St John the Evangelist

14/12/2025

OPENING SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE –

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help (Psalm 146)

HYMN-

GREETING

Grace and peace to you from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

COLLECT FOR PURITY

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from whom no secrets are hidden:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

SUMMARY OF THE LAW

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: The first commandment is this:

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

The second is this: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these. Amen. Lord, have mercy.

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

God is love and we are God’s children. There is no room for fear in love. We love because God loved us first.

Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith.

SILENCE

God our Father,
we confess to you
and to our fellow members in the Body of Christ
that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,
and in what we have failed to do.
We are truly sorry.
Forgive us our sins,
and deliver us from the power of evil,
for the sake of your Son who died for us, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

ABSOLUTION

God, who is both power and love,
forgive you and free you from your sins,
heal and strengthen you by the Holy Spirit,
and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord. Amen.

KYRIE
sung by Sue Turner

COLLECT

Stir up our prayers, Lord, and hear us:
that they who are sorrowful and suffering
may rejoice at the Advent of your only-begotten Son;
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end. Amen

PROCLAIMING & RECEIVING GOD’S WORD

FIRST READING
Isaiah 35.1–10,
read by Gill Swales

¹ The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, ² 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.

SECOND READING
James 5.7–10,
read by Andrew Ratnam

⁷ Be patient, 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. ⁸ You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

SILENCE

GRADUAL HYMN

GOSPEL
Matthew 11.2–11,
read by Rev Dcn Ann Wren

Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew, Chapter 11 beginning at verse 2

Glory to Christ our Saviour

² When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to Jesus, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’

⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the 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. ⁶ And 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? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” ¹¹ Truly 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.’

Give thanks to the Lord for his glorious Gospel
Praise to Christ our Lord.

SERMON

Online Reflection 14^th December 2025

We continue our journey through Advent – season of hope and of expectation. We look forward to our celebration, once more, of the coming of the Christ child – Immanuel, God with us. And with this wondrous expression of God’s love for our world and all within it, we hold on to hope; we live now in hope and look forward to that time when all thigs will find their completion in God in His Kingdom reign of love, justice and peace. In the meantime, whilst we hold on to hope – do our best to live day by day in hope – life is not without its challenges, its doubts, its uncertainties and its questioning.

All this is very evident from today’s Gospel reading for this, the 3^rd Sunday in Advent. This reading from Matthew Ch 11 is both interesting and encouraging, as well as perplexing. John the Baptist is in prison and sends some of his followers to ask of Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” (v3) Surely John knows well that Jesus is the One expected of God. After all, he it is who has baptized Jesus saying at the time that he, John, ought to be the one baptized by Jesus. His whole work and ministry has been focused on preparing the way for Jesus, pointing people to Him. So, why now is he asking whether Jesus is the one? And to this, there is no easy answer. Yet whilst the question may be somewhat perplexing now to us reading of it, yet at the same time it is encouraging. John’s question is surely a very human one – a very natural one.

Doubt, questioning and uncertainty are natural to us and not to be shunned or avoided. In fact, it seems to me, that belief, faith, can never be a matter of certainty for which there can be definitive proof, so that doubt is natural and our questioning should be inevitable and, indeed, the way that our faith grows and develops.

Then, to the question asked by John’s disciples, Jesus doesn’t give a direct answer. “Are you the one…?” And Jesus, in effect, says: Open your eyes; look around you; see what’s happening and make your own minds up. Faith is never a matter of compulsion, of obligation. It can only ever be a matter of choice. We come to faith because of our experience of God’s love for us, the realisation that God is real, that He is love, that He loves each one of us, you and me, and wants the best for us, wants to love us into the best that we can be. And that realisation can be a gradual realisation over time, or through some event or series of events – each of us is different and there is no one way to faith. But along the way there will be, and there should be, doubts, uncertainties and questions – just like John the Baptist in prison.

And just as Jesus challenges John and his followers to open their eyes and look around them, to see what is happening, so too, we in our time are challenged to do exactly the same. Whilst there is much in our world that can too easily blind us to the reality of God’s love, we hold on to the hope, to the love, which we experience in the God who makes Himself known to us in the Christ child, born in Bethlehem, alive with us now; our companion and friend in our life’s journey today.

So may the living God, whom we meet in Jesus His Son, accompany us through this season of Advent and on into His future for us.

Amen.

THE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
God from God,
Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one substance with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son,
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

PRAYERS

Intercessions: Sunday, 14/12/2025

Today’s response – from Ps 146 – is Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

While drafting these, what first came to me was from another Psalm: Psalm 9: The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for you.

So, with that in mind, let’s first pray for those closest to us: family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, our community, including here at St John’s; for the needs and wants of those we love, and that we, individually or together may also be people who bring comfort and light to others.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

We pray for the church: for Jim, our Interim Priest, and for all clergy and laity who make St John’s what it is; for other churches and faith groups in this area, in Scotland, and worldwide; remembering particularly those parts of the world – and we’ve been thinking, recently, about Kenya and Nigeria, but elsewhere too – where Christians are under threat.

We ask your guidance and help, too, for the places in the world, including in the UK, where others seek to weaponise the Christian faith against specific groups…and we are grateful that scripture warns us of this.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

We bring before you nations, leaders and governments; civic authorities and all those who wield power. Deliver us from the cruel, the reckless, the incompetent and the corrupt. May they be brought to understand their responsibilities towards all they are engaged to serve, and not to forget that their job is, indeed, to serve. Philippians reminds us that Jesus, ‘though he was God…gave up his divine privileges…took the humble position of a slave…in obedience to God, and died a criminal’s death.’

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

We remember the weak, the sick, the powerless, the afraid. Those threatened by war, disasters, lawlessness, or by those who would spread lies, hatred or unkindness. Those in want: of shelter, of food and water, of basic necessities. Bring them relief and comfort, Lord, and show us how to play our part. We remember especially, from our own Congregation, […] and, in a moment of silence, anyone else particularly on our own hearts. We give thanks for the lives of those who have departed, particularly […] and ask that you comfort, and help us to do likewise, those left behind.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

And lastly we pray for ourselves: for our wants and needs, individually, for St John’s, our communities.

Jesus said, ‘Don‘t be afraid, little flock, for it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom’ So we bring before you our own concerns, however trivial they may seem. We are also advised to pray continuously and repeatedly. We planted bulbs with the children a couple of months ago, as symbols of our long term prayers. Some shoots have started to appear; we don’t know what they will turn out to be, yet, but we give thanks for answered prayer and the encouragement that we can ask for anything.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help.

Merciful Father accept these prayers for the sake of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Do not bring us
to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.

BLESSING

Christ the Son of God gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom; and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be among you and remain with you always. Amen.

HYMN –

DISMISSAL

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord
In the name of Christ. Amen