A house divided. / This week’s message focuses on unity in the church in Corinth and how that unity and division relate to us today.

Posted on January 25, 2026January 25, 2026 by John

Worship on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany
10:00 am    January 25, 2026
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist & Welcoming Elder: Lynn Vaughan
Children’s time: Brad     Reader: Saber Fort

Prayer with the Elders: Gracious and loving God, we gather before You in humble gratitude. As elders called to lead, we ask Your presence among us: fill our hearts with Your Spirit, steady our minds, and make us attentive to Your word. Bless those who are weary, heal those who are suffering, comfort those who mourn, and renew hope in the anxious and the discouraged. Grant wisdom to our leaders and servants, guide every prayer and song offered here, and shape our lives to reflect Your love. Forgive our failings, unite us in compassion, and empower us to serve our neighbours faithfully. Bless this time of worship that it may deepen our faith, strengthen our community, and send us forth to live as Your faithful people. In Your holy name we pray. Amen.

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: The Lord is our light and salvation.
P: We will not be afraid.
L: Behold the beauty of the Lord!
P: God will shelter us on any day of trouble and set us high upon a rock.
L: Let God’s people shout for joy!
P: For Christ calls us and claims us as his own.
L: Come and worship in unity and love; let us rejoice together!

Opening praise: This I believe

Prayers of approach and confession

Gracious God, You are our light in the dark and the steady hand that guides us. You are our peace when life is chaotic, and your grace meets us when we fall. You bring healing to weary bodies and hopeful renewal to worn-out hearts. You are love—unconditional, patient, and present. In moments when tears blur our vision and doubts creep in, you send comfort and courage that quiet our fears. You invite us into lives of purpose, asking us to walk the path of justice, speak truth with humility, and choose goodness even when it’s costly. For your steady presence, your patient leading, and the ways you shape us into more loving people, we offer our praise and our gratitude.

Merciful God, You call us into compassion, yet we so often point fingers instead of listening. You teach us peace, but we cling to grudges and build walls between one another. You ask us to trust—to step forward when you call us—but fear and second-guessing keep us stuck. We confess how easy it is to protect ourselves rather than to show up for others. Forgive our smallness, our rush to judge, our unwillingness to be changed. Help us practice mercy in our words and actions. Remind us that unity doesn’t mean uniformity, and that real peace requires honest work and brave humility. Strengthen our hearts so we can take the risks love asks of us: to forgive, to listen, to serve, and to speak truth in kindness. Teach us to live out your justice with compassion, to hold fast to hope, and to trust you more than our anxieties. May our lives reflect your mercy and bring healing to the places we touch. Amen.

Response: Glory, glory hallelujah

Assurance of God’s pardon
God calls to us in love and forgiveness, and welcomes us in with a warm embrace. Hear the good news of the Gospel. Rejoice that in Christ we are forgiven, and be at peace with God, yourself and with each other.

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Jesus we are gathered

Children’s time

There is a legend I want to tell you. It goes like this:

When Alexander the Great was King and set out from Macedonia and Greece to conquer the Mediterranean world, he received a message during one of his campaigns about a soldier of his who was misbehaving in a way that was harming the reputation of all the Greek troops. When Alexander the Great heard about this man, he sent word that he wanted to speak with the soldier in person.

When the young man arrived at the tent of Alexander the Great, the commander asked him for his name.

“My name is Alexander, sir”, came the reply.

Alexander the Great asked the soldier again, “What is your name?”

“Alexander, sir”, came the reply again.

And for a third time, Alexander the Great asked the question, What is your name?”

Now very fearful, the soldier answered a third time, “Alexander, sir”.

And with that, Alexander the Great walked up only inches from the soldier’s face and said, “Soldier, either change your behavior or change your name”.

Matthew 5:16 says, Let your light shine before all people that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. If we call ourselves Christians, Christ’s resurrection is in our hands. If we claim His name as ours, we need to back it up in how we live.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: The church is wherever God’s people (484)

Scripture readings: Isaiah 9:1-14; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Response: Behold the Lamb of God

Message: A house divided.
This week’s message focuses on unity in the church in Corinth and how that unity and division relate to us today.

Imagine a bustling international port city today, think a modern Singapore or Dubai on steroids. Ships from every corner of the empire dock, unloading goods, ideas, and people. Wealth flows in, markets boom, and the population swells rapidly. But beneath the prosperity lies tension: newcomers from dozens of cultures clash over customs, loyalties, and status. Lawsuits are filed constantly, personal freedom reigns supreme, and social hierarchies are rigid; wealthy patrons hold disproportionate power, while the rest scramble for scraps.

That was ancient Corinth in the mid-first century AD. Julius Caesar re-founded the city as a Roman colony in 44 BC, settling it with freed slaves, veterans, and merchants. By the time Paul wrote his first letter (around AD 53–55, perhaps just a decade or so later), Corinth had exploded into a thriving metropolis of perhaps 80,000–100,000 people. Its strategic location on the isthmus saved traders massive time and money. Yet morally and socially, it was chaotic, a melting pot where “anything goes” as long as Caesar got his taxes. The culture prized individual liberty, persuasive speech, and climbing the social ladder. Lawsuits were almost a national sport.

Into this whirlwind stepped the young church. Paul had planted it during his second missionary journey, but reports soon reached him, via “Chloe’s household”, of serious problems. The believers were fracturing. In today’s passage (1 Corinthians 1:10-13), Paul pleads urgently:

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household, have informed me that there are quarrels among you… What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’”

Paul uses the Greek word “schismata” (divisions), like political factions or rival political parties. In Roman society, such cliques were common: align with a powerful patron and gain influence. But Paul says, “Not here. Not in Christ’s church.” As Jesus said, “A house divided cannot stand”.

Why did this happen? Corinth’s culture seeped in. The city was home to elite rhetoricians and teachers who prized eloquent speech, feats of memory, and persuasive power. Sophists—travelling experts in rhetoric—would wow crowds with memorized speeches or entire plays, charging fees to train the ambitious. When Paul arrived, humble and tent-making, refusing patronage money, he didn’t fit the mould. Apollos, by contrast, was eloquent, fervent, and skilled in debate (Acts 18:24-28). Peter (Cephas) had apostolic authority. So the church splintered into personality cults: “Paul’s my guy—he started it.” “Apollos is better—he’s a master speaker.” “Peter’s the real deal.” And some, thinking themselves superior, said, “No, *I* follow Christ alone”. And we might be tempted to say, “Well, what’s wrong with that? Those people get it.” We all follow Christ; that’s Paul’s point. But it seems these folks were doing it arrogantly, still making it “me vs. you.” By saying, “I follow Christ,” they were attempting to stand out and belittle others through their superiority. It’s one of those “I am the REAL Christian” sort of statements.

This wasn’t just preference; it echoed the world’s divisions: rich vs. poor (remember how the wealthy hogged the Lord’s Supper?), status vs. lowly, insider vs. outsider. Old habits die hard. The Corinthians wanted Christ’s benefits without transformation, Christianity as an add-on to their existing loyalties.

Think of the parable of the man who found a priceless pearl. He sold everything to buy it, but imagine he tried to keep his old house, his old job, his old grudges, saying, “I’ll take the pearl, but only if I can hang onto these too.” The pearl’s value demands total surrender. Half-hearted commitment misses the point.

Or consider a modern example: family reunions where old rivalries flare up. One side clings to “our way,” another to “their way,” and soon everyone’s in factions. The gathering that should unite becomes a battlefield. That’s what Paul saw in Corinth, and what can creep into any church.

Paul cuts through it: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” No! The cross unites us under one Saviour. Baptism marks us as one body. The church isn’t a club for favourite preachers or social climbing. It’s the family of God, where we lay down personal agendas for the good of the whole.

I know I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth telling again. Once upon a time, long ago and far away, Otto the Conqueror reigned over his people. Known for his erratic behaviour and brutality, Otto was so busy conquering new territory for his country that he had no time to find a wife. When his advisors became concerned that Otto had not married, and would therefore produce no heir to the throne, Otto commanded his men to find him a suitable wife who was beautiful, intelligent, and a nobleman’s daughter.

And so Sophia was discovered, in a land across the sea. Her father, a convert to Christianity (and a previously self-described “terrible man”), now very much changed and loved by his family and his people, required but one thing. The daughter’s royal husband he said must be a baptized Christian (the faith that took his former behavior away and helped him to become something wholly new). From that he thought, everything else would take care of itself. After meeting with Sophia’s father Otto was oddly struck by his kindness and gentle heart. And after seeing the amazing heart of Sophia and her father, Otto the Conqueror agreed to become a Christian and then Otto set out to marry his bride, accompanied by five hundred of his best warriors who were there as always to keep him safe.

When they arrived (for the baptism and wedding) in Sophia’s land, Otto was promptly baptized—whereupon his loyal warriors demanded that they, too, be baptized. Though most likely born of devotion to the king than Christ, it was a strange yet moving scene. There was only one problem: it was a custom in Sophia’s gentle and peace-loving land that Christian converts could not be professional soldiers (but belong only to the ranks meant for defense). At this news, the warriors doubted they could ever follow their king in Christian baptism.

But when the next morning came, the men told Sophia and Otto’s family, that they were all, every last one, ready to convert. As the story goes… That day, five hundred warriors marched out into the water to be baptized. But before they lowered themselves into the water to fulfill the Christian rite, all of them drew their swords, lifting them high into the air. Those who watched were dumbstruck by the strange and previously unseen spectacle of five hundred dry arms rising up high out of the water, grasping five hundred swords while the men were dunking themselves in the cool, crisp water.

All the warriors were baptized completely, except for their swords and their fighting arms.

You see, the night before, the soldiers had met and talked and debated and finally had decided… they could give all of themselves to this Christ they had heard about… all except for their fighting arms and their swords. These they said, would remain the possession of the state.

The Corinthians had a similar view. They believed that they could hold on to everything they already believed, be unchanged, and yet still be Christians. But you can’t. You can’t be completely unchanged.

We’re not so different. We bring our preferences, our comforts, our “non-negotiables.” We dip into the waters of faith but keep one arm raised, clutching what we won’t release—maybe pride, grudges, materialism, or the need to be right. We want God’s blessings on “our” terms.

Yet Paul urges in Romans 12:1: “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” Wholehearted surrender. No partial immersion.

The church thrives when we choose unity over division: listening more than arguing, serving more than status-seeking, focusing on Christ more than personalities. When we do, the watching world sees something different, not another faction, but one family under one Lord.

Two questions to carry home:

What are you still holding high above the water—refusing to let the cross touch it fully?
What small step this week could you take to heal a division or build unity instead of adding to it?

Let’s pray we all lower that arm, fully immersed in Christ, together as one. Amen.

Song: We are God’s people (472: vss 1,3,4)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving
Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

God — the ground of our life, the presence in every breath and step — we come before you asking for peace, unity, justice, and mercy across this fragile world you’ve given us. We hold before you now people who live day by day under the shadow of war and violence: cities and neighbourhoods where routine has been shredded, families forced apart, children learning fear as if it were normal. We think of places in the headlines where old grievances flare into new suffering and where ordinary life is interrupted by the logic of retaliation. Speak a word of peace into those broken places. Soften hardened hearts, restrain the impulse to escalate, and give leaders wisdom shaped by compassion rather than conquest.

We bring to you those burdened by economic uncertainty: people watching prices climb faster than paychecks, parents deciding which bills to pay, workers who have lost steady work or watched savings evaporate. For small business owners who pour themselves into something only to see it fail, for renters who fear eviction and for those whose dignity is threatened by dependence, pour out your presence. Make creative, just solutions possible — inspire communities to share resources, protect the vulnerable, and rebuild opportunities so people can live with security and hope.

We remember those crushed by discrimination, harassment, and exclusion — students bullied for the way they speak or dress, employees passed over or demeaned, people made to shrink themselves so others will feel comfortable. For anyone made ashamed of who they are or denied basic respect, speak dignity into their lives. Help us dismantle systems and attitudes that normalize contempt. Teach us to listen, to stand with the marginalized, and to act so that every person can walk freely in the truth of their identity.

We lift up those who face illness, chronic pain, delays in care, or the hollow ache of grief. For people waiting for tests and answers, for those who endure disability without adequate support, for caregivers stretched to their limit, we ask for strength, clarity, and tender relief. Let healing — in whatever form it comes — touch bodies and minds. Give endurance where cure is not immediate, consolation where loss is raw, and reliable care for those too often left on the margins.

We pray for people of many faiths and none, seeking dialogue, mutual respect, and cooperation. For congregations and individuals who risk relationship across creed lines, bless those efforts and deepen understanding. Where fear of the other closes doors, open ways of hospitality and shared service so neighbors of different convictions can build the common good together.

We commit before you the whole creation — land, sea, air, and every living thing — wounded by neglect, pollution, and short-term choices. Teach us practical wisdom: to mend the rips in the world’s fabric, to steward resources justly, and to model restraint and care so future generations inherit abundance rather than scarcity. Give us imagination to pursue policies and daily habits that protect what is vulnerable.

Voice a word of peace, dignity, healing, reconciliation, and wisdom into these situations. Embrace us and all your children with a love that moves us from prayer into action: to comfort, to advocate, to repair, and to share abundance. Shape our hands and our decisions so we become instruments of the care and justice you call us to live. Amen.

Song: We are one in the Spirit (471)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go into the world to live out the gift of unity in Christ, eager to serve and open to learn from the Christ who calls us and sets us free. May the love of God, the peace of Christ and unity in the Holy Spirit be yours now and always. Amen

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2026) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

Wonderfully Made Disciples / Question for reflection: Who is this mysterious Servant in Isaiah 49? What’s this talk about being arrows in waiting, and how do we all fit into the picture as faithful people today?

Posted on January 18, 2026January 18, 2026 by John

Worship on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
10:00 am January 18, 2026
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Fionna McCrostie     Welcoming Elder: Shirley Simpson
Children’s time presenter: Vivian Houg     Reader: Gina Kottke

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: O Lord, open our lips,
P: And our mouths shall declare your praise.
L: O Lord, open our eyes,
P: So that we may behold your presence.
L: O Lord, open our ears,
P: So that we may hear your call to follow.
L: O Lord, open our hearts,
P: So that we may offer you worship in love and joy.

Opening praise: Holy Spirit, you are welcome here

Prayers of approach and confession

God, our Creator and Redeemer, your faithfulness endures forever.

You offer us new life in Christ Jesus and call us to follow him.

You challenge us to bring life and hope to the world you love.

In you we find strength and courage to face every challenge.

And so we offer our praise and gratitude to you, O God, with Christ and the Spirit, one God, now and always.

Assured of your loving-kindness we confess to you our sins.

Faithful God, you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost yet it’s hard to recognize when we have lost our way.

We judge too quickly, we cultivate and enjoy being upset, we gossip, and we make weak choices.

We seek the next new thing instead of your gift of new life.

We follow the trends of our culture rather than Jesus’ example.

Wash over us with your cleansing Spirit, and renew our commitment to follow your purposes revealed in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Response: Glory, glory hallelujah

Assurance of God’s pardon

Let us rejoice, for God has put a new song in our mouths! Trust in God’s enduring love and mercy, washing over us every day. Know that forgiveness is yours through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Musical offering: Arise, shine; for your light has come. (Dayspring Singers)

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Jesus we are gathered (514)

Children’s time: Show and Tell

Prayer

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: Teach me, God, to wonder (704: vss 1-3)

Scripture readings: Isaiah 49-1-7 & John 1:29-42

Response: Behold the lamb of God

Message: Wonderfully Made Disciples

Who is this mysterious Servant in Isaiah 49? What’s this talk about being arrows in waiting, and how do we all fit into the picture as faithful people today?

