Be Strong, Do not Fear

18 December 2013

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: Let Us with a Gladsome Mind

Theme: The Day is Near

Topic: Be Strong, Do not Fear

Reading: Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
   the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly,
   and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
   the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
   the majesty of our God. 

³ Strengthen the weak hands,
   and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
   ‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
   He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
   He will come and save you.’ 

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
   and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
   and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
   the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 

⁸ A highway shall be there,
   and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
   but it shall be for God’s people;
   no traveller, not even fools, shall go astray.
⁹ No lion shall be there,
   nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
   but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
   and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
   they shall obtain joy and gladness,
   and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

Introduction

We know that the Lord is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and sometimes this brings about some elements of fear.  Fear due to lack of understanding of the events themselves; and that God will punish and destroy all evildoers, and that we may for some reasons not measure up to the standard of God.  However, such notions are half-truths.  This is because God, who is rich in mercy, has taken away all our sins through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, making salvation available to everyone, regardless of race, creed, or history.  Christ is God’s strongest message to His creation: a message of hope, joy, peace, and indescribable love.  God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us.  Although according to Scripture, fearful events are linked to the Day of the Lord, God has already provided salvation for us in Christ.  In Jesus Christ, we not only have eternal life but will live in the present time strong and fearless.

Questions/Discussion

1. Discuss some of the erroneous views regarding God’s grace, love and judgment. 

Psalm 103:1-19

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and all that is within me,
   bless his holy name.
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,
   and do not forget all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your iniquity,
   who heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the Pit,
   who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
⁵ who satisfies you with good as long as you live
   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 

⁶ The Lord works vindication
   and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
   his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
   nor will he keep his anger for ever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
   nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as the heavens are high above the earth,
   so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
   so far he removes our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father has compassion for his children,
   so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows how we were made;
   he remembers that we are dust. 

¹⁵ As for mortals, their days are like grass;
   they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
   and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
   on those who fear him,
   and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant
   and remember to do his commandments. 

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
   and his kingdom rules over all.

Romans 6:1-14

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. ¹³No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. ⁷Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ ⁸We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. ⁹We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. ¹⁰And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. ¹³No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

2. What are the lessons for us in Matthew 11:2-11 regarding the Lord’s love and mercy? 

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples ³and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ ⁴Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. ⁶And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ ⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰This is the one about whom it is written, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” ¹¹Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John 3:13-21

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷ ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’ 

 

3. What should be our response towards God’s love for us in Christ?  

Luke 1:47-55

⁴⁷   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 
⁴⁸ for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 
⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name. 
⁵⁰ His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation. 
⁵¹ He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 
⁵² He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly; 
⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty. 
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy, 
⁵⁵ according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

Colossians 2:6-23

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; ¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. ¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. ¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. ¹⁷These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.¹⁸Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, ¹⁹and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. ²⁰ If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, ²¹‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’? ²²All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. ²³These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence. 

James 5:7-10

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. ⁸You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

Having put our faith in Jesus Christ, may we be strong and fear not, for He is with us always.

Closing Prayer (Collect for 3^rd Sunday of Advent)

God of power and mercy, you call us once again to celebrate the coming of your Son.  Remove those things which hinder love of you, that when he comes, he may find us waiting in awe and wonder for him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Let us pray,

God of hope, renew in us the joy of your salvation and make us a living sacrifice to you, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Eucharistic Prayer 3

The Lord’s Prayer

The Breaking of the Bread - 5   Advent

God of promise,

you prepare a banquet for us in your kingdom.

Happy are those who are called

to the supper of the Lamb.

The Communion

The gifts of God for the People of God.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer after Communion

All your works praise you, O Lord.

And your faithful servants bless you.

Gracious God

we thank you for feeding us

with the body and blood of your Son

Jesus Christ.

May we, who share his body,

live his risen life;

we, who drink his cup,

bring life to others;

we, whom the Spirit lights,

give light to the world.

Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us,

so that we and all your children shall be free,

and the whole earth live to praise your name;

through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Blessings - Advent

Be steadfast in faith, joyful in hope,

and untiring in love all the days of your life;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

Thanks be to God.