WE GATHER IN GOD’S PRESENCE:
Lighting the Candle (Isaiah 9:2, John 12:46): –
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
Jesus said: 46 I have come as light into the world,
so that everyone who believes in me
should not remain in the darkness. –
Let us be mindful of each other as we engage in worship,
those who worship at home
and those who worship in the chapel:
Greeting:
The Lord be with you AND ALSO WITH YOU
We Focus on God Psalm 148
Praise the Lord. HALLELUJAH
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
PRAISE HIM IN THE HEIGHTS ABOVE.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
PRAISE HIM, ALL HIS HEAVENLY HOSTS.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
PRAISE HIM, ALL YOU SHINING STARS.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 LET THEM PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD,
FOR AT HIS COMMAND THEY WERE CREATED,
6 and he established them for ever and ever –
he issued a decree that will never pass away.
7 PRAISE THE LORD FROM THE EARTH,
YOU GREAT SEA CREATURES AND ALL OCEAN DEPTHS,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 YOU MOUNTAINS AND ALL HILLS,
FRUIT TREES AND ALL CEDARS,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 KINGS OF THE EARTH AND ALL NATIONS,
YOU PRINCES AND ALL RULERS ON EARTH,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 LET THEM PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD,
FOR HIS NAME ALONE IS EXALTED;
his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.
14 AND HE HAS RAISED UP FOR HIS PEOPLE A HORN,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.
PRAISE THE LORD. HALLELUJAH
We Sing: TIS 135 ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL
Prayer
O God of creation,
all its creatures
and all peoples of all the nations,
and all those without nationality…
we come in your presence
having stumbled from the darkness of our self-focused ignorance
into the revealed light of Jesus
who directs our attention beyond ourselves to you,
humanity and all of creation and its creatures…
Grant us courage to remain in the light
not only for the sake of our own salvation
but for the sake of your creation
and all who live within it…
To this end we offer our focus and this time,
that we might learn from him
of whom it is written:
he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him…
therefore we pray as our Lord taught us to pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen
WE LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD
Prayer for Illumination(Mark 4)
GRACIOUS GOD,
AS YOUR WORD IS SOWN AMONGST US,
GRANT IT FINDS THE FERTILE SOIL IN OUR HEARTS
THAT WE MIGHT BEAR MUCH FRUIT
TO THE GLORY OF YOUR KINGDOM… AMEN
Scripture
Isaiah 61:10,11
I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the young plant come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption as children. 6 Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
In this is the Word of the Lord WE HEAR AND REJOICE, O LORD
Luke 2:22-40
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons’.
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.’
33 The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:
‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
This is the Gospel of our Lord PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST
Prayer of Confession
God of our salvation
we come confessing that we so easily take so much for granted
when it comes to a deep awareness of what we are saved from,
and what we are saved towards…
Grant us never to be found without the garment of salvation.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
Jesus, light of the nations,
we come confessing that we so easily take so much for granted
when it comes to a true understanding of your redemption
which from the beginning includes your people Israel
and all the nations…
Grant us never to ignore the light of your revelation.
Christ have mercy CHRIST HAVE MERCY
Spirit of adoption,
we come confessing that we so easily take so much for granted
when it comes to a deep appreciation of our adoption as God’s children,
welcomed into the household of God as family, not servants…
Grant us never to think it is not possible to call out, Abba , Father…
Spirit hear us SPIRIT HEAR OUR PRAYER
Declaration of Reconciliation
we read of God’s promise of salvation given through John the Baptist,
when Zechariah said of him:
you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.’
the promise is for the mercy of God to be offered through Jesus the Messiah, in him all sin is forgiven us,
so we say with joy in our hearts THANKS BE TO GOD
Passing the Peace.. as we raise our hands in blessing to those unseen…
The peace of the Risen Lord be with you all AND ALSO WITH YOU.
We Sing: TiS 316 O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
Contemporary Word
(Lectionary Year B – 1st Sunday after Christmas Day)
The term hit me for the first time in a way
I seem not to have noticed before!
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law,
that we might receive adoption as children. 6 Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Gal 4
Perhaps the Romans series prepared me for this realisation,
though the impact of Paul’s statement did not hit me then,
as it did now.
that we might receive adoption as children.
By God’s grace, each and everyone of us is an adoptee!
In my pastoral work I have had occasion to chat with young people, adults even, who learned that they were adopted into the family
they believed they were born into!
For some it was a shock!
For others a non-event…
Often it depended on the when
and the how of the information being passed on.
