Another year is past, another Christmas is upon us, another year beckons. The God of our life is with us through all the circling years. Our times are in His hands. At Christmas, we remember once again the grace of God through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, whom we believe to be the Anointed One of God, the Messiah. Let us with grateful hearts and minds gather in confidence to worship the God of the Christmas hope.

When Jesus began his public ministry in the region of the Galilee, he chose twelve men to be his disciples. He also may have chosen some women as disciples, but none of the twelve men, nor any other male writers in the New Testament, was about to divulge that explosive secret. Now, two thousand years later, Jesus calls all of us also to follow him. Worship is the means by which God and Jesus reach out to us, inviting us once again to follow. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.

Religious people often are strongly opposed to the positions and opinions of one another. They quarrel and argue and debate. Thus it was for Jesus with the people with whom he was in constant tension. But he maintained his ideas and his integrity until the end, and the end was his cruel death upon a cross. How devoted are we to following this man whose views were often so radically different from our own? When we gather for worship, we seek God’s guidance to become better disciples. Therefore let us, with Advent confidence, worship God.

Today is the first of the four Sundays of Advent. The word Advent, from Latin, means “Coming.” In this season of the year we prepare once again for the coming into the world of Jesus, whom Christians recognize as the Christ, God’s Messiah. Having survived what retailers and newscasters call Black Friday, we look forward to Christmas, the celebration of the greatest of gifts. As we begin this annual process, may we join together in the worship of the God of Israel, who once again ignites the light of the world.

We are not alone. We are citizens of a community, a state, a nation, and a world. All people are God’s people, and it is God’s will that we live in unity and harmony with everyone. Each of us does that by being neighborly to our neighbors, and by taking our part in the affairs of state and nation. We bow before the God who created all of us, and who desires that we should feel a kinship with everyone. Therefore let us worship the God who makes us one people in His one world.

For no one is life a continuous collection of only happy and pleasant experiences. For everyone darkness and difficulties descend upon us, and then what happens? Where do we turn? Out of the depths we are likely to look to God for assistance and support. He hears and responds to everyone, not as we ask, perhaps, but He always does respond. Therefore on this and all Sundays, let us, with confidence, worship the God to whom we can always turn in times of uncertainty and distress.

Today in our service we are going to be thinking about Jerusalem: the historical city, the contemporary city, the reality, the concept, the idea, the ideal, the idyll. Jerusalem is built as a city which is bound firmly together. There thrones of judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David. We give thanks to God for all Jerusalem has meant in the past, what it means in the present, what it can portend for the future, and what the City of God means for all of eternity. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship the God of the Holy City.

Today, as on all Sundays, we gather in praise of a God who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omniconscious; He is always aware of all of us, all of the time. He never slumbers nor sleeps. We cannot adequately imagine such a being, and yet we are moved to bow before Him in awe and reverence. Worship is a gift, a privilege, and also the ingestion of spiritual vitamins. Therefore let us, with deep gratitude to Him who watches over Israel, worship God.

What is God’s truest nature? Is He fundamentally wrathful, or is He loving? Is He kind, or is he perpetually stern? There is no uniformity in the answers in scripture to those questions, but there is an overriding proclamation which is repeated again and again by different people in different ways. God is a God of love, it is declared throughout the entire Bible. Let us therefore, with confidence, worship the always-loving Creator of the universe.

Every moment of every day, we live solely by the grace and mercy of Almighty God. It is He who gives us life, sustains life, and gives life its meaning. In gratitude to God for His endless blessings, we gather to sing His praise, ask for His forgiveness, and pray for His assistance for people in need all around us and all over the world. It is right and proper for us to worship and bless the God who made and protects us. Therefore let us, with confidence, worship God.

When we gather in worship, we do so as individual people, with individual ideas about what constitutes the best we can be with respect to God. Some of us think what we believe matters most to God, while others think what we do matters most. However it is we come, God gladly welcomes us into His fellowship and into His community of believers. With gratitude to Him for the breadth of His acceptance of all His daughters and sons, let us, with confidence, worship God.

In worship, we are spiritually refreshed and renewed. In worship, we sense the voice of God as in no other human activity. In worship, we who are disparate individuals become one people through joining together in prayer and praise. In worship, we who change little from year to year are changed remarkably, if only for an hour. In worship, God comes to us and we come to God. Therefore let us, with confidence, approach the God who bids us to come and worship Him.