Second Sunday in Advent December 5, 2021

Today’s Theme for Worship: When the Lord Comes Near, He Humbles His People. Repentance is the humble admission of our sin combined with the joyful trust that everything needed to bring us close to God has already been done by him.

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

Opening Hymn CW 21- 311 Dawning Light of Our Salvation

1. Long in darkness Israel wandered;

Long in mortal shadows, we

Walked in bondage and self-pity,

Trod in paths of sin and grief.

In the prophets’ words He told us,

Long the God of Israel spoke;

He alone in strength would save us

From the hands of all our foes.

Refrain

Every valley be exalted!

Every mountain be made plane!

Crooked ways repent and straighten;

All creation bend in praise!

2. He shall raise a mighty Savior;

Born of David’s lineage, He

Comes in cov’nant love to claim us

From our sins to set us free.

Light to those who dwell in darkness

Life to those from death who flee

Joy unto the earth, and gladness,

To your pathways dawning peace!

Refrain

Every valley be exalted!

Every mountain be made plane!

Crooked ways repent and straighten;

All creation bend in praise!

3. Jesus, Lord, and mighty Savior,

David’s Son and yet his King,

Dawning light of our salvation,

Of your saving pow’r we sing!

Stand, Oh lame, and dance ye broken,

Know the Savior’s healing grace;

Come, Oh deaf and hear him singing;

Turn, Oh blind, behold his face!

Refrain

Every valley be exalted!

Every mountain be made plane!

Crooked ways repent and straighten;

All creation bend in praise!

Text: Wendell Kimbrough, b. 1983

Tune: Bruce Benedict, b. 1980

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

C: And also with you.

Confession of Sins

P: God invites us to come into his presence and worship him with humble and penitent hearts. Therefore, let us acknowledge our sinfulness and ask him to forgive us.

C: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful, and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity. But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

P: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Lord, Have Mercy

P: For all that we need in life and for the wisdom to use all your gifts with gratitude and joy, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: ♬ Lord, have mer-cy.

P: For the steadfast assurance that nothing can separate us from your love and for the courage to stand firm against the assaults of Satan and every evil, hear our prayer, O Christ.

C: ♬ Christ, have mer-cy.

P: For the well-being of your holy Church in all the world and for those who offer here their worship and praise, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: ♬ Lord, have mer-cy.

P: Merciful God, maker and preserver of life, uphold us by your power and keep us in your tender care:

C: ♬ A-men.

P: The works of the Lord are great and glorious; his name is worthy of praise.

♬ O Lord, Our Lord

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

Al-might-y God, mer-ci-ful Father,

you crown our life with your love.

You take a-way our sin; you com-fort our spir-it;

you make us pure and ho-ly in your sight.

You did not spare your on-ly Son, but gave him up for us all.

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

O Son of God, e-ter-nal Word of the Fa-ther,

you came to live with us;

you made your Fa-ther known;

you washed us from our sins in your own blood.

You are the King of glo-ry; you are the Lord!

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

Prayer of the Day

P: Let us Pray.

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way for your only Son. By his coming, give us strength in our conflicts, and shed light on our path through the darkness of this world; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

First Lesson: Malachi 3:1-7b

Look! I am sending my messenger! He will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord, whom you are seeking, will come to his temple! The Messenger of the Covenant, in whom you delight, will surely come, says the Lord of Armies.

²But who can endure the day when he comes? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, like launderers bleach! ³He will be seated like a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and like silver. They will belong to the Lord and bring him an offering in righteousness.

⁴Judah and Jerusalem’s offerings will be pleasing to the Lord as they were in the days of old, in years long ago.

⁵I will approach you to judge you. I will be quick to give testimony against those who practice occult arts, those who commit adultery, those who swear false oaths, those who cheat workers out of their wages, those who wrong a widow and a fatherless child, those who turn away a resident alien—all those who do not fear me, says the Lord of Armies.

⁶Certainly I, the Lord, do not change. That is why you, sons of Jacob, have not come to an end. ⁷Since the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Armies.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 66

Refrain

At the works of your hands, O Lord, I lift up my voice in song;

I sing for joy.

Shout with joy to God, all the earth!*

Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!

Praise our God, O peoples,*

let the sound of his praise be heard.

He has preserved our lives*

and kept our feet from slipping.

Refrain

At the works of your hands, O Lord, I lift up my voice in song;

I sing for joy.

Come and listen, all you who fear God;*

let me tell you what he has done for me.

If I had cherished sin in my heart,*

the Lord would not have listened;

but God has surely listened*

and heard my voice in prayer.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son*

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,*

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain

At the works of your hands, O Lord, I lift up my voice in song;

I sing for joy.

