As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People. 
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.     

Call to Worship:  

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

Matthew 1. 23

O Come, Let Us Worship

Collect for Purity
Almighty God,
to you all hearts are open, all desires known,
and from you no secrets are hidden.
Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by
the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Collect for Today
Heavenly Father,
who chose the Virgin Mary, full of grace, to be the mother of our Lord and Saviour;
now fill us with your grace, that we in all things may embrace your will and
with her rejoice in your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.   Amen. 

Psalm 80. 1-7, 16-18

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,  you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth  
In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Awaken your might; come and save us. 
Restore us, O God;  make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
How long, Lord God Almighty,  will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.
Restore us, God Almighty;  make your face shine on us,  
Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name, that we may be saved. 

The Proclamation of the Gospel:

Matthew 1.18-25

Sermon:  The Ven.  Brian Evans

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of
our hearts be ever acceptable to you, O Lord.  Amen.

 “In Celebration of Love” 

On Thursday morning, at Morning Prayer, we read from 1 Samuel 20:26-34.
We picked up the reading where Jonathan is grieving over the, what Jonathan would describe as, shameful treatment of his father towards David.            

David and Jonathan had become fast friends. Their friendship is one example of love in the scriptures.            

Today, we read in the Gospel what may be described as an even greater story of love: the greatest story ever told, the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.            

The purpose of this story is to illustrate God’s purpose, giving us unmistakable proof of God’s love for us. God chose to become like us, to become human in every way.            

Our story begins:  

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.
(It is Interesting how Matthew’s gospel is testifying to this great event in the world.)
When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together,
she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.
Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace,
planned to divorce her quietly.
(All This appears to be very ordinary, you might say. But God has different plans, and so the story continues)   
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 fulfill what had been spoken
by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”   
(Here we have captured the real message of: why Christmas and, why Easter.)
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him;
he took her as his wife, but he had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.            

Yes indeed, is this not just the greatest story ever told?            

AMAZING!            

A little baby, God Incarnate, comes to a poor couple who undoubtedly needed grace in their lives.
At the same time the world, not unlike today, was in need of grace. God knew this.            

What does God do?  

God sends himself, incarnate, in the form of a little boy to be born in the humblest of locations, a manger in a cattle-shed, to bring salvation to the world. To save his people from their sins.            

What is unique about this gift?   This is not just a one-day gift, on a certain day of the year. It is gift for all time: the unending gift of God’s love for us.
This gift we experience each, and every, day of our lives.            

One of the first things we learn from Jesus’ birth is, God had a plan.
When we love, we have a plan. You are intentional.            

It’s kind of like asking your partner what they want for Christmas. I don’t know about your house, in our house the answer is, “well, I have given you lots of hints.”            

What we learn from the scriptures is:

God had a plan beginning with creation.
God prepared for us a kingdom.
God planned for Jesus to offer his life for our salvation.
(Not only offered his life, for at the same time, promised us eternal life.)            

In the BCP Eucharist liturgy, I love the ‘Comfortable Words’:
(4 pieces of scripture that are so filled with the theme of love) 

Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him:

COME unto me all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. St Matthew 11. 28. GOD so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish but have eternal life. St John 3. 16.
HEAR also what Saint Paul saith. This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1. 15.
HEAR also what Saint John saith. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 2. 1, 2.

My response hearing those words, silently to myself, is AWESOME!            

Not only does God share this plan with us, God also gives us a second lesson about his grace. His grace is never forgotten. God kept his promise. We hear the promise in those Comfortable Words.  And, as we read in the Gospel today in v.22 & 23:

All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
“Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel.”         (God saves)   

Finally, third, God’s promise comes to us in a real, living person. The great ‘I AM.’            

It is said the oldest Christmas hymn known, at least in the western world, is ‘O Come, O come, Emmanuel.’            

The seven stanzas were originally written for the monasteries to be sung, one verse each day of the week, leading up to Christmas. It is our opportunity to fully understand the real depth of this idea of the Nativity.  

Hear these words:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.
O come, O Wisdom from on high.
O come, O come, great Lord of the light.
O come, O rod of Jesse’s stem.
O come, O key of David come, and open wide our heavenly home.
O come, O Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by your drawing nigh.
O come, Desire of nations, bind us in one the hearts of humankind.  

O come. O come.  It’s like a desire...a waiting…an expectation…a believing that God will ransom us in our lives.

God had a plan. God kept his plan in fulfilling his promise to ransom captive Israel.  

Let us be prepared to bring his light into the world, giving joy in the advent of our Lord, and King. 

Thanks be to God.  Amen.

The Nicene Creed  

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.  

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.  

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified. 
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.   Amen.

Let Us Pray

As we prepare for the fullness of Christ’s presence,
let us pray for a world that yearns for joy and new hope.  

God our shepherd,
let your Spirit move with the power throughout the church.
Give discernment and wisdom to Anna, our Bishop;
Archdeacon Brian; Rev. Trish; and lay leaders in our Church.
Take away our fear, so that we serve and love, confident that you are guiding us. 

God in your mercy,
Hear our prayer. 

God our source,
awaken us to the beauty of the earth, and the marvelous variety of life.
Unite humankind in repairing and caring for your creation.
Protect creatures and habitats in peril due to rising seas and warming temperatures.  

God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.  

God our vision,
raise up leaders in every nation who dream of freedom, and justice, for all people.
We pray for the work of international organizations that promote peace and human  rights. 

God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.  

God our helper,
come to the aid of all who cry out to you.
Shelter migrants, refugees, and those fleeing war and famine.
Bring relief to individuals and families experiencing hunger,
homelessness, or impoverishment.
Comfort any who are isolated or lonely.  

God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.  

God our Emmanuel,
you are with us in our life together.
We give you thanks for gathering us in worship and fellowship,
and we remember those who cannot be present.
Watch over those who travel.
Heal the sick and speed their recovery.
In our Parish we pray for: 
Roy & Gail; Daryl & Sue; Roy; John; Daryl & Joyce; Sheila; Carolyn;
Flo; Adriel; Catherine; Michelle, and those on our hearts. 

God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

God our hope,
you bring life out of death, and you promise to be our God forever.
Shine upon the faithful who now rest with you.
We pray for Bill K..  Be with his family.
Give them comfort and strength…especially for Wendy and Bill, his parents….
And now may the fulfillment of your promise and bring him into 
in the fulfillment of your promise,
and bring us into your blessed reign of peace.  

God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.  

God of our longing,
you know our deepest needs.
By your Spirit, gather our prayers and join
them with the prayers of all your children.
In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

As our Saviour taught us, 
We pray:

Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who tresspass against us.
And lead us  not into temptation, but deliver us fom evil.  
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power and the glory,
forever and ever.  Amen.

Faithful God,
at this time, we acknowledge the promise of
the awaiting Salvation for us, in the birth of your son.
We acknowledge that salvation that Mary brought into the world for us,
through the gift of Your Holy Spirit.   
May we, like the Virgin Mary, be obedient to your will.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Amen.

The Blessing

May the peace of God,
which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and
love of God, and of his son, Jesus Christ, our lord.

And may the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you, and remain with you, always.  Amen.