Fourth Sunday After Advent 2016

18 December 2016

Welcome to our worship this morning

At St Luke’s we seek to share God’s uncon­di­tion­al love and accept­ance of all people, regard­less of age, gender, race, mar­it­al or fam­ily status, sexu­al ori­ent­a­tion, dis­ab­il­ity or wealth.

Preach­er & Celebrant: Wel­comers Today: Next week: Read­ers Today: Read­ers next week: Intercessor: Next week: Hospitality: Next Week: Cleaners10th December:

Fr. Philip Bradford Kev­in Green & John Tonetti Jen­nie Win­ton & Dav­id Dunlop Susan Hill & Tony Brownlow Oscar Dav­is & Belinda Reddy Peter Seymour John Tonetti Brett Dav­ies & Amrit MacIntyre Shared brunch Moya Holle, John Tonetti, Tony Brownlow

Christ­mas Eve Roster:-

Wel­comers: Nadia Wheat­ley & Richard Hagen
Inter­ces­sions: Rose­mary Bradford
Read­ers: Rose­mary Brad­ford & Richard Hagen.

It is easy to become over famil­i­ar with the story of the Incarn­a­tion, but behind the ancient proph­ecies and work of the Holy Spir­it, it is a story about a man and a woman at the begin­ning of their life togeth­er. We see the char­ac­ter of Joseph, his hon­esty, dig­nity and respect for Mary, as well as his faith in God. When Jesus entered our world, he entered our exper­i­ence and meets us where we are, in the ordin­ary pro­found moments of life. That is where Immanuel chose to dwell. Let us in our own lives not neg­lect the ordin­ary for in these moments, God is at work.

• Thank God for the life of Joseph, a saintly example for all men, single or mar­ried and for Mary, his wife, the Moth­er of our Lord.

• Give thanks for the work of the Primate’s World Relief and Devel­op­ment Fund (Anglic­an Church of Canada) as they seek to bring God’s love to others.

Text: Dr Michael Sutton
Cat­ech­ist, St Paul’s Anglic­an Church Burwood
© Anglic­an Board of Mis­sion, 2016

Introit Hymn: TIS 290 – Of the Father’s love begotten

Liturgy for Light­ing the Advent Candle

4th Sunday of Advent – Love

The Min­is­ter greets the congregation:

The Lord be with you

All: And also with you

Min­is­ter: Today we will light the fourth Advent Candle, the candle remind­ing us of God’s love. Before we do that let us remem­ber the gifts of God sym­bol­ised by the oth­er candles, the light of hope, the light of peace and the light of joy.

(The first three candles are lit.)

All: The fourth candle helps us to remem­ber that God is love.

(the fourth candle is lit.)

Min­is­ter: The Bible tells us that it is because God loved the world so much that Jesus came among us. Let us join in this pray­er of thanksgiving.

All: Gra­cious God, thank you for lov­ing us and for sending
Jesus into the world. Help us to remem­ber that your love
is unend­ing and strengthen us to love oth­ers as you love
us. Amen

The Sen­tence: A vir­gin shall con­ceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel: God with us. Mat­thew 1.23

The Col­lect:

Gra­cious God,
you chose the vir­gin Mary, by your grace,
to be the moth­er of our Lord and Saviour:
so fill us with your grace,
that with her we may rejoice in your salvation,
and in all things embrace your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Read­ing Isai­ah 7.10–16

A read­ing from the book of the proph­et Isaiah

Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, say­ing, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heav­en. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isai­ah said: ‘Hear then, O house of Dav­id! Is it too little for you to weary mor­tals, that you weary my God also? There­fore the Lord him­self will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

For the word of the Lord Thanks be to God

Psalm 80.1–7, 17–19

1 Hear O Shep­herd of Israel * you that led | Joseph  like a | flock:
you that are enthroned upon the cher­ubim | shine | out in | glory;

2 Before Eph­raim, Ben­jamin | and Man-| asseh:
stir up your | power and | come to | save us.

3 Restore us again O | Lord of | hosts:
show us the light of your coun­ten­ance | and we | shall be | saved.

4 O Lord | God of | hosts:
how long will you be | angry  at your | people’s | prayer?

5 You have fed them with the | bread of | tears:
and giv­en them tears to | drink in | good | measure.

6 You have made us the vic­tim | of our | neighbours:
and our | enemies | laugh us  to | scorn.

7 Restore us again O | Lord of | hosts:
show us the light of your coun­ten­ance | and we | shall be | saved.

17 Let your power rest on the man at your | right | hand:
on that son of man whom you | made so | strong  for your-| self.