Let me take you back, way back, to a scene that still hurts to imagine. A people crushed by grief. Jerusalem, their heart-city, is in ruins. The temple, where they once felt closest to God, was nothing but rubble and ash. The land? Desolate, silent, like it forgot how to grow anything green. And the real gut-punch: most folks alive right then had never even seen home. They were born in exile, raised on stories of Zion like old family photos that had faded so much you could barely make out the faces. A few gray-haired grandparents might whisper about the day, seventy years earlier, when soldiers dragged them away as little kids. But for everyone else? Home was a myth. A song their parents sang when they were sad.

Then, miracle of miracles, God does what God does: He flips empires like pages in a book. Cyrus the Great became king of Persia. He was beloved and wanted a kingdom with religious freedom. He issued the Cyrus Cylinder. It freed all the exiled from all the nations and allowed anyone who wished to return to their homes. The guy who just steamrolled Babylon issues a decree: “Go home, Hebrews. You’re free.” The people have been in another land for 70 years. As God told them to, the married had families and made careers. Most decided to stay. Only a remnant returned. This was the first wave. A handful. That’s it. But free.

And into this half-return, this lingering ache, the prophet speaks. We’re deep in Isaiah’s “Book of Comfort”, chapters 40 to 55, long, beautiful poems where hope keeps sneaking through the cracks in the tears. The spotlight falls on Zion’s sorrow… and on God’s chosen Servant, the one who will somehow bring glory right smack in the middle of the mess.

This is the second of the four servant songs. This one is written from the servants’ point of view. The servant is portrayed as a prophet of the Lord, specially equipped to restore the nation of Israel. Taken together, the servant songs present a picture of someone whose success will not come by political might or military action but by becoming a light to the nations.

But what’s odd about these passages is that the Servant mentioned here is called “Israel” and yet is and isn’t. It’s a little odd, but Jewish theologians often suggested that this must be a “perfect” or “ideal” version of Israel. The figure is messianic. Some have suggested that the servant is Isaiah the prophet, some claim it’s Cyrus the Great. Christians generally tend to notice that this servant suffers hardship. 500 years before Jesus, this text says that the Servant will be “pierced for our transgressions”, glorifies God, will have a “mission to all nations”, is given a divine calling and anointing, that he fulfills all the promises of Isaiah’s first 48 chapters, is nevertheless “scorned and rejected” and yet brings salvation even when it seems he has done all his work in vain. And he will make a new covenant.

In other words Christians tend to believe that the Servant called “Israel” here is actually Jesus. Of course this is usually because Luke quotes these verses and attributes them to Jesus (Luke 2:32). So does Simeon who blesses baby Jesus at the dedication service. Also so does Paul in Second Corinthians 6:2 who uses the same language of the arrow in the quiver awaiting use. It’s also in Matthew 28 at the Great Commission and John 8.

Like most of the prophecies of the Old Testament, they are fulfilled partially within the Hebrew Bible themselves, Fuller still through Jesus and then completely when Jesus “comes again”. Which means while Jesus is the Servant, so is Israel. Or maybe the other way, while Israel is the Servant, so is Jesus but more fully.

The servant cries,

“Before you were born God had a plan

Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.

He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.”

The servant calls to all the Nations, but for a time was hidden away like an arrow in a quiver, waiting its appointed time and use.

And here’s the wonder of it: the same God who formed and named His Servant in the womb knows you that intimately too. As the psalmist bursts into praise: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14). You weren’t thrown together by chance; you were knit together with awe-inspiring care, hidden perhaps for a season, but crafted for glory.

In verse 3 he proclaims that God’s glory will shine through this servant.. It reads, “You are my servant, in whom I will display my splendor.”

Next in verse 4 is a bit of a downer because the Servant will see much of his work as fruitless. Much like the prophet Jeremiah is told by God to preach and yet also told that no one will listen when he does, the Servant too feels the sorrow of rejection. It says,

⁴But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”

By the next verse the servant is said to return, not just the tiny remnant of Israel back to the homeland but all of it. It says,

^“he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am^[^a^] honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength – “

And then this verse gives one of the most amazing verses I think, in the entire bible.

To a people just returning home, just getting back, just starting to build their gates, to make tents where their homes will someday be, to rebuild their place of worship, to spend time on themselves, God says,
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.”

There isn’t enough glory to God in just returning Israel. The servant will call not just Israel back but much greater than that… all nations.

And so God says,

“I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

⁷This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

Conclusion

So here we are, Dayspring, not in ancient ruins, not waiting for a Persian decree, but right here in Edmonton, in 2026, with our own lingering aches. Maybe your “exile” is the quiet disappointment of prayers that seem unanswered, relationships that stay broken, efforts at work or in ministry that feel like pouring water into cracked jars. Maybe it’s the bigger ache: watching the world spin further from light, wondering if the gospel still has traction in a city that feels more scattered than gathered.

Listen: God looked at a tiny remnant picking through rubble and said, “Restoring Israel? That’s too small a thing.” If rebuilding one nation was too small for His Servant, then surely our small, tidy dreams, my comfortable faith, our cozy congregation, even our personal breakthroughs—are too small for Him, too.

Believe this: Your life, hidden in the quiver or feeling fruitless right now, is part of something explosively bigger. The same God who called His Servant from the womb calls you. The same Servant who felt labor in vain entrusted Himself to the Father, and resurrection followed. Jesus didn’t stop at saving Israel; He became the light that reaches Edmonton, Alberta, and every dark corner of the earth.

So here’s the charge: Stop settling for “small enough.” Entrust your apparent vain labours to the Lord’s hand, your family struggles, your quiet faithfulness, and your fears about the future. Then rise and carry the light. Speak a word of truth that pierces like a sword. Show up for the neighbour who’s never seen “home” in any real way. Give, pray, go, because the mission isn’t too small; it’s cosmic. Salvation to the ends of the earth starts in this room, with people who believe God’s plans are never limited by our ruins. Amen.

Song: The clay-stained hands of love (296)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

God of purpose and promise, we open our hearts to you in prayer, trusting in your mercy to bear the burdens we carry.

We thank you for the work and witness of your Church, bringing your Good News into many lives and situations throughout the earth.

Today we pray for the unity of the church and that where we are divided you will unite us, where our witness has grown weak you will strengthen us where we are in error, you will correct us.

We pray for congregations that are in ecumenical shared ministries, and feeling the renewal of your Spirit.

(Hold a few seconds of silence.)

Guide them with your grace.

We thank you for the healing that comes from your hand, O God, in times of reconciliation when your forgiving love is at work, and in times when pain is eased and grief is comforted.

Today we pray for those whose emotions are raw, for those whose bodies are weakened and for any whose minds are troubled in any way.

(Hold a few seconds of silence.)

Give them hope for new life with you.

We lift to you people around the world who work for justice and unity to prevail in the midst of division:

in nations where conflict has broken out or repression rules,

in places facing poverty, famine or destruction from disaster,

and anywhere racial and ethnic disparities weaken common life.

(Hold a few seconds of silence.)

Send your justice to bring relief and your peace to help understanding prevail.

As the followers of Jesus, give us the courage to unite not only in prayer but also in action for the needs of this world. Strengthen us to work together, despite our differences, so others may see what it means to follow you in Christ’s name.

Song: Brother, sister, let me serve you (635: vss1-5)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go with strength and humility, for you are servants of our Saviour who walks with you. And may the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the friendship of the Holy Spirit bless and sustain you, now and always. Amen.

Response: God to enfold you

Music postlude

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Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

Message: To fulfill all righteousness / Questions for Reflection: Jesus was baptized? Why? What do you think the reason was? Was Jesus seeking forgiveness of sins? Well, no. But why?

Posted on January 11, 2026January 11, 2026 by John

Worship on the Sunday celebrating Jesus’ Baptism
10:00 am      January 11, 2026
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Linda Farrah-Basford     Welcoming Elder: Heather Tansem
Readers: Gina Kottke     Children’s time: Brad

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship:
L: We are called to serve in the name of Jesus, God’s beloved Son,
P: God calls us by name because we are beloved.
L: God calls us to be a light to the nations.
P: We wait for God’s teaching and to learn justice.
L: We are witnesses to God’s goodness and grace who claims and loves us.
P: God’s name be praised!

Opening praise: Bless the Lord, oh my soul

Prayers of approach and confession

Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, on this day we remember the baptism of your beloved Son in the Jordan River, where heaven opened, the Spirit descended like a dove, and your voice declared, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

We approach you with joy and awe, thankful that in Jesus you stepped into our world, identifying with us in our humanity, and inviting us into your divine life.

We praise you for the gift of baptism, by which you claim us as your own beloved children, wash away our sin, and fill us with your Holy Spirit.

Yet, gracious God, we confess that we often forget who we are.

We wander from your ways, gnoring the voice that calls us beloved.

We fail to live as those marked by your Spirit – choosing selfishness over service, division over reconciliation, and fear over faith.

Forgive us, we pray.

Renew in us the grace of our baptism, that we may rise to new life in Christ and walk in the light of your love.

Hear our silent confessions… *(pause for silence)*

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Response: Glory, glory hallelujah

Assurance of God’s pardon

Friends, hear the good news from Scripture.

In Acts we hear that “everyone who believes in [Jesus] receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” And in the waters of baptism, God declares over us what was declared over Jesus: You are my beloved child; with you I am well pleased.

Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who fulfilled all righteousness for us, your sins are forgiven. Rise, beloved children of God, and live in the freedom of this pardon.

Musical offering (Linda): What king would through murky streams

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Jesus we are gathered (514)

Children’s time

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: Spirit of the living God (400)

Scripture: Acts 10:34-43 & Matthew 3:13-17

Response: Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Message: To fulfill all righteousness

Questions for Reflection: Jesus was baptized? Why? What do you think the reason was? Was Jesus seeking forgiveness of sins? Well, no. But why?

It’s a serene and vibrant landscape where the gentle flow of water meets the whispers of the crowd. Here, along the banks, the air is filled with the earthy scent of fresh vegetation, punctuated by hints of wild herbs that flourish in the sun-drenched wilderness. Sage, Dill, Fennel, Garlic and Thyme grow wild. The sound of splashing water mingles with the fervent voices of those gathering to witness this significant event, drawn by the powerful preaching of an eccentric John the Baptist. It is a scene alive with the palpable anticipation of transformation, marking the beginning of a journey that will forever alter the course of human history. It happens here on the stony banks next to a three-foot deep river.

Here is Jesus: Perfect, sinless, the very Son of God; walking down to the muddy banks of the Jordan to be baptized by a prophet who preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins. It’s important to note, however, that there is a difference between being baptized by John and John’s disciples and between Jesus and Jesus’ disciples.

John the Baptist’s baptism was a ritual of repentance, emphasizing the need for individuals to turn away from their sins and prepare for the coming of the Messiah. His baptism symbolized purification and a commitment to a new life in anticipation of God’s kingdom. In contrast, baptism in the name of Jesus, as practiced by his followers after his resurrection, signifies a fuller understanding of salvation through Jesus Christ, including the belief in his death and resurrection. This baptism represents not only repentance and purification but also a believer’s identification with Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, while both baptisms involve themes of repentance and renewal, the baptism in Jesus’ name encompasses a deeper theological dimension related to the New Covenant and the transformative power of faith in Christ.

John’s baptism was a public washing, a mikveh as it was called, and John certainly didn’t invent it. Baptism (or baptizo, meaning “to plunge,” a word usually reserved for the washing of clothes as a person plunged them into the river for cleaning) was a ritual immersion that first-century Jews understood as a symbol of purification, turning from sin, and preparation for God’s coming kingdom.

To grasp the shock of this scene, we need to remember what baptism meant in that world. The mikveh was rooted in the Old Testament, used especially to consecrate new priests, cleanse from impurity before the major holidays, and mark a major change in status. By Jesus’ day, it had become more widespread. Groups like the Essenes at Qumran practiced frequent ritual washings as they separated themselves from a corrupt world and awaited the Messiah. Even Gentile converts to Judaism often underwent baptism, along with circumcision, as a public sign of entering the covenant people.

John’s baptism took this symbol further. It was a baptism of repentance, a call to confess sin, turn around, and prepare for the One who was coming. That’s why they called out, “Repent” (a military term for about-face or turn around) and “be baptized” to show it. It carried the cultural implication that the person being baptized was admitting their sinfulness and need for cleansing. It’s like making a public confession and apology. So when the sinless Jesus steps forward, John is stunned. “I need to be baptized by you,” he says, “and do you come to me?” (v. 14). And John is absolutely right. Why is John baptizing Jesus? Actually, why is Jesus being baptized at all? He’s not confessing his sins, repenting, or turning his life around. He’s not washing away his wrongs or joining a religious movement. It makes no sense unless we see the deeper purpose. And good news, Jesus tells us exactly why he is being baptized. Unfortunately, his answer doesn’t fully clarify things for us.

Jesus answers with words that unlock the entire scene: “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness” (v. 15).

Oh, great! But what does “fulfill all righteousness” mean? Well, first off, it means Jesus is not coming to be cleansed. He is coming to complete God’s righteous plan. He is stepping into the Jordan not because He has sin, but because He is choosing to identify fully with us, the sinners.

Here is the core: Jesus’ baptism is an act of humble solidarity with humanity. Though He had no sin to repent of (as Hebrews 4:15 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 declare), He entered the water as if He did. He stands in our place. He assumes the role of the guilty party. The baptism of Jesus is like a miniature crucifixion-type event. In that moment, Jesus is saying, “I will be numbered with the transgressors. I will bear what they bear. I will carry their sins forward to the cross.”

This foreshadows everything that is to come. Every Christmas, we read verses from the prophets that, quite frankly, need some explanation, which is rarely given. It became a tradition to do Old Testament readings on Christmas very early on, but they are lost on most people.

550 or so years before Jesus was born, Isaiah 53 had prophesied that the Servant of the Lord would be “numbered with the transgressors” and “bear the sin of many.” At His baptism, Jesus begins that journey. He accepts his lot in life, he chooses to follow a particular path. He begins his mission. He is baptized into our sin so that we might one day be baptized into His righteousness.

And look what happens next: the heavens are torn open. The Spirit descends like a dove, gentle and pure, resting on Him. Then the Father’s voice booms from heaven: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (vv. 16-17).

This is the divine endorsement. This is a rarity in the bible. The trinity is never spoken of in the bible, and there is no trinity. That’s an explanation we discovered later. There are very few pictures of the Trinity in the Bible. But here we have one. In the baptism of Jesus, the Trinity is present: the Son in the water, the Spirit as a dove, the Father speaking love and pleasure. This moment marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. It is the anointing prophesied in Isaiah 61:1. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” And it confirms to John, and to the watching world, who Jesus truly is.

And yet, over the last 2000 years, almost every theologian on earth has had questions and theories about the baptism of Jesus. Why do you think Jesus was baptized? Here’s a list of the major views:

To identify with us sinners, stepping into our place of repentance.
To fulfill all righteousness; perfectly obeying the Father’s will and believing that baptism is a part of that mission.
To endorse John’s ministry and thus also to very publicly agree with John in declaring Jesus as the Messiah.
To launch His mission, empowered by the Spirit in a new way now available to everyone, where the Spirit rest with people forever (unlike in the Old Testament when the Spirit came “for a time” and then left again.
To model humility and obedience for every follower.

To be clear, I believe all of the above to be accurate. Jesus didn’t need the water for cleansing. He was the cleansing. But out of love, He entered it for us. His baptism points straight to the cross: the innocent One baptized into our guilt so we could be clothed in His righteousness.

