While Shepherds. Watched A Series of Special Services for Advent. By Arden W. Mead WE-2

Transcription

1 E N O IV I T T A A S E IC E L R C UN P M M M SA O C While Shepherds Watched S A Series of Special Services for Advent By Arden W. Mead

2 COMMUNICATIONS 2 While Shepherds Watched

3 E COM OMM MMUN UNICATIONS NS.. CW While Shepherds Watched A Series of Special Services for Advent MUBy By Arden W. Mead Index About While Shepherds Watched Service One: The Shepherd Abraham AT... aham Service Two: The Shepherd erd Moses Service Three: The Shepherd SDavid Service Four: The Bethlehem Shepherds Music Guide By Arden W. Mead. Art by Sally Beck by Creative Communications for the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. A Series of Special Services for Advent 3

4 While Shepherds Watched COMMUNICATIONS MUN CA ONS OMAbo About tct While Shepherds Watched A shepherd looked to the sky, received a promise and believed. MMname His was Abraham... So begins WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED, a series of special services for Advent a new, insightful twist on what we often consider the traditional Christmas Shepherds. Ss. WHILE SHEPHERDS HERDS WATCHED considers, week by week, the great biblical shepherds who led, in their way, to the miracle of Jesus birth: Service One The Shepherd Abraham Service e Two The Shepherd herd Moses Service Three e The Shepherd David Service Four The Bethlehem Shepherds IOrds Following the opening liturgy (employing Slic biblical shepherd verses along with hymn stanzas) and scripture readings (three for each week), each service features a three-character drama. The main reader represents the title character (Abraham, Moses, David, an old Bethlehem shepherd). The second reader responds directly to the main character (Sarah, Joshua, Solomon, the Bethlehem shepherd s grandson). The third voice, reading from the balcony or the back of the church, represents the voice of the Lord. 4 While Shepherds Watched

5 The congregation participates in the dramas by singing successive hymn stanzas (which are printed in the worship folder). At the conclusion of the drama, the pastor delivers a brief homily, which is included in this book and on the accompanying CD-ROM, along with children s sermons for each service, prayers, and music for the organist. CRE REATIVE COM OMM MUNICATIONS The fourth service can be used by your congregation during the fourth week of Advent, or on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. CD-ROM A CD-ROM is included with this book. It contains the contents of the book in PDF form (for reprinting) and text t files for the services and dramas (for revising, if you wish). Also included are PDF files for bulletins, set up and ready for reproduction. Purchase of MMbook this grants copyright for your worshiping community. A Series of Special Services for Advent 5

6 CREAT ATIVE COM OMMUN UNICATIONS ION While Shepherds Watched A Series of Special Services for Advent MUBy By Arden W. Mead Service One: The Shepherd Abraham Scripture Readings An Order Of Service rvice Children s Sermon Script S Concluding Homily NS-22 Prayers While Shepherds Watched

7 While Shepherds Watched COMMUNICATIONS MU CAT ON An Cn Order Of Service The Shepherd Abraham Gathering... Quem.Pastores. He whom shepherds came beholding, In the arms of faith enfolding, He, the universe upholding, AMOur Good Shepherd, Christ draws near. Lift your eyes, God s mercy knowing; Vg; Like the stars in heaven glowing, Count God s blessings overflowing. Look, O shepherds, God is here! P O Shepherd of Israel, you lead your people like a flock. C All who believe, as Abraham did, receive your promised righteousness. P We are the people you care for, the flock ESwhich for you provide. C You make us lie down in green pastures; Syou lead us beside the still waters; you restore our souls. P All of us were like sheep who had gone astray, turning to our own ways. C You lead us in the paths of righteousness for your name s sake. P From death you raised our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. C Even in the valley of darkest shadows, your rod and staff provide comfort. Sor P Have no fear, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. C At your table we are secure; our heads are anointed, our cups overflow. P The Lamb at the center of the throne will be our Shepherd, to wipe away every tear from our eyes. A Series of Special Services for Advent 7

