Rosenberg FUMC 12-6-20 Worship Service
Worship starts at 10am on Sunday as always! A few helpful links are below. Thanks for joining us!
Worship Order and notes for the service - https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review
Prayer requests - https://forms.gle/5vZ7kKbeYmpHAp7m9
Online Giving - https://www.fumcrosenberg.net/give
Attendance - https://forms.gle/EDkmjhpZoNzMi4YW6
Advent Bible Study - Explore the advent message and season with us as we dive deeper into the scripture lessons each week. Two options are ongoing - Sundays @ 4pm in person (fellowship hall) OR Tuesdays @ 7:05pm online (meet.google.com/ckk-tksh-vzu). The scriptures and overall theme can be found here - bit.ly/2J5iU8K - discussion during each gathering will pertain to that Sunday or the one just prior (for Tuesday's group).
UMM Christmas Banquet - Thursday, Dec. 10th, at 7 pm. Tickets $10. Dinner catered by Old Time Soda Fountain. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, salad, and dessert.
Christmas Eve - Candlelight service with Communion, Thursday, December 24th, at 7 pm. To allow our staff time off to be with family, our in-person service on Sunday, 12/27, will be a viewing of the recorded service only.
Poinsettia orders - $10 each - to order a poinsettia in honor or in memory of a loved one click here - https://bit.ly/2INKM0Z
And don’t forget Sunday Morning Discussion Group on Facebook! - https://bit.ly/3jH1OuY
Question of the week: Can you name a church event or trip that made a lasting mark on your life?
Isaiah 40:1-11
40Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” 6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. 7The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
9Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Mark 1:1-8
1The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
1) Diving deeper into today’s scripture(s):
a) What words or phrases stand out to you?
b) Pick two or three of those words or phrases - where do you see these things in life? What is the meaning or role they play there?
c) With the same word or phrase - where else does it arise in scripture?
2) Do you tend to plan far ahead to make things happen or patiently wait and let things happen as they unfold? (at work, on trips, with family, on projects, etc.)
3) I (Jeremy) have felt the tension in a few ways between patience and planning. An example is picking a job. I felt like I was supposed to be patient and wait on God. I was also supposed to be working, studying, trying things out, and planning for my future every step of the way. More planning felt less patient, but trying to be patient felt like I might have missed what God had planned. Have you ever felt that tension? Where? How did you work through it?
4) Consider the nature and point of prophecy:
a) Do you think of prophecy as prediction, proof, and fulfillment? If so, how is that beneficial to your faith?
b) Part of prophecy involves teaching us how to see the world as God sees it. How can our faith benefit from recognizing this aspect of prophecy?
c) What message or truth about the world does God invite us to see through the words of the prophet Isaiah that are fulfilled in Jesus Christ?
5) How does this message impact our lives?
a)What is the call to action in the scripture? What are some things you would actually have to do or say to put it into practice?
b) What would it look like to follow this call to action completely?
c) Can you share a story in which you or someone in your life followed the call to action? What happened? What was the outcome?
d) What is one thing you can do tomorrow to live out this call?
e) What difference would it make in your life to live like this?
Click here for a list of all previous online worship videos.