Let me close with a simple story that captures something of what this means for us. There was once a great pianist giving a concert in a large hall. When he finished, the entire audience rose in a thunderous standing ovation, everyone except one elderly gentleman in the front row, who remained seated, silent, arms folded. As the pianist walked off stage, tears streamed down his face. His manager asked, “What’s wrong? Everyone loved it!” The pianist replied, “You don’t understand. That man in the front row. He didn’t stand. He didn’t clap. “So what! Laughed the manager, who cares what he thinks!” “Well” said the pianist I do. He’s the composer. He wrote the music. He’s the only one who knows what it’s truly supposed to sound like. He’s the only one who matters.”

In the same way, many of us spend our lives chasing the applause of the crowd, the approval of others, the likes, and the praise. But there is only One whose voice we truly need to hear. At the Jordan, the Father declared over His Son: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” And because Jesus stepped into the water for us, died for us, and rose for us, when we trust in Him, that same pleasure is spoken over us. “Well done,” the Father says, not because we’ve earned it, but because Christ has fulfilled all righteousness for us.

Today, may we hear that voice above every other. May we follow the humble path of our Saviour: identifying with Him, obeying Him, and living for the applause of heaven alone. He was born for us. He lived for us. He died for us. And he was baptized like us. In baptism, we join Him. We do what is right. We, too, fulfill all righteousness, to be more like him!

Go in peace, beloved children of God. Amen.

Song: Lord, whose love (722)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving: Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!

Prayers of thanksgiving and intercession

God of the waters, God of new beginnings, we give you thanks for the revelation of your love in the baptism of Jesus your Son.

Thank you for opening the heavens to us, for sending your Spirit upon us, and for speaking words of delight over your people.

We thank you for the gift of baptism – for the water that cleanses, the Spirit that renews, and the community that welcomes and sustains us.

Thank you for calling us your beloved children and sending us to live as witnesses to your grace.

On this day, as we remember Jesus’ baptism, we pray for all who are baptized:

Strengthen those newly baptized, renew those who have grown weary, and awaken those who have forgotten their calling.

We pray for the church throughout the world – that we may show no partiality, as you show none, but welcome all people with the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

We pray for our world:

For nations torn by conflict, for communities divided by prejudice, for those oppressed by injustice or poverty.

Pour out your Spirit afresh, that your healing and reconciling power may flow like rivers of living water.

We pray for those who suffer – the sick, the grieving, the lonely, the anxious.

Anoint them with your comfort and hope.

And we pray for ourselves:

Help us to fulfill all righteousness in our daily lives – to serve humbly, love generously, and bear witness to your kingdom.

Song: Oh sing to our God (453)

Sending out with God’s blessing
Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immoveable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that, in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.
I Corinthians 15: 58 (RSV)

Response: Gloria in excelsis Deo

Music postlude

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The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

Can He also give us bread?

Posted on January 4, 2026January 4, 2026 by John

Worship on Epiphany Sunday
10:00 am January 04, 2026
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs (Communion by video)
Worship led by Led by Romulus Rhoad Music Director: Binu Kapadia

We gather to worship God

Music Prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship: Psalm 72: 16-17 (ESV)
L: May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
P: May its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
L: May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!
P: May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
L: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
All: Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!

Opening praise: Here I am to worship

Prayers of approach and confession

Holy God, we approach you today as we are. In your infinite majesty and love we are put at awe. The world which you have made is full of wonders, and also full of things we fear when we ought not to. Lord, as we approach you today in worship, give to us the manna from heaven, and feed us as we seek to know more about you.

With this searching love in our hearts, let us now turn to confess our sins to our Judge and our Advocate.

Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always lived to your glory. We confess that we have failed to love our neighbours as ourselves. Set our hearts ablaze with you Holy Spirit, and fill us with the loving-kindness you have always shown your people. Renew our love for you and your statutes Lord. In your Son, Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Response: Glory, glory hallelujah

Assurance of God’s pardon

Brothers and Sisters, he became flesh. He became fully human. He experienced the toils of human existence. And still he chose to suffer and to die for our sake. The love that God has for us is undeniable. In 1 John it is written- “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:2-3) God be praised, Amen.

We listen for the voice of God

Song: We three kings (173)

Scripture readings

Psalm 78: 17-25 & John 6:22-40

Response: Emmanuel, Emmanuel

Message: Can he also give us bread?

Lord, let the words I share today be in accordance with your gospel, full of grace and life. In your Son’s name I pray, Amen.

Now for some reason these passages reminded me of a time back in my high school days, class just got out, and I had basketball practice for the next couple of hours. It was mid-afternoon so there was no time to return home and grab a quick bite. (In some ways this is why I preferred football, because at least I had a couple of minutes to quickly have a meal.) So, I’d have a small snack and get over to the gym. I don’t know if many of you have ever done sports, club or school, but if you have you might remember how much physical exercise those practices would entail. And I remember with a certain lack of fondness the sprints, or worse ladders (you know, running back and forth between lines) we would have to do at the end of practice. It felt like it was specifically designed just to wear us out at the end of practice. And it did. So, after practice there I was, tired, hungry, and I’d have to walk three blocks to get home. Worst of all, it was winter, and even worse so, it was negative forty. So, I finally made it home, tired, hungry, and now cold. Thankfully my home was warm, and my mother was almost done with dinner. Then I was rested, full, and warm, not left alone in the cold.

Before our gospel account in John today Jesus had fed a crowd of five thousand people. In many ways this miraculous event could be compared to this Manna from Exodus that came down from heaven, miraculously. In the book of Exodus chapter 16, in which God tells Moses that he will not let his people starve and die in the wilderness.

They complained groaned and even questioned if God had wrathfully led them out to the desert, just to let them starve to death. An the five thousand who followed Jesus probably felt the same way. Who was this charlatan that led them out to the middle of no-where. How was he going to feed all these people. I’m sure they were hoping that the miracle worker would perform a miracle just like another, prophet, say Moses? But in our account today, Jesus reminds his disciples that it was not thanks to Moses that the grain of heaven was given to the people, but thanks to God. God gave his people nourishment. He did not leave them to suffer alone in the wilderness. He did not leave them, tired, hungry, and alone. And neither did Jesus, he took five loaves and two fish, and the multitude was fed. A miracle. Almost, like manna raining down from the heavens.

Bread from heaven. Jesus expounds on this idea. Our God is an active God. He is not a god that must be invoked by special messengers or prophets. God is the one who chose Moses. He sent his people Moses to lead them and to assure them of his power, and of his love. God sent Moses to do good. To help his people in need and lead them.

To the crowd of the five thousand, Jesus appeared to them to be like Moses, in their minds he was some guy that could talk to God and miraculously give them a whole lotta bread. But Jesus was much more than some miracle worker. Yes, he did just perform a similar miracle that Moses appears to have performed, but he makes it clear, the bread, the manna is not something generated from human hands. It was a gift from God.

John 6:32-34- (32) Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (34) They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

The disciples did not understand. Another kind of bread? A bread of God?

So Jesus clarifies “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” …

What does this mean? How can a man, even if he is God, be bread? It’s not bread as we would have it. It’s not something which we grind from grain and can add water and yeast to, something we can bake with our own hands and fill our stomachs with. It is a gift that he gives to us, and something we as Christians are called to give unto others.

The many starved, and God, Jesus, gave them food to eat. Remember what God did for the Israelites in exile. They were hungry, and he fed them manna from heaven. They were thirsty, and he gave them water from a rock. They were strangers in exile in Egypt, stripped of their homeland, and sick from the oppression imposed upon them by the Pharoah, forced to do extra work for him and not allowed to leave. God freed them from their imprisonment in Egypt. Listen here from Matthew 25:35-36 ’³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”’

Brothers and sisters, this is what God calls us to do. To be like him who saved us. He has always been this way, and He is this way, and He will always be this way.

God, even here in the Old Testament is not the God of wrath. He is a God of mercy, of nourishment, of deliverance, of love, and so much more. He has wrath in so far as he is just, but our God is not just a singular thing. He is our bread, and he calls us, he teaches us, and he leads us to be His bread. That’s why the Apostle Paul reminds us and the Corinthians of this truth. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” God gave the Israelites bread, so that they could survive their forty years in the wilderness, giving them the law and foundation that would prepare the way for his coming, his bodily incarnation in Jesus Christ.

Today, we will partake in this bread that the disciples asked for. “Give us this bread always.” And so, he does and we will have his bread today. As we partake in communion, it is important to remember this. When we hear the words said over the bread and the wine they are not just words but signs signifying God’s love for us. Bread that reminds us that we belong to him and that he frees us from the slavery that is sin. Wine that reminds us that he sacrificed himself, shed his own blood, the innocent lamb that was slain for the propitiation of sin, that perfect sacrifice that God alone can give us, to forgive us, to give mercy to us, to stay our deserved wrath against us. When we eat and drink of the body and blood of Christ today, we affirm our belief and our faith in Him, and in the promises that he left to us.

So, can he feed us bread also? Yes, and he calls us to feed others as well. To forgive and to live as he did. To enjoy him and to be fed by him and to feed others. When we do the work that the Lord has put before us, then we are acting as Christ calls us to. To feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, to welcome the strangers among us, to cloth those in need, to comfort and care for the sick and imprisoned. Then we reflect, the God who in his love for us became man, who was born to a woman, who ate food as we do, who had human needs and even temptations, but he did not sin and he lived a life that we seek to follow. A God of wrath alone would not do such a thing nor would a God of Wrath alone teach such things. The God of Wrath, Justice, Mercy, Love, Hope, and Joy, the One, the Good, the King of kings, the Triune God who to us is the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, keeps the promises he made through the prophets, through the Apostles, and the promises that he made when he was among us. He feeds us and we are fed by him. Lord, give us this bread always. Amen.

Song: Break now the bread of life (507)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of offering: Heavenly Father, bless these gifts we bring as offerings to you. Use them to temper hate, to give fortitude to those in times of trial, to deliver justice to those facing evil, and give prudence to those who distribute these gifts. In your Son, Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves

Sovereign God, we thank you for the life that you have given to us. The friends and family that warm our homes and our lives. Lord, thank you for the hope that we have in your promises, in your Son Jesus Christ. Keep leading this congregation in your spirit, and in your love, and in your light.

God our Shepherd, as we begin this new year, comfort those who have lost loved ones, remind them that they are never alone, remind them that you are ever with us.

Heavenly Father, we pray for those who suffer for illness, disease, or poor health. We pray that all discordant strife, in family or at work may be healed.

Loving God, the future is ever uncertain, for us but not for you. You know the courses of the stars to the flight path of the smallest sparrow. We thank you for being our light, the guide that we follow when to live the life that you have set before us.

Lord, we pray for the governments that you have placed over us. Guide them to be peacemakers, preferring love, justice, and peace over their own self interests. Thank you for creating us and the world that we inhabit. Teach us to be stewards of this gift that you have given to us.

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

Passing of the Peace

Now having given our thanks to God, let us greet one another in the same love that he has given us.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation: (on video)

Song: All who hunger, gather gladly (534)

The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The Communion Prayer: on video

Sharing of the Bread and Wine (invitation on video)

Song: One bread one body (540)

Prayer after Communion

Holy God, having partaken in your body and blood, remind us of how we are truly in one body with you. A people that you have delivered, just as you delivered the Israelites from their captivity in Egypt, you have delivered us from our sins.

All Glory be to you Lord, grant us peace on earth, and good will to all men. We praise you, we worship you, and we give thanks to you alone. Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.

For you alone are holy, for you alone are God, for you alone are our Messiah. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one being, three persons, all glory is yours alone. Amen

Song: Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, (174: vss1-4)

Sending out with God’s blessing (Romans 16:25-27)

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to [the] gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Response: Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Music Postlude

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Romulus Rhoad retains the copyright (© 2026) on all original material in this service. As far as he is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

New Year’s Blessings (Lynn Vaughan)

Posted on December 28, 2025December 28, 2025 by John

Worship on the First Sunday after Christmas
10:00 am     28 December      2025
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by Lynn Vaughan     Music director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Vivian Houg     Elder: Sam Malayang

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.

Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship

Call to Worship
L: Praise the Lord from the heavens and in the heights;
P: Praise God, sun and moon!
L: God’s name alone is exalted;
P: God is above the earth and heaven.

Opening praise: Holy is the Lord

Prayers of approach and confession
God of glory, angels called to shepherds with songs of your good news.
Mary pondered the mystery of your goodness in the tumult of new birth.
Your splendour shines from a manger where the Light of the world was born.
In the fragility of flesh, you are revealed to us face to face.
And so, we gather in worship and praise of you who are
Creator, Redeemer, and Guide; perfect and eternal, now and forever.
Recalling who you are and what you have done,
we recall who we are and what we have done.
And so, to begin again with you and one another,
we confess our sins
God of compassion, you promise new life, but we confess that we are in love with our old ways; with hurts that we nourish, hatreds that hold us hostage, and fantasies that restrict our faithful living.

You offer to us unconditional love, but we reject our neighbours and live apart from you and one another in many ways. Recreate us in the image of your son, and for your glory’s sake, forgive us.

Response: Glory, glory, hallelujah

Assurance of God’s pardon

Here is the good news of the Gospel: Jesus Christ is chosen for our salvation. In him, we are made acceptable to God. Let us give thanks to God and be at peace with ourselves and with one another.

We listen for the voice of God

Children’s time

Response: My Lighthouse

Story: New life in Christ

Good morning, children. Hope you had a great Christmas with your families. Now, we get to look forward toward a new year starting. Let’s see here…what’s on my list for 2026?

Well, I probably need to exercise more. And drink more water, of course. I should remember to eat more vegetables. I need to read some books, since my home library is so big. I need to find a real job (according to my mom!?). I should pray more, and read my Bible, and… phew. I’m already tired just thinking about this stuff! There’s no way I’ll keep all this up.

Have you ever made goals or resolutions for yourself? We’ll soon begin a new year, and that’s a time when a lot of people try to say that they are going to improve themselves in various ways. People might try to say they’re going to get in better shape, or eat healthier, or sleep more, or work harder. They think that a new calendar year means they should make changes for themselves. And it’s good to have goals. It’s good to try and improve our habits.

But it can be difficult, too. Statistics show that only 8-9 % of people who make New Year’s Resolutions actually follow through with them for the entire year. That’s a pretty small percentage. That’s like if all the people in the sanctuary here today made resolutions, only the few of us sitting up here would actually keep up with them.

The truth is, it’s tough to do things and make major changes on our own. If we are trying to muscle through and accomplish stuff based on just our own personal will power, we are likely to fail. To truly improve, change must come from the inside, AND it’s always a good idea to ask God to help us. With Him on our side, we can do anything!

God can transform our lives better than any New Year’s resolution! God can help us to achieve what we hope to do. But, remember, the most important thing we can do is to seek Him and follow the paths He has for us. When we pray, read our Bibles, and engage in worship (and Sunday School), we can grow stronger spiritually.

This new year, let’s try to focus on being changed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Exercising more or eating better are fine, but true joy comes through our relationship with Jesus and allowing God to work in and through us as we embrace His love.

Let’s pray and thank God for the strength that comes through Christ.
(This is a repeat-after-me prayer)

Prayer

Dear God,
Thank you for sending Jesus.
He is the true way to new life.
Thank you for giving us what we need,
And for always being with us
As we step into a new year.
Now together, we’ll say the prayer that you taught us…

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Transition music

Song: Standing at the portal (811)

Today’s Message

Scripture reading: Isaiah 63:7-9 & Ephesians 1:3-14

Response: Emmanuel, Emmanuel (114)

Message: New Year’s Blessings

(Based on ‘Pastoral Ponderings’ by Rev. James Laurence, First Lutheran Church, Albemarle, NC}

I have been wondering what New Year’s Resolutions might look like this year … in the midst of all the wars that are never-ending and the constant political turmoil in all corners of the world. Some of these are a little too close to home and some are right here in our own backyard. Then, there’s all the unprecedented weather disasters that seem to happen daily around the globe.

