Advent 1 – Hope In The Darkness

“Hope in the Darkness” 
Reflection for 1st Sunday Advent: Hope December 3, 2023 For Churchill Gilford United Churches 
Krista Moore Scriptures:  
Isaiah 64:1–9 We are the clay; you are our potter. 
Mark 13:24–29 The Son of Man coming in the clouds.

Scripture Focus Statement: God created us to be faithful, to be hopeful  and expectant of God’s goodness.  

Scripture Function Statement: Be hopeful, and God will show up in  amazing ways. 

Introduction to the Scriptures:
The Israelites have been through a lot. They have just been in exile  in Babylon for 70 years. Finally they get to return to Jerusalem. But the  city is deserted – it was torn apart by war. And the temple was destroyed.  

Isaiah the prophet cries out to God, to save his people, to help them  restore their broken city and broken hearts. He is hopeful. He knows God  is faithful. God has rescued them before. He reminds God, we are your  people: we are the clay, you are the potter. 

Jesus is also preparing his disciples for difficult times. But He offers them hope of his return.

While they are waiting, he says, prepare the way.  

Stay alert. Do what you can. Know that if you are faithful, God will  show up in unexpected ways.  

SERMON 
I am naturally a hopeful person. I believe good things are about to  happen. And as I’ve preached before, I believe God is good. God will  show up and help us when we have faith and believe.  

I also believe being hopeful is necessary step in being faithful. If we  don’t have hope, we will not strive to be faithful, to be all that God designed us to be.

Good things happen when we have hope when we believe.  

A SMALL CHURCH LIKE GILFORD AND CHURCHILL  
When I got the call to interview with Churchill and Gilford, I heard it was not easy for them to find a minister who would come. 
Perhaps others thought it was too far away. A rural two-point  charge? That’s a lot of work!  

Others may not have expected a small church community to  succeed. It’s hard times out there for the churches.  
But I got a different impression from Churchill Gilford; I heard a  hopeful people, people with things to do, and plans for the future.  As I talked to them, I also had visions and ideas, hopes and dreams.  Instead of worrying what a lot of work it would be, I got excited. I had  never done this before – sure I was nervous – but there was a hopeful  expectation in the air! 

One year later I can attest that our hope was justified,  

Amazing things have happened and continue to unfold.  

FOR EXAMPLE: MUSIC BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER  
1) One of our dreams was to bring more music to the church,  particularly at Churchill which seemed to suit a musical venue. It was a way to bring people together with a common purpose. And  have some fun! 

Out of that dream, CHURCH ON THE HILL CONCERTS was  born. The Faith and Fellowship team thought of a fundraiser involving  music, and Marion and Hugh Kilvert invited their musical friends.  

Last weekend we realized that dream with the first Church on the  Hill Benefit Concert, featuring Patty McLaughlin and Friends.  As I listened at the back pew, I felt amazed that this was really  happening. The place was packed, and people were singing, smiling, and  laughing. It was great night.  

I remembered the hope we felt about having more music and  bringing the community in – and there it was happening before my eyes.  The church was lit up like a beacon, full of hope, like a light in the  darkness.  

God can do amazing things when we have hope and a dream.  Isaiah says, we are the clay, God is the potter.  

God made something beautiful through us that night – opening us  up to people that never come to church, and welcoming old friends who  we were happy to see each other again. Especially after the pandemic. 

NANTYR TEENS MUSIC  
2) Our music dream also came true through the Teens at Risk  program. Recently renamed Youth Unlimited.  

Myrlene Boken of Christmas 4 Kids suggested we consider  supporting the Nantyr Shores High school music program.  We heard about their remarkable teacher, Mr. Vaz, and read letters  written by teens about how the music gave them confidence, hope and a  future.  

We jumped on board with a grant from the United Church of  Canada, and within 6 months the Triton Music band went from a fledgling  group of new students who hadn’t picked up an instrument, to winning  Gold in all categories at Niagara nationals.  
That is amazing. 

Now Mr. Vaz has an even bigger plans to bring music to the feeder  schools grades 6-8 to give them a chance to come and learn how to play  an instrument before they get to high school – the problem is they don’t  have transportation –– it’s a big problem in Innisfil – but us and Mr. Vaz are dreaming that the answer will come – we can hope and do all we can  to raise awareness.  

