The Parishes of & Southdean with Ruberslaw Weekly Worship Bulletin Sunday 13 December 2020

Advent 3

Joy Sunday Worship

Call to Worship “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near” Philippians 4:4-5

Lighting of the Advent Candle Today we light the third candle of Advent, the candle of Joy. We look forward in anticipation of the joy of God’s Son Coming into this world once more to break the power of darkness. We remember too, that Joy is a gift that lives in our hearts when we turn to God in faith. God, as we wait for your promise, Give light, give hope, give peace, give joy.

Hymn https://youtu.be/TxSC5WocoOc 1 Praise the One who breaks the darkness with a liberating light. Praise the One who frees the prisoners turning blindness into sight. Praise the One who preached the Gospel, curing every dread disease, calming storms, and feeding thousands with the very bread of peace. 2 Praise the One who blessed the children with a strong yet gentle word. Praise the One who drove out demons with a piercing, two-edged sword. Praise the One who brings cool water to the desert’s burning sand; from this well comes living water, quenching thirst in every land. 3 Praise the one true love incarnate, Christ, who suffered in our place. Jesus died and rose for many that we may know God by grace. Let us sing for joy and gladness, seeing what our God has done. Praise the one redeeming glory. Praise the One who makes us one. Sunday Worship

Prayer Lord of Light, We come to you in days of darkness, seeking your light. We wait, some days patiently, some days not so much, For your light to break into the world again, That it may be restored to the new creation that you have planned. We wait for your light to bring good news to the poor, To give freedom to those bound by the chains of captivity, Both literal and emotional. To comfort those who mourn, For whatever reason, from loss of life to loss of livelihood. Forgive us when we are too impatient, When we wonder at how long we have to wait, forgetting that we too have a role to play in revealing your light to the waiting world. Forgive us when we push ourselves forward at the wrong times And fail to recognise that the role that you have given to each of us in life Is the role that you have chosen for us in this world and is part of your eternal plan Forgive us too, those times when we are too reticent, When we ignore the call that you have made upon us, And convince ourselves we are too insignificant to play any part in the revelation of your glory. Eternal God, in this season of Advent, we journey together, conscious of our past, of our faults and failings, may we rejoice in all that you have done for us. As we continue to prepare for a Christmas like no other, we dedicate ourselves to the path forwards, as we seek to find new ways to make known to the waiting world the true significance of the birth of your son, our saviour, Jesus, We ask for the boldness to continue to assert our place in this changing and troubled world as agents of change, workers for peace, and servants of all. Amen

Readings: Psalm 126 & John 1:19-28 Sunday Worship

Reflection “Who are you?” It was difficult to tell who he was, so that is why they asked. He didn’t look like anyone famous or important so they asked again. “Who are you?” They had heard about him, of course. There were hundreds who had come into the city to say they had been out to see him. So the authorities wanted to know who he was. “Who are you?” Given he lived in the wilderness, wore camel skins and ate locusts wrapped in wild honey, they couldn’t imagine he was anyone significant, yet everyone was talking about him and that made the authorities fright- ened. “Who are you?” Their question wasn’t being answered so they changed it: “Are you the Messiah?” They had heard people say he was. “No, I am not the Messiah!” “Are you Elijah?” “No, I am not Elijah!” “Are you the prophet?” “No, I am not the prophet!” The authorities looked at each other confused, and then at the large following he had. He must be someone! “Come on, give us an answer, who are you?” He looked at the religious folk all dressed in their heavy material sweating under the hot sun, paused and then said: “I am the voice!” They looked even more confused. He went on, “crying out in the wilderness:” They looked at him expecting something clearer. “Make straight the way of the Lord” “Why are you out in the desert then?” They ask because they were getting nothing clear out of him, nothing that made sense so they thought they needn’t be too worried. “Don’t be concerned about me,” he said. Sunday Worship

There was a gasp of relief. “Think about the one who comes after me, whose sandal I am not fit to untie. I am only a witness. He’s already here among you.” And the dread in their stomachs returned.