I am one of those people who usually enjoys making New Year’s Resolutions, but I have not been inspired much lately. Ever since the craziness of the Covid pandemic, followed by the loss of my mom and my dear sister a couple years ago, I’m really just happy to reach the end of the year in one piece, let alone be thinking about all the resolutions that I need to make.

Maybe, this would be a good year to think a little less about New Year’s Resolutions – that I’ll end up never keeping, in all honesty!?! – and think a little more about something else. What I want to offer today, in this message, is something a little different: maybe we could pledge to think about New Year’s Blessings rather than making New Year’s Resolutions. The inspiration for this message is the passage from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians that was just read.

After an opening greeting, Paul turns in Verse 3 to a wonderful reflection on the blessings that we have received from Jesus. He says,

Praise God, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing because we belong to Christ.

In this simple statement, we are reminded of something very important: that we begin this upcoming new year as people who have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. That’s a good way to start the year, don’t you think? By reminding ourselves that we are already blessed, because of our relationship with Jesus Christ!

Everything important, you might say, has already been given to us. Everything eternal, everything undying, everything that we can truly count on, come what may, we have already been given because of our faith. We have already been blessed in Jesus with every spiritual blessing.

We might face all sorts of worldly challenges right now, whether they are concerns for the state of things across the oceans or whether the challenge is right here in our own country, our own community, in our family or even within ourselves. Thinking about all these things can be overwhelming, and it may have been a difficult year to get through. But, we are still blessed because we know that God loves us and blesses us through Jesus with every spiritual blessing. We begin a new year by remembering this simple, wonderful fact: that in Jesus, we are truly blessed.

Often, when you think about it, New Year’s Resolutions usually focus on something negative in our life. We are unorganized, so we pledge to de-clutter the house. We need to lose weight, so we promise to start a new diet and begin exercising more. We’re going to quit smoking or we’re not going to drink so much. We promise to be better parents. The list goes on.

Taking Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians as a guide, we are encouraged to begin the year by focusing on the positive. That seems like a much better idea, especially after a rough year. So, Paul invites us to begin the year by remembering the blessings that we have already received in Christ with every spiritual blessing.

Now, you might be asking yourself: what does it mean to be blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing … especially since I keep repeating it!? These blessings are not just physical or materialistic things. In the words that follow his opening statement, Paul identifies five ways that we are blessed in this way.

First, Paul tells us in Verse 4 that we are blessed in Christ because we have been chosen “long ago, even before he made the world”. Think about that. You and I have been chosen! Even before we chose God, God already chose us, in Christ. We who are baptized into Christ have been chosen as holy in the eyes of God. Before we make any resolutions, before improving ourselves, God has already chosen us and, not only that, he has accepted us for who we are. We don’t have to earn this. We don’t have to change. God’s acceptance is given to us freely, in Christ. That’s a wonderful blessing, isn’t it?

Secondly, Paul tells us in Verse 5 that we are not only chosen, but we have been adopted as one of God’s children through the sacrifices made by Jesus. That is our destiny. That is God’s plan and his wonderful gift to us. And again, it is not something we earn or work toward. It is given to us simply because God chooses to give it to us. And knowing our destiny can then free us to live without fear, even now, in the midst of all the uncertainty and upheaval in our world.

The third blessing that Paul reminds us of is found in Verse 7, when he tells us that we have redemption through Christ’s blood, the forgiveness of our sins. This is also an encouraging message as we begin a new year together, isn’t it? That even if we don’t get it all right, we can count on being forgiven. We may not keep our resolutions. We may not better our lives the way we hoped. We certainly won’t live perfectly this year. We will make mistakes. We will sin. But, in Christ, we have redemption and forgiveness. What a blessing that is!

The fourth way that we begin this year blessed in Christ is found in Verse 9: It states, “God has told us his secret reason for sending Christ”. We often take this one for granted, I suppose. But think about it: we don’t have to guess at what God wants from us. God has told us. We have God’s Word, the Bible, to guide us. God is very clear about how we are expected to live. Maybe not in all the little details, but big-picture-wise, God could not be more clear. And that’s a good thing. We don’t have to guess how to please a stern, distant God. We have a close and loving God who has made known to us the plan he has laid out. And that, too, is a blessing.

And finally, the fifth way that we are blessed in Christ is found in Verse 11, when we are told that, because of Christ, we have also obtained an inheritance, that is: “to be with him forever”. So, we’re not just chosen, destined for adoption, forgiven, and told the mystery of God’s plan – we are also promised an inheritance of eternal life with our Lord and our God. There is no greater inheritance possible, and it has already been promised to us. In fact, we have already obtained it in Christ. So, before we even make any resolutions to better ourselves, we are reminded that we begin a new year chosen by God, with our destiny secure in Christ, and with an awesome inheritance promised to us.

I don’t know about you, but in a very worrisome and sometimes downright scary world, I find these to be comforting words. These promises don’t depend on the uncertainties of our world, or of our lives. They depend on God, and so they are certainties. They are done simply for the good pleasure of God’s will. A gift given to us which we did not earn. They are freely given to us, in love.

So, how can we thank God for this incredible gift? Again, Paul provides an answer for us, in Verse 12. Paul tells us that “we should praise God and give glory to him for doing these mighty things for us”. Okay. The best way to respond to these freely-given gifts is by living for the praise of God’s glory. We can resolve, then, to spend this new year glorifying God.

Now, I know that this sounds a little vague. It is not as specific and measurable as losing 10 pounds or quitting smoking, for instance, but Paul does eventually get very specific later in this Letter to the Ephesians. For now, though, he is simply challenging us to devote our lives to glorifying God. Even in the midst of the chaos that often surrounds us, we are being invited to bring glory to God. We are meant to live for the praise of God’s grace and magnificence.

Now, if you want to find some examples of more concrete ways to do this, I encourage you to read further on in Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Don’t call it a resolution, but maybe a great way to start the year 2026 could be to read this Letter. Even reading it slowly and prayerfully, with a journal in hand, shouldn’t take you more than an hour. And you will find many tangible ways mentioned to live for the praise of God’s glory.

As one example, chapter 4 of this Letter will offer practical advice like: don’t let the sun go down on your anger – or, another one – let your talk be for building up, that it may give grace to hear. Chapter 5 includes practical suggestions for how to live as a better spouse, and how to live as a better child or parent. Children are urged to obey their parents and parents are advised not to provoke anger in their children. Chapter 6 suggests ways for us to engage in the spiritual warfare that is all around us, by taking up the whole armour of God and praying at all times in the Spirit.

The rest of Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is filled with all kinds of excellent advice on how we can live for the praise of God’s glory. But he begins the letter by simply reminding us of our blessings. He assures us that we have all received the gift of being blessed with every spiritual blessing because we belong to Christ.

And there are no more hopeful words that I can offer, as we begin another year together, than these words from Paul. He tells us that we begin this new year – as we begin every year – in Christ: chosen, destined, forgiven, and with an inheritance promised to each and every one of us. And all of this is done, so that we might live for the praise of God’s glory.

May each of us be blessed as we strive to live this new year for that purpose. Thanks be to God. Amen

Song: Praise, I will praise (420)

We respond to serve God: Our time of giving

Reflection on giving: Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!

Prayer: Gracious God, in your constant love, you nurture our life with your richness. As your love for us is always abundant, we learn to share joyfully what we have received from you. Bless the offerings, and all that we have and all that we are, so that your bountiful, supportive love may reach those in need through what we do and say in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves

Merciful God, we come before You with praise and thanksgiving!

Through Jesus Christ, you have lavished on us every spiritual blessing we could possibly imagine!

Before the world was created, you already knew us and loved us. You adopted us as your own children and redeemed us through the blood of Christ.

Even more, you have made us your heirs and gave us your own Spirit as a sign and guarantee.

God of love, we give thanks for the many blessings you have given to us during our lives and, specifically, over this past year. We are grateful for opportunities to celebrate life and the birth of our Saviour Jesus with family and friends.

We are aware of those whose hearts this Christmas season are filled with pain and suffering, or fear. For some, we know that Christmas will be linked with loss or anguish for years to come.

We remember before you, O God, those who do not have enough to eat or who eat alone; those who do not have adequate shelter or who lack human contact and comfort; those who have had their hearts and lives broken by some trauma or loss.

Help them and all your children to find solace in you, God. Bring peace to all heavy hearts. We pray specifically for family members and friends who are struggling with hardship and pain.

We pray for all your children, known and unknown to us; stir in their minds, protect their bodies, strengthen their characters, and protect their joy.

As the year draws to a close, help us to look back with gratitude for all that has been, and to look forward with eager anticipation for new opportunities to grow closer to you and to each other in love. In the name of your Son, we pray. Amen

Song: Good Christians, all rejoice (141)

Sending out with God’s blessing

As we step into a new year, may we take the time to recognize all the blessings that God has so generously given to us through Christ, and may we have the energy and the wisdom to use 2026 as an opportunity to bring glory and honour to our heavenly Father through the blessing of our lives in Him.

Response: Gloria in excelsis Deo

Music postlude

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Lynn Vaughan retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. As far as she is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is her own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Christmas around the world (A Youth-led Service of Worship)

Posted on December 21, 2025December 21, 2025 by John

Worship on the Fourth Sunday of Advent )Christmas Pageant)
10:00 am December 21, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Lynn Vaughan Welcoming Elder: Darlene Eerkes

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you.

Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship: Youth 1
L: An angel of the Lord declared, “God is with us”, this is the greatest gift of love.
P: Yet even at Christmas, love is often measured by gifts and material things.
L: But God’s love can come through people: a king named David, a prophet named Nathan, and Mary and Joseph. In a baby, God’s love was made real among us.
P: Can we believe that God’s love is revealed through people? On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of love, a light for our world.
(Light the candle of love)
All: Living God, thank you for your deep and abiding love. May we see ourselves and others through your eyes, as we follow your way of love. Come, Lord Jesus.

Opening praise: Hope is a star (119)

Prayers of approach and confession (Youth 1)

Dear God, we come from many nations, languages, and cultures but on this day we gather as one family, God you have created a world filled with beautiful differences each one a reflection of your love. As we hear stories of Christmas from around the world today, open our hearts to see Christ in every culture and to recognize your light shining in every land. Forgive us when we forget that all people are our neighbours. Forgive us when we treat differences with fear instead of joy.

Renew us with your Spirit, so that we may follow the way of peace, the way shown to us in the birth of Jesus. AMEN.

Response: I waited I waited on you Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

We listen for the voice of God

Song: There’s a voice in the wilderness crying

Dramatized Scripture (Readers: Youths 2 & 3; Actors: Sunday School children))

Luke 2: 1-7; 2:8-14; 2:15-29; Matthew 1:1-11

Musical Offering: Children and Youth

Song: The First Nowell (136) vss 1-3

Message: Christmas around the world

Introduction: Elder

SLIDE: Candle of LOVE)

Over the past few Sundays we have been reflecting on the Advent themes of hope, peace and joy in a world filled with animosity, distrust and division among peoples and the many nations on our Earth. We have heard how Christians exist as the temples of God – the Body of Christ – spread throughout every land and nation. Today we reflect on LOVE – God’s love that is radically demonstrated in the Christmas story, which you just heard a few minutes ago.

WE at Dayspring come from diverse cultures and nations around the world.

SLIDE: Map of different cultures:

If you take a moment to look at the map in the Great Room (and now on the screen) you will see some of the nations represented here, in our congregation. The youth of Dayspring would like to share with you some ways diverse cultures and nations around the world celebrate Christmas; we will have 6 specific presentations that represent the cultures of our youth and their families. We hope you notice that at the heart of these celebrations is GOD’s love made real in a baby! All around the world, in all nations on Earth, Christ followers give thanks at Christmas. The youth would like you to hear how their cultures celebrate Christmas and give thanks to our God.

Music Transition

#1 – Germany: Youths 1 & 2

SLIDE (Christmas tree)

Youth 1: Welcome to a German Christmas celebration…

Our great-grandparents on our mother’s side were from Germany, where many beloved Christmas traditions, like the Christmas tree, first began. In Germany, one of the most treasured Christmas traditions is the decorating of the Christmas tree. Families bring an evergreen tree into their homes and adorn it with candles, lights, ornaments, and stars. This moment is often filled with music, prayer, and thankfulness.

Youth 2: The Christmas tree tradition began in 16th-century Germany, where people decorated evergreen trees to celebrate the holiday to remember God’s story. A now classic Christmas tree was originally known as the “paradise tree,” a tree decorated with apples and wafers. These symbols point to Jesus, the “paradise tree” was meant to remind us of the tree of wisdom, and the apples that decorate it meant to remind us of sin entering the world, while the wafers represent the body of Christ, God’s ultimate sacrifice through Jesus. Overtime candles were added as decoration, the candles symbolized Christ as the Light of the World. The tree itself, an evergreen tree became a sign of eternal life through Jesus, whose love never fades. According to legend, Saint Boniface even called the fir tree the “tree of the Christ-child,” showing that all life and growth point back to Him. This tradition later spread across the world, carrying with it the message that the light of Christ shines for all people, everywhere. Now every year millions of people decorate their trees with ornaments that remind them of Jesus, and the joys and blessings God gives us. At this point, the children will be invited forward to place ornaments on the tree, each ornament representing a different culture and a different sign of God’s presence in our world.

Visual: Small Christmas tree will be set on the communion table.

Youth 1 decorates while Yoith 2 reads.
When done reading – Youth 2 invites children under 10 to help decorate (they come up and help Youth 1 who provides ornaments.
When decorations done the tree is lit up and stays lit…

Music Transition – Binu

Cameroon: Youth 4

Welcome to a Cameroonian Christmas in the Mbatu village.

(SLIDE 1) Story to be shared: Cameroon is a country in Africa, next to the Gulf of Guinea. It has three main types of land: the Tropical Rainforest in the South, the grassy Savannah in the Center, and the dry Arid North. Because of this mix of land, many different people live there. Even though Cameroon is smaller than Alberta, Canada, it has about 30 million people and more than 250 ethnic groups! Each ethnic group is like a Tribal Kingdom. They have their own Tribal King, their own religion, their own language, and even their own Tribal gods. That’s why people call Cameroon “Africa in miniature” – it’s like a small version of the whole continent.

(SLIDE 2) Manger scene: Christmas and the God-Above-gods – With so many Tribal gods, Christmas becomes even more special. People who follow Christianity believe in one God who is above all other gods. They celebrate Christmas as the day this “God-Above-gods” became human and came to live among us. Adults think deeply about this gift from God. But Christmas is really a time when children are the stars. Every child is celebrated as another “Baby Jesus.”

(SLIDE 3) Foods – Today, things have changed because of travel, modern life, and political problems. But when our dad was a child in the 1980s and 1990s, Christmas in the North West Region of Cameroon was full of joy. After church services, children would run home and form groups based on their neighborhoods. Then they would go from house to house, singing and playing with their Christmas toys.

At each house, the family would bring out a big tray of rice. The rice was usually served with tomato sauce and either pork or chicken. All the children sat around the tray, ate together, drank juice, and left with candies or small gifts. As they walked to the next house, they sang about how tasty the last meal was and how excited they were for the next one.

So Many Meals! In those days, a child in Mbatu Village – like our dad – could eat between 8 to 12 Christmas meals before the day ended! What happened after all that eating? Well, that’s a story for another time.