Second Lesson: Philippians 1:3-11

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴Every time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy, ⁵because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷I am equally convinced that it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, for both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me. ⁸Yes, God is my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹And I pray that your love may still increase more and more in knowledge and every insight. ¹⁰This will result in your approval of the things that really matter, so that you will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Verse

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel Lesson: Luke 3:1-6

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene— ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³He went into the whole region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴Just as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:

A voice of one calling in the wilderness,

“Prepare the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight.

⁵Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low.

The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

⁶And everyone will see the salvation of God.”

Hymn of the Day: 16 On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry

1 On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry

Announces that the Lord is nigh;

Come, then, and listen, for he brings

Good news about the King of kings.

2 Then cleansed be ev’ry life from sin

And furnished for a guest within,

And let us all our hearts prepare

For Christ to come and enter there.

3 We hail you as our Savior, Lord,

Our refuge and our great reward.

Without your grace we waste away

Like flow’rs that wither and decay.

4 Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,

And lift us up to fall no more.

Oh, make your face on us to shine,

And fill the world with love divine.

5 All praise to you, eternal Son,

Whose advent has our freedom won,

Whom with the Father we adore

And Holy Spirit evermore.

Text: Charles Coffin, 1676-1749; tr. John Chandler, 1806-76, st. 1-3, alt.; composite, st. 4-5.

Sermon

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.

Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Offering Prayer

Offering

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Prayer of the Church

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who

trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom

and the power and the glory

forever and ever. Amen.

The Sacrament

P: The Lord be with you.

C: ♬ And also with you.

P: Lift up your hearts.

C: ♬ We lift them up to the Lord.

P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C: ♬ It is right to give him thanks and praise.

P: Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In love he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Through his holy prophets, he promised a King to bring light to those living in darkness and in the shadow of death. Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and thanks and honor and glory for ever and ever.

♬ Holy, Holy, Holy

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

You are my God, and I will ex-alt you.

I will give you thanks, for you have be-come my sal-va-tion.

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

Words of Institution

P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C: ♬ A-men.

♬ O Christ, Lamb Of God

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

grant us your peace.

A-men.

Distribution Hymn: 14 Arise, O Christian People

1 Arise, O Christian people! Prepare yourselves today.

Prepare to greet the Savior, Who takes your sins away.

To us by grace alone The truth and light was given;

The promised Lord from heaven To all the world is shown.

2 Prepare the way before him; Prepare for him the best.

Cast out what would offend him, This great, this heav’nly guest.

Make straight, make plain the way: The lowly valleys raising,

The heights of pride abasing, His path all even lay.

3 The humble heart and lowly God raises up on high;

Beneath his feet in terror The haughty soul shall lie.

The heart sincere and right, That heeds God’s invitation

And makes true preparation-It is the Lord’s delight.

4 Prepare my heart, Lord Jesus; Turn not from me aside,

And help me to receive you This blessed Adventtide.

From stall and manger low Come now to dwell within me;

I’ll sing your praises gladly And forth your glory show.

Text: Valentin Thilo, 1607-62, alt.; tr. Arthur T. Russell, 1806-74, st. 1-3, alt.;

The Lutheran Hymnal, St. Louis, 1941, st. 4, alt.

Thank the Lord

Thank the Lord and sing his praise.

Tell ev-'ry-one what he has done.

Let all who seek the Lord re-joice

And proud-ly bear his name.

He re-news his prom-is-es and leads his peo-ple forth

in joy with shouts of thanks-giv-ing.

Al-le-lu-ia! Al-le-lu-ia!

Prayer

P: Hear the prayer of your people, O Lord, that the lips which have praised you here may glorify you in the world, that the eyes which have seen the coming of your Son may long for his coming again, and that all who have received in his true body and blood the pledge of your forgiveness may be restored to live a new and holy life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: A-men.

Blessing

M: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another. Serve the Lord with gladness.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.

C: (sing) Amen. Amen. Amen.

Closing Hymn: 13 There’s a Voice in the Wilderness Crying

1 There’s a voice in the wilderness crying,

A call from the ways untrod:

Prepare in the desert a highway,

A highway for our God!

The valleys shall be exalted,

The lofty hills brought low;

Make straight all the crooked places

Where the Lord our God may go!

2 O Christians, you bring good tidings;

Get up to the heights and sing!

Proclaim to a desolate people

The coming of their King.

Like the flow’rs of the field they perish;

Like grass their works decay.

The pow’r and pomp of nations

Shall pass like a dream away;

3 But the Word of our God is eternal;

The arm of the Lord is strong.

He stands in the midst of the nations,

And he shall right the wrong.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

The lambs shall gently hold,

To pastures of peace shall lead them,

And bring them safe to his fold.

Text: James L. Milligan, 1876-1961, alt.