Hymn https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=8POKmbK5lF4&ab_channel=EveringhamMusic 1 On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry announces that the Lord is nigh. Awake and harken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of kings! 2 Then cleansed be every life from sin: make straight the way for God within, and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ to come and enter there. 3 We hail you as our Saviour, Lord, our refuge and our great reward. Without your grace we waste away like flowers that wither and decay. 4 Stretch forth your hand, our health restore, and make us rise to fall no more. O let your face upon us shine and fill the world with love divine. 5 All praise to you, eternal Son, whose advent has our freedom won, whom with the Father we adore, and Holy Spirit, evermore. Homily Advent is a time of waiting, a time of reflection and preparation for the coming of the Lord. When the fourth century church began to observe Advent, it was as a time of penitence and preparation for Baptism of new Christians at the Feast of Epiphany. In Advent, Christians were more looking forward to, and preparing for, the return of Christ, rather than re -living his previous incarnation. Its observance as a six-week period of penitence and preparation had more in common with Lent than it does for us today. Consequently, the focus of the third Sunday in Advent on Sunday Worship rejoicing and celebration of joy was probably a welcome relief. In our own more contracted observance of Advent, we still turn from looking at the long term promises of the Messiah and preparing our hearts for his Second Coming, to the more joyful celebration of Christ’s birth and his being in the world here and now. We look for signs that the new world order that he promised is already here. Most years, I find that this is the Sunday when Christmas becomes real. It is at this point when I start to examine how ‘Christmassy’ I feel, and prepara- tions of all kinds take on a new urgency. It is this week when typically I find the joy of Christmas kicks in. At the start of this week however, I found that at Christmas was getting closer, my sense of joy was diminishing. For weeks, ministers and congre- gations have been planning how we can bring the news of God’s love to people in different ways, and although daunting there was a sense of ex- citement in rising to the challenge. If anything, we were at risk of over- whelming ourselves with all the new possibilities that could be explored. But as I looked ahead to the content of our online celebrations of Christ- mas, I was painfully aware of how much we will all miss the fellowship and changing atmospheres of our services – from the fun and excitement of the Christmas Eve family celebration to the quiet, contemplative wonderment of Watchnight, and the renewed joy of Christmas Day. As I explored the many, many online offerings of Christmas Carols that have been shared by Christian musicians up and down the country, I will admit to time spent in quiet weeping for all that we will miss, for all that has been lost and for the fact that we still cannot make a joyful noise to the Lord together in person. I did not feel in the slightest bit joyful as I started to think about this week’s worship. On Tuesday evening, our Advent fellowship theme ‘Singing the Story’ ex- plored the role of mothers in the Bible story, through the carol ‘The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came’, and spent some time reflecting on the experi- ence of Mary. We observed that for Mary, the news of an illegitimate preg- nancy was not just an inconvenience that made things a bit tricky for her relationship with Joseph. It was potentially a death sentence - an offence punishable by stoning. Yet Mary’s only question to the angel Gabriel was ‘How can this be?’ She was more puzzled by the biological impossibility of pregnancy than the long-term implications, and once this query had been satisfied, she joyfully accepted the role that God had given her. Sunday Worship

Mary’s response reflects our understanding of joy in a spiritual sense. Earthly joy in terms of feelings of pleasure and happiness may be diffi- cult to find in the midst of a pandemic, but spiritual joy has hidden depths that we find when we reach out to God. The prophet Nehemiah tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength and Paul tells us that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. The joy we seek is not just being happy. It is not based on everything go- ing the way we want it. Joy is based on our being grounded in God's presence, in God's love, in God's activity in our lives. Joy is not the sim- ple pleasure in having something good or doing something good. Joy is deeper. It comes from being in relationship with God and being in com- munity with God’s people. Joy grows when we follow God’s command- ment to love our neighbours as ourselves. And even when we are struggling to feel happiness and pleasure in the everyday, we can still know that deep down God is our joy and strength. In our gospel reading John was asked repeatedly about his identity, but would answer only in terms of who he was not. He was not Elijah; he was not the messiah. When pushed further, he responded he was the one who simply preparing the path. In the grand scheme of the story of Christ’s incarnation, John could potentially have claimed some of the glory for himself. His own birth also involved angel messengers, an un- likely pregnancy, and a father struck dumb, yet John saw that not a something to be boasted of, but confirmation of the God-given nature of his task. In this gospel, John is not even labelled ‘the baptiser’ - he is simply John. Even though he has a ministry in his own right, and is the first prophetic voice in centuries of silence, John asserts that his role is only as a witness to the one who is to come. This year, it may seem hard to rejoice, but no more so than it would have been for Mary at the news of her pregnancy. This year, the need to point the way to the light of the world is needed as much as ever. On those days when happiness is hard to find, remember the words of the Psalm: Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Each of you will have your own experiences of these difficult days; days when you can carry on as if everything is no different, and days when putting one foot in front of the other seems impossible. Each of you will Sunday Worship no doubt have your own ways of coping, as least for most of the time. What has helped me most this past week, has been consciously seeking to find sources of rejoicing; for even just the smallest signs of God’s presence and love can be more uplifting than we can imagine. If we share our experiences with others, we too can be witnesses to the light and help others see reasons to rejoice when they may be struggling. So, this was what brought me sources of joy and rejoicing this week: On Tuesday, the Advent Fellowship brought together a group from across both parishes that would be unlikely to have met in person on a cold December night and we had some very thought provoking discussion and exploration of our faith. On Wednesday, I watched some new carol recordings from a virtual choir made up of Church of members across the country, with British Sing Language signing by Mary, a deaf minister who trained alongside me and who wears the biggest grin, it’s impossible not to smile back at the screen. I’m still sad that we can’t sing but rejoiced that talent and technology has combined to create a wonderful gift that can be used in our Christmas services. Thursday’s post brought the Hobkirk and Southdean Guild newsletter along with the supplementary email, containing happy news and pictures of ba- bies. Good news was of course a source of simple pleasure, but I re- joiced too in the work of those in the Guild who took this task upon themselves in order to keep scattered people in contact with one anoth- er, and to let them know that others cared about them and their lives. I think the most unexpected means of rejoicing came on Friday, when the landlord of The Auld Cross Keys volunteered to play the part of the grumpy Innkeeper in our Zoom nativity. Finally, as I was writing this, a beautiful hand drawn card came in from the pupils of Primary School. None of these things are particularly earth-shattering events but reminded me that the joy of living in relationship with God can be found as much in our everyday living as in the great highs of life. It re- minded me too that it is often the little things that we do in life that can point others in the direction of the big things. So for the remainder of Advent, and beyond, remember that God’s joy can sustain us when all else seems lost. If you have joy, please share it. If you do not have joy, hold on, God promises you that it isn’t far away, and the light that shines in the darkness can never be overcome. Sunday Worship