[I am aware that it is very possible there are people here
who have been adopted or have adopted children themselves;
I am not making definitive statements
about modern adoption practices here,
certainly not how adoption impacts on the person and family concerned;
merely sharing some stories, throwing some ideas around
to help us ground the concept of being adopted by God… ]
Imagine, for example, growing up as the only child
you, your mother and your father…
as you go through your childhood and your teens,
you actually realise your mother’s sister is around a lot,
that you seem to spend a fair bit of time with your auntie,
but all is well, the three adults, your father, mother, and her sister
with yourself go out together, on holidays often…
You mature, marry, have your own children… who become adults…
Over time, your mother whom they know of course as their grandmother,
dies… all grieve her passing, a mother and grandmother is mourned…
your father dies… the rhythm of life!
A father and grandfather is mourned…
Then your auntie dies… in her will she leaves everything,
a quite substantial everything,
to a daughter she gave birth to decades ago…
a daughter the will claims was born on the same day as you were born…
you learn the truth… your Auntie was your biological mother,
your were adopted by her sister and her sister’s husband;
your mother is your biological auntie,
and your auntie your biological mother..
your father remains the adoptive father,
though you of course assumed he was your biological father.
That woman experienced a convoluted few weeks after the will was read..
the main fact which gave her cause for concern, was simply,
why could Auntie… oops mum, still legally Auntie
not have left matters as they stood!
However, I know of people who, without such dramatics,
had their sense of self shaken
when they learned they were adopted…
others who realised that a particular trait
not observable in either mother or father and their extended families,
could be from a biological parent… not an aberration.
I have had to write references for people who wished to adopt children, including those from overseas…
an awesome responsibility as I knew I was not really qualified
to make an assessment of other people’s potential parenting skills,
or the stability of their relationship!
In spite of that reticence,
I recall one instance being asked by a couple
I knew through my community activities,
to be a referee…
against my better judgment I agreed;
I instantly regretted the decision
as the questions asked made me very uncomfortable,
some inner awareness suggested not to support their application;
they were refused approval…
then within two months they conceived… and then again…
Other times I concurred that the couple would be suitable…
Each time, as I worked through the questions,
I still felt very uncomfortable,
mainly because I kept wondering
how others would answer those questions if they were assessing me!
How many of us would be born
if our parents had to go through an assessment
similar to the adoption process
to be approved permission to conceive!
Not that they were bad parents,
but the intrusive nature of the questions
would no doubt have put many off!
I believe the questions were designed,
I am talking late seventies now,
to determine the motive of the couple adopting;
any hint that the request was anything less
than the best interest of the child,
and it was refused…
Motivation proves extremely difficult to discern…
at least in our times.
In Jesus’s time, Paul’s time after that,
adoption was an intentional practice
to achieve specific economic, social, political advancement…
under Roman law adoption had a far legal reach.
It was a well-known practice,
as adoption created the familial relations that Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Tiberias shared.
Adoption was not only a means of establishing inheritance,
it was a tool for creating alliances among powerful families.
Roman law recognized two kinds of adoption:
adrogatio the adoption of a person who was sui iuris, that is,
not under the potestas, or legal power, of another…
and adoptio involving the adoption of someone who was alieni iuris,
or under potestas.
In cases of adoptio, adoption involved the annulment
of the former potestas and the establishment of potestas
under the adoptive paterfamilias…
In both cases, adoption established a radical reconfiguration
of familial relations.
Not only were former familial ties legally erased,
with those under the potestas of the adrogated
coming under the new postestas of the adoptive father,
all former debts and obligations were canceled.
In regard to Roman law and customs,
the adoptee was recognized as the full child of the adoptive paterfamilias. No legal distinction was made
between adopted children and those born to a paterfamilias.
Evidence suggests that Romans adopted both sons and daughters.
Whereas important familial alliances could be established
through the adoption of sons or daughters,
females were unlikely to have been adopted primarily
for the purpose of establishing heirs.[1]
Paul would be familiar with these laws,
at least the general concept of them!
The Hebrew scriptures allowed for other ways to ensure heirs
than through adoption…
e.g. Levirate marriage… remember the stories of Tamar and of Ruth?
Paul would be familiar with these traditions in the stories of the Hebrews.
He might also have recognised other biblical phrases
which functioned as adoption formulae,
and the important biblical narratives which
illustrate the practice of adoption… e.g. Eliezer Genesis 15.4 ff
The Code of Hammurabi (laws 185, 186, and 190),
the Laws of Eshnunna,
and numerous Babylonian and Mesopotamian documents
attest to the common practice of adoption in the Ancient Near East.
