12/30/2020
Weekly Greeting for December 30, 2020
A New Year's Eve Mini-Service
Hymn: "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10939RLPEQ4
New Year's Eve Dialog:
For everything there is a season:
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted.
A time to break down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
God has made everything suitable for its time.
God has put a sense of past and future into our minds.
God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.
Whatever God does endures forever.
Hymn of Praise: "Angels We Have Heard on High"
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1A5yRUcYw0
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Prayer of the Day:
Eternal Father, you have placed us in a world of space and time, and through the events of our lives you bless us with your love. Grant that in this new year we may know your presence, see your love at work, and live in the light of the event that gives us joy forever -- the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Word:
Revelation 21: 1-6a
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega.
Psalm 8:
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Luke 13:6-9:
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”
Reflection:
At the end of this year 2020, we need reminding that life is filled with different times, different seasons, because I have felt like this fig tree in our lesson. It's been a year that felt unproductive, strange, frightening, and like I've been buffeted by one storm after another. Many others in our world share this view.
We need reminding that God has a new year in mind. God has always been recreating, renewing the earth. Some of the ways that's done seem strange to us, as we do not have the mind of God. Hurricanes, fires, illnesses, they all in spite of the devastation they bring, bring about renewal. Something new arises, where they have been. As we look forward to 2021, I anticipate being able to see what God is recreating and renewing in our world.
In the same way, God is always renewing and recreating his church. I look forward to seeing the new and wonderful things that will happen at Grace, with the shared ministry. God is always renewing us as well, so I encourage you to spend time with our Lord in bible study and prayer; this is the digging around and manure that is spoken of in the lesson. As the new year unfolds, watch, to see what God is doing for you.
We have only to look to our past to see that God has always been with us caring, guiding, encouraging, and renewing us. We have not only this New Year to look forward to but an eternity with our Lord in the new Jerusalem when God himself will be with us .
So I think despite the year that's passing , we can say to one another Happy New Year and know that it will indeed be very good as all that God has made is.
Hymn of the Day: "O God, Our Help in Ages Past"
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVy77bGE9Ho
Prayer:
O God, you have been our help in ages past ,our hope for years to come. As we welcome this New Year, bless us with peace. Fill our days with the light of Christ and lead us on the path of life until we see you in our heavenly home. You live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