Prayer Ever loving God, we come before you and give thanks, for all that we are, all that we have and all that we can do. We thanks for the rejoicing of Mary, and of the testimony of John. We praise you for the role you planned for each of them in the coming of your Son, And in their obedience to you, that others might be more receptive to the coming Light. In this, the darkest time of the year, may you guide and sustain us on this difficult road ahead. We ask for the strength to carry your love to a world in pain Even on those days when we struggle to find it for ourselves, and to shine a light into the darkness that too often defines it. On this Sunday when we remember your love, we pray for those who cannot see it, for those who are searching for the comfort of your embrace, but cannot feel it, help us to be like John and guide all your beloved children towards the gift of your grace and the love that we know in you. Remind us that we can bear witness to your light and joy even through the smallest of actions. We pray for your church, at this the busiest time of the year for those who prepare and plan, for those who support and sustain, for those who bake and make, that they will know the thanks of all those whose lives they brighten by their dedication. Help us to know the gift of community, united in your love. This year has been difficult for our community, and for our whole world, We pray for all those affect by disease, those who have lost loved ones, those who have worked harder than they ever thought possible. Grant us the boldness to share your promise of a new life to all those Sunday Worship who are picking up the pieces of lives changed forever. We pray for ourselves, that we may know peace in the midst of this hectic season, that we will find the time to reflect on your place in our lives, and that your love will guide us. Amen.

Hymn https://youtu.be/Qf0pSKuZXTA 1 Christ, whose glory fills the skies, Christ, the true, the only Light, Sun of Righteousness, arise, triumph o’er the shades of night. Dayspring from on high, be near; Daystar, in my heart appear. 2 Dark and cheerless is the morn unaccompanied by thee; joyless is the day’s return, till thy mercy’s beams I see, till they inward light impart, glad my eyes, and warm my heart. 3 Visit, then, this soul of mine; pierce the gloom of sin and grief; fill me, Radiancy Divine; scatter all my unbelief; more and more thyself display, shining to the perfect day.

Blessing Like John, we may not be the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor a prophet, yet we are called to serve God, as part of his graceful family. So send us out, Lord God, to bear witness to your coming Kingdom, and the Son of Light who shines for us all. Amen P u z z l e s

N o t i c e s

Worship 20th December 10.30am Denholm 6.00pm Southdean Due to limited capacity places must be prebooked with the minister. 24 December 3.30pm Family Service on Zoom 11.45pm Watchnight Service YouTube live Lessons & Carols Service available on YouTube from 21st December * Christmas Offerings will be going to the Salvation Army, Hawick Recordings of our worship will be available online from mid-afternoon on Sunday worship on the ‘Hobkirk and Southdean and Ruberslaw’ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC00ztH8Y86E0tiyeFEp2T8w/videos Phone-in to Worship on 01450 484424: local call rates apply. As this is now taken from the recordings of in-church worship, this will now be available from mid-afternoon on Sundays. Advent Fellowship - Tuesdays 15 & 22 December 7-8pm https://zoom.us/j/97261837291?pwd=cGFDdkhjQnVJVEpYQWhkdTNjazFUdz09 Via Zoom and telephone: All welcome Meeting ID: 972 6183 7291 Passcode: 092236 Telephone dial-in:131 460 1196 Ruberslaw Zoom Coffee—Sundays 13th & 27th December 10.45am https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9625537370?pwd=M0ZFSnJNb1JXaW9pZWpVTEVES HZEZz09 Zoom Meeting No: 962 553 7370 Passcode:476194112 Telephone dial-in: 0131 460 1196

Hobkirk & Southdean Fundraising Calendar 2021 - Now Available These feature local scenes and wildlife taken by local amateur photogra- pher Lee Conwell and would make fantastic Christmas gifts. . They are priced at £10; postage an additional £1.50. Please contact Janet Griffiths 860306 Email: [email protected]

United Prayer for Covid19 - once again the Church of Scotland is en- couraging Christians to light a candle and join in prayer at 7pm on Sun- day. This week’s prayer can be found here: https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/2020/scottish-christians- join-in-prayer-on-third-sunday-of-advent

Reverend Rachel L S Wilson Phone: 01450 870874 Mobile: 07889 133348 Email: [email protected]