(SLIDE 4) Children together: All the children ate from the same tray, no matter where they came from, whether they had new clothes or toys, or even if their parents didn’t get along. This was the true spirit of Christmas in the North West Region. Even children from Muslim families or other religions were often allowed to join in the fun. In Cameroon, especially at Christmas, Jesus is seen as the Prince of Peace.

SLIDE 5 – Song (response)

Adult Cameroonian will sing this song and the congregation is invited to join in the response, printed on the screen.

Music Transition – Binu

#3 – Caribbean: Youths 5 & 6

Welcome to a Christmas in the Caribbean…

SLIDE: Food

Christmas in the Caribbean, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, where our grandparents grew up, is a happy time for everyone in the island. Everyone, regardless of religion, celebrates the season in preparation for the birth of Christ. In every household, there is an urgency to clean, scrub and refresh furniture, window coverings, flooring and walls, all getting ready for Christmas Eve. Special Christmas dishes, include ham, pastelles (a pudding made with seasoned meats and cornmeal), rum cake, sweets, drinks like ginger beer, sorrel, rum punch, ponche de crème (eggnog with rum) are served to all visitors.

SLIDE: Carollers

Groups of carollers walk from house to house to spread the joy, singing Christmas carols and, sometimes, collecting donations of food or cash offered by the occupants. Because the islands of Trinidad and Tobabo are so close to South America, the second language taught in schools is Spanish. Some of the South Americans who migrated to Trinidad, brought their music, which is also sung at Christmas in Trinidad. These songs, called PARANG, and sung in Spanish, are also Christmas songs proclaiming the birth of Christ. Here is one the favourite songs that our family sings at Christmas, both in Trinidad and Tobago and in Edmonton. Please join us. Mary’s Boy Child

Song: Mary’s Boy Child : sung by Carribean family joined by congregation

Music Transition – Binu

#4 – Philippines: Youths 7 and 8

SLIDE – Manger scene

Youth7: Welcome to a Filipino Christmas — or as we say, “Maligayang Pasko!” I was born in the Philippines, where Christmas is the most joyful and the longest celebration of the year. Many say that in the Philippines, Christmas starts as early as September — we call it the “Ber months.” In the Philippines, the Christmas season isn’t just about lights or decorations — it’s about faith, family, and community. These values are at the heart of Filipino culture and make Christmas in the Philippines truly unique.

Youth8: In the Philippines, Christmas starts very early — as soon as the “Ber” months begin in September, you’ll already hear Christmas songs playing in malls, stores, and even on the radio. People begin decorating their homes with Christmas trees, lights, and the famous star-shaped lanterns called Parols. Homes, schools, and streets sparkle with decorations, and the joyful spirit of the season fills the air months before December.

Filipino families believe that celebrating early is a way to bring joy and hope into their homes, especially during challenging times. It’s a season that reminds everyone of togetherness, generosity, and faith.

Youth8: Even though I was born in Canada, I grew up surrounded by Filipino culture — and Christmas in a Filipino home feels very special. One of the biggest traditions is the Simbang Gabi, or “Night Mass,” a series of nine early morning church services leading up to Christmas Eve. Families wake up before sunrise to attend mass, pray, and give thanks. Because the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, faith plays a huge part in how Christmas is celebrated. One of the most meaningful traditions is Simbang Gabi, or “Night Mass.”

SLIDE – mass

Simbang Gabi is a series of nine dawn masses held from December 16th to Christmas Eve. It’s one of the oldest Filipino Christmas traditions, dating back over 400 years to Spanish colonial times. The masses usually start before sunrise — around 4 or 5 a.m. — so people can attend before going to work or school.

Families wake up while it’s still dark, walk together to church, and fill the air with songs and prayers. It’s a special time to prepare their hearts for the birth of Jesus. Many Filipinos believe that completing all nine masses brings blessings or a granted wish, but more than that, it’s a way of showing love, sacrifice, and devotion to God.

SLIDE: Foods –

After mass, people gather outside churches to share traditional Christmas foods like bibingka (rice cake) and puto bumbong (purple rice steamed in bamboo). This fellowship shows the warmth and generosity that Filipinos are known for — celebrating faith together as one community.

Youth7: Another favorite is the Parol, a bright, star-shaped lantern that represents the Star of Bethlehem. Every home, street, and church in the Philippines lights up with colorful parols to remind everyone of the light that guided the wise men to Jesus.

Youth8: lights parol (as Youth7 is reading)… The Parol (Lantern) is wired and will be at the front of the sanctuary probably by scripture reading podium (far left of sanctuary, near the wall banners?), plugged in, and remotely turn it on.

The Parol holds deep cultural meaning in the Philippines. It symbolizes light, faith, and hope during times of darkness. Historically, it was used to light the way for churchgoers attending Simbang Gabi before sunrise. Over time, it became a sign of community spirit and creativity — people would make parols out of bamboo and colorful paper, and today they come in many designs, from simple to beautifully intricate.

SLIDE: – parol on Communion Table

More than just decoration, the Parol represents the Filipino spirit of resilience and joy. No matter how tough life gets, the lantern’s light reminds everyone that God’s love still shines. The act of hanging a parol in every home reflects a Filipino’s belief that Christ’s light should dwell in every heart and that the Christmas season is about bringing that light to others through kindness and love.

Every December, entire villages and cities hold Parol–making contests and Lantern Festivals, turning the night sky into a sea of shining stars. It’s one of the most colorful and heartwarming sights of the season.

Youth7: The heart of all these celebrations is Jesus’ birth. The Simbang Gabi helps people prepare their hearts for Christ, just as Mary and Joseph prepared for His coming. The Paról reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the World, guiding us through darkness and leading us to God. In the Philippines, even though some families may not have much, they share what they have with neighbors, family, and friends. This reflects how God shared His greatest gift — His Son, Jesus — with all of us.

Youth8/Youth7: “From our family to yours — Maligayang Pasko! Just as this lantern shines brightly, may the light of Jesus shine in all our hearts this Christmas.”

Music Transition – Binu

#5 – Pakistan: Youths 9, 10, 11)

Welcome to a Pakistani Christmas celebration…

Youth 9: Good morning everyone. Today, we’re sharing a Christmas story — not acted out, but told — from the perspective of a Christian family in Pakistan.

Youth 10 10: Which means no giant Christmas trees… no loud music… and sadly…

Youth 11: …no blasting carols at full volume

Youth 8: Exactly. In Pakistan, Christians are a minority, and many families celebrate Christmas quietly — with candles, prayer, and faith.

Youth 10: But quiet doesn’t mean boring. Trust me.

Youth 9: On Christmas Eve, many families light candles and pray quietly, saying “Yesu Masih paida hua” — “Jesus Christ is born.”

Youth 11: Why candles?

Youth 9: Because light reminds them that Jesus is always with them.

Youth 1: Also because candles don’t need electricity… or permission.

Youth 11: Smart.

Youth 9: Each candle stands for something — hope, peace, joy, and love.

“Youth 10 and Youth 11 light candles and place them one by one of the communion table”

Youth 10: And sometimes patience… especially with siblings.

Youth 11: Hey!

Youth 10: Now let’s talk about the most important Pakistani tradition…

Youth 11: Food!

Youth 9: Of course.

Youth 10: On Christmas, families share food like Biryani, Curry, and Rice Pudding (Kheer).

Youth 11: Which means Christmas smells “AMAZING”.

Youth 9: Food brings families together.

Youth 10: And if you ask my brother, food is also the real reason for Christmas.

Youth 11: I mean… Jesus did feed people. I’m just saying.

Youth 9: Here in Canada, we’re blessed to celebrate openly.

Youth 10: We can sing loudly. Decorate freely.

Youth 11: And argue about which Christmas song is best.

Youth 10: (“Last Christmas”)

Youth 9: But families in Pakistan remind us that Christmas is about faith, not noise.

Youth 11: And light doesn’t have to be loud to be strong.

Youth 10: Now we are going to be saying a prompt, we will simply ask you questions and if you agree say “Amen”–which means Right on!

Youth 9: If you believe light shines in darkness, say “Amen.”

(Audience responds)

Youth 10: If you believe faith is stronger than fear, say “Amen.” (Audience responds)

Youth 11: And if you believe food makes everything better… say “Amen.” ( laugh + response)

Youth 9: God is love! Jesus is the light of the world. The light of Jesus spreads from one heart to another.

Youth 10: It spreads from Pakistan to Canada… from Germany to the Philippines. From Trinidad and Tobago to Cameroon and Ghana. From Scotland and France and to ALL nations in the world. We are grateful we live in Canada, a place with many cultures and the freedom to celebrate loudly, with singing and bright lights – to celebrate Christmas with all of you! Let there be light!

(Youth 9-Youth 10-Youth 11): From Pakistan to here — one family, one faith, one light.

Music Transition – Binu

#6 – French/German/Scottish: Youth 12

Welcome to a mixed celebration of French, German and Scottish…

SLIDE: Advent Calendar (stay up throughout the presentation)

My family has French, German, and Scottish heritage. We incorporate traditions from all of these into our Christmas celebrations. Two elements in our Christmas preparations and celebrations are advent calendars and a commitment to sharing and hospitality.

Advent calendars help to count down the days until the birth of Jesus. The 4-week period of the calendar is a time of spiritual preparation and anticipation as we await the birth of Jesus. Each door on the calendar represents a step closer to the main event. Calendars may contain daily treats or scripture readings. The final door on December 24th is often the largest and most significant door. In our home, my sister and I have had many different calendars over the years to count down the days and bring us closer to Christmas. My grammie uses a special candle that is marked and burned down a segment each day.

Hospitality and sharing at Christmas reflects the gifts brought to baby Jesus and the ultimate gift of God’s Son. Christmas is not about receiving but is about giving and sharing with others. Just as we received the ultimate gift, God’s gift of his son, Christmas allows us to share with others. Through the ongoing practice of hospitality and sharing, we can share the joy and hope of the season with others, not just at Christmas but throughout the year.

Our Dayspring community shares gifts of their time and talent all year round.

Video

Today, we continue this tradition at Dayspring as we gather items for others at our giving tree and share in celebration of the season with coffee and snacks after worship.

Music Transition – Binu

Conclusion: (Elder)

And so you have heard how some cultures celebrate Christmas. Did you hear the real reason for Christmas – the birth of a baby to make God’s love real to us. God’s love was with us in our past. God’s love is with us now in our present and God goes with us into our futures. In whatever form you celebrate Christmas this year, may you be reminded of this incredible love and that there are faithful followers of Christ ALL around the world.

SONG: O come all ye faithful (158) vss 1, 2, 4

We Respond to God

Our time of giving – Reflection on giving

Prayers of approach and confession (Youth 9…)

Dear God,

We come from many nations, languages, and cultures but on this day we gather as one family, God you have created a world filled with beautiful differences each one a reflection of your love. As we hear stories of Christmas from around the world today, open our hearts to see Christ in every culture and to recognize your light shining in every land. Forgive us when we forget that all people are our neighbours. Forgive us when we treat differences with fear instead of joy.

Renew us with your Spirit, so that we may follow the way of peace, the way shown to us in the birth of Jesus. AMEN.

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves (Youth 10)

Dear God, today we thank you for the rich stories and traditions that your children around the world bring to the celebration of Christmas. We thank you for the joy of Germany, the warmth of Cameroon, the rhythm of Trinidad, the devotion of the Philippines, and the courage and hope of Pakistan. Bless each person sharing their story today. and bless the places that shaped us.We pray for countries in conflict, for families far from home, for refugees seeking safety, and for communities longing for peace. May the light of Christ shine across the world, bringing comfort to the suffering and hope to the weary. Amen

Sending out with God’s blessing (Youth 9)

Dear God, You sent angels to shepherds, and a star to travelers from afar, reminding us that Christ came for every people, in every place. As we go out from this service, send us into the world as bearers of your love. May we honor the cultures around us, listen to each other’s stories, and build bridges of understanding and peace. Let the message of Christmas be good news of great joy for all people. Guide our words, our actions, and our hearts. Keep us united in your Spirit until all the world knows the hope and peace that came through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.

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Dayspring Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, retains the copyright (© 2025) on all original material in this service. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.

Joy is in Season Sometimes getting to a joyful place means travelling through a desert we don’t want to walk through. Often God uses the desert for our good and changes us, and the desert we walk through in the process.

Posted on December 14, 2025December 14, 2025 by John

Worship on the Third Sunday of Advent
10:00 am      December 14, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Welcoming Elder: Gina Kottke     Children’s time: Brad
Vocalists: Sam & Ann May Malayang     Reader: Vivian Houg

Our Lord, we come before You with humble hearts, ready to worship and share in fellowship. We thank You for the gift of our elders, whose wisdom and experiences bless our community. May this time together be filled with Your presence and peace

As we gather, help us to listen, learn, and lift each other up in love. May our words and actions reflect Your glory, and may our worship draw us closer to You and one another.

Guide us in our thoughts and grant us unity as we seek to honor You through our worship today. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you

Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship: Nicholas family
L: Mary praised God who entrusted her with a sacred role. Great things God has done!
P: With Jesus’ birth, the world will never be the same again.
L: The powerful will be toppled from their thrones. The hungry will be lifted up and joy will break through in unexpected places
P: Every time a child is born, the world changes for someone. Our lives changed when a humble young woman gave birth to the One who would save us. On this third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of joy.
(Light the candle of joy)
All: Living God, gift us with Mary’s trust and readiness to accept your purpose. May we celebrate your coming, as we say with joy: Come, Lord Jesus

Opening praise: Hope is a star vss 1-3 (119)

Prayers of approach and confession

Creator God, Maker of heaven and earth, with the sea and the stars, and everything in between,

we praise you for the wonders of this world and beyond it.

You set all creation in relationships both fruitful and fragile.

You make deserts bloom and refresh the earth with seasonal rain.

As you care for the vulnerable and all your people, we praise with joyful songs in our hearts this day, Our God, who is the Source, Saviour and Spirit of life, perfect in unity, splendour and truth.

Gracious Judge, we look around us and we are not proud of what we see.

People criticize each other and listen only to those who agree with them.

We grumble and think the past holds the solutions, forgetting its inequities and iniquities.

We are impatient for things to improve but we do not want to change our ways.

Forgive us for sharing in the ungrateful mood of our times, and renew in us the joy and gratitude we once knew for your gifts to us in Christ Jesus.

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Receive the Good News in joy. With great mercy, God forgives what we have confessed and offers us new life in Christ. Rejoice that you can make a new beginning and share the joy in mercy and forgiveness with others.

Musical offering: Dayspring Singers: Will we know him?

Harold Flammer Music a div. of Shawnee Press Inc.

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Jesus loves me (373 )

Children’s time

Christmas Gifts at your house, maybe under a tree

Have you checked how many of the gifts have your name on them?

Do you count them?

I heard about a little boy who checked the presents under the tree every day. As he checked to see if any new presents had been added, he grouped the presents together according to the names on the gifts. Then, after he had them arranged, he counted the gifts.

One day, he discovered that his sister had more gifts under the tree than he did and one of them was much bigger. He became very upset and ran into the kitchen where his father was preparing dinner.

“Katie has more presents under the Christmas tree than I do!” the little boy cried. Then he turned and ran from the room. He went to his room, closed the door, and sat pouting. He couldn’t even enjoy the Christmas season because he was so upset that someone else had more gifts under the tree than he did. Now most likely the parents spent the same amount on both kids. But also, so what if they didn’t. What this little boy did not understand is that one of the greatest joys Christmas comes not in how many gifts we get, but in seeing the people we love smile when we share what we have with them.

