Advent Worship and Corporate Action: The First Sunday of Advent

By Carl Park

*These Advent devotionals are shortened versions of a church Advent resource provided by Carl Park, Great Commission Community Church, and adapted for our readers. We at AACC hope that these Advent devotionals can serve as an encouragement to our readers during this Advent Season. Please refer to our initial article for the full resource HERE.

Invitation 

Today is the first Sunday of the Christian season of Advent. Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” We celebrate two advents of Christ during this season – and, really, every day. The first advent happened 2000 years ago when Jesus came to us, in total oneness with us, in a body like ours, in a humble birth, and later a shameful death. The second advent is the one we’re still waiting for, when Jesus will arrive again to re-create everything and make the world and us fully one with him. During Advent we look back at the first coming of Christ with so much thankfulness, and we look forward to the second coming of Christ with so much anticipation. 

Reading from the Gospels about Christ’s First Coming

Luke 6:17–26. (Read Italics Aloud)

 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

Looking at his disciples, he said: 

“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you 

and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.

Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you came, and you healed all kinds of people and got rid of demonic power. And you taught us what a truly good and full life is. We pray for blessing, but not like how people who hated you prayed for it. We pray for blessing, the way you prayed for it. 

We embrace our poverty, our needs, our sadness, our not being liked. We trust you when you say that these are part of a truly blessed life. 

And we say with you, Jesus, as radical as it might sound, that we don’t trust wealth, abundances of food and resources, laughter, and popularity. Because we know this is the life of false prophets and people who are not one with you. 

We remember how you came to us, Jesus. You had poor parents, you lived a life of fasting, you embraced being shamed and left out and people thought your life wasn’t important. You are our Lord, our teacher, our master. We receive your true life, your true peace, together. Amen.  

Sermon

Read Isaiah 58:1–12

Prayer and Explanation of our Corporate Action to Obey the Word

Our church believes in prayer and action to see Christ move in his power and justice in the brokenness of our world and for the most vulnerable. And we want to respond to the Lord corporately this season, as he speaks to us. This Advent season, we as a church are going to respond to God’s word in very concrete, communal ways. 

Take a moment to reflect on Isaiah 58:1–12 and consider how your church may take corporate action to promote justice in your community. Pray for:

• Immigrant families seeking refuge or in need of resources during the winter

• Community involvement and partnership with local ministries who serve recently arrived immigrants

• That relationships would be formed or strengthened between your church and immigrant families 

Lord, let our ministries be a preview of your kingdom as we wait for your return, when the most vulnerable and marginalized will be taken care of, when “streets will be restored” and “ruins rebuilt,” and the whole world made new. Amen 

Communion

On the night Jesus was betrayed…

Read Aloud this summary of Christ’s story. 

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day, he rose again from the dead.

He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting. Amen.”

Sent

Go, in the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, to love your neighbors through corporate action.

Photo by Osman Rana on Unsplash

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Carl Park serves as a pastor to Great Commission Community Church in Arlington, VA, and faculty for the Institute for Worship Studies.