Worship Notes for Advent 2, 2014

Friday after the First Sunday of Advent

December 5, 2014

The Lord be with you

I’m a little slow getting these notes posted this week. Yesterday was just packed. But, as my mother used to say, “Better late than never."

This coming Sunday will be the Second Sunday of Advent. It is also the Commemoration of Ambrose of Milan, Pastor and Hymnwriter. If you would like to know a bit more about Ambrose, and why we remember him on our calendar, just click on his name and you will be taken to a post I made in 2011 about him. Our opening hymn, “Savior of the Nations Come,” was written by Ambrose.

We will be using Matins (page 226) for our liturgy Sunday. For the canticle we will use the Benedictus. Our opening hymn, as I said, will be “Savior of the Nations Come,” LSB 332. We will sing verses 1 through 6. Our sermon hymn will be “Jesus Sinners Doth Receive,” LSB 609. We will sing verse 1 and verses 4 through 6. Our closing hymn will be “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry,” LSB 344, all 5 verses.

The appointed lessons for Advent 2 (series B) are Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-14 and Mark 1:1-8. The appointed Psalm is Psalm 85. The antiphon is verse 9. The sermon text will be Mark 1:4. The sermon title is “What, Me Repent?”

Below is a video of our opening hymn, “Savior of the Nations Come.” It includes the words so you can sing along. The video was made by the Lutheran Warbler.

What follows now is first a synopsis of our appointed lessons, provided by the synod, then the actual lessons. Following that are a few additional notes.

You Are Prepared through Repentance for the Coming of the Lord

“The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) begins when John the Baptist appears and comes “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4).  As the Prophet Isaiah had written, John is the messenger of the Lord, sent before His face to prepare His way.  To this day, the ministry of the Forerunner continues in the preaching of the Law and the Gospel, and in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.  By these ways and means “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Is. 40:5), and the Good Shepherd “will gather the lambs in His arms” (Is. 40:11).  He speaks “tenderly to Jerusalem,” and He comforts His people by pardoning their iniquity (Is. 40:1–2).  What is more, He promises “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).  Repent, therefore, and humble yourself as you wait for His coming in peace (2 Pet. 3:14), because He “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

Isaiah 40:1-11

^11:1                    Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

²           Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

                        and cry to her

            that her warfare is ended,

                        that her iniquity is pardoned,

            that she has received from the Lord's hand

                        double for all her sins.

³           A voice cries:

            “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

                        make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴           Every valley shall be lifted up,

                        and every mountain and hill be made low;

            the uneven ground shall become level,

                        and the rough places a plain.

⁵           And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

                        and all flesh shall see it together,

                        for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁶           A voice says, “Cry!”

                        And I said, “What shall I cry?”

            All flesh is grass,

                        and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

⁷           The grass withers, the flower fades

                        when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

                        surely the people are grass.

⁸           The grass withers, the flower fades,

                        but the word of our God will stand forever.

⁹           Go on up to a high mountain,

                        O Zion, herald of good news;

            lift up your voice with strength,

                        O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

                        lift it up, fear not;

            say to the cities of Judah,

                        “Behold your God!”

¹⁰          Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

                        and his arm rules for him;

            behold, his reward is with him,

                        and his recompense before him.

¹¹          He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

                        he will gather the lambs in his arms;

            he will carry them in his bosom,

                        and gently lead those that are with young.

2 Peter 3:8-14

⁸           But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

¹¹          Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴          Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

Mark 1:1-8

^1:1         The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²           As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

            “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

                        who will prepare your way,

³           the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

                        ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

                        make his paths straight,’”

⁴           John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Some Additional Notes

• Our Wednesday Advent services have begun. The first message, “The Meaning of Christmas is Love” has been posted on the sermons’ page. The homily for this coming Wednesday is “The Meaning of Christmas is Family.” Join us at 6:15 pm for our Soup Supper, followed by worship at 7:00 pm. Choir rehearsal follows the worship service, beginning around 8:00 pm.

• Our Lutheran Women’s Missionary League chapter will have their annual Christmas party following the worship service. There will be a gift exchange (nothing over $10.00 please) and plenty of refreshments. All ladies are invited.

• Women’s Bible Fellowship will meet Monday, December 8, at 10:00 am.

Blessings in Christ,

Pastor Rickert