We also have hope that in a few short months, we will see a second  concert at Churchill, featuring the Nantyr Teens band and some other  youth who have gifts to share, like Owen from Gilford – we hope to see  him play piano for us soon! 

THE MANSE 
3) Another example of a dream coming true was the manse. After the meeting with the search committee last year, they offered  to take me on a tour of the manse – where the minister usually lived. It  had been unoccupied for a couple of years and felt a little sad. Without  love and purpose, it was becoming a place for ghosts – literally – but that’s  another story!  

However, when I walked through I didn’t see the cobwebs and the  empty rooms; I saw a beautiful Victorian mansion! The woodwork was  astounding, the height of the ceilings, the beautiful bay windows, the  staircase, the history. I wanted to know everything!

The manse committee and the church had been going through some  uncertainty regarding what to do with the manse. Without a minister living  in it, it was a financial burden.  

Based on my enthusiastic reaction to the manse, they agreed the manse could be my office, while I commuted from Scarborough, with a  bedroom in case the roads were bad.  

Within a year, we loved it so much, we got the go ahead to move in  and live here as part of the community. And it has made such a difference  to my ministry.  

As part of that process, we offered to make some renovations. It took  a lot of hard work, and vision to see the potential of the place. To believe  that it was possible and worthwhile. Now the work is nearly complete.  

We hope you will come to see the manse at our open house on  December 16. People will gather and share Christmas cheer, have hot  apple cider, and sing carols.  

It is no longer a desolate looking old house – it is a beautiful,  revitalized manse, one of five active manses left in Ontario, a historic gem and a loving home filled with a minister and his “wife,” and their two  dogs, Puck and Loki.  

And this is just the beginning.  

It all starts with hope and a dream. 

SCRIPTURES 
This is the first week of Advent. A new beginning.  

We hope again for the coming of Christ’s light into the world.  There was darkness and war in his time; and there is darkness and  war in our time.  

But there is also Light.  

Today we lit the candle of HOPE. There is hope in our families,  churches, schools, and communities.  

There is hope in Christ. The most powerful hope of all.  Jesus tells us to remain hopeful, expectant; to wait on him. To not  worry when bad things happen. To Prepare the way and do all we can.  Then, as surely as the buds appear on the fig tree, spring will come  again. 

The light will come.  

Christ will come again.

Expect it.  

In Isaiah the people are crying out for help as they return from exile.  Their city, Jerusalem is in ruins. And the temple was destroyed. How will  they rebuild?  

They could have got overwhelmed and gave up.  

But Isaiah thought differently.

He knew God loved them, even though they strayed. They needed  to go through some hard times, to be molded like clay, to make them better  people. 

ISAIAH says to God: We are the clay, you are the potter.  In other words, we were created by God; and we are in God’s hands. God gave hope to the Israelites. 

First, he gave them King Cyrus to return them to their homeland,  and help them rebuild the temple. 

God also gave them determination, to not give up. They needed to  be BOLD, to BELIEVE that they deserved good things, they deserved  help. That God would help them rebuild the second temple.  And they did.  

The Scriptures tell us that no matter what the situation, no matter  how dismal or dire, we can have hope of something better.  We can rise up from the ashes and do amazing things. Even when  something looks desolate, like a temple, a manse, a war, or the economy. God has a plan.  

We are a hopeful people. 

We are an Advent people.  

Good things take some time.  
(Like waiting to put up ALL the Christmas (right MOM?!)

Christmas is coming.  

The light will come.

Christ will come.

We are walking each other toward Bethlehem.

CLOSING
MY GREATEST HOPE: So what gives me hope right now?  COMMUNITY. Like we have at Churchill Gilford Innisfil.  Together we can hope and dream and pray belter than we can alone.  

I see hope in the faces of community coming out for the Innispirit  Christmas concert today; or the bake sale yesterday; and looking forward  to hearing children singing in a choir, or playing at our next concert. 

So let us be hopeful and keep dreaming about the future. Expecting good things to happen.  

Let us be determined and play our part well.  

Let us wait on God, full of hope and expectancy, like I felt when I  first arrived at Churchill Gilford.  

That hope leads us to do amazing things.  

Like a church concert,  

Renovating a manse  

Uplifting and empowering youth  

And just being good to each other in community.  

Our greatest hope is in Christ who brings light in the darkness. Christ will come again. 

O Come, O Come Emmanuel! 

While we are waiting, let us hope and believe that God is with us,  helping us do amazing things.  

Thanks be to God. Amen.