Croeso! Bore da! Welcome to you all this first Sunday of Advent . Please do make yourself known to me if you are popping in or if I can help in any way.
+Yn enw'r Tad, a'r Mab, a'r Ysbryd Glan. Amen
+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
Our opening hymn today is: Lo he comes with clouds descending.
Heavenly Father,
we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and have failed to do
what we ought to have done.
We are sorry and truly repent.
For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ
who died for us, forgive us all that is past,
and lead us in his way
to walk as children of light. AMEN
May God our Father,
who by the Lord Jesus Christ
has reconciled the world to himself
and forgives the sins of all who truly repent,
pardon and deliver us from all our sins,
and grant us the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN
There is no Gloria in Advent, so we move directly to the
Collect for the First Sunday of Advent
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. AMEN
Psalm 80 NRSV
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!
3 Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure. 6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
The Gospel of Christ according to St Mark
Glory to you. O Lord.
Mark 13:24-37NRSV 24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. 28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he[a] is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Beware, keep alert;[b] for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
Praise to you, O Christ.
Homily
How do you manage when you are lying in bed and just can't get to sleep. Nothing has worked in relaxing you and settling you down for the night. It's a hugely real problem for so many people both young and old alike. Do you remember when as a child you thought you might wait in bed for the arrival of Father Christmas or maybe the Tooth Fairy. Gosh, the anticipation and slight fear too, what if they would know I am awake and watching out for them? I can remember all too clearly arguing with best friend Beverley when she told me one year she had heard the reindeer bells outside her room and had quickly to force herself to sleep for fear she would see the old man himself. I always thought it better to trust the old man would come, and go straight to sleep. Do you remember what you did as a child? Or maybe what your own children or grandchildren do/ did? Were you confident that whatever you thought you might see, the fear of being found awake was too alarming!
In the Gospel we hear the words “Keep awake.” “Beware be alert!” We hear a parable again which is perhaps designed for a reminder for all to be alert and ready. We hear of images that are catastrophic and echo the Old Testament. It is unlikely that these images of disaster, the failing to show of sun or moon, famine, earthquake and war are in any way factual but rather a copy of the language which was used by the prophets for the day of the Lord. It paints a picture which would have been readily understood by the people, to be a call to wake up to things and not to slide into myths and images of horrendous atrocities.
These are hard words that we recall as we enter into Advent again. They are not the lovely niceties of glittery Advent calendars or the sparkling lights we see in decorated streets and houses. Advent isn’t the just getting ready for Christmas, but a reality call to each and every one of us, where we are today, now and not how we are at Christmas. It is a time of penitence and spiritual growing. It is a doorway to self exploration, making ourselves ready and growing with Christ. Are we ready, alert, are we awake?
I am a great fan of the season of Advent, not the season to have all Christmas stuff ready, though of course we do that. I posted off all my cards and presents this week which have to go away, doing as the Post Office asked for help in being ready with mail to go early. We are certainly filling up the freezer with home-made goodies and have ordered our Christmas food. Sadly, our annual Advent retreat day couldn’t take place because of limitations from the virus and equally our usual Advent discussion group just wouldn’t work with the limitations with people using Zoom. This doesn’t mean we can't be ready, alert and awake to the message of hope again, Christ comes to us and enters our humanity. We are not let down by God who surrounded his people, but rather the opposite, but so often we fail to see that. Our God who promised stands by that promise, but do we as God’s children stand up to that? I have heard so often since we have been in the midst of this corona virus well God and Science have caused all of this – I say no to this, a God of love isn’t interested in causing such pain and devastation. Science as we all know can be a cause of good and hope as in the vaccine but also destruction in the wrong hands.
The Hope for us all is that the God of love enters our humanity and keeps his promises. Our hope for Advent should be to ready ourselves for His coming again and enter into a deeper relationship with God in Christ. Are you awake and alert?
Intercessions and Lord's Prayer
Loving God, who comes in Jesus,
We bring to you all who wait for you, in hope and faith, or in fear and despair.
We pray for all who wait for peace, for justice, for their voices to be heard.
We pray for all who live in fear, of war, violence, abuse or bullying
those whose sufferings are unknown or those who are known to us.
Lord in your mercy Hear our prayer
We pray that our Churches may wait on your guidance, so we may serve you faithfully.
We pray for all who wait for test results, news about their jobs, news of loved ones, or for the coming of a child.
We pray for all who are ill, all who are close to death, and all who watch and wait with them. May we watch and wait with them, be people of peace and justice, and bring hope, comfort and healing, light in the darkness.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
We pray for the bereaved
and for those anniversaries are at this time.
May they rest in peace and rise in glory.
Praying for those who grieve that they may know your peace and support.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
We pray Living Lord for ourselves,
that we might journey this Advent
in a new and positive way and
be ready fully to meet you again in the Christ- child.
Lord in your mercy: Hear our prayer
Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our final hymn this morning is: Hark! a herald voice is calling
Through the shadows of the night
Cast away the dreams of darkness
Christ descends with heavenly light.
’Wakened by the solemn warning,
Let the earthbound soul arise;
Christ, her sun, all sloth dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
Lo, the Lamb, so long expected,
Comes with pardon down from heav’n;
Let us haste, with tears of sorrow,
One and all to be forgiv’n;
So, when next he comes with glory,
And his judgement-day draws near,
Faithful he may find his servants,
Watching till their Lord appear.
Honour, glory, might, and blessing
To the Father and the Son,With the everlasting Spirit,
While eternal ages run.
God of peace,
whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom
and restored the broken to wholeness of life:
look with compassion on the anguish of the world,
and by your healing power
make whole both people and nations;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all now and ever more. AMEN
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Ewch mewn tangnefedd i garu a gwasanaethu'r Arglwydd.
If you would like to donate £5 to the overall work of the 12 churches in the parish, please carefully text: GIVE5 to 70970. Thank you, diolch yn fawr.
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