In light of such evidence, well-known biblical declarations
attributed to the God of Israel, “You are my son” (Ps 2:7)
and “I will be his Father” (2 Sam 7:14),
as well as specific metaphors employed by biblical writers (Ezek 16:1–7) have been read in the light of the other ancient documents,
as adoption language.
Indeed, biblical writers might have used adoption imagery and language precisely in order to confirm Israel’s legitimacy and right to inheritance.
it seems both Roman practice and Jewish tradition
serve as a good framework for understanding Paul’s references
to huiothesia, that is adoption.[2]
The knowledge of such a Jewish tradition
would fit in with Paul’s dictum that God, being one,
deals with the Jews and Gentiles the same way,
reconciliation through the faithfulness of Jesus,
as we learned from Romans.
Both Jews and Gentiles are invited by God
to be adopted into God’s family
through the work of the Spirit.
Gilbert Meilaender writes to his adopted son, Derek, the following:
But more important, I’ve learned a crucial theological lesson.
We might say that biological parents are, in a way,
obligated to love their children,
while adoptive parents do not act from obligation.
There’s something to that, and—precisely because there is—
we should remember that God
is under no obligation to love us
and does not love us because he must.
We have no claims on God.
We cannot plead the importance of biological kinship
Why, then, does he love us?[3]
We of course learned this last week,
creation is just simply the largesse of God’s love,
its abundance and magnanimity…
God is love, scripture tells us (1John 4.8)
actually, the writer warns us:
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In God we live, and move and have our being…
Paul informs us, Acts 17.28
Our living, whether we acknowledge it or not,
is therefore within the bubble of God’s love.
We can only learn to be grateful that,
because God is love…
God has adopted us as God’s children.
We can only learn to be grateful that,
because God is love…
God, through Jesus, invites us to call on God as ‘Abba’, Father…
This is the ultimate expression of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
as Mark puts it in his opening line…
It matters not if the phrase of Jesus Christ
means ‘concerning Jesus Christ’ or ‘delivered by Jesus Christ’.
Rowan Williams, past Archbishop of Canterbury,
suggests that all theology derives from this one truth…
permission to approach God as Abba:[4]
That newness of prayer is expressed most vividly
by St. Paul in Romans 8 and Galatians 4.
“God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal. 4:6).
Focusing on the spirit of adoption we have received,
we speak to God as daughters and sons,
and so we speak to God as a God who has—through his own freedom—decided not to be remote, but immediate.
God has decided to be our friend—
indeed, the word in Greek can be even stronger: our lover—
the one who really embraces us and is as close as we can imagine.
Very near the heart of Christian prayer
is getting over the idea that God is somewhere
a very, very long way off,
so that we have to shout very loudly to be heard.
On the contrary:
God has decided to be an intimate friend
and to make us part of his family,
and we always pray on that basis.[5]
‘Abba’ is how Jesus approaches God at the moment of his darkest hour
35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground (Mark 14:36)
and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.
36 ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you.
Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’
The new way we talk to God is as Father,
and that is the work of the Spirit of Jesus.
Addressing God as Abba is not merely following Jesus’ example,
but his instructions : (Matthew 6:9)
‘This, then, is how you should pray:
‘“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
It should not surprise us
that Jesus begins his instructions on prayer
by telling us to affirm that we stand
where he stands: “Our Father.”
Everything that follows is bathed in the light of that relationship.
The Lord’s Prayer begins with a vision of a world
that is transparent to God:
“May your kingdom come, your will be done;
may what you [God] want, shine through in this world
and shape the kind of world it is going to be.”
And only when we have begun with that affirmation,
that imagining of a world in which God’s light is coming through,
do we start asking for what we need.
And what do we need?
We need sustenance, mercy, protection, daily bread, forgiveness;
we need to be steered away from the tests
that we are not strong enough to bear.
Origen is one of the early Christian writers
who speak and write about prayer starting from this point.
It seems that all Christian reflection,
all theology worth the name,
began as people realized that because of Jesus Christ
they could talk to God in a different way.
It was the new experience of Christian prayer
that got people thinking,
“If Jesus somehow makes it possible for us to talk to God in a new way, then surely there are things
we ought to be saying and believing about Jesus.”
And so the great exploratory business of theology began to unfold.[6]
Origen was imprisoned in the great persecutions of the 250s
and seems to have died as a result of the torture and injuries
he endured in prison.
He was not just an academic, then, but a witness (Greek martyr)
who carried the cross in his own life and death.
Origen wrote a little book on prayer
which is the first really systematic treatment of the subject
by a Christian.