John the Baptist was sent to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. He told them to repent of their sins and prepare their hearts for the coming of the promised Messiah.

“What should we do?” they asked.

John answered them, “If you have two coats, give one of them to the one who has none. If you have food, share it with those who have none.”

If we want to experience the real joy that Jesus wants for us, then we have to learn to share! By sharing what God has so generously given to us, we will receive an even greater gift – the gift of joy.

The Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: All earth is waiting (109)

Scripture: Isaiah 35:1–10 & Luke 1:46b–55

Response: My Lord, he is a comin’ soon

Message: Joy is in Season

Sometimes getting to a joyful place means travelling through a desert we don’t want to walk through. Often God uses the desert for our good and changes us, and the desert we walk through in the process.

After the golden age of King Solomon—an era of wisdom, prosperity, and unity—the whole nation of Israel looked invincible, a biblical superpower glittering like sunlight off gold. But then, right after Solomon’s death, everything cracked apart. Around 930 BC, the great kingdom split into two.

Why? The usual reasons kingdoms and families fall—ego, heavy taxes, bad leadership, and a refusal to listen. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, didn’t inherit his father’s wisdom. When the people begged him for mercy, he sneered: “My father disciplined you with whips; I will discipline you with scorpions.” That was the end of unity.

The northern tribes seceded, forming the Kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria. The south—Judah, centred around Jerusalem—remained loyal to the house of David. Two kingdoms, two stories, two directions.

This fracture changes how the Bible tells the story. The books of Kings offer a candid, often painful account of both kingdoms’ histories, chronicling the failures of their kings, widespread idolatry, and the consequences that followed. Written before the final exile, they trace the decline honestly and without excuse. Later, the books of Chronicles retell much of the same history with a different focus. Composed after the return from exile, Chronicles centers almost entirely on Judah, the Davidic line, the temple, and God’s enduring faithfulness—offering encouragement and hope to a people rebuilding their lives.

Into this chaos walk the prophets, with two of the most significant being Jeremiah and Isaiah. Both spoke primarily to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, delivering urgent warnings of coming judgment if the people continued in idolatry and injustice. They pointed to powerful foreign empires—first Assyria, then Babylon—as instruments God would use to bring discipline upon His unfaithful people. Yet woven through their messages of accountability was also profound hope: God judges to heal, and He promises future restoration for those who turn back to Him.

The Northern Kingdom fell first to Assyrian conquest, resulting in widespread devastation, death, and exile for many of its people. More than a century later, the Babylonians overran Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and carried much of the population into captivity—aiming to erase their distinct identity and faith.

For the first 34 chapters of his book, Isaiah preaches a hard message. There’s judgment coming. There’s corruption. There’s injustice. People are worshipping in the temple but ignoring the poor. They raise their hands in prayer but turn their backs on their neighbours. The hard lesson of the North was lost on the South. Eventually God says, “Enough.”

Isaiah’s words cut deep: he names their national decay and personal compromise. But Isaiah isn’t just a prophet of doom—he’s a prophet of hope. He keeps pointing to a God who judges to heal, who wounds to restore.

Then, in Isaiah 35, everything shifts. There is, he says, hope… and joy will have its season again. Like dawn breaking after a long night, hope floods the horizon. Out of nowhere, Isaiah paints a picture of life springing up in the desert.

Scripture Reading – Isaiah 35:1–10

“The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
… Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.
The burning sand will become a pool,
the thirsty ground, bubbling springs.
… And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The redeemed will return and enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.”

This chapter explodes with life. The desert sings. The wasteland dances. Flowers burst from cracked earth. Why the desert? Because Isaiah’s people lived with the memory—and the fear—of exile. Their land would be ruined, their temple destroyed, their parents killed, their sons and daughters carried away.

Now, imagine being among those exiles years later, sitting by the rivers of Babylon, homesick, humiliated, wondering if God had forgotten you. Then someone reads Isaiah’s words aloud: “The desert and the parched land will be glad.”

Those words would hit like water in a dry throat.

Isaiah describes the most impossible image his people could conceive—God making the desert bloom. In their experience, deserts killed everything. But Isaiah says, “No, this time the desert will help you home.”

The prophet speaks of “a highway”—a raised road, safe and unmistakable—called the Way of Holiness. Typically, long journeys in that region avoided the deadly deserts, following safer, longer routes through fertile land. When the captives of war were marched off to Babylon, they didn’t go straight to Babylon. That would be Southwest. No, that would mean crossing the desert. People didn’t do that. Instead, they went North, the West and then back South again. But Isaiah declares that one day, the redeemed will travel home on a miraculous path where God transforms even the most barren and feared places into sources of refreshment and joy.

That’s not just logistics. It’s spiritual geometry. The shortest route home is through the very place you fear.

Let that sink in: God doesn’t always take us around our desert. Sometimes, He takes you through it—and transforms it in the process. The place that symbolized death becomes the stage for deliverance. Giant trees provide shade from the sun, flowers bloom everywhere, and water brings to life an oasis for weary travellers.

When I was a kid, I used to ride my bike down a long stretch of blacktop in summer. The road would get so hot that mirages shimmered ahead of me—like puddles that weren’t really there. I’d pedal hard, thinking I’d reach water, but it was just heat playing tricks on my eyes.

Isaiah flips that idea on its head. He says the mirages will become real. The illusions of refreshment will turn into actual water. What was once an empty reflection becomes God’s provision.

That’s the miracle of Isaiah 35: where we expect disappointment, God gives deliverance; where we see wasteland, God plants a garden.

Then comes the heart of Isaiah’s vision:

“And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way.”

Isaiah says the unclean, the corrupt, can’t just wander onto that road—because holiness is not a shortcut, it’s a surrender. For 34 chapters, Isaiah has said, “You brought this on yourselves. You turned your back on God.” But now, he offers the way back: integrity, repentance, faith.

The Way of Holiness isn’t earned—it’s received. But you do have to walk it.

It’s a road of choice—every step a decision to trust God more than fear, to stay faithful more than comfortable, to believe that even deserts can bloom.

Isaiah doesn’t just promise spiritual renewal. He promises physical restoration:

“Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
the ears of the deaf unstopped,
the lame will leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.”

This is holistic redemption. When God restores, it’s not halfway. He heals creation itself. It’s as though Isaiah sees beyond exile to a final redemption, where broken humanity is made whole again.

Centuries later, these exact words echo in Galilee when Jesus heals the blind and the lame. Matthew points it out—Although the captives were eventually released, only part of the prophecy came true. The people came home but the deaf could not magically hear. But as Matthew notes, Jesus literally fulfills Isaiah’s entire vision. The Way of Holiness becomes flesh and walks among us.

Now, what do we do with Isaiah’s vision in our world today? Because you and I know something about deserts. Not the physical kind, but the emotional ones.

Some here today are walking through the desert of grief—where the loss feels endless.
Some are stranded in the wasteland of regret—haunted by what could’ve been.
Some are weary from a long spiritual drought—praying but hearing silence.

Isaiah’s word for you is this: even here, God can build a highway.

The parts of your life that look barren might be the very ground where His grace will bloom. The journey you thought would destroy you may become your testimony.

God doesn’t waste deserts. He transforms them.

Deserts strip away distraction. They show us what truly matters. Israel met God first in a desert, during the Exodus. Elijah heard God’s whisper in the wilderness. Even Jesus faced temptation in the desert before stepping into His ministry.

So maybe the desert you’re in isn’t punishment—it’s preparation. Maybe God is paving something in you.

Isaiah’s imagery turns upside-down logic into gospel truth: The barren land rejoices. The wilderness sings. The journey home begins right where despair once lived.

When we fast-forward to the New Testament, Jesus steps into Isaiah’s prophecy. He calls Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He opens blind eyes. He gives living water in dry places.

And then, on Calvary, He walks through the ultimate desert of sin and death—so that we could have a highway home.

That means your exile can end. Your wandering can stop. The Way is open because the Saviour has walked it before you.

Isaiah ends this chapter with one of the most beautiful lines in all of Scripture:

“The ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.”

That’s not just a poetic ending—it’s a promise.

Joy is coming.

Restoration is coming.

Home is waiting.

But you have to step on the road.

Wherever you are today—in a spiritual desert, a broken relationship, an uncertain future—take the next step. Trust the God who turns mirages into streams. The highway is waiting for those who walk in holiness, who refuse to give up hope.

And one day, when all the deserts of this world are turned to the Garden of Eden, and every tear has been wiped away, we’ll walk that final stretch of the Way together—straight into Zion, singing. Amen.

Song: For all the love (440)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves
God of all creation,
every creature finds its way to rejoice in your presence.
The desert blooms, a mountain top glistens,
a stream makes music flowing over rocks.
We give you thanks for the joy in nature that can lift our hearts.

Thank you for the joy we can share with each other,
for familiar songs on our lips,
for greetings from old friends,
for the excitement of children in this season,
and for the promise born again in us as we anticipate Jesus’ birth.

God of the world, its wonders and its woes,
we know there are many people who cannot rejoice this year,
so we open our concerns for the world before you this day.

We remember those who have been silenced
by oppressive regimes
by shocking tragedy
by bullying and threats
or by illness that takes away speech.

Help us listen with care when words are not easy to find,
and show us when and how to speak when others cannot.
We remember those who have grown weaker
through changing economic circumstances,
through aging or illness,
through fear or loss,
through hunger and homelessness.

Renew their strength and courage to engage life as they are able,
and show us when and how to offer our support and encouragement.

We remember those whose days are filled with fear
because of war and conflict on their streets,
because of intimidation and discrimination,
because the security they relied on has disappeared.

Bring them protection and comfort in uncertain situations,
and make us wise and generous neighbours who can offer relief.

We remember those whose lives seem empty
because their cupboards are bare,
because someone precious is absent
because choices made have not been fulfilling

Fill empty lives with meaning and purpose.
Show us how to share what we have in ways that are generous and dignified,
and let joy dawn again where it has died.

Song: Hark the glad sound (118)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go with joy renewed this day, energized to share that joy with justice and generosity in the world God loves. And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Response: Sing Amen

Music postlude

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Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

The Peaceful Kingdom

Posted on December 7, 2025December 7, 2025 by John

Worship on the Second Sunday of Advent
Communion
10:00 am December 07, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Linda Farrah-Basford Welcoming Elder: Darlene Eerkes
Reader: Jan Ray Moncada

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you.

Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship: Johnson/Hoag family

L: The psalmist dreamed of a world where leaders govern with righteousness, and the poor are treated with dignity and justice.

P: In this new creation, the oppressed are set free, the vulnerable are protected and peace flows like a river

L: Today, too many experience violence, poverty and persecution. Yet, they yearn to know peace.

P: We long to live in that new creation, where God’s glory is revealed on earth, through justice and peace. Today, on this second Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of peace as a prayer of longing.

(Light the candle of peace)

All: Living God, help us to recognize your presence wherever people work for peace. Teach us to be instruments of your peace in the world. Come, Lord Jesus.

Opening praise: Hope is a star vrs 1-2 (119)

Prayers of approach and confession

God of all wisdom and gentle understanding,

God of deep peace and never-breaking promises,

You are the One who breathes life into us, and somehow You’ve made Your home inside our hearts. You call us Your own children; us!; and You keep inviting us to live the way You do: with wide-open doors, warm welcome, hearts that make room for everyone.

In Jesus You hold out living water that washes away everything that hurts us and everything we’ve done wrong, and You call us gently back to the path where things are fair and kind and right.

With Your Holy Spirit You splash us clean, set us apart for a beautiful purpose, and keep showing up every single morning with fresh love and a new day to live it out together.

God of peace who never gives up on us: sometimes we act like Your love is something we’ve earned, something we deserve. We get comfortable, assume we’re fine just as we are, and then turn around and judge everybody else without a drop of kindness.

We’ve been slow—too slow—to open our arms to people who don’t look or think or believe like we do. You keep whispering, “Turn around, come home, let Me change you,” but we pretend we don’t hear, or we’re scared of what changing might cost us.

Forgive us for being so full of ourselves.

Forgive the hard edges in our hearts.

Shake us awake again with Your dream of a kingdom where everyone belongs, where everything broken becomes brand-new, and where peace actually wins.

We’re ready and we wait on You Lord. Amen.

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

Receive the Good News in peace.

With great mercy, God forgives what we have confessed and offers us new life in Christ. Receive the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another.

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel vrs 1,3,4,6,7 (122\

Scripture: Isaiah 1:1–10; Psalm 122; Romans 15:4–13

Response: My Lord, he is a comin’ soon

Message: The Peaceful Kingdom

A few years ago, in St. Louis, Missouri, a news report broke as the lead story for the noonday report. In a low and sober tone, the voice read the following words with great passion. “Someone stole Jesus. Last night, vandals went to the manger scene at St. Louis City Hall and stole the small ceramic baby Jesus. Again, someone has stolen Jesus. If anyone has information on where Jesus might be, please get in touch with this station immediately. The city is most anxious to recover Jesus and put Him back “where He belongs.”

This story is not that unusual. On Dec. 24^th, 1953, an episode of TV’s Dragnet had Sgt Friday called upon to investigate just such a case. According to Washington-DC journalist, Daniel Nasaw, communities across the world suffer similar thefts all the time. Baby Jesus figurines and, in some cases, entire nativity scenes are a common targets around the holiday season for vandals and pranksters.

In 2008, Jesus was stolen from the First United Methodist Church in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, and replaced with a pumpkin. In Eureka Springs, Arkansas, one thief made off not only with the baby-Christ-child, but also absconded with the huge heavy concrete block and chain that was supposed to act as a deterrent and keep the baby Jesus “right in place where he was supposed to be”.

And apparently, it’s becoming more and more common all the time. In December 2017, figures of Baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary were stolen from a Nativity scene outside a church in Bancroft, Ontario. A couple of years ago, there was even a private Facebook group called “I Stole the Baby Jesus from the Nativity Scene,” where people could post pictures of their pranks and share humorous stories. The page has now been taken down, but copycat pages are still popping up. In fact, stolen Baby Jesus figures have their own Wikipedia page. It’s titled, “Baby Jesus Theft”.

What’s strange, though, is that for me the words of that newscaster seem to come truer and more accurate each year. This is particularly true just before Christmas. The reporter said, “Someone stole Jesus,” and it’s true. Now I’ve got a little confession to make. And no, it’s not what you’re thinking… I never stole a baby Jesus. No, it’s that I “hate” something.

I really hate it. I know it’s a strong word, but I hate this.

Every year, new TV shows come and go, but almost every one of them seems to think it has to have its very own special Christmas episode. And my confession is that I absolutely hate this. Time and time again, the poorly written characters sit down with the wise father or underestimated neighbour at the end of their 22-minute ordeal, to wrap everything up all nice and neat in a pretty little bow, so the TV writers and actors can teach all of non-Hollywood types about “the true meaning of Christmas”. With corny music playing softly in the background and setting the tone for this huge revelation, without fail, the lessons will pour out of the characters’ mouths that “The true meaning of Christmas is to… spend time with your family” or “that it is better to give than it is to receive”. And while I think those are both good things (really good things)… quite frankly, nothing makes me angrier than to hear some otherwise completely irreligious person on TV tell (literally) millions of viewers, that the true meaning of Christmas is anything other than the birth of Christ. Every time I see one of these shows, I get angrier and angrier, and I can’t help but think it… Someone just stole Jesus. And I can’t stand it. I hate it.

When some teenager swipes a ceramic Jesus figurine from outside a church, I must admit there is a tiny part of me (barely worth mentioning) that finds at least some small piece of humour in that. It’s just a little doll after all.

