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FOURTH
SUNDAY IN ADVENT
DECEMBER 18, 2005
As
Christ cares, we care… we care about all people.
We care about worship… We care about learning.
We care about service… We care about You.
We are a community of Faith growing in God’s Grace.
ORDER
OF SERVICE 9:00 AND 11:00 A.M.
9:00 A.M. PRAISE SERVICE
Led By Graceful Praise
8:50
a.m.-Gathering Songs
9:00 a.m.-Greeting and Singing
Lighting the Third Advent Candle
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Children’s Time
Scripture
Sermon
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Offering and Special Music
Singing
Benediction
ORDER OF SERVICE-11:00 A.M.
+
Indicates the people standing
ENTRANCE
Words
of Welcome, Registration of Attendance and Announcements
Bill Davidson
(We encourage all of our worshipers to
sign the registration pad as it is passed along the
pew. Visitors
are also requested to list their addresses. After it has been
passed,
please return it to the center
aisle. If you wish to join this church by letter of transfer or
profession of faith, please check
“wish to join” on the registration pad.)
Gathering Music
Carol
Medley by Brass 5
Call to Worship
Come, Good Christians All
French
Carol
+Opening Prayer 201
Advent
+Processional Hymn 238
Angels
We Have Heard on High
Gloria
Lighting of the Fourth Advent Candle
Cherub and Hosanna Choirs;
Eliza Gaylord, Reader
PROCLAMATION
AND RESPONSE
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Bill Davidson
-Phil Leslie
-Bob Garner
-bonnie dayton and family
Children’s Time
(Children leave for Children’s Church. See * Below)
+Hymn 250
Once in Royal David’s City
Irby
The Gospel Lesson
(N.T. pg. 56)
Luke 1:26-38
Pastor:
This is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
People:
Thanks be to God.
Anthem
Shout the Glad Tidings
Stanton
Shout the glad tidings and joyfully sing, proclaim to the
nations: Messiah is King!
Zion the
marvelous story is telling: The Son of the Highest, how lowly His birth!
The
brightest archangel in heaven excelling:
All joy in proclaiming He now reigns on earth!
Mortals,
your homage be gratefully bringing, and loud let your gladsome hosannas
arise; ye
angels, your full hallelujah
be singing. One chorus resound in the earth and
the skies!
Tell of His coming from nation to
nation, the heartcheering news let the earth echo
round! Tell how to the faithful He
brings full salvation; His people with joy ever
lasting are crowned!
Sermon
Your Gift That’s Given Away
Bill
Davidson
[Sermon manuscripts are posted on the church website the Monday
following the service each week, www.srumc.com]
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord's Prayer
Hymnal, No. 895
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy
will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And
lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom,
and the power, and
the glory, forever. Amen.
Offering of Tithes and Gifts to God’s Work
Offertory Prayer
Offertory
+Doxology
Hymnal, No. 94
Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow; praise God, all creatures here below:
Alleluia!
Alleluia! Praise God, the source of all our gifts! Praise Jesus Christ,
whose power uplifts! Praise the Spirit,
Holy Spirit! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia
SENDING
FORTH
+Hymn 245
The
First Noel
The
First Noel
+Benediction
+Postlude
+Indicates
the people standing
THOSE
SERVING TODAY:
December Altar Guild Chairs: Caty Joppich and Vickie
Sherertz
Cross Bearer: Rachel Wilkinson
Acolytes: Robert Bear and Kyle Glover
Ushers: Captain-William
P. Wallace, Jr., William Brenton, Jr., Prentice E. Moran,
William
Richardson, Joseph L. Austin, Ross Jeffries
The Special Music this Morning is Presented
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
In Loving Memory of David H. Burrows, Jr.
By the Robert G. Burleson Family
*CHILDREN (ages 3 through 1st grade), may
meet the acolyte to recess to Children’s Church. Please ask your child to
line up behind the acolyte who will lead all children out together. After the
worship service,
parents must pick up their child in the Children’s Department; children will
not be allowed to leave the room until their parents arrive.
WELCOME! We're
glad to have all who have joined us for this time of worship. Especially to
our guests and visitors, we welcome you to South Roanoke and to our
fellowship. We invite those who have no church home to make South Roanoke your
church and add your witness to ours.
NEXT
WEEK’S SERVICE (one
only at 10:00 a.m.) will be A Service of Christmas Carols with
selected scripture readings.
TO
DATE WE HAVE RECEIVED $479,223.00 IN PLEDGES toward our 2006 budget. The proposed budget for 2006 is $543,032.00. If you
have not yet had the opportunity to make your pledge you may do so this
morning. You will find pledge cards in the pew racks, and you may place them
in the offering plate as it is passed.
THE
PASTOR’S DISCRETIONARY FUND is
used for special needs that are called to the attention of the pastor. This
fund has been depleted over the past several years and needs some additional
funding. If you would like to contribute please make your check payable to
SRUMC and earmark it “pastor’s discretionary fund”.
WE
WELCOME THE BRASS 5 today who
bring us special music to
celebrate this Christmas Season.
THE CHURCH
OFFICE WILL BE LOCKED on
Sunday mornings! This change has been necessitated by various problems
incurred recently. If you need to use the copy machine, please come by the
church during the week. Also, you may find the outside doors locked when Penny
is alone in the church. There is a buzzer by the 24th street door. Please ring
the buzzer and Penny will unlock the door. We are in the process of looking
into a security system for the church. We’ll keep you informed of changes as
they occur.
ADVENT
ANGEL REPORT—In the
true spirit of the season our congregation is sharing gifts for the children
of the Henry Fork Service Center in Franklin County with estimated value as
follows:
40 “angels” with special needs
- $8,000.00
81 “angels” for single gifts
- $2,835.00
Kroger gift cards for families
$1,000.00
TOTAL
121 “angels” -
$11,835.00
We are grateful to Family Ministries Coordinators, Tallulah Gregory and Janie
Wallace, for our wonderful meal, our Junior High Choir, directed by Joe
Kennedy, and all of our youth for the great program directed by Paula
Coker-Jones, and Dawn Long and Terry Wilkinson for their leadership in the
Advent Angel program.
THE
NEW FLOWER CALENDAR FOR 2006 is
on the bulletin board by the church parlor. If you would like to remember or
honor a loved one by placing flowers on the altar, please sign up on the
calendar as soon as possible to reserve your special date.
THE
YOUTH WILL OFFER A BABYSITTING NIGHT on
December 20 from 6:00-10:00. Cost is $5.00 per child and dinner will be
provided. Activities will include crafts, games and Christmas music. Please
sign up by December 18 to register your child.
“BUILDING
A STRONGER FAITH” will
be the theme for study in the Wimmer Class during January. Based on “The
Great House of God” by Max Lucado, it will be led by Doug Newman as follows:
Jan. 8, “Where Trust Begins,” Jan. 15, “Discovering God’s Will for My
Life,” Jan 22, “Grace: Learning to Live Together,” Jan. 29, (announced
later). All are invited.
THE
CONGREGATION EXPRESSES SYMPATHY AND CONCERN to bonnie dayton and family in the recent death of bonnie’s
brother-in-law.
REMEMBER
OUR SOLDIERS AT CHRISTMAS TIME!
SFC Mark L. Williams
PVT Christopher Davidson
CMATT (MP School)
1 Lake Phillips Drive
AnNumaniyah/Scania
Hampton, VA 23669
APO AE 09331
C.R.e.W. “Children Ready for Worship:
Grades 2-5 What we’re doing this week
God’s People Respond
All God’s Children
Today as you sit in worship, look around you.
What are the ages of those gathered together today to worship God? Do you see
people across the life span? Young and old, we are called by God to be
children of God. Young and old, we are called to gather with the community of
believers in Jesus Christ, to listen to God, and to seek to serve God. Young
and old, we offer our gifts to God and seek to leave our places of worship
renewed in our faith and strengthened to serve the world.
Look at the young around you. Jesus gave us
two portraits of children among his followers in the New Testament. Do you
remember the story of Jesus and the children? You may want to read this story,
which is found in Luke 18:15-17, again. When the disciples scolded peopled for
bringing their children to Jesus, Jesus said, “Let the little children come
to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of
God belongs.” Children belong in the community of faith.
Remember, too, the boy who shared his food.
Turn to John 6:1-13, and read again what happened when those gathered to hear
Jesus were hungry. When the crowd grew hungry and the disciples wondered what
to do, Andrew said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two
fish.” The boy served the community of faith by sharing his food. And
through the power of Jesus, all were fed. Children can play a responsible part
in the life of the community of faith.
How is it in your congregation today? How are
the children included? How do children lead and lay responsible roles when the
people gather to worship God?
As you worship, and after the service, you can
help children feel that they truly belong and truly serve by:
· Speaking
to children, calling them by name.
· Asking
a children to pray with you about a concern you share as Christians in the
same
faith community.
· Pointing
out the things in your sanctuary that help you focus on God and asking a child
to show you the things that help him or
her focus on God.
· Sharing
a hymnal or a Bible and helping each other read or sing the words.
· Thanking
children for the contributions they have made in today’s worship-as Bible
readers, as acolytes, as greeters, as
choir members, or in any other way in which they
provide leadership.
There will be NO nursery on Christmas Day
YOUTH
CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION for
all 6th-12th graders: Thursday, December 22, 7:30-11:30 p.m. in the gym with
music provided by Wiz Enterprises and Dave’s Moonwalk games! (This is a snow
date from December 16 postponement.)
_____________________________
December 18, 2005
4th Sunday in
Advent Your Gift that’s Given Luke
1:26-38
Away
The
best gifts you get are the ones that are given away.
It’s a bit unusual to say this in this season when we are all
anticipating what awaits us next Sunday all wrapped up with love and
surprise intended just for us, but it’s speaks to the very central truth
of the Gospel: the best gifts
you get are the ones that are given away.
Now
I’m not talking about the obvious this morning—gifts that you receive
that you just can’t quite figure out, gifts given to you that you
don’t know quite what to do with, gifts that you may even eventually
re-wrap and give to somebody else at the last minute whom you may have
forgotten about if not this Christmas then next Christmas!
As a matter of fact, the Roanoke Area Clergy Association has an
annual celebration at this time of year where just such gifts received by
the ministers and rabbis in the group are wrapped up and exchanged at the
annual holiday party! I’m
not talking about that kind of gift.
No,
the gift promised to Mary by the angel in the Gospel lesson today is not
that kind of gift. When the
angel declares to Mary:
you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son
it was a shocking announcement, to be sure, to be made to an unmarried
woman, but make no mistake about it, a child is a great gift.
The real blessing of the gift of this child is his intended
purpose:
you will name him
Jesus. He will be great, and
will be called
the Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God will give to him the
throne of his ancestor David.
He will reign over the house of
Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there
will be no end.
The real blessing of this gift to Mary is the
blessing he will be to others. For
him to be a blessing to others Mary must first give him up.
The announcement made
to Mary is soon shared with the whole world when the angels declare
Glory
to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to all.
We hear that announcement and we receive that gift.
We proclaim it with joy this season of the year.
In honor of that great gift to the world we exchange gifts, giving
and receiving in the spirit of the celebration of the gift of the Christ
Child.
But
the best gifts you get are the ones that are given away.
That’s the truth of the Gospel.
That’s the true message of this season.
That is what this great gift of God to the world is all about.
A minister of the church who lived in
Myra
long ago, which
is now the country of
Turkey
, knew this
truth. He not only knew it, he
lived it. He loved children,
especially those in need. Around
Christmastime he would secretly leave gifts at the doorsteps of the homes
of those children who needed the most.
He later became a Bishop of the church and continued his ministry
of concern for the poor and needy and urged the church to always care for
them. In later years Bishop
Nicholas became known as a saint, one whom we now know as St. Nicholas.
You see, Santa Claus has always been a giver.
He has always loved children and has always been especially
concerned for those who don’t have enough, who are poor, needy, lonely,
and hurting. Understand me
when I say to you that Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, is a retired bishop of
the church and once a year he continues his special ministry to children,
taking special care of those who need the most.
He heard the message, he understood the announcement, and he
proclaims it with his life. Having
already received such a great gift in Jesus, God’s Son, he knows the
best gifts you get are the ones that are given away.
A
number of years ago I came across the story by Nancy Gavin of
Baltimore
that expresses
for me the truth of this message. It
is entitled “For the Man Who Hated Christmas.”
It's just a small, white
envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no
identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our
tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike
hated Christmas--oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial
aspects of it--overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute
to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma--the gifts
given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. Knowing
he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters,
ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The
inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at
the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a
non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church, mostly
black. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings
seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp
contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling
new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the
other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed
to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously
could not afford.
Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each
of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with
false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.
Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of
them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential,
but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike
loved kids--all kids--and he knew them, having coached little league
football, baseball and lacrosse.
That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a
local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear
and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas
Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what
I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest
thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years, for each
Christmas, I followed the tradition--one year sending a group of retarded
youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly
brothers whose home had burned to the ground a week before Christmas, and
on and on.
The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last
thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new
toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the
envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the
toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its
allure.
The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to
dreaded cancer. But when Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped
in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing
an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.
Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on
the tree for their dad. The tradition had grown and someday will expand
even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with
wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope .
. . .Mike's spirit, like the Christmas Spirit, will always be with us....
Nancy
Gavin, “For the Man Who Hated Christmas,” quoted by Homiletics Online,
December 22,
1996
The best gifts you get are the ones that are given away.
Just
last Wednesday our son Chris returned to his home in
Hampton
with his wife,
Jessica, and child, Gabriel after a short visit with us.
We shared their Christmas together last Tuesday night because he
flies off to
Camp Casey
,
South Korea
, on December 22
for his first one-year unaccompanied tour of duty with the United States
Army. After they left, as
Cheryl and I began to prepare ourselves for his absence and send him off
in the service of his country the truth came back to us in a most personal
way: the best gifts you
receive are the ones you give away.
In
your bulletin today you will find a small, white envelope.
In the spirit of the announcement of angels, in the spirit of St.
Nicholas, in the true spirit of this season, use this envelope, and give a
gift that’s given away.
William G. Davidson |