8 C And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. P All who believe, as Abraham did, receive the Lord s promised righteousness. E COMMUNICATIONS MUN CA ON NS Where the sheep are safely grazing, Shepherds, sing, your Shepherd praising, Grateful hearts and voices raising To the Lord who cares for all. See, in answer to our yearning, God s great love so brightly burning. To Co our need the Lord is turning, For God hears our plaintive call. MT The.Prayer.of.the.Day Christians, come; the blessing ponder: Though like sheep we all did wander, Still our Shepherd seeks us yonder, For we have been sought and found. Gracious Shepherd, stand beside us; AMTo green pastures gently guide With your rod and staff provide IVus; Let your blessings still abound. The.First.Lesson Genesis.15:1-6 Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son ESGod of appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall Sl l come to you, O Israel. S The.Second.Lesson... Romans.4:17-25 Oh, come, blest Dayspring, come and cheer Our spirits by your advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel. 8 While Shepherds Watched

9 The.Gospel... John.8:31-47, E COMMUNICATI MU CAT ATIO TIONS SAMPLE LES THE.SHEPHERD.ABRAHAM These hymn stanzas are sung, one at a time, during the drama: While Abram watched his flocks, the Lord of hosts drew nigh To offer precious promises beneath a star-filled sky. Our God in love provides a wonderful surprise: A child of hope the future holds O shepherd, lift your eyes! MA A sacrifice awaits, a gracious God s reward. With faithful Abraham behold the mountain of the Lord! To pastures rich and green, through valleys dark and deep, In grace God chooses, calls, directs; the Shepherd leads his sheep. UNThe The.Homily A.Hymn The.God.of.Abraham.Praise of The God of Abr ham praise, who reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love. Jehovah, great I Am! By earth and heav n confessed; I bow and bless the sacred name forever blest. The God of Abr ham praise, whose all-sufficient l-sufficient grace Shall guide me all my pilgrim days in all my ways. He deigns to call me friend; he calls himself my God! And he shall save me to ESend ON. the through Jesus s blood. God by himself has sworn; Sn I on his oath depend. I shall, on eagle wings upborne, to heav n ascend. I shall behold his face; I shall his pow r adore, And sing the wonders of his grace forevermore. The.Prayers A Series of Special Services for Advent 9

10 The.Offering CRE REAT ATIVE COMM MMUN MUN UNICATIONS The Lord s Prayer or the celebration of Holy Communion A.Benediction...Hebrews.13:20-21 CPFrom CFrom P death God has raised our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. CC C His sacrificial death guarantees the eternal covenant. PMay the God of peace provide you with every good thing you need in order to do his will. C And may God, through Jesus Christ, do in us what pleases him. P And to Christ be the glory forever and ever. C Amen. A.Closing.Stanza Quem.Pastores God s dear flock, rich blessing reaping, Guided waking, guarded sleeping, Safe within the Shepherd s herd s keeping, Keep the faith of Abraham! 10 While Shepherds Watched

11 While Shepherds Watched COMMUNICATIO MU CAT ION ONS Scripture Readings The Shepherd Abraham The.First.Lesson Genesis.15:1-6 L After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, s, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? A And Abram said, You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir. But the word of the Lord came to him, This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue sue shall be your heir. He brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. Then he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness. ESs life The.Second.Lesson Romans.4:17-25 L (As it is written, I have made you, Abraham, am, the father of many nations ) in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, SAbra Abraham believed that he would become the father of many nations, according to what was said, So numerous us shall your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now the words, it was reckoned to him, were written not for his sake A Series of Special Services for Advent 11

12 alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification. CREATI TIVE COMMUNI MUN NICATIO ION ONS SAM AMPLE LES The.Gospel... John.8:31-47, L Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, If you continue in my word, you CLThen CThen are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. They answered him, We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean saying, You will be made free? Jesus answered them, Very truly, I tell you, everyone Cby who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare MMhave what I seen in the Father s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father. They answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, If you were Abraham s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are Sou Strying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does. They said to him, We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning ing and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks s according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, th, why do you Eel not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are ESI not from God. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad. Then the Jews said to him, You are fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, Very truly, I not yet tell you, before Abraham was, I am. 12 While Shepherds Watched

