John E. Sumwalt

Object: A sign with the word “CAREFUL” printed on it in big letters. For extra meaning, create some small “CAREFUL” cards to give to each child to take with them.

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Shakespeare’s stage was pretty simple and bare — an open space out of doors where comedies, tragedies, and histories were enacted. Among those histories was a celebration of King Henry V, who was highly revered. As a young prince, he lived a riotous and shameful life. However, when his father died and he ascended to the throne, a young king, he became serious and saintly. In Shakespeare’s play “Henry V,” about the tumultuous Battle of Agincourt, a lone actor walks out on stage before the show begins and proclaims:

O, for a muse of fire that would ascend

From ages past no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who works for those who wait for him. (v. 4)

My father, Leonard Sumwalt, spent four long years of his young life waiting---waiting for World War II to end so he could come home to the farm. He dreamed about milking cows, planting corn, putting up June hay, picking black berries, and his mother’s fried chicken during that interminable wait.

Mark 13 speaks to those who expect too much and to those who expect too little. It is especially pertinent for those who have forgotten to expect anything at all.1

Lehman's Old-Fashioned Hardware Store at Kidron in Ohio's Amish Country is a fascinating place. This store has specialized in non-electric appliances for more than forty years. Until recently most of its customers have been Amish residents in Holmes, Wayne, and Tuscarawas counties and Christian missionaries in countries of the developing world. The store is appealing to a growing number of religious people caught up in the so-called prophetic teaching that the last days are fast approaching.

Have you ever denied something that, deep down, you know to be true? Have you ever turned from a situation or circumstance in order to avoid the uncomfortable process of dealing with it? Or maybe you have had the experience of keeping a stiff upper lip and pretending that something is not ... well, what it is.

This Sunday's passages reflect a cry for God to restore. In Isaiah 63 and the Psalm there is a deep longing for God to restore the fortunes of Israel. The Mark passage speaks of Christ's return (the Parousia) and the restoration of all things that will occur at that time. First Corinthians 1:1-7 reminds us that Christians are called to live holy lives as we eagerly await the restoration.

Our prayers will focus on this theme of restoration as well as offering some traditional First Sunday of Advent material.


Call To Worship