Welcome to our service today. It's all about joy! We will follow the service with communion on zoom at 12.15pm. Please bring your own bread and wine. The link is here. If you are not able to make it on zoom, the words for communion are at the end of this service.
We are sadly postponing our outdoor carol singing this afternoon as the weather is not our friend. We may do some spontaneous carol singing one evening but it will depend on restrictions (particularly if we go into tier 3).
Next week (20th) we will be meeting in person at 11am (which will be a communion service). In the evening we invite you to join with the New Addington Salvation Army at 6pm for their Community Carol Service and follow that by Carol Singing with the New Addington Baptist Church Community on zoom (usual link) at 7pm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFG1vm-oa0o
Please note that all donations for Christmas hampers need to be in by today. Please contact us if you have not been able to drop off.
To see what Mary and Joseph have been up to this week, click on the link below. Some happiness, some shocks and some unexpected plan changes. What will happen next? 2020 is a strange year.
Worship
Steph and Alan light our 3rd Advent Candle and lead us into worship this week.
Songs for Worship - you might want to save a couple for towards the end
Nativity
How are your nativity scenes going?
This week we are colouring in and cutting out the wise men and the camel. If you don't have a copy of the nativity yet you can download them here:
Watch the video to find out more and for some questions to think about as you are adding to your nativity scene
Prayer
In a week where we have suffered loss as a church community, let us pray for victims of Covid-19 and for signs of hope - this prayer is written by Nick Fawcett and can be found here https://nickfawcett.uk/category/the-coronavirus-pandemic/
God of mercy,
hear our prayer for all those whose lives,
during this past year,
have been overturned by Covid-19;
those who have suffered and died,
those who still struggle with the after-effects of the illness;
those who have lost loved ones as a result;
those in our hospitals and health centres
exhausted by the demands made upon them;
those in our nursing and residential homes,
who have been so vulnerable,
yet who have felt so isolated;
those who have developed vaccines and treatments,
or who continue to work upon them,
and those whose job it will be to organise and roll out the vaccination programme;
those in governments and positions in leadership,
seeking to take right decisions for the present and the future;
those whose livelihoods have been undermined,
even destroyed,
by the economic impact of lockdowns and the like;
those facing years of unemployment
and an uncertain future
as a result of the pandemic’s impact.
Our country,
our society,
our world,
is broken –
hurting,
but hoping;
fearful of the future,
yet praying for a miracle.
Hear our prayer,
and, in your love,
pick us up
and put us together again.
Amen.
Word
Claire brings us our Sermon based on Isaiah 61:1-4
Communion
Use these words as you gather scattered in your homes and share bread and wine together. We will use these words in our zoom communion at 12.15pm.
Let us gather at our tables with hope.
Our hope is in God - he is our creator and sustainer
Let us gather at our tables with peace
Our peace is in Christ who is Prince of Peace
Let us gather at our tables and embrace life
Our life is made full as the Spirit feeds us and makes us new
God you are our life - our hope - our beginning and end
You mend the hearts of the broken
You set us free from the things that threaten to overcome us
You release us from darkness and bring us to light
You say - this is the time - this is the year!
You comfort us as we sit in sorrow
You provide for us when we grieve
You crown us with beauty
You turn our mourning into joy
And we wear a garment of praise
We cling to your promises
And wait for a Child to lead us
We raise our hearts towards you
And we proclaim your endless glory.
And we remember Jesus
Who put aside the glory who was his
Who taught us how to welcome your mercy
Who did your will and trusted your love
And gave us hope and reason to be joyful
We remember that on the night before he died he met with his disciples
He took bread and gave thanks and he broke it
Saying
"Take this, all of you and eat. This is my body, broken for you"
Whenever you do this remember me
And when they were finished eating,
He took the cup, gave thanks and passed it to them
Saying
"This is the cup of the new covenant, poured out for you"
Whenever you do this remember me
And so we give thanks (prayers of thanks)
Bread and Wine to be shared
As we look ahead to Christmas
We ask that the joy of the Lord will fill our hearts
As we sit at our own tables
we ask that the joy of the Lord will fill our homes
And we look ahead with hope.
Christ has died
Christ is risen
Christ will come again.
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