13 While Shepherds Watched COMMUNICATIONS MUN CAT ONS Children s Sermon The Shepherd Abraham I d like to ask you to use your imagination. Let s all look up, as straight as we can look. What do you see? The ceiling of course. But this is where your imagination comes in. Pretend that the ceiling isn t there. Pretend we can look beyond it, into the sky. Straight up. Imagine it is nighttime, and we re going to be looking for stars. That s what God once told the shepherd Abraham to do, remember? mber? Look at the stars. Right now all we see is one star the first star of the evening. If someone said, Count the stars, this would be easy, wouldn t it? ONE! Remember that. The counting started with one. Now more stars are becoming visible. Can Se we count them? Two, three, four, five... Oh oh! So many stars are becoming visible that it may take a long time to count them. I bet there are more than a hundred there. More than a thousand. More than a million! And still counting. A Series of Special Services for Advent 13

14 That s what God told the old shepherd Abraham: Try to count the stars. That s how many children I will give you. That s how many blessings I will give you, because you trust in me. COMMUNICATIONS MU One day, we know, there would be a special star in the sky a star to let people know that t a special child of Abraham had been born. You know who that is, don t you? If you were counting, Jesus star would be a long way from where we began. But for today, we re looking with Abraham at the beginning. The counting begins with one with Abraham and Sarah s baby, Isaac. ONE! O But once the counting begins, well, it s like counting stars. One baby baby Isaac will eventually lead to another baby. Baby Jesus is coming soon. Which is good, because we re counting on him. 14 While Shepherds Watched

15 While Shepherds Watched E COMMUNICATIONS MUN CA Script The Shepherd Abraham This dialog homily includes three characters: Abraham, Sarah, and a Voice that represents the Word of the Lord. Srepresent Abraham and Sarah may speak from the front of the congregation perhaps from the pulpit and the lectern. ern. Costuming of these two characters is at your discretion, remembering that, when church dramas are concerned, less is often more. The Voice speaks from the back of the church or the balcony. Vy. The drama begins with a hymn stanza sung by the congregation. At points in the drama, successive stanzas s will be sung. (Hymn stanzas to Potsdam SM.) ES ESts drew ni While Abram watched his flocks, The Lord of hosts drew nigh To offer precious Sprom promises Beneath a star-filled sky. S Abraham: What is it about shepherding that makes a person look to the sky? Is it just that sheep are so close to the ground, that a person needs San occasional change of view? Or is there more to it than that? Voice: Abram, Abram, look to the sky. Sarah: Have you been out looking at the sky again, Abraham? A Series of Special Services for Advent 15

16 Abraham: And have YOU been standing by the tent flap watching me, Sarah? Sarah: One can learn a lot by standing at the tent flap, I have learned. Voice: Next spring your wife Sarah will bear a son, Abraham. CREATIV ATdṬIVE COMMUNI MUN NICATIONS SAM YAMPLES Abraham: And you laughed. Sarah: Yes, I did, you silly old man. Do you remember how old I was when I heard that prediction? Abraham: OIt was more than a prediction, my dear. It was a promise. And yes, I do remember old you were... because I remember how old I was. Chow how often I would cast my eyes to the heavens, especially at night. OMAnd I would wonder wonder at the stars. Voice: MMthe Count the stars if you can, Abram. So will be the descendants with which I will bless you. As many as the stars of heaven. Sarah: And you believed, didn t you, Abraham? You believed. Voice: Sce: Abraham believed, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham: Yes, I believed.... And you laughed. Sarah: Look ok at the sky and anticipate a baby. That was the essence of the Lord s promise. Abraham: Look at the sky and anticipate ate a baby. Sarah: It was a wonderful message, Abraham. Abraham: It still is. Sarah: Look at the sky and anticipate a baby. Abraham: A message for the ages. Sarah: I was still laughing when the baby Saby was born. Abraham: Isaac, you named him. Sarah: Laughter. Abraham: Laughter. Sarah: Isaac, the song of a shepherd. Abraham: A very old shepherd. 16 While Shepherds Watched

