Sunday, December 16, 2012

sermon - "Believing is Seeing", by Pastor Ruth Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, December 2, 2012

December 2, 2012
1st Sunday of Advent
Worship Theme: I Believe In the Sun/Hope
Jeremiah 33:14-16 CEB
1 Thessalonians 3:9-12 GW
Luke 21:25-36 The Message Bible

“Believing Is Seeing”

A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verses 25-36; listen for a word from God to you and me, the people of God.

Good Morning. Well, winter is finally here. We now have snow on the ground. . . the sun is not as hot as it was and it is dark later in the morning and earlier in the evening, Winter is a hard time for me. With the cold and snow sometimes I think it will never end. But I know it will. It has happened this way for so long that even though I may not see the signs of spring, I believe it will happen. I have seen it and so in the seeing I have come to believe.

This believing is seeing thought has also got me thinking about our relationship with our Risen Lord Jesus. Like the Sun, He is always there. Even when the sun doesn’t shine we believe it is still there on those cloudy days. And just the sun, the “Son” of man, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is there even in the dark night of our souls, even when we can’t see the light of day through our pain and sorrow, shining God’s light of compassion and love upon us.

Today, we begin our pilgrimage to the stable. It is the time when we go back to the beginning of our salvation; we go back to the manger stall where love came down from heaven. We go back to the place that God, once again, rolled up His sleeves and became involved with humanity in the form of a child. Sometimes, this seems so incredible it is hard to believe. Especially when we are going through those times of trouble and God seems absent in our lives. As we walk the road to Bethlehem, we are going hear stories from Scripture about the hope that is found through Christ’s presence with us. . .”even when”. . . we can believe even when. . .

The Jeremiah passage from this morning gives us a promise of hope. The Lord will rise up a righteous branch from David’s line. It is a promise that was fulfilled in the form of a baby so long ago. The Israelites put their hope in God. They hoped for a Savoir to free them from their captivity. But the Savior that came not only freed them from their captivity of sin but also frees you and me from that same captivity. They were waiting for a Messiah but the Messiah that came was not one that they expected. The Messiah that came took the world not by storm but by love and compassion. They may not have seen this Righteous Branch but they believed in the promise of God.

From the 1st Thessalonians scripture, Paul Talks about thanking God for the believers in Thessalonica. They prayed that God and the Lord Jesus would guide them. Even without seeing. . . even though imprisoned. . . he believed in the presence of God and Jesus with them. That was Paul’s hope. We find hope in the presence of God and Jesus in our lives just as Paul did.

And then there’s the scripture from Luke I read this morning. Hope! Hope in the one who came, died, rose and conquered! Even though things around are bad, even though things look like it is falling apart, even though it looks like the end is near, there is hope. . . the return of the babe in the manger, our Risen Lord Jesus Christ. Even though we see bad things happening, we can believe that He is coming and in the belief in Him we will see the help that is on the way. What we can be discourage by what we see but our belief helps us see with a new set of eyes. . . eyes that are set on the eternal not on what is temporal.

Today is the 1st Sunday of Advent, the Sunday of Hope. We have a hope within us as we believe in the Son. Just as we believe that the sun is shining, even though obscured by clouds, we can believe that the Son of God, our Risen Lord Jesus Christ shines down upon our lives, even through the time of despair and confusion. . . this is our hope. This is our believing is seeing. And as we believe, we will see the glory of God, through His Son; shine bright in the darkness around us. Believing truly is seeing.
Let us pray. . .

Eternal One, Silence from whom our words come; Questioner from whom our
questions arise; Lover of whom all our loves are hints; Disturber in whom alone we find
our rest; Mystery in whose depths we find healing and ourselves; come near and enfold us
in your presence; restore to us your peace; renew us through your power; and
ground us in your grace. Come, O come, God-with-us. Amen
(adapted from: Ted Loder General Resources)

Amen.

Worship Theme: “I Believe in the Sun/ Hope”
Luke 21:25-36 (The Message Bible)
Jeremiah 33:14-16 (Common English Bible)
1 Thessalonians 3:9-12 (God’s Word Translation Bible)
Call to Worship
Unison Prayer
Candle Lighting Liturgy (GBOD)
Great Thanksgiving for Advent (Alex Joyner, GBOD)
Prayer of Dedication (Adapted from GBOD 2012)
and sermon – “Believing is Seeing”
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
December 2, 2012
First Sunday of Advent


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