18 And so we shall | not turn | back from you:
give us life and we will | call up-| on your | name.

19 Restore us again O | Lord of | hosts:
show us the light of your coun­ten­ance | and we | shall be | saved.

Glo-| ry to | God; Fath­er | Son and | Holy | Spirit;
As in the be-| gin­ning so | now; and for-| ever. | A-| men

Second Read­ing Romans 1.1–7

A read­ing from Paul’s let­ter to the Romans

Paul, a ser­vant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gos­pel of God, which he prom­ised before­hand through his proph­ets in the holy scrip­tures, the gos­pel con­cern­ing his Son, who was des­cen­ded from Dav­id accord­ing to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power accord­ing to the spir­it of holi­ness by resur­rec­tion from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostle­ship to bring about the obed­i­ence of faith among all the Gen­tiles for the sake of his name, includ­ing yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Fath­er and the Lord Jesus Christ.

For the word of the Lord Thanks be to God

Gos­pel Procession

Gos­pel Acclamation

Alle­lu­ia, Alle­lu­ia, Alle­lu­ia, Alleluia,
I am the ser­vant | of the | Lord:
may his | will for | me be | done.
Alle­lu­ia, Alle­lu­ia, Alle­lu­ia, Alleluia.

The Gos­pel Mat­thew 1.18–25

The Gos­pel of our Lord Jesus Christ accord­ing to Matthew

 Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Now the birth of Jesus the Mes­si­ah took place in this way. When his moth­er Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived togeth­er, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Her hus­band Joseph, being a right­eous man and unwill­ing to expose her to pub­lic dis­grace, planned to dis­miss her quietly.
But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of Dav­id, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child con­ceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’
All this took place to ful­fil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
‘Look, the vir­gin shall con­ceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord com­manded him; he took her as his wife, but had no mar­it­al rela­tions with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

For the Gos­pel of the Lord Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Hymn after Ser­mon: TIS 292– Infant holy, infant lowly

Pray­er for our Parish

Gra­cious God,
We pray for our Par­ish of St Luke,for our Rect­or and all who worship
We pray that this Par­ish will always have
a faith­ful pas­tor who will faith­fully speak your Word
and min­is­ter your Sacraments;
an encour­ager who will equip your people for ministry
and enable us to ful­fil our calling.
Give your Holy Spir­it to those who will choose a new Rector,
that they will have wis­dom, dis­cern­ment and patience.
Give to us all warm and gen­er­ous hearts,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Offer­tory Hymn: TIS 520 – Lord, Enthroned in heav­enly splendour

Hymn dur­ing Communion:

Final Hymn: It came upon the mid­night clear

1. It came upon the mid­night clear,
   that glor­i­ous song of old
   from angels bend­ing near the earth
   to touch their harps of gold:
   “Peace on the earth, good will to men,
   from heav­en’s all-gra­cious King.”
   The world in sol­emn still­ness lay,
   to hear the angels sing.

2. Still through the cloven skies they come
   with peace­ful wings unfurled,
   and still their heav­enly music floats
   o’er all the weary world;
   above its sad and lowly plains,
   they bend on hov­er­ing wing,
   and ever o’er its Babel sounds
   the blessed angels sing.

3. And ye, beneath life’s crush­ing load,
   whose forms are bend­ing low,
   who toil along the climb­ing way
   with pain­ful steps and slow,
   look now! for glad and golden hours
   come swiftly on the wing.
   O rest beside the weary road,
   and hear the angels sing!

4. For lo! the days are hasten­ing on,
   by proph­et seen of old,
   when with the ever-circ­ling years
   shall come the time foretold
   when peace shall over all the earth
   its ancient splendors fling,
   and the whole world send back the song
   which now the angels sing.

Notices:

Please wear your name badge for the con­veni­ence of oth­ers and join us for morn­ing tea in the hall

Please note – Due to our vis­it to the Stan­more Nurs­ing Home, Par­ish Coun­cil is can­celled today – we will meet again on Sunday 22 January.

War­dens next meet on Sunday 8 January.

Don’t for­get the Christ­mas Bowl and ABM Christ­mas Appeals – envel­opes provided.

Flowers for Christ­mas – dona­tions for flowers may either be giv­en to Ruth or put into the offertory.

Also, dona­tions for Stan­more Nurs­ing Home gifts would be appre­ci­ated. Envel­opes are provided at the back of the church or see the Welcomers.

Today – We are going to the Stan­more Nurs­ing Home to sing car­ols and give out gifts. If you can come please do; the patients enjoy our singing and company!

Our Nativ­ity Play Without Rehears­al is on at 6.30 pm. This is our annu­al Fam­ily Christ­mas get-togeth­er – a time to invite the neigh­bours and friends, espe­cially those with chil­dren. There is sup­per to fol­low in the hall.

Last week at Children’s Book Present­a­tion, we omit­ted to thank our ded­ic­ated Sunday School teach­ers. Thank you to Fabi­an, Jen­nifer, Diana, Amrit and Jo Raj. We all sin­cerely appre­ci­ate what you do!!

Sat­urday 24 Decem­ber (Christ­mas Eve) – Mid­night Mass at 11.30 pm – sup­per will not be served this year after this ser­vice, as brunch is being arranged for Christ­mas Day.

Christ­mas Day – 9.30 am Fam­ily Eucharist

Fol­low­ing the Fam­ily Euchar­ist on Christ­mas Day there will be a light brunch in the hall for all who are not rush­ing off to oth­er fest­iv­it­ies and would like to join in. So we’ll have an idea of num­bers, please let Jen­nie Win­ton know (jwinton798@gmail.com, or 0401 727 718) if you’ll be join­ing us.

The Epi­phany pil­grim­age to the moun­tains will be on Sat­urday 14 Janu­ary – Euchar­ist and bar­be­cue at Lea and Don’s home, 22 Albert Street, Leura. Bring your own meat and drink and per­haps a salad or sweet to share.

Book­stall News – Christ­mas cards are still avail­able. And new stock: Joan Chittister’s The Breath of the Soul; Richard Rohr’s The Divine Dance; and for chil­dren: The Vel­veteen Rab­bit; Images of God; Who Made Me; and Anne Frank and the Remem­ber­ing Tree.

Advance Notice:

There will be a Par­ish Retreat at the Stroud Her­mit­age on the week­end of 3–5 March 2017.

Our Web­site www.stlukesenmore.org.au

Our web­site is being con­stantly updated by Fr Philip (ser­mons) and Angela Bell (weekly bul­let­ins and events). Have you taken a look recently? Your feed­back would be appreciated.

Bible Read­ings for the Week 19th to 25th Decem­ber 2016

MONDAY	Judges 13.2–7,24–25	Psalm 71.121	Luke 1.5–25
TUESDAY	Isai­ah 7.10–14	Psalm 24.1–6	Luke 1.28–38
WEDNESDAY	Habakkuk 2.1–4	Psalm 117 ‚Eph 2.19–22	John 20.24–29
THURSDAY	1 Samuel 1.24–28	SO Han­nah (APBAp.429)	Luke 1.46–56
FRIDAY	Mala­chi 3.1–4; 4.2–3	Psalm 25.4–10	Luke 1.57–66
SATURDAY	2 Samuel 7.1–5,8–11,16	Psalm 89.19–29	Luke 1.67–69

Next Sat­urday Read­ings –Christ­mas Eve

Isai­ah 9.2–7
Psalm 96
Tit­us 2.11–14
Luke 2.1–14

Next Sunday’s Read­ings – Christ­mas Day

Isai­ah 62.6–12
Psalm 97
Tit­us 3.4–8a
Luke 2.8–20

INTERCESSIONS Pray­ers for each day of the week Today: Mervyn Bish­op; Ross Black; Fr. Philip & Rose­mary Brad­ford; Chris Brooks; Tony Brownlow. Monday: Les & Lyn Car­ring­ton; Ruth Cham­pi­on; Ron, Binh, Milly, Nam & Viol­etta Clarke. Tues­day: Ron & Sheila Cross; Lyne, Elean­or & Con­stance Cuneen & John MacLu­lich; Neville Daniels. Wed­nes­day: Edi & Oscar Dav­is; Kathy Drum­mond; Dav­id Dun­lop; Brent Egan. Thursday: Michael, Eliza­beth, Thomas, Ellen­or & Nich­olas Flem­ing; Steph­en Gates & Andrew. Fri­day: Alt­in Gav­ran­ovic & Han­nah For­syth; Diana Jef­fer­ies; Noel Jeffs; Linda Jensath­it: Kenny Khoo. Sat­urday: Eddy, Mint, Atom & Arty Kit­tir­at; Joseph & Esth­er Kumar; Geoff Lind­say & Mandy Tibbey. Our Pray­ers for those in imme­di­ate need: Leanne; Bruce Sims & Peter; Asia Bibi, Robert and Lyn­dall; Fr Ron Mor­ris, Fr Ken Munns; Bri­an Rawns­ley, Linda Rink­er & Patri­cia Gonzales;