17 Sarah: And his very old wife. Don t tell me you didn t laugh too, Abraham. Abraham: I guess I haven t stopped laughing, Sarah. The promise of the Lord was just so great, so beyond anything one could even imagine... so impossible... E COMMUNICAT MUN CA ATIONS SAMPL PLES Sarah: And we named him Isaac. CAbraham: Laughter. God in love provides COur A wonderful surprise: A child of hope the future holds O shepherd, lift your eyes! Sarah: Have you been looking at the sky again, Abraham? What is it about shepherding that makes you look up like that? It seems you re always looking at the sky. Abraham: Not the sky this time, my dear Sarah. This time my vision is lower than the sky. I find myself looking toward the horizon. Sarah: So you intend to do it, then? Even though h Isaac is our only son the CAd only hope we have for God s great promise to come true? Abraham: I have no choice, Sarah, for the Lord God has spoken. Voice: Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice your son. Sarah: Your only son Isaac! Abraham: Whom I love. Voice: And I will show you a mountain. The sacrifice awaits, A gracious God s reward. With faithful Abraham behold The mountain of the Lord! A Series of Special Services for Advent 17

18 Sarah: I will lift my eyes to the hills. From whence shall come my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. I will lift my eyes to the hills. E COMMUNICA MUN CATIONS SAMP MPLES Abraham: And when the deed was done... Sarah: I was standing by the tent flap once again, my laughter drained from my body like moisture from the desert. Abraham: And your eyes were on the sky? COSarah: OMat On the horizon, at least. Oh, how I dreaded what I knew I would see last, and what I would not. Abraham: OMm: And what you saw... Sarah: The servants at first, the faithful servants... and the animals, beginning to become visible there e on the horizon. I could count them as they began to come into view. The servants... and the animals. And then you, Abraham. Yes, it was you. You were returning from the mountain of Sthe Lord, there with the servants and the animals. The deed had been done. But wait! What is that? One more figure there on the horizon. No, it can t be. One more figure there. Isaac?... ISAAC! Voice: Abraham! AMAbrah Abraham! Abraham: Here I am, Lord. Voice: Do not hurt the boy, or harm him in any way. For now I know that you trust the Lord, for you were willing to offer your only son. Sarah: But instead... Abraham: Instead? Instead I received a gift that perhaps only a shepherd could truly appreciate. Sarah: A ram, caught by its horns ESthicket. in a Look up, Abraham. Abraham: The Lord himself will provide the sacrifice, I had told Isaac. Sarah: And the Lord did. Abraham: What is it about shepherding that leads a person to look up? What Isaac.S is it that casts one s eyes to the skies... and finds there the message of a child-to-be? Sarah: To be a sacrifice? 18 While Shepherds Watched

19 Abraham: No, my dear Sarah! To be restored. To be alive at last. To make laughter possible once more. To open the future to the promises of God. CRE REATIVE COMMUNICATIONS MU Voice: Abraham, come where I lead you. Abraham: Ah. The voice of one calling like a shepherd. Voice: Abraham, come where I lead you. The whole world will be blessed thereby. Abraham: I will follow, Lord! To pastures rich and green, Through valleys dark and deep, In grace God chooses, calls, directs; The Shepherd leads his sheep. A Series of Special Services for Advent 19

20 While Shepherds Watched E COMMUNICATIONS MU CAT ION NS Homily CH The Shepherd Abraham A shepherd looked to the sky, received a promise, and believed... It s a message we re accustomed to hearing during this season. It s an image that s easy to envision as we wait for Christmas Day. A. Easy to envision? Make that hard to avoid! It seems that nearly half of our traditional Christmas hymns mention those heaven-gazing shepherds and the heavenly message they received: Take Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, for example. Who is harking? Why, the shepherds, of course! And the message they receive? Glory to the newborn King! Angels from the Realms of Glory. These are the same angels, winging their flight to Bethlehem s shepherds, bidding ding them come and worship. What more needs to be said of the hymn Sitled entitled, While Shepherds herds Watched their Flocks by Night? And, lest we forget, the We in the title of Angels WE Have Heard on High is the ragtag group of sheep herders, repeating the Glo-o-o-o-o-orious message they had received. A shepherd looked to the sky, received a promise, and believed While Shepherds Watched

21 ... his name was ABRAHAM. COMMUNICATIO MUN IONS Were you surprised? Surprised to hear not the voices of frightened, happy Bethlehem shepherds this first week of Advent... but the ancient voices of Abraham and Sarah? Were you surprised? Perhaps it isn t so surprising. In fact, in listening to the voices today we may have stumbled upon the notion that all of this all of this shepherd business is par for God s course! Consider the facts: A shepherd looked to the sky, received a promise, and believed... The promise had to do with the birth of a baby... The baby is... an IMPOSSIBLE baby. by. Keep in mind that, although virgins and barren, elderly women are at opposite ends of the spectrum, the possibility of a baby by coming from either source is equally bleak... The promised baby had something significant to do with nothing less than... GOD S GREAT PLAN TO SAVE A FALLEN HUMANITY! This, again, is an opposite ends of the spectrum idea. Isaac, the first promised baby, signified the beginning AMning of a great nation the same nation, fed on God s word and God s will, that would eventually ly cradle the Christ Child. But there is more! There is the SACRIFICE. And here, again, we find a significant similarity in our heaven-gazing shepherds. In each case, GOD HIMSELF provides the means of salvation. A ram is sent down ENTANGLED in a thicket to save Isaac s life. Isn t it ironic? Abraham was a shepherd. He certainly could have provided ESded a ram had God asked for one. But no... GOD provided the ram. GOD provided She the sacrifice. And... well, you certainly must have figured out where I m going. Any of you who have seen a baby swaddled (and, yes, they still swaddle babies. Go to any hospital nursery and wait... and watch... and you will see a nurse wrap a receiving blanket around a baby with swift, tight proficiency)... Any of you who have seen a baby swaddled know how... what?... ENTANGLED they are... A Series of Special Services for Advent 21

22 Is that what the Bethlehem shepherds saw? That IS what the angel bid them see, after all A baby, WRAPPED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES. How far is that from what Abraham saw when he first gazed at the ram? COMMUNICATIONS A shepherd looked to the heavens, received a promise, and believed... may not be the shepherd we were expecting this Advent season. CHe But the promise is really the same, isn t it? And so is the GOD who made the promise! And when it comes right down to it... isn t SALVATION what this God was up to all along? 22 While Shepherds Watched

23 While Shepherds Watched COMMUNICATIONS MUN CA IO ONS Prayers CP The Shepherd Abraham Prayer Of The Day Stir up, O Lord, your mighty power. Come quickly. Save us. We need protection from the grave dangers of our sins. We require release from the sin-shackles that bind us. You, O Key of David, have the power to forever free us, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen. Prayers O Shepherd of Israel, you lead your people like a flock. Come and lead us now, we pray. In order that we may not want, lead us to the green pastures of your gracious Word and to the still waters of your precious ESmises. promises. In order that our faith may flourish, lift our eyes, as once you lifted those of Abraham, to anticipate the blessings you bestow upon us through the promised seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ our Lord, the perfect sacrifice whom you provided so that we may not perish, but have eternal life. Within the congregations of your Church, send faithful shepherds to call your people with your own voice and lead them in the paths of righteousness for your name s sake. A Series of Special Services for Advent 23

24 In the midst of the joy which surrounds us in these days, let your rod and staff comfort those who walk through dark valleys: the sick and the sorrowing, the needy and the afflicted, the hungry and the homeless, and those who wander like sheep without a shepherd. Anoint them with the oil of your compassion, and let their cups of blessing overflow. COM OMMUNICATIONS Let there be peace on earth, O God. Wherever there is strife, let good will prevail. And lift our eyes, as once you lifted Abraham s, to the joy which awaits when Christ, who came as you had promised, will come again. Unite us then with Abraham and Sarah, with Isaac and Rebekah, Cekah, with all the faithful saints who heard your Word and did d your will, trusting in your wondrous promises. It is in the name of Jesus Christ we pray, fulfiller of your Word. Amen. 24 While Shepherds Watched