But when someone has the nerve to steal Jesus from his rightful place as the “reason for the season”, right before our eyes and then make up w whole new reason for Christmas – that really does drive me up the wall.

—-Thought Shift—-

According to the Traditional view, when the Second Temple in Jerusalem was looted and the services stopped, Judaism was effectively outlawed when circumcision was declared to be illegal. It was 167 BCE (long before Jesus’s birth), and Emperor Antiochus took over the Jews’ only place of worship and ordered an altar to a foreign god to be erected in the Temple. The pagan state ripped down the menorah: something that was always supposed to remain lit and had never gone out since the day the Temple was first built. And worse yet the Emporer even ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the Jewish altar as an offering to Apollo. This, of course, provoked a large-scale revolt.

Although they were few in number and had no real military to speak of, Mattathias (Mattis – Yahoo), a Jewish priest and his five sons led a guerrilla-type rebellion. When Mattathias died, his son Yehuda HaMakabi (or “Judah the Hammer”) took over as leader. Against all odds, “Judah the Hammer” actually managed to take back the Temple for God’s people and rededicated it to the Lord. But first, Judah the Hammer had a new altar installed and set up a new menorah to consecrate the place of worship once again. As the story goes, while the Makabi’s were holding off the temple intruders, there was only enough oil inside to light the menorah for one night. Instead the oil miraculously lasted for 8 days (just long enough a time to prepare fresh oil to keep it going again). The Jewish sages declared an eight-day festival to commemorate this miracle. It’s called Hanukkah (the festival of lights). This is the true meaning of Hanukkah. It’s about reclaiming the people’s faith from a violent oppressor.

Now here is the kicker! No one in their right mind would ever go on TV and make up a new “true meaning of Hanukkah” and try to pass it off to the public as the real “true meaning”. No one would ever do that! No one would ever dare say, “the true meaning of Hanukkah is that giving is better than receiving”. No, it’s not!

“Giving is better than receiving” is a good lesson, but it’s not the true meaning of Hanukkah and if someone said that on TV, the Jewish People would be outraged! You can’t just invent some new revisionist history of someone elses religion.

No, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Christians in Canada are SOOOO persecuted and Jews have never had to face persecution (that would be wild). But what I am saying is that today, in Canada, no one would ever dare attempt to steal the true meaning of Hanukkah. But every time I see a Christmas special (broadcast across my television screen), they do just that to us and our faith. And every time, I can’t help but think the same thing: It just happened again. “Someone just stole Jesus”.

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes to the Church in Rome to introduce himself and his beliefs before he visits them. His primary topic, though, is really the relationship between Jewish-Christians (those brought up to follow the Jewish customs that later came to believe in Christ) and Gentile-Christians (non-Jews who came to believe in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah without becoming Jews first). And both of these were really just seen as new movement within Judaism. Christians were, in fact, (Jewish and gentile Messiah followers) were essentially just an early version of reformed Judaism. In fact, up until the latter half of the first century, in many cities, the Christians continued to worship in the Jewish synagogues right alongside not only other Jewish Christians but also, in many cases, the orthodox Jews (who had rejected Jesus as Messiah). But this did not come without some difficulties. In our earliest form, Jews and Christians worshiped together in the same buildings and structures.

In Romans chapter 15 (read from here today), Paul writes about how Jews, Jewish-Christians and Gentile-Christians should all be able to live together in peace.

And while Paul admits many differences in the beliefs between these groups of people, he also points out that one does not have the right to judge the other too harshly. Instead, he commands that we “live at peace” and help one another to build a stronger life in the faith.

Paul writes, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you all the same attitude of mind toward each other, that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice, you (plural) may glorify the God and Father of our Lord-.”

While the Jewish-Christians maintained that Jesus came just to save the Jews, Paul (a Jewish Christian himself) said that Christ came with the same level of acceptance for all peoples (Jew and Gentile alike). He proclaimed a salvation offered to absolutely every people group on earth (adding “there is no long slave nor free male or female”); meaning that the caste systems and categories of people are no more; that anyone and everyone can come to worship the Father through Jesus Christ.

And then Paul writes to tell the people that the absolute best way to worship the Father in heaven is to see other people the same way that Jesus saw them (“so that with one mind and one voice [we] may glorify the God and Father of our Lord-”). He writes further that this unity is called for… “to bring praise to God”. In other words, Paul says that bickering about things and trying to prove who’s holier than who, doesn’t impress God. He says that God is not honoured by people arguing with each other. Instead, he urges us, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you”.

In short, the Jewish-Christians felt like these pagan gentiles… had stolen their God; right out from underneath them, discarded their traditions and then claimed to know better than the Jews themselves, how the Jewish Messiah should be worshiped.

And when the people bickered over who God came to, Paul told them to share in the things they could all agree on and to accept one another as Christ accepted them. This, he says, is how God is best glorified. And when the Jewish-Christians wondered what right the Gentile-Christians had to worship their messiah, Paul wrote to say that the Gentiles had been invited to worship God through them.

He said that the people should be able to worship together and that the Jewish-Christians should invite the Gentiles into their fellowship so that they could all celebrate together what Christ has done for all people (despite their differences).

…And there you have it.

Have you ever been reading from your Bible and all of the sudden you have an epiphany? Have you had one of those times when God sort of (slaps you upside the head)? Well, there you have it. I had it.

It was that moment when God showed me that my “righteous indignation” (my holy anger)… my “Godly-hatred” for things that oppose the Lord… that’s it’s really just my own personal anger. It was that moment when God was convicting me of my anger.

I thought… Every year, show after show after show, I have been getting angrier and angrier. Every year, these people on the TV screen do it again and again: they steal Jesus. They take Christ out of Christmas, out of Christmas Cards, out of schools, out of public sight, even out of the name of our own Holy Day, and then they make up whatever they want Christmas to be about so they can try to tell me what “the true meaning of Christmas is”. And it’s not fair!

It isn’t.

It’s not fair that they walk right up into the manger scene and steal Jesus right out from under our noses.

It’s not fair that they get to celebrate our religious holiday; our Holy day off work, while at the same time they reject our religion and our Christ. All of the benefits, none of the cost.

It’s not fair that Christians go to work on other people’s religious holidays, but everybody gets our Holy day off; which they then emmediatly insult by making it anything and everything but what it’s actually about!

It’s not fair that they’d never dare do this to any other religion on the face of this planet. It’s not fair that nobody would ever make up a new “true meaning of Hanukkah,” but we’re fair game.

It’s not fair… but it is true… “someone stole Jesus”. And they always will.

And then God smacked me upside the head. “Brad,” and it hit me.

I bet it didn’t seem fair to the Jews that God promised the Children of Abraham that they would be His people, only to turn around and explain that being a child of Abraham has nothing to do with genetics and that they wouldn’t be the only ones.

I bet it didn’t seem fair that people devoted their whole lives to observing strict dietary laws, giving sacrifices and following cumbersome cleansing rituals only to have God invite us Gentiles to His party too.

You know what – It flat out isn’t fair as Jesus described it, that our God decided to pay the workers that showed up at the end of the day the same amount he had agreed to pay the workers that had been labouring all day long.

It isn’t fair at all, actually.

…And thank God for that!

Grace never seems fair.

Because it’s not fair.

It’s better than fair… It’s grace. It’s an underserved offer.

And so yeah… let’s make no mistake about it. Someone stole Jesus. And they will keep doing it.

But we need to admit that before they stole him right out from under our noses, we chained Him to that big cinderblock and caged him in that nativity scene. And we are the ones that put Him in a nice, neat little box “right in place where he was supposed to be”.

So it’s true… Someone really did steal Jesus, but then again, maybe they stole him because we had him locked away (chained down)… because we were selfish with him.

Just so we are clear – I will never concede that Christmas is about anything other than the birth of Jesus Christ.

But maybe if I were more willing to share Jesus with the world, there would be a lot fewer people trying to steal him. Maybe, instead of pointing out all the differences between “The true meaning of Christmas” and the Christmas people want to celebrate on TV, I could just be happy that the world sees some of what we have in Christ and wants to celebrate a small part of it with us. Maybe if I thought of it like sharing, I would be a lot less bothered and judgmental.

Maybe if I spent more time thinking about the One who gives endurance and encouragement and more time seeking peace and understanding, I’d be able to put on the “same attitude of mind toward others that Christ Jesus had”. Maybe if we all did that, we’d be more able to, “with one mind and one voice” speak together about those things that we can agree on, “to bring praise to the God and Father of our Lord”.

Maybe if we did more of that, we’d stop chaining Jesus down, and instead we’d start inviting the rest of the world in – to celebrate our Holy Day with us. Maybe we’d be less likely to think of people as stealing Jesus if we shared him more in the first place? – Amen

Song: O for a world where everyone (730)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves

God of the peaceable kingdom Isaiah envisioned,

where predator and prey are reconciled,

and children play in safety,

we give you thanks for every step taken towards reconciliation among rivals.

and every program provided to give children a reliable future.

Thank you for policies implemented on behalf of the climate

and every vulnerable creature,

to give us all hope for an enduring future in the world you love,

for peace will not come if the earth keeps tilting out of balance.

God of peace with justice,

make us better stewards of the gifts you give us.

God of John the Baptist’s rallying cry,

You raised up John in the wilderness as a voice calling us to conversion.

We thank you for signs of renewal and change in the church,

and in communities grappling with historic injustice and current outcry.

Guide advocates who work for change with both courage and compassion.

As we await the coming of Christ,

awaken the church to new ways to undertake ministry and mission,

and give us the energy and resources to reach out in ways we have yet to imagine.

God of peace with justice,

Make us better stewards of the gifts you give us.

God of steadfast encouragement,

St Paul called the followers of Christ to live in harmony,

and welcome those perceived as strangers to them

Thank you for welcoming us when we were strangers

to a new community, a new church and a life changed by unexpected circumstance.

We pray for people who are apprehensive about this Christmas season

because life has changed for them,

or circumstances leave them feeling lonely and discouraged.

Draw close to those who suffer in body, mind or spirit,

and guide us to reach out to someone who needs comfort or encouragement.

God of peace with justice,

Make us better stewards of the gifts you give us.

God of justice and equity,

The psalms, the prophets and the gospels proclaim your care for the poor,

and your expectation that your people will look to the needs of the vulnerable.

We thank you that Canada has resources to share,

and pray that our leaders will attend to longstanding injustice and urgent need

without excuse or delay.

We pray for places torn apart by war,

and for communities devastated by storm, flood, fire or drought.

Challenge any who would hoard scarce resources or profit by exploiting others.

Open our hearts to share what we can, even in these difficult times.

God of peace with justice,

Make us better stewards of the gifts you give us.

Passing the peace

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Invitation

This is the Table of the Lord.

Come, like Mary, placing your trust in Godto help you through whatever lies ahead.

Come, like Joseph, relying not on the law or reputation, or anything other than the love of God.

Come, like the angels, lifting your voice in praise of God, spreading peace to all the earth.

Come, like the shepherds, called from work to the joy of worship.

Come, like the Magi, from all corners of the globe,to greet the Christ child.

This is the Table of the Lord.

Come, all you who long to meet God here, for you are very welcome.

Song: I come with joy (530)

The Apostles’ Creed (539)
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. AMEN.

The Communion Prayer

Dear loving God, Creator of the heavens and the earth,

It feels so right, and it’s honestly our deepest joy and privilege, to love You and praise You with everything we’ve got: our hearts, our minds, our whole lives.

You spoke light into the darkness when there was nothing, and You shaped us to look like You, to carry Your image. You made us to love You back, to walk with You, and to live in the beautiful peace of the world You love so much.

When we walked away, You never walked away from us. You kept reaching, kept speaking gentle words of freedom through the prophets, keep calling us home to Your heart.

And now, together with the angels singing around Your throne, with the shepherds who ran to the manger, with every saint and prophet and friend of Jesus who’s ever lived, with Your people in every corner of the world and across every century… we lift our hearts and say thank You.

Thank You, holy God, for sending Jesus, the Son You love so much. Born in the dark of night, yet He is the Light that changes everything. Born in a rough stable, yet wrapped in more glory than we can imagine. He had nothing, yet He’s the One who pours out mercy like it’ll never run out. The world pushed Him away, but He keeps opening His arms wide to everyone. He died on that cross, and in that moment He gave us brand-new life. He walked out of the grave and promised, “I’m with you always.” And when He went home to You, You sent Your Holy Spirit to keep us close to Him, close to each other, close to You.

So here we are, loving Father, gathered around this table that feels like home. Pour out Your Holy Spirit on us right now, on every one of us, and on these simple gifts of bread and wine. Make them for us the body and blood of our Jesus. Feed us with Him so we can become like Him, His hands and feet, His love alive in this hurting world, made brand-new and set free by everything He’s done for us.

Through Jesus, with Jesus, in Jesus, held together by Your beautiful Holy Spirit, all the glory is Yours, now and forever. Amen.

Sharing of the Bread and Wine

The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, and after giving thanks to God, he broke it and said, “This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, he took the cup after supper, saying “This is the new covenant sealed in my blood. Whenever you drink it, This do in remembrance of me.”

(Breaking the bread) This bread is the body of Christ, broken for you.

(Lifting the cup) This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.

Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord, until he comes again. – Amen.

Song: One bread one body (540)

Prayer after Communion

Lord, always here, always holding us close, yhank You for this meal, for giving us Your very self in the bread and the cup.

Our hearts are full, and because You’ve loved us like this, we want to love You back with everything we are.

So here we are—take us, all of us.

Send us out into this night carrying Your light, walking right behind Jesus, our Prince of Peace.

Fill us up with Your love until it spills out everywhere we go –

feeding the hungry, noticing the lonely,

telling everyone we meet the beautiful news that they are loved,

all because of Jesus,

the Child born in wonder,

born for this world You love so fiercely.

We’re Yours. Amen.

Song: May the God of hope (726)

Sending out with God’s blessing

May the love of the Christ Child embrace you,

and the joy of the Christ Child fill your heart.

May the peace of the Christ Child give you rest, and the hope of the Christ Child guide you into the year ahead. Amen.

Response: Sing Amen

Music postlude

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The Communion liturgy is based on the liturgies of the PCC’s 1991 Book of Common Worship. Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One License (3095377) and CLC (A735555).

Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

Retooled

Posted on November 30, 2025November 30, 2025 by John

Worship on the First Sunday of Advent
Elder Induction
10:00 am November 30, 2025
Minister: The Rev. Brad Childs     Music Director: Binu Kapadia
Vocalist: Vivian Houg     Welcoming Elder: Shirley Simpson
Children’s time presenter: Brad     Reader: Tracy Childs

We gather to worship God

Music prelude

Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you
P: and also with you.

Welcome and announcements
Preparation for worship

Call to worship (Nagpal family)
L: The prophet Isaiah announced that people of all nations will come to the mountain of the Lord and learn God’s ways.
P: When we look at this suffering world, we know we need to follow God’s ways.
L: God will settle disputes among the nations. Weapons will be transformed into tools for planting and growth. Nations will live in peace; no more will they prepare for war.
P: We cling to that promise and light this candle of hope, inspired by a vision of a world where children grow into adulthood, and parents live to old age.
(Light the candle of hope)
All: Living God, make us more aware of your presence. We trust yourp promises and wait with hopeful hearts. Come, Lord Jesus.

Opening praise: Hope is a star (vs 1 of 119)

Prayers of approach and confession

God, who sees the weapons and the wreckage in our world, we’re showing up today desperate for your perspective. The news cycles through missiles in Ukraine, rocket fire in the Middle East, and division ripping through our own communities. We’re tired of living scared, scrolling through destruction, and feeling powerless against the violence. We need your voice cutting through the chaos.

Holy Spirit, dismantle our anxiety right now. Remind us you’re bigger than any army, more potent than any weapon, and working purposes we can’t yet see.

Take this moment and make it holy. Open our eyes to see your kingdom breaking in. Help us worship with hope instead of fear. Move in this room. Change us from the inside out.

Let’s get brutally honest with God about what’s breaking our hearts:

God, we’re carrying too much. The missile strikes killing families in Ukraine this week. Hezbollah rockets are terrorizing Israeli communities. Political hatred is poisoning our dinner table conversations. Hurricane survivors are still without power or homes.

We’ve become numb to the body count. Or we’re angry and lashing out at the wrong people. We’ve binge-watched the war coverage instead of crying out to you. We’re hoarding our resources instead of sharing.

Forgive us for our paralysis, our selective outrage, our failure to love through the mess. Break our hearts for what breaks yours.

[20 seconds silence]

Jesus, you faced Roman oppression, religious hypocrisy, and empire violence, too. You didn’t panic. You didn’t curse. You prayed through the night. You served through the suffering. You loved through the lunacy.

That same power lives in us. Our mistakes don’t disqualify us. Our weakness doesn’t stop you. Right now, we receive your forgiveness. Right now, we claim your strength. Right now, we’re stepping into our purpose.

Forgive us for our paralysis, our selective outrage, our failure to love through the mess. Break our hearts for what breaks yours.

Response: I waited, I waited on you, Lord

Assurance of God’s forgiveness

God declares us a peace bigger than the headlines. We’re free to hope again!

Induction of an Elder: Andrea Gartrell
Narration of Steps
Induction Vows
Congregational Response
Declaration
Right Hand of Fellowship

We listen for the voice of God

Song: Jesus loves me (373)

Children’s time and the Lord’s Prayer (535)

Song: God’s name forever shall endure (43)

Scripture readings: Matthew 24:36–44; Isaiah 2:1–5; Psalm 72:1–7 ,18–19

Response: My Lord, he is a comin soon

Message: Retooled
A world drowning in violence, parents in Kyiv whispering goodbyes to children before school, fearing a missile’s shadow; Israeli families clutching each other in bomb shelters as rockets scream overhead; American mothers cradling empty cribs after sons fall to bullets at gas stations. This isn’t ancient history. It’s November 29, 2025, and the headlines scream Isaiah’s nightmare: Judah’s farmers clutching pruning hooks against Assyrian spears, desperate civilians today grasping at straws amid overwhelming firepower. Over 200,000 conflict deaths this year alone; a 20% surge from 2024: shatter lives, orphan futures, and mock our cries for peace. Swords into plowshares? Not yet. But the desperation? Heart-wrenchingly familiar.

November’s Raw Toll according to the UN, The Associated Press, Reuters, and ACLED reports lay bare the week’s horrors:

Ukraine: Russia’s November 25 barrage, 36 missiles, 600 drones ripped through Kharkiv and Kyiv, killing at least 11 civilians. Over 500,000 plunged into winter darkness; Zelenskyy called it a “difficult night” and sabotaged U.S. peace talks. Imagine: sirens wail as kids huddle in metro stations, homework by flashlight, wondering if dawn brings death.

Lebanon-Israel: Hezbollah’s November 26-27 launched over 200 rockets and drones into northern Israel, wounded 7, forcing thousands underground. Israeli reprisals killed 1 Lebanese soldier, injured 18, after Beirut strikes claimed 29. PM Mikati decried a “bloody message” shattering cease-fires. Families in Haifa and Beirut: generations of hate, now a child’s terror in the basement dark.

In Chicago, Thanksgiving’s shadow hid 3 dead, 26 wounded in November 21-24 shootings, a 14-year-old boy dying near the Chicago Theatre amid a “teen takeover,” a 20-year-old neck-shot in an argument, a 25-year-old ambushed at a gas station. Mayor Johnson surged 700 officers, but systemic rot festers—mothers sob.

Iran’s Post-June strikes on Natanz, Tehran vows 2,000 missiles at once to drown Israel’s Iron Dome—enough uranium for 11 warheads hidden, IAEA access blocked. President Pezeshkian stated that his people are “Ready for war.” No November blasts yet, but the sword hangs, igniting dread of nuclear fire.

Hurricane Melissa’s October-November wrath left over 2 million powerless as of November 17; a Washington cyclone added 600,000 more. Families in Florida and Georgia huddle in cars amid debris.

These aren’t threads in a tapestry. They’re knives twisting in the gut of humanity.

In Nigeria Boko Haram November surge targeted 300 some Catholic schoolgirls kidnapped in Niger State (November 21), 2 slain in a church raid; 25 girls seized from Kebbi (November 17), 1 staffer murdered. A Mubi mosque bombing killed another 50. Farmers arm with machetes against ghosts in the night; Christians flee, faith a death sentence.

In the Sudan’s hundreds slaughtered in revenge, 250,000 “killed, died, displaced, or vanished” per Yale. The UN says 3,384 more civilian deaths were added this month.

Famine grips 375,000 more in Darfur, and 25 million face starvation nationwide. Ethnic cleansing on biblical scales, Assyria reborn. Mothers watch children waste to bones; the world averts its eyes.

Andrew Jackson, who later became the president of the United States, originally won fame as a prominent general in the United States Military. In the early part of 1815, a deadly battle began. Many soldiers were wounded and died on both sides, but General Jackson and his brave men fought and won. Countless books would record his story as the leader in the Battle of New Orleans, the last great battle of the War of 1812.

Isaiah was a prophet in Judah. He lived in 740BC. He was married. He had two sons, and at the time of his first writings, he and his wife were pregnant. He was a professional writer and court prophet (a spiritual and political commentator of his day). He also wrote a biography of the life of King Uzziah (the Judean King) and seems to have sat in his court as a permanent fixture. And yet he was a man of contradictions… a life held in tension.

Considering some of the things he said, his name (which means The LORD Saves) may have seemed a bit ironic to his fellow Judeans. Judah, after all, was about to be demolished, and Isaiah (one of the King’s own) was asking the people not to fight (something that wouldn’t have been well received). Isiah’s book of the Bible also contains hidden jabs at political figures and other palace officials. Almost like an ancient comic strip in Isaiah 7:6, Isaiah seems to have replaced a politician’s name with (Ben Taval), which means “Good for Nothing”. The politician’s real name is unknown, but apparently it rhymed with Ben Taval, and this didn’t escape Isaiah’s particular sense of humour. Evidently, though, his message didn’t go over all that well, and as the writer of Hebrews tells us, Isaiah was eventually sentenced to death and was actually sawn in half (Hebrews 11:37).

After King Solomon died, his kingdom was split into two: The northern kingdom called Israel and the southern kingdom called Judah (with Jerusalem as the city’s capital). But being a divided people with two separate kings made things like self-defence and political negotiations a bit difficult.

So by the time Isaiah came around about 250 years later, things weren’t really looking that good. His life was difficult, and he lived in an even more difficult time. But despite all of this, Isaiah wrote not just about judgment but also about redemption. And though he spoke of a coming exile as punishment from God, he also dreamed of a day when the Messiah would come and bring a new kind of peace to the unstable world around him.

It seems Isaiah was a dreamer. At the time, the world was dominated by two superpowers: Egypt, and probably the cruellest, most bloodthirsty empire the near east had ever seen: the empire of Assyria. In those days, people would use anything they could get their hands on to fight off Assyrian attacks. Most people were, of course, farmers (primarily of grapes and olives), but unfortunately, pruning hooks probably didn’t fend well against spears. The Assayrian’s had a standing army and amour. It must have seemed ridiculous to the well-trained Assyrian soldiers to see peasant farmers trying to attack them with ordinary farming tools. But that is what happened as waves of army men moved across the land. Israel, of course, wasn’t exactly resting in the safest location either. In fact, it was quite inconveniently located right in between Egypt to the south and Assyria, which was just to the north. Everyone knew it. There was no doubt about it. The day was rapidly approaching when Assyria would come, destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and then come knocking on the door of Jerusalem itself. At this time, war was everywhere; it was constant, and there was no relief in sight.

But Isaiah says that God gave him a vision of a time to come. He says, “In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted high above all the hills-”. It must have seemed a bit crazy to his listeners. Mt. Moriah (The Mountain of the Lord), is really just a big hill by Candain standards. The Mount of Olives was just off in the distance, and it’s almost 100 meters higher. Even Cypress Hill, Saskatchewan, has a mountain just outside Medicine Hat that’s almost twice as high as the Temple Mount. But Isaiah says that in the last days the mountain of the Lord will suddenly be raised until it’s the highest mountain on earth. That seems a tad crazy.

But that’s not the only crazy thing that Isaiah says. At a time when farmers defended themselves with mere tools against great weapons of war, Isaiah says that when the Messiah comes, it will be just the opposite. Isaiah envisions a world where weapons are so useless that soldiers begin using them for farming. He says, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” He says, Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Again Crazy.

But again, that’s not the only crazy thing that Isaiah says. He also says with beautiful poetry that the nahar (or… a river of people) will flow up the mountain). In short, he says that there will be such peace that it will be like the rivers run backwards up the hill as nations full of people flood to the Holy Temple of God.

Well… wait a minute, this is all to happen when the Messiah comes! That’s now. We live in that time that Isaiah dreamed of. We have seen the Messiah. But I don’t know the mountain of Moriah lifted high above all the other mountains. I don’t see rivers of people flowing up to the Temple of God (it was torn down), and I don’t see nations melting down tanks to make combines.

But Isaiah said it. He said the Messiah would bring peace unlike anything we’ve ever known. Was he wrong?

Just take a glance around CNN or the BBC, and you’d be sure that we’re no nearer to lasting-world-peace than Isaiah was.

But then again, perhaps that’s not precisely what Isaiah meant. And maybe we are. Real peace–lasting peace in fact– is here. I think it’s here now. No, it isn’t a peace that humans negotiate with each other from behind big expensive desks, but the kind of peace that only God can inaugurate. And I think Isaiah was right. I believe God did do that when he sent the Messiah. Peace began with the coming of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Peace, after all, is what Jesus is all about. Because Jesus, by his coming, ended the oldest, costliest, and most tragic war of all: the battle between man and God. Our sin had us as enemies as we turned against God. Sin was what we were fighting over. Sin is still the cause of violence. Sin is still what confronts true peace. And yet, Jesus took our sin, killed it on the cross, and buried it in his tomb.

For many Americans, Andrew Jackson is a great war hero. He is an example of outstanding leadership, and the story of his last great Battle (The Battle of New Orleans) is fascinating, to say the least. But what’s most interesting about this fight is that when General Andrew Jackson led his troops into battle that day in early January, 1915… the war had already been won. You see, the peace treaty had been signed on December 24^th, 1814. But this was a long time ago, and news travelled so slowly in those days that neither the British troops nor Jackson’s men had received any word of it. In the end, thousands of people were needlessly killed on both sides of a battle that was fought long after the war had already ended. If only he had known that peace had already been declared, what pointless suffering could have been avoided?

Today, the same is true. The Temple building is no more, and the hill it stood on was never meant to be the highest mountain in the world. Isaiah meant something else. Isaiah never thought that pile of dirt would somehow grow. The Temple is you, and I, and I believe that it is the highest mountain in the world. It is that thing that people look to when they want to meet our God. And today the Temple doesn’t just stand on a high hill… it covers the entire world and reaches out to every nation on earth for all to see (because Christians now exist as the Temple of God in every land th roughout the world). And while things may not be perfect just yet, we do have peace. Like a communion service we have a tiny taste of what is good. We have peace between God and man, we have the kind of peace that makes us want to forgive our neighbours and melt down our weapons. We have the kind of peace inside that only God can bring, and amazingly, when we live that peace – when we can really and truly live that peace – we can be the Temple we were called to be… the rivers will really flow backwards. People will really flood to His new Holy Temple to ask us, “What gives you hope?” Because when we accept that it’s our job to be the body of Christ and live that peace, people will want what we have, and when they do, they will meet the Prince of Peace as He shines through us. Because even though senseless violence still goes on, peace has already been declared; the war is over. When everyone knows it, we will have a lot more combines and a lot fewer bombs. Amen.

Song: Come, thou long-expected Jesus (110)

We respond to serve God

Our time of giving

Prayer of gratitude, and for others and ourselves

God, transform these dollars into plowshares for Ukraine, rebuilding tools for hurricane victims, hope for traumatized communities.

God who dismantles empires and repurposes weapons, we bring today’s breaking news to your throne:

UKRAINE (47 killed this week) Lord, the missiles falling on Kharkiv, the families sleeping in metro stations, the children learning math by flashlight – you see every tear, every crater, every prayer. Retool this destruction. Turn bomb shelters into places of worship. Raise leaders from the rubble. Protect the vulnerable. Strengthen the church. [10 seconds silence]

MIDDLE EAST (200+ rockets) God of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael, the missiles flying between Lebanon and Israel, the hostages still waiting, the soldiers on both sides carrying impossible burdens – you alone can retool this generational hatred. Raise peacemakers from both communities. Protect civilians on every side. Soften hardened hearts. Bring unexpected alliances. [10 seconds silence]

UNITED STATES DIVISION Holy Spirit, our political weapons are aimed at each other. Families are divided at Thanksgiving tables. Neighbours are posting hate instead of help. Leaders are weaponizing every issue. Retool our rhetoric into a relationship. Turn cable news addicts into community servants. Raise up bridge-builders in every city. Heal our national soul. [10 seconds silence]

HURRICANE SURVIVORS For the 2 million still without power, families sleeping in cars, businesses destroyed in Florida, Georgia, Carolinas – you specialize in post-storm restoration. Retool the debris into determination. Turn FEMA frustration into church mobilization. Raise neighbours helping neighbours. Provide miraculous provision. [10 seconds silence]

ECONOMIC WEAPONS Inflation weaponizing grocery trips, housing costs weaponizing the American dream, layoffs weaponizing family stability – you’re the God who provides. Retool our scarcity mindset into generosity—open unexpected doors of provision. Raise creative problem-solvers in every workplace. Multiply resources through your people. [10 seconds silence]

GLOBAL REFUGEES 10 million displaced by war, families walking hundreds of miles, children growing up in camps instead of classrooms – you led Israel through the wilderness. Retool hostile borders into welcome centers. Turn aid workers’ exhaustion into a renewed calling. Raise sponsor families worldwide. Provide safety, shelter, schooling, and hope. [10 seconds silence]

OUR PERSONAL BATTLES [20 seconds silence for individual prayer]

God, you see every weapon aimed at us personally. The medical reports, the fractured relationships, the hidden addictions, the secret fears. We declare today: these weapons have expiration dates. Retool our stories for your glory. Make us plowshares that feed your kingdom. Amen.

Song: Who’s goin’ to tell the story (761)

Sending out with God’s blessing

Go with the confidence that every weapon has an expiration date. Walk knowing God is master of every tool against you. Live expecting Him to retool your greatest pain into your greatest purpose.

May the God who breaks bows and shatters spears strengthen you with supernatural resilience. May the God who turns swords into plowshares transform your story into testimony. May the God who rules over empires and economies fill you with unshakable peace.

The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord repurpose every attack for your good, the Lord give you peace that transcends understanding. Amen!

Response: Sing Amen

Music postlude

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Video recordings of the Sunday Worship messages can be found here on our YouTube Channel.

Advent Preparation

Posted on November 23, 2025November 23, 2025 by John

On this Sunday before Advent, Dayspring dedicated and reflected on a contemporary Advent Wreath that was donated to the congregation by the son of one of our members.

You will find the text of the service here.