These are resources for the Second Sunday of Advent on , December 6, 2020. The resources are gathered from a variety of sources and, while assembled mainly for The Anglican Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, on the island of Crete in Greece, others may find them useful.

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Greece is still in lockdown and probably will be for the next two Sundays. This means we will be on Zoom for worship on these days, December 6 and 13. We will have our usual Service of the Word at 11:00 am EET (9:00 am GMT) and you can join us by clicking this link or by entering the following into your Zoom application: Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Passcode: 010209.

I have prepared a PDF of a Service of the Word for Advent II. You can download it here:

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The readings this Sunday are rich and powerful: we will be using Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, and Mark 1:1-8. Many churches using the full choices from the Common Worship Lectionary/Revised Common Lectionary will also read 2 Peter 3:8-15a.

Reflect

I have written up some thoughts on the Isaiah passage, and its relation to the gospels’ use of it, in a post from last December, Highways in Isaiah and the Gospels which was Day Twenty of “Through Advent with Isaiah.

Father Leonard Doolan of the Anglican Church of St Paul. Athens, has prepared and recorded a sermon for this Sunday:

Pray

Collect
O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

(or)

Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God. Amen.

Biddings
I bid your prayers for the leaders and people of the nations; especially

• Katerini Sakellaropoulou, President of Greece, and
  • Kyriakos Mitsotakis the Prime Minister of Greece;
• Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and her other realms, and also in her role as Governor of the Church of England;
  • and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of her British government;
• In the European Union,
  • Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission;
  • Charles Michel, President of the European Council; and
  • Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy;
• for the closing negotiations around Brexit;
• for the peoples of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland facing uncertainty over the fate of the Good Friday Accord;
• the peoples of Belarus, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Peru, and Thailand as they continue to demonstrate for democracy and justice;
• for the maintaining of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and between Russia and Ukraine, Palestinians and Israelis, North and South Korea, and for a final, just resolution to their conflicts;
• for the President-elect and peoples of the United States;
• for advocates of Indigenous rights and the adoption and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• prisoners and captives, especially the over one million Uigers being held in detention in China;
• the over 79.5 million refugees and nearly 4 million stateless person, remembering especially the crucial situation of Greece, and the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”);
• for a lessening of tensions between Turkey and Greece; and
• for peace in Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, and Ethiopia.

I bid your prayers for the sick and suffering and all who minister to their needs;

• remembering the 18.4 million active cases of the novel coronavirus, and mourning with the families of the over 1.5 million who have died in the pandemic;
• for the 1.684 million people in the UK who have had covid-19 or are recovering from it, the nearly 60,000 who have died of it there, and the 97,000 active cases here in Greece, and the families of the over 2600 dead here;
• remembering those ill with other diseases, and those whose operations have been postponed;
• all those having issues with mental health;
• those suffering from addiction, and those in recovery;
• those who have been affected severely by the economic effects of the pandemic, especially in food services and tourism;
• and giving thanks for the efforts of researchers in finding vaccines.

I bid your prayers for the Church:

• for Robert Innes & David Hamid, our bishops;
• for Justin Welby our archbishop, Stephen Cottrell the Archbishop of York, and the General Synod of the Church of England;
• we pray especially for congregations that have been obliged to cease in-person services with the resumption of lockdown;
• for the churches and peoples of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam (World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle);
• in the Anglican Communion, we remember the Reformed Episcopal Church of Spain and its bishop, The Rt Revd Carlos López-Lozano;
• (from the Prayer Diary of the Diocese in Europe) give thanks for:
  • our fellowship with the German Protestant Churches (Evangelische Kirche Deutschland) (Meissen Declaration); and
  • in our Diocesan Office in London the Locum Ministry Administrator, Emma Biaggi, and the Retirement Officer, John Marvell.

Intercessions
In joyful expectation of his coming to our aid we pray to Jesus.

Come to your Church as Lord and judge.
Help us to live in the light of your coming
and give us a longing for your kingdom.
Maranatha: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to your world as King of the nations.
Before you rulers will stand in silence.
Maranatha: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to the suffering as Saviour and comforter.
Break into our lives,
where we struggle with sickness and distress,
and set us free to serve you for ever.
Maranatha: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come to us as shepherd and guardian of our souls.
Give us with all the faithful departed
a share in your victory over evil and death.
Maranatha: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Come from heaven, Lord Jesus, with power and great glory.
Lift us up to meet you,
that with Isaiah, John Mark, Thomas our patron and the rest of the Twelve, Paul, Nicholas, Mary of Magdala, Mary your mother, and all your saints and angelswe may live and reign with you in your new creation.
Maranatha: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Silence is kept.

Come, Lord Jesus, do not delay;
give new courage to your people,
who trust in your love.
By your coming, raise us to share in the joy of your kingdom
on earth as in heaven,
where you live and reign with the Father and the Spirit,
one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Sing