathan Nettleton
  6. The Wilderness Way
    A sermon on Luke 3:1-6 & Malachi 3:1-4 by Nathan Nettleton
  7. Silence and a Song
    A sermon on Luke 1:68-79 by Carolyn Francis

Details

Date:
8 December
Series: