Chapel Worship Guide 1.6.2013
Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell
Prelude
Welcome — Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park
Worship in Song
Prayer
Scripture Reading:
Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”
Message – “God’s Sovereign Sweep of History” by Barbara Shafer
Welcome to the Sunday known to the Christian church in the West as “Epiphany.” When we think of an epiphany, we think of a moment when we suddenly get it, realize something, or see how something all fits together. The reason this Sunday is known as Epiphany is that it falls on the Twelfth Day following Christmas, the time when it is traditionally celebrated that the Magi (often called the 3 wise men) came, following the star, to see and worship Jesus. It’s actually a case where tradition exceeds what we know about what happened. What we know of this story is contained in today’s passage often entitled “The Visit of the Magi.” The main things I would like for you to conclude following today’s message would be (1) God’s sovereign sweep of history was relevant then and is relevant today and (2) Epiphany celebrates the light of God’s revelation to the Gentile world, whom the Magi represent.
Benediction—Barbara Shafer
Then the LORD My God Will Come…
LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Chapel Worship Guide 12.30.2012–Responding to the Promised Salvation
Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell
Prelude
Welcome — Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park
Worship in Song
Prayer
Scripture Reading: NIV Isaiah 60:1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you: All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the arm. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. 6 Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the LORD. 7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. 8 “Who are these that fly along like clouds, like doves to their nests? 9 Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. 10 “Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion. 11 Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations– their kings led in triumphal procession. 12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. 13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet. 14 The sons of your oppressors will come bowing before you; all who despise you will bow down at your feet and will call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. 15 “Although you have been forsaken and hated, with no one traveling through, I will make you the everlasting pride and the joy of all generations. 16 You will drink the milk of nations and be nursed at royal breasts. Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Luke 2:9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Message – “Responding to the Promised Salvation” by Barbara Shafer
Christmas 2012 may be over for you and me, yet it is not at all anticlimactic! Jesus is the gift that keeps on giving. He is the Light of the world, the light of revelation of who God is to those of us who are not Jewish and the glory of those in the Jewish community who have been waiting for their Deliverer. We’ve opened the gift at Christmas and Jesus is age appropriate whether we are young or old. Jesus is within reach of us irrespective of our education levels or economic status. The Light of the world is brightly shining so that you can see Jesus is the Promised Salvation. What will be your response?
Song of Response
Benediction—Barbara Shafer
Merry Christmas! He is Immanuel, God with Us
Advent 24 (2012)–When God Interrupts
Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (NIV)
From the moment that we’re born, we enter mortality— life with an end.
We don’t enter into immortality–eternal life–when we’re born. We enter it when we’re born again.
The sad story of humanity has been that since the fall of mankind, mortality is the routine we get. We’ve been going to hell in a hand basket, personally, as families, as governments, as a culture,–indeed in every way possible our routines have followed the same old rut of mortality.
But then God interrupts all of this. He interrupts with a Savior.
Today’s passage—indeed the whole Christmas story—is God’s interruption in the midst of man’s routines. Our plans involve getting up every morning and living life in the same old way until our lives are over. But for Mary and Joseph, God’s design interrupted their whole future and gave it entirely new meaning.
While God interrupts and inconveniences us in many ways, He doesn’t view these interruptions as veering from the plan. They ARE the plan and in light of eternity, we can see that it’s all by God’s perfect design. Just look at these interruptions:
- Mary would supernaturally conceive the Christ child, Jesus –even though it would strain her relationship with almost everyone she knew (including Joseph who was originally thinking of divorcing Mary quietly).
- But after an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, he would take Mary home as his wife even though it would ruin his reputation forever as a righteous man.
- In the last days of Mary’s pregnancy, the government would suddenly get the bright idea to inconvenience everyone by making them go to register in a census in Bethlehem, about 100+ miles from home.
- Walking at the speed of a full-term pregnancy, they would arrive presumably later than many others and they would find no room at the inn. They’d stay in a stable.
- So on Christmas night, Jesus would be born in a most inconvenient place: a stable. His first bed would be a feeding trough.
But here we see evidence that when God interrupts, He does it by design. In this way, Jesus would be born exactly as the Scriptures foretold and the shepherds would know where to find him, distinguished from all the other babies in Bethlehem.
Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Advent 23 (2012)–Three Month Stay to Prepare the Way
“Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.” (Luke 1:56)
I wonder about “about”. Three plus six equals nine. Elizabeth was six months along when Mary heard the angel’s words and hurried to see her relative. Elizabeth would be at nine months at this point. The question would be, “Did Mary stay until Elizabeth had delivered her baby or did she leave just prior?” Scripture (interestingly) doesn’t say. Instead, it just describes the birth of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for the Messiah.
Luke 1:57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us– 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Chapel Worship Guide 12.23.2012
Service Order for 9:00 AM
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Nemmers Family Chapel at Advocate Condell
Prelude
Welcome — Barbara Shafer, Christ Church Highland Park
Worship in Song
Prayer
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Message – “When God Interrupts”
God’s idea of a normal life and our ideas about daily routines can be profoundly different. We view interruptions as bad, inconvenient, unwelcome, and downright annoying. When God interrupts things, it’s by design. God has better things in store for us than the legacy of sin. So God interrupts. He interrupts with a Savior. In today’s passage many interruptions came together so that Scripture would be fulfilled. Luke 2: 11 “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
Song of Response
Benediction—Barbara Shafer
Advent 22 (2012)–Magnificat
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.'” Luke 1:46-47 New King James Version
The Magnificat, as Mary’s song is often called, is rich with theology. The name Magnificat comes from the Latin for [My soul] “magnifies” translated this way in the New King James (above), but below as “glorifies” in the NIV.
Mary knew how to praise. She was no uneducated neophyte when it came to the Scriptures and her command of Hebrew poetry is obvious too.
A noticeable feature of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. It is largely displayed in the Psalms, but also in songs interspersed elsewhere in the Bible. Parallelism happens when nearby words express a similar general idea. Here is the whole song of Mary from the NIV. See if you can find the parallel thoughts:
Luke 1: 46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”
- My soul. My spirit.
- Magnifies/glorifies. Rejoices.
- The Lord. God my Savior.
- Generations will call me blessed. His mercy extends to the generations.
Then there are 3 parallel contrasts outlining God’s care for the righteous poor and their ultimate vindication contrasted with the self-made man who does not need God :
- He performs mighty deeds on behalf of those who fear Him (i.e. the humble) but He scatters those who don’t (i.e. the proud).
- He brings down rulers but raises up the humble.
- He fills the hungry, but sends the rich away empty.
And finally, the praise begun at the outset of the Magnificat repeats a refrain extolling the King who helps His servants. He is mindful of Mary (v 48) and He remembers His people Israel (v 54).
This lovely song expressed Mary’s heart of praise and thanksgiving as she awaited the baby who would be born Messiah. As we wait for Jesus’ return, let our souls magnify the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior!