{"id":3759,"date":"2020-12-13T07:25:27","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T20:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3759"},"modified":"2020-12-13T07:25:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T20:25:35","slug":"gladness-and-praise-in-gods-garden-13-12-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3759","title":{"rendered":"Gladness and Praise in God’s Garden 13-12-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Advent 3 13th December 2020 (Isaiah 61:1-11; Like 1:46-55)
\n By Heeyoung Lim
\n Gladness and Praise in God’s Garden<\/p>\n

The God in whom we rejoice, prepares our hearts for the coming of the Lord. We light the candle of joy on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. We are glad indeed, to be together in the House of the Lord! I hope God will fill us to overflow with the joy of the Lord, and our hearts will be filled with laughter. <\/p>\n

Light and joy flashed from God\u2019s words. Two couples looked forward to the birth of their first child. A hint of fear and wonder tingles the expectancy and excitement.
\nMary’s faith displayed itself in praise, Mary praised God for his great acts for her. Her praise included two actions: giving glory to God and rejoicing in the presence and actions of God. The Lord had looked down on Mary with loving care. Knowing the low socioeconomic status in which she was embedded in. God had placed her in a state of blessing, because of Jesus. She did nothing to earn or deserve this, but the almighty God had caused it with his mighty acts. (Luke 1:46)
\nHe reaches down in mercy, finding in each generation people who worship him. He also pays careful, loving attention to the humble, raising them up to new people of importance (50) Loving salvation for an undeserving people, and God does what he promises (54) God gave her a song of praise, and Mary was willing to bear the disgrace to become God’s instrument of grace. (56)
\nIn Isaiah 61:1-11, God sends his messenger to bring good news and help to all those in need who are in the post-exilic community. In Isaiah 61: 1-2, God\u2019s salvation is related to good news, healing, liberty, and comfort.
\nWe can hear good news when we are poor, and we can hear words of freedom when we are captive or when we are addicted to something. In addition, we will be released from what binds us when we are kind of prisoners, and we receive comfort given by God when we are mournful. Our hearts will be also healed by the Lord when we are broken-hearted.
\nWhere is God\u2019s transformation revealed today? In our whole life, the house of the Lord, our homes, workplaces, communities, and this precious place with the name of Leighmoor, where Jesus offers blessing for all. I believe God will be pleased more through our transformed life in Jesus.
\nThe message from Isaiah is imaged both as a restored city and as an abundant garden (4, 11)
\nThe world will see what God has done for Israel in the past and will know they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. (9)
\nThat is, Isaiah\u2019s vision is not an empty promise. It cannot be described as the pie in the sky. There is a similar expression in Korea, too. It is expressed as the bread (rice cake) in the picture.
\nHowever, God\u2019s deliverance is real. God saved people in all of the past, present and future, and God\u2019s salvation is here with us now. All we are invited to participate in God\u2019s salvation through Jesus. That is our true joy, and it will be experienced by others who still do not know Jesus in the future.
\nThe good news for God\u2019s salvation and deliverance is for everyone. The anointed is to deliver good news to the oppressed, to wrap for healing the broken hearts, to declare liberty for the captives and an opening so the imprisoned may find release. The anointed cannot avoid vulnerability or rejection by continuous preaching and divine service. God\u2019s anointed must confront the perpetrators and sources of oppression, marginalization, hopelessness, and despair. They lived with shame and disgrace, and they were devastated. They experienced downfall and abandonment by God, but the prophet Isaiah told them and tells us that God\u2019s presence is real. The scripture reveals God\u2019s special treatment and care for the lowest, and the weakest.
