Friday after the Second Sunday of Advent
December 12, 2014
The Lord be with you
This coming Sunday will be the Third Sunday of Advent. For
our liturgy we will use the Divine Service, setting 1 (page 151). Because we
are in Advent we will omit the Hymn of Praise (the “Gloria in Excelsis” or “This
is the Feast”). We do this because Ad vent, like Lent, is a penitential season.
We will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper so we will use the Nicene Creed for
our confession of faith. For our Post-Communion Canticle we will sing the “Nunc
Dimittis.” This canticle is used as it is more in keeping with the Advent
season than “Thank the Lord” as the “Nunc Dimittis” is the very song Simeon
sang when confronted with the baby Jesus.
Our opening hymn will be “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (LSB
357). This is one of the best know Advent hymns as has been selected to reflect
the Advent season. Our sermon hymn will be “Hear Us, Father, When We Pray” (LSB
773). The general theme of the sermon is “prayer” and this hymn has been
selected to reflect that. Our closing hymn will be “On What Has Now Been Sown” (LSB
921). This is a favorite hymn for the closing of a worship service and asks God
to bless and use that which we have received during the past hour. Our first
two distribution hymns reflect the Lord’s Supper. Our third distribution hymn reflects
the Advent season, in particular the role of John the Baptist. John’s role is
featured in the day’s Gospel lesson. The hymns will be “Draw Near and Take the
Body of the Lord” (LSB 637), “Come, My Soul, with Every Care” (LSB
779) and “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” (LSB 344).
The appointed lessons for the day are Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11; 1
Thessalonians 5:16–24; and John 1:6–8, 19–28. The sermon will be based on 1 Thessalonians
5:17 from the epistle lesson. The sermon will be titled “Pray Without Ceasing.”
Below is a video of our sermon hymn, “Hear Us, Father, When
We Pray,” performed on a harp by Bethany Woelmer. She does only one verse.
What follows now is a synopsis of our appointed lessons,
provided by the synod, then the actual lessons, and finally a few important
notes.
The Coming of the Christ Brings True Rejoicing in His
Forgiveness
When he preaches repentance, John the Baptist points us to
Christ Jesus. John was sent by God “as a witness, to bear witness about the
Light, that all might believe through him” (John 1:7). He baptizes with water in order to “make straight the way of the Lord,” who
shall redeem His people from their sins (John 1:23). That Lord Jesus “who comes after” John now stands among us and makes Himself known
to us (John 1:26–27). He has been
anointed by the Holy Spirit “to bring
good news to the poor” and “to bind
up the brokenhearted” (Is. 61:1). By
the washing of the water with His Word and Spirit, He clothes His Church with “the garments of salvation” and adorns
her with His own righteousness “as a
bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Is. 61:10). Therefore, we “rejoice always” in the Lord, “pray
without ceasing,” and “give thanks in
all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:16–18).
For “the God of peace,” who
has called you by the Gospel, will surely “sanctify
you completely,” so that “your whole
spirit and soul and body” will “be
kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23–24).
Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11
61:1 The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because
the Lord has anointed me
to bring
good news to the poor;
he
has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim
liberty to the captives,
and
the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to
proclaim the year of the Lord 's
favor,
and
the day of vengeance of our God;
to
comfort all who mourn;
3 to
grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to
give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of
gladness instead of mourning,
the
garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they
may be called oaks of righteousness,
the
planting of the Lord, that he may
be glorified.
4 They
shall build up the ancient ruins;
they
shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall
repair the ruined cities,
the
devastations of many generations. …
8 For
I the Lord love justice;
I
hate robbery and wrong;
I will
faithfully give them their recompense,
and
I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their
offspring shall be known among the nations,
and
their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see
them shall acknowledge them,
that
they are an offspring the Lord has
blessed.
10 I
will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my
soul shall exult in my God,
for he has
clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he
has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a
bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and
as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For
as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and
as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord
God will cause righteousness and
praise
to
sprout up before all the nations.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–24
16 Rejoice
always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19Do not quench
the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test
everything; hold fast what is good. 22Abstain from every form of
evil.
23 Now
may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit
and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24He
who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
John 1:6–8, 19–28
6 There
was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness,
to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8He
was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. …
19 And
this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from
Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20He confessed, and did not
deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21And they asked him,
“What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he
answered, “No.” 22So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give
an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23He
said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the
way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now
they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25They asked him, “Then why
are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands
one you do not know, 27even he who comes after me, the strap of
whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28These things took place in
Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Some Additional Notes
- We will be GREENING the sanctuary Wednesday. This will be done following the worship service. “GREENING” means decorating the church for Christmas. The decorations will stay up through Sunday worship, January 4. Following that worship service, we will take the decoration down.
- We have only one more Wednesday Advent service left (there are only three this year). The first two messages (“The Meaning of Christmas is Love” and “The Meaning of Christmas is Family”) can be found on sermons’ page of this blog. The homily for this coming Wednesday is “The Meaning of Christmas is Giving.” 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.
- The Board of Evangelism will meet Sunday for lunch and planning.
- LitWits will meet Sunday, 6:30 pm, at Sam’s home. The book we will talk about is “The Christmas Box.” As always, the meeting is open to all.
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Rickert
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