Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Greetings Redeemer family!

December has begun!  The turkey leftovers are almost gone from the fridge.  The oldies stations have officially switched over to 24 hours of Bing Crosby.   Houses are adorned with colored lights and green wreaths are tacked to front doors.  Black Friday may be behind us, but my e-mail box is filled with ads reminding me of how many shopping days are left before that big gift-giving day.

Yet, in all of this hustle and stress, there’s very little to prepare us for the real significance of Christmas.  That is why many churches celebrate the Advent season.  Advent literally means coming, and the season is an opportunity both to remember Christ’s first coming 2000 years ago, and to anticipate Jesus’ coming again in glory.

Here’s something that stuck out to me this week as I pondered Advent: Our God keeps His promises.  His Word is true.  God promised to send a deliverer, and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ.  Christ promised as His ascension to be with us always, and that He would come again to bring His Kingdom in full.  The world is full of double-talk and deception, others often let us down, yet our God never fails.  God was faithful to Israel in spite of her unfaithfulness, and He continues to be faithful to us in the midst of our sin and doubt.

Our call to worship this week comes from Isaiah 11 and reminds us of God’s promise to send a Redeemer.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD – and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;

but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist… the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

One of the most familiar and oldest Advent hymns begins our worship service this week:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here

until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!

Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,

who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height

in ancient times dids’t give the law

in cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free

thine own from Satan’s tyranny;

from depths of hell thy people save,

and give them victory over the grave.

From this song of longing and anticipation, we go to a song that celebrates the abiding love of Jesus.  He promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and He carefully leads us as a good shepherd each and every day.

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
Changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones,
Died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth,
Watcheth o’er them from the throne!

The song “King of Saints” recalls Jesus’ mighty work in saving us from our sins, and calls us to respond in worship and praise.

Jesus Christ, God’s Holy Lamb,

We will laud Thy lovely name;

We were saved by God’s decree,

And all our debt was paid by Thee.

Thou has washed us in Thy blood,

Made us kings and priests to God;

Take this tribute of the poor:

We can’t give less, we can’t give more.

Souls redeemed your voices raise!

Sing your dear Redeemer’s praise;

Worthy Thou of love and laud,

King of Saints, Incarnate God—

Righteous are Thy ways and true;

Endless honors are Thy due;

Grace and glory in Thee shine;

Matchless mercy, love divine.

We for whom Thou once was slain,

We Thy ransomed sinner train,

In this one request agree,

“Spirit, make us more like Thee.”

Our confession of faith this week comes from the Heidelberg Catechism.  In this portion of the catechism, the writers walk through and explain various portions of the Apostles’ Creed.  This portion focuses on the significance of Christ’s incarnation.

Q 35. What do you confess when you say: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary?

A. The eternal Son of God, who is and remains true and eternal God, took upon Himself true human nature from the flesh and blood of the virgin Mary, through the working of the Holy Spirit. Thus He is also the true seed of David, and like His brothers in every respect, yet without sin.

36. Q. What benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?

A. He is our Mediator, and with His innocence and perfect holiness covers, in the sight of God, my sin, in which I was conceived and born.

As we prepare for Communion this week, we will take some time to pray and confess our sins before God, and ask for that forgiveness Christ came to bring:

Heavenly Father, you tell us in your Word that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.  We confess that we have been conformed to this world, rather than be transformed by your Word.  We have allowed ourselves to become cynical, and our cynicism has boiled over with criticism, prayerlessness, and doubts about true joy.  Forgive us for our smallness of faith.  In your mercy, hear us, cleanse us, and transform us, through the finished work of your son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

During Communion, we will sing a recent Advent hymn that focuses on Christ coming to deliver us from sin and guilt.

When love came down to earth

And made His home with men,

The hopeless found a hope,

The sinner found a friend.

Not to the powerful

But to the poor He came,

And humble, hungry hearts

Were satisfied again.

What joy, what peace has come to us!

What hope, what help, what love!

When every unclean thought,

And every sinful deed

Was scourged upon His back

And hammered through His feet.

The Innocent is cursed,

The guilty are released;

The punishment of God

On God has brought me peace.

Come lay your heavy load

Down at the Master’s feet;

Your shame will be removed,

Your joy will be complete.

Come crucify your pride,

And enter as a child;

For those who bow down low

He’ll lift up to His side.

What joy, what peace has come to us!

What hope, what help, what love!

My prayer this week is that you will be reminded of the faithful love of our God, shown in sending His Son to atone for our sins.  Since He has not spared His Son, how much more will He give us every good thing that we need?

Waiting on His Kingdom come,

Tim Sharpe

Worship Director