\nThe words spoken are full of promise. It is not a temporary promise, it is an everlasting covenant. From verses 8 to 11, the topics of justice, hope, anticipation, deliverance, and blessing are spoken to the people. It was a promise and a reminder that God has not forgotten them.
\nIsaiah 61:10: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness
\nthe prophet begins to give praise for what God is going to do. They will dress in a fashion that indicates their rejoicing in God\u2019s faithful act of deliverance. (10)
\nGod restores his people to righteous living and glorious worship because the Lord loves justice, and He will let the people wear the robe of righteousness. (10) God will glorify his people by bringing them back to his house of worship.
\nWe cannot overlook the fact that many people are feeling oppressed, broken-hearted, captive, or imprisoned in some way today, and some of them are wondering when and how God\u2019s transformation will take place in our lives. We may have a feeling about God\u2019s silence when we are facing difficulties and sufferings.
\nWhat do you do when that disappointment happens? There would be many things to do such as seeking, praying, and waiting!
\nAdvent is a time of waiting and preparation for God to transform the world through Jesus Christ. Isaiah\u2019s words tell us that the transform is not to be an empty hope but a sure promise, because the promise for recovery is already given and will be given by God.
\nThe restoration for God\u2019s people was God\u2019s mission and His desire for salvation. That is why salvation is related to mission and our response. Where and how mission will happen in our lives.
\nThere would be lots of unexpected losses in our lives, but God will provide for us and will redeem our losses. In addition, a restored community will stand as a sign of God\u2019s blessing to the society and nations around it. To be missional is to live as a people of good news, liberation, justice, and comfort. These are the ways of God.
\nIf our church is restored and transformed by God more and more, God will be surely pleased more. We are in God\u2019s garden. This garden is filled with the trees of joy and beautiful flowers of gladness.
\nIsaiah 61 offer restoration and hope, and Isaiah guarantees that God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations (11)
\nAs we stay and walk through the days of advent, we need to remember not just that Jesus came but why Jesus came. Jesus takes up the opening lines as a description of his ministry as he comes to bring good news to the lowly community of his day, living as they were under Roman overlordship. (1)
\nToday\u2019s sermon title is \u201cGladness and Praise in God’s Garden\u201d (61:1-11)
\nOur whole being will be joy in our God, and our soul glorifies the Lord with Joy.
\nThis Advent Season, as we wait for the coming of Christ, may our joy inspire and empower others to join us in walking of God\u2019s salvation and restoration through Jesus. May we keep on rejoicing and celebrating the coming of Jesus who brings us God\u2019s garden singing, laughing, and looking to the future with hope, peace, and joy.
\nOur lives begin with God\u2019s divine presence and real action. It is not a pie in the sky, it is real. The action of God meets people\u2019s needs. I hope we never forget what God has done for us, and I pray the gladness and praise given by God will surpass in our lives with the power of Christ while we are wrestling with our struggles and joys. I believe that we will be under God\u2019s unconditional love and His justice, and we can seek God\u2019s will and time among the despised and rejected.
\nOur Christ has redeemed our world, and he leads us into a loving family. We are one in Jesus, and we are God\u2019s family who live and love in God\u2019s beautiful garden with great joy. No matter what happens, God loves us, and his living words continue to speak to and transform us. There may be unexpected events and storms in our lives, but we wait with eager expectation for the coming of Jesus and the kingdom of God.
\nOur mission needs to be giving hope to the world’s hopeless through Jesus. I hope and pray we will experience God\u2019s blessings and know that everlasting joy is ours. <\/p>\n

