It was a joy to have the Rev’d Roger Baker lead our morning’s worship last Sunday, which was the second Sunday in Advent. Roger took as his theme “The Expectancy of Christ’s coming again”. After a warm welcome to Roger, our steward Rosalind Chatburn read a prayer for peace and lit the second Advent candle. After his call to worship Roger led our singing of our opening hymn by Charles Wesley “Lo, he comes with clouds descending once for favoured sinners slain”. As this was a service of Holy Communion, Roger led our worship from The Methodist Service Book.
After prayers of praise and adoration there were three bible readings shared by Guy Chatburn and Keith Harrison; the first from Isaiah, chapter 40 being Words of Hope which inspired Handel’s “Messiah”, the second reading was from Peter’s second letter to the early church being a promise of the Lord’s Coming, and the third reading was from Mark’s gospel, chapter one in which John the Baptist tells of the coming of Jesus who will baptise with the Holy Spirit not with water as he does.
Roger spoke of the meaning of Advent being foretelling of Christ’s coming and there was great expectancy of the event. It was the expectation that God was doing something special and acting decisively in the lives of men. Roger also spoke of ‘time’ explaining that God’s time is not the same as human time as God sets every day against eternity. Time is also an opportunity for us to turn to God and we can hastening his coming into our lives by telling our story and time is a gift until the day he comes again.
Following the Methodist Service Book, we shared in the bread and wine in communion, symbolically the body and blood of Christ, and Jill Harrison assisted the minister in distributing the elements.