The Bulletin is at: 12-22-2019 – bulletin
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FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT
December 22, 2019
THEME…Welcome to our Advent worship series, Arise and Shine. Each week in this series focuses on a different aspect of the light of Christ and how we are enlightened by him throughout our lives. In our worship for the third week in Advent, we anticipate with repentant joy the birth of our Savior, listen to his Word and seek to live according to it until he comes again.
RINGING OF THE BELL
WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS
INVOCATION AND CALL TO WORSHIP
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: Amen.
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH
L: On the four Sundays in Advent, we light a new candle each week. We mark the four candles with these four words: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus Christ is the hope of all nations.
C: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we hope.
L: Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.
C: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we rest.
L: Jesus Christ is the source of all joy.
C: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we rejoice.
L: Jesus Christ is the Love of God.
C: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word we know we are loved.
The first, second, third and fourth candles are lit during the Advent Song.
ADVENT SONG: “My Soul in Stillness Waits”
C: For you, O Lord, my soul in stillness waits, truly my love is in you.
L: O Key of Knowledge, guide us in our pilgrimage, we ever seek, yet unfulfilled remain, open to us the pathway of Your peace.
C: For you, O Lord, my soul in stillness waits, truly my love is in you.
WE CONFESS OUR SIN…
L: In our Gospel lesson, Jesus says, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Forgive us, Father, for we are prone to embrace the night of sin instead of the light of your love.
C: Our rebellion comes back to hurt and haunt us.
L: Forgive us, Father, for we are prone to embrace the image of Adam instead of the image of Christ.
C: We hurt other people and often destroy relationships.
L: Forgive us, Father, for we are prone to live only for ourselves, ignoring the needs of others.
C: We become down, depressed and stuck in darkness.
L: We are lost in a pit of despair.
C: Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Silence for reflection
…HEARING GOD’S FORGIVENESS
L: Hear the best news you will ever hear! Christ’s loving light shines in the darkness! In His name, you are forgiven. You are absolved. You are declared righteous by grace, through faith. Arise, shine, for your light has come!
C: And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
CHOIR ANTHEM: “The Coming of the Lord” By: Pepper Choplin
Lift up your heads, O gates, and make the highway straight,
Prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord.
Your waiting soon will end, God’s glory will descend,
Rise up and welcome in the coming of the Lord,
The coming of the Lord!
Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!
Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!
The ancient words foretell, God with us, He will dwell,
Christ, our Emmanuel, and all will see the glory of the Lord!
Lift up your heads, O gates, and make the highway straight,
Prepare to celebrate the coming of the Lord!
Your waiting soon will end, God’s glory will descend,
Rise up and welcome in the coming of the Lord, the coming of the Lord.
Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!
Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord!
The ancient words foretell, God with us, He will dwell,
Christ, our Emmanuel, and all will see the glory of the Lord!
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
O come, O come, prepare the way! O come, prepare the way!
And ransom captive Israel.
Prepare the way, O come, prepare the way, Way of the Lord.
And then the deaf will hear, the blind will see Him clear,
The mute will find their voice, The lame will leap for joy,
Prepare the way of the coming of the Lord!
Prepare the way of the Lord! Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel, our God, will come to us.
Prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.
SERVICE OF THE WORD
THE SCRIPTURE LESSONS
The First Lesson: Daniel 12:1-3
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord
C: Thanks be to God
The Gospel Lesson: Matthew 12:36-43
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.
L: This is the Gospel of the Lord
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON SONG: “The King Shall Come” LBW 33
(stanzas 1,2,4,5)
1 The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.
2 Not as of old a little child,
To bear and fight and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.
4 Oh, brighter than that glorious morn
Shall dawn upon our race
The day when Christ in splendor comes,
And we shall see his face.
5 The King shall come when morning dawns
And light and beauty brings.
Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray:
Come quickly, King of kings.
THE PRAYERS OF GOD’S PEOPLE
L: Rejoicing in the hope of our Savior’s appearing, let us pray together, saying, “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: We pray for the Church, as we wait with eager expectation for your revealing, you who have written our names in your book of life. “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: We pray for our mission, that we bring glory to God and healing to many people through our work produced by faith, our labor prompted by love, and our endurance inspired by hope. “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: We pray for all the baptized, that we might live watchful and sober lives, eagerly looking forward to our Lord’s appearing. “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: We pray for all of your sisters and brothers, Lord Jesus, who cry out in their time of need, especially all who have asked for our prayers (including…). Loving Savior, be their joy in sorrow and their life in death. “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: We give thanks for all the faithful in heaven, saved by your grace, who await the day of the resurrection; and we join them in asking that the day may come quickly. “Even so…
C: Come, Lord Jesus!”
L: Christ Jesus, we pray in your holy name.
C:Amen.
WE OFFER OUR GIFTS
THE LORD’S PRAYER
L: Arise, shine, for your light has come!
C: And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
L: The Lord is my light and my salvation—
C: Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
CLOSING SONG: “Joy to the World” LBW 39
1 Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive its King;
Let ev’ry heart prepare him room
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
2 Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
3 No more let sin and sorrow grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
4 He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love,
And wonders of his love,
And wonders, wonders of his love.
DISMISSAL
P: Go in peace! Serve the Lord!
C: Thanks be to God!