Thanks be to God! Amen<\/p>\n

PLEASE STAND FOR ENTRY OF THE BIBLE <\/p>\n

SERVICE OF APPROACH<\/p>\n

PRAYER\t<\/p>\n

TIS 286 \t\t Light One Candle for Hope <\/p>\n

SERVICE OF THE WORD<\/p>\n

Isaiah 61: 1-11; Luke 1: 46 – 55<\/p>\n

SRC 199\t I Cannot Tell <\/p>\n

SERMON: \tGladness and Praise in God\u2019s Garden
\n \t\t\t [Sermon on Web \/ Hardcopies at the Door after worship]<\/p>\n

SERVICE OF RESPONSE<\/p>\n

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION <\/p>\n

NOTICES \u2013 OFFERTORY<\/p>\n

TIS 647\t Comfort, Comfort All My People<\/p>\n

BENEDICTION <\/p>\n

NOTICES:
\n Entry for QR Code & Sign In\/Out (Up to 70)<\/p>\n

Sunday School & Messy Church<\/p>\n

Sunday School begins Today<\/p>\n

Some Christmas events happening in December<\/p>\n

16 Dec\u00a0Blue Christmas (7.30pm) @ Murrumbeena UC<\/p>\n

19 Dec\u00a0Countdown to Christmas Journey Stations
\n (10.30-12.30)\u00a0Around the MUC site<\/p>\n

20 Dec\u00a0Carol Service in MUC back garden
\n Leighmoor & MUC (5pm)<\/p>\n

22 Dec\u00a0Christmas Nativity Zoom
\n MUC & Leighmoor (4-5.30pm)<\/p>\n

24 Dec\u00a0Christmas Eve Service and Event @ Leighmoor
\n For Children, Parents and Grandparents (4pm)
\n For All Generation Together (8pm)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Advent 3 13th December 2020 (Isaiah 61:1-11; Like 1:46-55) By Heeyoung Lim Gladness and Praise in God’s Garden The God in whom we rejoice, prepares our hearts for the coming of the Lord. We light the candle of joy on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. We are glad indeed, to be together in the House of the Lord! I hope God will fill us to overflow with the joy of the Lord, and our hearts will be filled with laughter. Light and joy flashed from God\u2019s words. Two couples looked forward to the birth of their first child. A hint of fear and wonder tingles the expectancy and excitement. Mary’s faith displayed itself in praise, Mary praised God for his great acts for her. Her praise included two actions: giving glory to God and rejoicing in the presence and actions of God. The Lord had looked down on Mary with loving care. Knowing the low socioeconomic status in which she was embedded in. God had placed her in a state of blessing, because of Jesus. She did nothing to earn or deserve this, but the almighty God had caused it with his mighty acts. (Luke 1:46) He reaches down in mercy, finding in each generation people who worship him. He also pays careful, loving attention to the humble, raising them up to new people of importance (50) Loving salvation for an undeserving people, and God does what he promises (54) God gave her a song of praise, and Mary was willing to bear the disgrace to become God’s instrument of grace. (56) In Isaiah 61:1-11, God sends his messenger to bring good news and help to all those in need who are in the post-exilic community. In Isaiah 61: 1-2, God\u2019s salvation is related to good news, healing, liberty, and comfort. We can hear good news when we are poor, and we can hear words of freedom when we are captive or when we are addicted to something. In addition, we will be released from what binds us when we are kind of prisoners, and we receive comfort given by God when we are mournful. Our hearts will be also healed by the Lord when we are broken-hearted. Where is God\u2019s transformation revealed today? In our whole life, the house of the Lord, our homes, workplaces, communities, and this precious place with the name of Leighmoor, where Jesus offers blessing for all. I believe God will be pleased more through our transformed life in Jesus. The message from Isaiah is imaged both as a restored city and as an abundant garden (4, 11) The world will see what God has done for Israel in the past and will know they are a people whom the Lord has blessed. (9) That is, Isaiah\u2019s vision is not an empty promise. It cannot be described as the pie in the sky. There is a similar expression in Korea, too. It is expressed as the bread (rice cake) in the picture. However, God\u2019s deliverance is real. God saved people in all of the past, present and future, and God\u2019s salvation is here with us now. All we are invited to participate in God\u2019s salvation through Jesus. That is our true joy, and it will be experienced by others who still do not know Jesus in the future. The good news for God\u2019s salvation and deliverance is for everyone. The anointed is to deliver good news to the oppressed, to wrap for healing the broken hearts, to declare liberty for the captives and an opening so the imprisoned may find release. The anointed cannot avoid vulnerability or rejection by continuous preaching and divine service. God\u2019s anointed must confront the perpetrators and sources of oppression, marginalization, hopelessness, and despair. They lived with shame and disgrace, and they were devastated. They experienced downfall and abandonment by God, but the prophet Isaiah told them and tells us that God\u2019s presence is real. The scripture reveals God\u2019s special treatment and care for the lowest, and the weakest. The words spoken are full of promise. It is not a temporary promise, it is an everlasting covenant. From verses 8 to 11, the topics of justice, hope, anticipation, deliverance, and blessing are spoken to the people. It was a promise and a reminder that God has not forgotten them. Isaiah 61:10: I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness the prophet begins to give praise for what God is going to do. They will dress in a fashion that indicates their rejoicing in God\u2019s faithful act of deliverance. (10) God restores his people to righteous living and glorious worship because the Lord loves justice, and He will let the people wear the robe of righteousness. (10) God will glorify his people by bringing them back to his house of worship. We cannot overlook the fact that many people are feeling oppressed, broken-hearted, captive, or imprisoned in some way today, and some of them are wondering when and how God\u2019s transformation will take place in our lives. We may have a feeling about God\u2019s silence when we are facing difficulties and sufferings. What do you do when that disappointment happens? There would be many things to do such as seeking, praying, and waiting! Advent is a time of waiting and preparation for God to transform the world through Jesus Christ. Isaiah\u2019s words tell us that the transform is not to be an empty hope but a sure promise, because the promise for recovery is already given and will be given by God. The restoration for God\u2019s people was God\u2019s mission and His desire for salvation. That is why salvation is related to mission and our response. Where and how mission will happen in our lives. There would be lots of unexpected losses in our lives, but God will provide for us and will redeem our losses. In addition, a restored<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Advent 3 13th December 2020 (Isaiah 61:1-11; Like 1:46-55) By Heeyoung Lim Gladness and Praise in God’s Garden The God in whom we rejoice, prepares our hearts for the coming of the Lord. We light the candle of joy on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. We are glad indeed, to be together in the House…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3760,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3759\/revisions\/3760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}