And one of the questions he asks
is one you probably have asked yourself from time to time:
“If God knows what we are going to ask, why bother to pray?”
Origen has as good an answer as anyone has given:
God knows, of course, what we are going to say and do,
but God has decided that he will work out his purposes
through what we decide to say and do.
So if it is God’s will to bring something about,
some act of healing or reconciliation,
some change for the better in the world,
he has chosen that your prayer
is going to be part of a set of causes that makes it happen.
So you’d better get on with it,
as you and your prayer
are part of God’s overall purpose
for the situation in which he is going to work.[7]
This, you might recognise from our Romans series,
echoes how some scholars today understand Romans 8:28
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,
which could also read:
that all things work together for good to those who love God
These scholars argue rather, that the text allows,
in fact suggests the following:
that in all things God works together
with those who love him to bring about what is good–[8]
The thought is awesome,
adopted into the family of God…
with God as Abba, Father,
and Jesus as brother… (Hebrews 2:11)
Both the one who makes people holy
and those who are made holy are of the same family.
So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.[9]
Called by God to work with God, if you like,
in the family business of changing and transforming
our society and ourselves! AMEN
youtube.com/watch?v=Gx43Y3OY–w(opens in a new tab)
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
We Sing: TiS 235 A MAN THERE LIVED IN GALILEE
We Bring Our offering to God
setting aside our gifts to support the local and wider work of the church
and bless our gifts in an act of praise…
We Share Our Community Life
News and Notices
Prayers of the People
Gracious God,
Lord of space and time,
being both within and beyond them…
We approach you at the close of another year
according to how we measure our life within time;
a year which will be remembered as the Corona virus year!
Lord we pray for all the millions of people
impacted by this pandemic directly
in ways beyond our imagining…
gift them courage and hope wrapped up in your grace.
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for those thrust into the role of caring for,
nursing even, those who become ill,
in most of the world, their family and friends
offering little more than comfort
due to a lack of medicinal supplies and resources.
Stir, through your Spirit, a generosity within the wealthier nations
to provide for the well being of all,
not just the privileged G8 or G20 groups!
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for the health professionals
who provide not just care but intervention;
guide the researchers, strengthen the medical teams;
grace all involved in hospital care,
from Doctors to cleaners, CEOs to junior admin clerks,
paramedical to tea trolley pushers,
with strength and compassion…
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for the leaders of our communities,
and their advisers,
who constantly have to make tough decisions
with economic and social consequences,
affecting the well being of people, young and old…
Grant them wisdom,
and an openness to new ways of societal well-being…
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
We pray for those dear to us as family and friends,
many of those we know continue
with their ill-health struggles day after day;
We pause a moment to name these…
not to bring them to your attention,
for you already know their deepest needs,
but to our own…
- people named aloud or in silence –
Grant them your peace and remind them with us
that we will be welcomed home…
Lord hear us LORD HEAR OUR PRAYER
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ
AMEN
WE GO OUT TO SERVE GOD
We Sing: TIS 230 TO US A CHILD OF ROYAL BIRTH
Sending Out
Go to live as a people
constantly looking for ways to praise God,
eyes open for signs of God’s salvation in everyday life,
enjoying growth in wisdom and grace…
Blessing
May God bless you
dressed in the garment of God’s salvation,
guided by the light of God’s self-revelation in Jesus
welcomed as children and heirs of God
through adoption by the Spirit…
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN
[1] Foskett, M. F. (2006–2009). Adoption. In K. D. Sakenfeld (Ed.), The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 55). Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
[2] Foskett, M. F. (2006–2009). op.cit.
[3] Meilaender, Gilbert, 2003, Christian Century
[4] Williams, Rowan (2014) “In the place of Jesus: Insights from Origen on prayer.” CHRISTIAN CENTURY July 23, 2014
[5] ibid quoting Origen who died in 254, after years of suffering from the injuries he received whilst tortured for his faith.
[6] Williams, Rowan (2014) “In the place of Jesus: Insights from Origen on prayer.” CHRISTIAN CENTURY July 23, 2014
[7] ibid
[8] Robinson, John A.T. 1979 Wrestling with Romans p.105 London: SCM press
Wright, N. T. (2020). God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath (p. 49). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Reflective. (see the sermon for Pentecost 14)
[9] the Greek would only have ‘brothers ’of course.. brothers and sisters provides the inclusive meaning.
Service for Sunday 7th February 2021 – Rev Louis van Laar 
Service for Sunday 9th January 2022, conducted by Mr Geoffrey Webber 
Service for Sunday 28th June 2020 – Rev Louis van Laar 
Service for Sunday 31st October 2021 