Our Pray­er for those in need. Shir­ley Allen; Bar­bara & Jade Allen; Grace & Han­nah Ashton; Fatima Begum; Angela Bell; Maur­een & Henry Byers; Hugo Cun­ning­ham; Mar­ilyn Gibb; Joseph Jee­bell; Ann Jeffs, Linda Jensath­it; Melissa, John & Baby Ger­ard; Jude & Isla; Marissa; John Naidu; Pau­line Newell; Peter Pur­cell; Edward Reddy; Alex Regos; Joy Ree; Steph­en Thomas; Soph­ie Toupein; Janet Walms­ley; Yavani Mu Daly, Vic­tor­ia, Leigh Gar­retty, Nii Samuela; Alie­sha; Juli­an; Eve Moggs; John Mic­allef; Lil­lian & moth­er; Jack & fam­ily; Car­oline Wilson; Bar­bara Granger; Dawn Hol­land and Ray Sommer. Depar­ted Judy Reynolds In Thanks­giv­ing for Bless­ings Received: For Robert’s first vis­it to cham­bers last Sunday, with more to come. Pray for Lyn­dall as she enables these out­ings. His acci­dent happened on Pente­cost Sunday – now speak­ing well and mobile in a wheel­chair. They are hop­ing for more movement. Anniversar­ies of the Departed Sid­ney Smith; Giuseppe Crowth­er; Bill Carter; Arthur Port­er; Adri­an Archinal. 21st Dec: Thomas, Apostle & Martyr 25th Dec: The Birth of our Lord

Par­ish Inform­a­tion www.stlukesenmore.org.au ABN.78 161 584 893.

SUNDAY WORSHIP:

Sung Euchar­ist and Chil­dren’s Min­istry at 9.30 am fol­lowed by hos­pit­al­ity in the hall. Thai Com­munity meets in the Chapel after morn­ing tea. Enquir­ies to Aman­da Mason 0407 101 382.

WEEKDAY SERVICES:

Wed­nes­day 9.30 a.m. — Morn­ing Pray­er; 10.00 a.m. Euchar­ist (fol­lowed by morn­ing tea)
Fri­day 8.30 a.m. – Morn­ing Prayer

CONFESSIONS (Sac­ra­ment of Recon­cili­ation) HOME COMMUNIONS, BAPTISMS, & MARRIAGES by arrangement.

Rect­or — Fr Philip Brad­ford — 0431 655 220 (Mob)
Office Ph 9557 4219 PO Box 64. Enmore NSW 2042
Par­ish email: rector@stlukesenmore.org.au
Fr Philip: bradford.pr@gmail.com

Hon­or­ary Lay Min­is­ter – Peter Sey­mour

Pas­tor­al Care
Lay-Min­is­ters — Part Time – Lea MacNeil & Aman­da Mason.

 

OFFICE HOURS: Tues­day 9.00 to 11.00 am; Wed­nes­day 9.00 am to 12 noon; Fri­day 8.30 to 10.30 a.m. www.stlukesenmore.org.au Hon Clergy Associate: Fr Ron Mor­ris (Mob 0409 451362) Organ­ist: Kathy Drummond Occa­sion­al Organ­ist: C. Brooks ST LUKE’S OP SHOP, 133 Enmore Rd, Tel: 9550 5713 Hours: Tues, Wed & Fri­day 9.30   4; Thursday 9.30–3; Sat 9.30 – 2.30, Sunday, Monday – Closed. Hall Admin­is­trat­or: Stu­art Veitch Mb 0400–312-354

War­dens: Jen­nie Win­ton Mb 0401 727 718. Eddy Reddy Mb 0410 634 948 Ruth Cham­pi­on Mb 0400 166 041 Par­ish Council: Andy Ser­afin; Jen­nifer Bestel; James Barnes (Treas­urer); Susan Hill; Peter Sey­mour; Fabi­an LoS­chiavo; Amrit MacIntyre & Tony Purcell. Par­ish Nominators: Moya Holle; Mandy Tib­bey; Susan Hill; Ruth Cham­pi­on & Stu­art Veitch. Pas­tor­al Care Sup­port Group Ruth Cham­pi­on; Stu­art Ogg; John Tonetti, Moya Holle; Peter Seymour