INTRODUCTION
Stir up your power, and come! The psalmist’s plea in Psalm 80:2 has become familiar to us in the Advent prayers. Isaiah wants God to rip the heavens open. Both cry out for an apparently distant, angry God to show up, to save, to restore. When we hear Jesus describing the coming of the Son of Man with stars falling from heaven, it can sound dire and horrible, not like anything we would ever hope for. But when we really look at the suffering of people God loves, we can share the hope that God would tear open the heavens and come.
Click on either the picture above or the following link to access the December 3, 2023 Live-Stream Worship Service:
The Lessons: (Link to the Readings)
First Reading: Isaiah 64:1-9
This lament comes from a people who have had their hopes shattered. The visions of a rebuilt Jerusalem and a renewed people of God, spoken of in Isaiah 40–55, have not been realized. Instead, the people experience ruin, conflict, and famine. This lament calls God to account — to be the God who has brought deliverance in the past.
Psalm: Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
Let your face shine upon us, and we shall be saved. (Ps 80:7)
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
As the Christians in Corinth await the advent of Jesus, Paul reminds them how the Lord has already enriched them through spiritual gifts and will continue to strengthen them until the
coming day of the Lord.
Gospel: Mark 13:24-37
Jesus encourages his followers to look forward to the day when he returns in power and glory to end all suffering.
Let us pray…
Jesus stir up your power, and come. By your merciful protection awaken us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and keep us blameless until the coming of your new day, for you live and reign with God and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen