A Good Start

First Sunday of Advent Year A November 30, 2025 Matthew 24:36-44 A Good Start Prelude Greeting Good Morning to everyone hear, it is good to see you, and I thank God that you were able to make it here safely, also good morning to those who are joining us online. We have changed our platform to youtube. I usually post the service on Facebook later. I am also glad to see you all here, and Glad that through technology – we are able to be united in the spirit of God during this worship service. If you look around, you can tell that it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Well actually it looks like advent – the time of preparation for Christ. Advent is not the count down to Christmas, it is a season within itself. A season for us to be intentional about our relationship to the spirit of love in the world. As you know each of the 4 Sundays of Advent has a theme. The theme for the first Sunday of advent is hope. Hope is not having a positive attitude, it is not finding a positive solution to our own problems. Biblical hope is waiting on God and trusting God to provide. The word wait appears in the OT over a hundred times. In all circumstances, we are encouraged to wait on God. Once again waiting is not standing still – it is anticipation the presence of God in our lives. God is our light when we can’t see in the darkness, that is why we light so many candles in church. Advent Lighting First Reader: The prophet Isaiah calls to us from the past to imagine the future when God’s reign will be fully realized and recognized throughout creation. When that time comes, God “shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). All: Today, we choose to live in hope, believing that the time of God’s reign has come and is coming among us. Second Reader: We light this candle of hope as a sign of our promise to follow the Light as we answer God’s call to transform our hope into reality today and in the days to come. Light the first candle of the Advent wreath. (United Methodist Board of Discipleship) Call to Worship Beloved, once again, we embark on the Advent path that points us to the coming of Jesus. We journey together toward the day that all the earth awaits. We remember the signs and the times that heralded the arrival of the baby Jesus, God Incarnate. We journey together toward the day that all the earth awaits. We tell the stories once again as we learn how to discern the signs and the times, watching for glimpses of God’s here-and-not-yet kingdom among us. We journey together toward the day that all the earth awaits. Come, let us worship God who shines a light to guide us on the path to peace and flourishing for all creation. Come, let us worship as we journey together toward the day that all the earth awaits. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2025 Song O Come O Come Emmanuel UMH 211 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon: “The Gifts God Gives Us” Theme: Spiritual Gifts Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:4–7 (optional) Gather the children Good morning, friends! I’m so happy to see you today. I brought something with me… (hold up a wrapped gift box) Object Lesson: The Gift Box Ask: “Does anyone like getting gifts?” “What kind of gifts do you usually get? Toys? Books? Games?” Those are all great gifts! But today I want to talk about a different kind of gift—one that doesn’t come from a store. God Gives Us Gifts Too The Bible tells us that God gives each of us special gifts—spiritual gifts. These aren’t wrapped in paper, and they don’t need batteries. But they are just as exciting because they help us love God and help other people. Examples of Spiritual Gifts for Kids Ask a few questions and let them raise hands: • “Some of you are really good at helping—that’s a gift!” • “Some of you love to sing or create art—that’s a gift!” • “Some of you are great listeners—that’s a gift!” • “Some of you love to pray for others—that’s a gift!” • “Some of you are wonderful at being kind—that’s a gift!” Each child has something special God put inside them. The Gift is Not for Keeping Now, here’s something different about God’s gifts: They are not for keeping all to ourselves. God wants us to use them to help the church and the world. Just like a flashlight is made to shine, and a pencil is made to write, your gift is made to share. Body of Christ Illustration Hold up the gift box again. “This box is like the church. Inside, God puts different gifts for different people. If everyone had the same gift, it wouldn’t be as special. But when we all share our gifts together—helping, praying, singing, leading—we become the body of Christ.” Closing Thought You might be small, but your gift is BIG. God has placed something important inside you. And when you use your gift, God smiles! Closing Prayer “Dear God, thank you for giving each of us special gifts. Help us discover them, use them, and share them so your love can shine in our church and in our world. Amen.” Responsive Reading (with music) Psalm 122 UMH 845 Passing of the Peace Scripture Matthew 24:36-44 Sermon A Good Start The Post-it Note I hope you had a most meaningful and relaxing Thanksgiving. I did hear of one poor woman who had to patch up a friendship with a co-worker at the office. It seems that Mary was planning her Thanksgiving Day meal. Her in-laws were all going to be there, and she was in quite a tizzy trying to make sure everything turned out perfectly. She had post -it notes everywhere, reminding her of things she needed to pick up and things she needed to do. Her friend Sharon stopped by her desk at lunchtime on Wednesday. “Are you ready for lunch? This is the day you promised to take me out to Appleby’s for my birthday.” “Oh, yes indeed, Sharon!” said Mary as she tried to cover herself for having forgotten Sharon’s birthday. Sharon was a sensitive sort who got her nose bent out of shape at any perceived slight. Mary thought everything was just fine as they got into the car. But then, as she settled into her seat, Sharon, in a very sarcastic voice shouted, “Thanks a lot, Mary!” Mary asked, “What’s wrong now?” Her friend pointed to the post-it note stuck to Mary’s dashboard. It read, “Take out the turkey!” Staff So this is the Sunday where we make the big switch from fall harvest to advent. Thanksgiving was only 3 days ago, but I feel that I have aged so much since then. People picked up their final leaves of the season, we have had one of the biggest snow storms in ages, Wilmington has won the state championship. Eating turkey seems like a distant memory. In three days the world has literally been turned upside down. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, where we start at the end of the story. Matthew 24 is the beginning of the end of Jesus’ story. He has not been crucified yet, he is still alive to give is last lesson to his followers. He warns us to stay woke, to pay attention to life. We don’t know what the future holds, but we know who holds the future. We need to be prepared for the times when God breaks into our normal routines. Jesus ways that you never know when God will catch us off guard and change our lives forever. I think that there is one thing that we hate more that change. That is being caught off guard. I think that is why we spend so much time creating routines, rituals and plans. We don’t like surprises, we want to be prepared for everything that happens to us. We work so hard at creating a world that we understand, and yet life still happens. Being caught off guard is a natural part of life, but we spend billions to avoid it. Everyday the world shifts under our feet just a bit, and we have to choice but to adapt, or better yet, to transform. Every day we have an encounter with God – sometimes a big encounter, most of the time a small encounter. Coming face to face with God is uncomfortable, and it leaves us feeling vulnerable. But each time we meet with God we are changed for the better. Advent is the time when the coffee pot gets overturned. Jesus challenges us to let God enter our lives in new and refreshing ways. Matthew 24 is a warning and a promise. Jesus uses a flood, a kidnapper and a thief to shake us up our of complacency. The flood that caused Noah to build an ark, the kidnapper who took one farmer out of the field and left the other, and a thief who broke into a house in the middle of the night all have one thing in common – they were unexpected. Jesus says that you can’t prevent the unexpected, but you can learn how to respond to it. Jesus advice is to pay attention, and not get so distracted with life that you don’t recognize God knocking at the door. Be Prepared at all Times There was once an absent-minded professor who became so absorbed in his work that he forgot the simplest details. One morning his wife said, "Now Henry, remember, we are moving today. Here, I'm putting this note in your pocket. Don't forget." The day passed by and the man came home to his house. He entered the front door, and found the place empty. Distraught, he walked out to the curb and sat down. A young boy walked up to him, and he asked him, "Little boy, do you know the people who used to live here?" The boy replied, "Sure, Dad, mother told me you'd forget." How often do we become so absorbed in "the little things of this world" that we forget who we are and whose we are and where we are going... Donald L. Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, Resource, 1992, p. 6. There is a story called What is the world like. God and a man are walking down a road. The man asks God, What is the world like? God replies, I cannot talk when I am thirsty. If you could get me a drink of cool water, we can discuss that the world is like. There is a village nearby, go and get me a drink. The man goes into the village and knocks at the door of the first house. A beautiful young woman opens the door. His jaw drops, but he manages to say I need a glass of cool water. Of course, she says smiling. But it is midday. Would you care to stay for some food? I am hungry he says looking over his shoulder. And your offer of food is a great kindness. He goes in and the door closes behind him. Thirty years go by. The man who wanted to know what the world was like and the woman who offered him food have married ad raised five children. He is a respected merchant and she is an honored member of the community. One day a terrible storm comes in off the ocean and threatens their lives. The merchant cries out Help me God. A voice from the midst of the storm says where is my cup of water? I think all of us know What it is like to get so busy with the life in front of us that we forget our relationship with God. TS Eliott says that we get comfortable with living and partly living. Advent is time to reclaim our relationship. A Jewish doctor says that she remembers her relationship with God when she washes her hands to treat a patient. She says a prayer of purification to remind her that she is doing God’s work with her hands. A businessman says that during Christmas he stops by the tree in the hallway of his building, it helps him to get in touch with his connection to the Holy. What are some ways that you can pause in your daily life to give honor to God? • Jesus warns us that it is our routines, rituals and plans to lull us to sleep in the spiritual life. They can rob God of the power to change our hearts. Between the times - Karl Barth o We live between Creation and re-creation, looking backward to what God has done, assured of God’s presence in the current moment, and (Advent!) looking at what God is doing/culminating Kingdom of God Matthew 24 is called apocalyptic literature. There are these stories all throughout the bible. They are stories of how God’s transformation breaks into everyday life. It is popular to talk about these stories as endtime stories. Transformation is unsettling – so we are afraid of it. But in God’s world, for every ending, there is always a new beginning. o Jesus talks about 2 people being in a field and one is taken and one is left behind. In our popular understanding God kidnaps one person and take that person to heaven and leaves the other person behind to go on about their life with no hope of salvation ever. The verbs that get translated “swept away” and “left behind” could have been “hauled off” and “forgiven” which makes much more sense in the context of the rest of this passage But what if we take that popular assumption of left behind and turn it upside down. What if the one left behind and goes on with life gets a chance to realize their sins and pray for forgiveness and learns God’s grace? What if that person gets the chance in life to change their lifesstyyle and they find the true definition of salvation. I don’t believe it is possible to continue to go through life and have no hope, no peace, no light. Life means that God is with us. The bible says that God is a God of the living. My friends, each one of us lives in the shadow of the apocalypse - the dark reality of the end of our time and the end of the world's time. That is the warning of Advent. But there is also good news. There is also the promise of Advent - the promise that in the darkness, in the shadows, in the unpredictable anxiety of our unfinished lives, God is present. God is in control, and God will come again. With each candle we light, the shadows recede a bit, and the promise comes closer. With each candle we light, we are proclaiming that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it. The promise is that wherever there is darkness and dread in our lives, wherever there is darkness and dread in the world around us, God is present to help us endure. God is in charge, and hope is alive. And as long and as interminable as the night seems, morning will come - in God's good time and God's good way. Susan R. Andrews, The Offense of Grace, CSS Publishing Company o “what if this week, as our homework, we take stock of their lives, asking what it is that they most fear about an uncertain future, and then reminding them of the promise that whether or not their immediate fears are realized, we were created for more than fear because Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God whose coming birth we anticipate, has promised to come always to be both with us and for us” (David Lose, Workingpreacher.com) • Charles Dickens story of Ebenezer Scrooge is also a warning tale of taking our everyday life too seriously. We all know the story. Like Dickens’s beloved character Scrooge, the future is never set, but it is always coming. We are left to prepare for the future. Lighting candles in the midst of growing darkness is the Christian way. Not giving into the darkness is the epitome of discipleship. We know not the details of the future. We know not just how dark it may get, but we know that the light of a single candle can hold it off. Let is pray……. Song We’ve a Story to Tell the Nations UMH 569 Prayers of the People In the hushed anticipation of your coming, O Lord, kindle in us the desire to remain awake; that we might be ready for your coming and eager to pray. O God, in days to come, the mountain of your house will be established, and your joy shall reign. We pray for the church (especially…), that you might teach us your ways and that we might walk in your paths. Come, Lord Jesus, and hear our prayer. Out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and you, O God, shall judge between the nations. We pray for our nation, and all nations, that your peace would be manifest in every corner of the earth. Come, Lord Jesus, and hear our prayer. In your Kingdom, O Lord, wolves lie down with lambs and children play with serpents without fear. We pray for the sick, the suffering, and those in distress of any kind (especially…); that you would heal all injuries, comfort all grief, and settle all wrongs. Come, Lord Jesus, and hear our prayer. In your Kingdom, O Lord, even the wilderness and dry land are glad and rejoice. We pray for those who rejoice this week as they celebrate their birthday (especially… and anniversaries…); that they might obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing might flee away. Come, Lord Jesus, and hear our prayer. In the fullness of time, O God, you sent your son to be born of our sister Mary. And his name was Emmanuel: God with Us. We thank you for your Presence with us, and we pray that you might be always present with those whom we love but see no longer. Come, Lord Jesus, and hear our prayer. Come among us, O God, and hear our prayers; so that when your Son Jesus comes among us with great might, and in manger mild, we might recognize his face and his voice, and come to adore him. Amen. Written by Fr. Rick Morley and posted on rick morley, Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “A prison cell (is one) in which one waits, hopes…and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside. (N)ot a bad picture of Advent.” Today we begin the season of Advent, recognizing in some ways how we, ourselves, live behind the bars which can only be opened from the outside. Gratefully, we seek to follow the One who came to set people free. And, when we claim that freedom, we become people who can open the doors for those still bound by fear, poverty, or pain. Our financial gifts today will help keep the ministries of this congregation able to serve those whose lives are restricted (name a particular ministry, or a particular Advent effort of your congregation). Your generosity today may well be the gift which allows someone to know the freeing power of the Holy. Let us receive our morning offering, tithes and gifts. Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, Thank you for all you have given us. Thank you for the ways we’re set free in Jesus, the Christ. Receive now these offered gifts. Help us use them to transform the world as we work to be the strong hands and feet of the Body of Christ, here and now. Open us each day to more ways to give in this season of giving, so we might both make change and BE the change you desire to lean us all toward true freedom. Amen. (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook We do not leave this sanctuary and leave God behind. God’s call to prepare our hearts, our minds, our communities and our world for the coming Christ is clear. May this call be ever before us; guiding us, inspiring us, enabling us to be Christ’s body — his hands, his feet, his heart — in this, God’s world. May the grace, hope, peace and love of God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, be with us all, now and forever. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Terri McDowell Ott) Community Time – Sharing of Joys and Concerns Benediction Advent people, go from this place in the blessing of God who journeys with us, guiding our path as we wait, watch, and work for the day when we beat swords into plowshares and follow the path of peace until God’s kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2025. Additional Illustrations