10 Dec BULLETIN – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2023
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Music Director
Sunday, December 10, 2023
Second Sunday of Advent
GREETING AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
BELL CHOIR SELECTIONS: GROUP ONE
Christmas Jubilation: A Medley of “Ding, Dong, Merrily on High,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Once in Royal David’s City
Angels From the Realms of Glory
THE LIGHTING OF THE 2ND ADVENT CANDLE
Holy are you, God of righteousness and peace; you promised to wait with patience for all to come to repentance, and to send your prophet to cry in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. As we light these candles, open our ears to hear you speak tenderly to your people, and open our hearts to welcome you as a shepherd who gently leads his flock. Comfort us, O God, and forgive the sin of your people.
Reveal your glory to us and speak to us your word of peace. Amen.
With hope when we might have given up; we pray, O Lord,
Stir up our hearts and come.
With love when we might turn cold or hard; we pray, O Lord,
Stir up our hearts and come.
To thankfulness when we might simply complain; we pray, O Lord,
Stir up our hearts and come.
To action when we might simply watch; we pray, O Lord,
Stir up our hearts and come.
For joy when we are tired and forgiveness when we are hurt; we pray, O Lord,
Stir up our hearts and come.
Please make the sign of the cross in remembrance of your Baptism. In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Father of mercies and God of all consolation, come to the aid of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may attend to your Word, confess our sins, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, and our Redeemer. Amen.
FIRST READING ISAIAH 40:1-11
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
PSALM 51 CEV
R: You are kind, God! Please have pity on me. You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins. Wash me clean from all my sin and guilt. I know about my sins, and I cannot forget the burden of my guilt. You are really the one I have sinned against; I have disobeyed you and have done wrong.
L: So, it is right and fair for you to correct and punish me. I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born. But you want complete honesty, so teach me true wisdom. Wash me with hyssop[a] until I am clean and whiter than snow. Let me be happy and joyful! You crushed my bones, now let them celebrate. Turn your eyes from my sin and cover my guilt.
R: Create pure thoughts in me and make me faithful again. Don’t chase me away from you or take your Holy Spirit away from me. Make me as happy as you did when you saved me; make me want to obey! I will teach sinners your Law, and they will return to you. Keep me from any deadly sin. Only you can save me! Then I will shout and sing about your power to save.
L: Help me to speak, and I will praise you, Lord. Offerings and sacrifices are not what you want. The way to please you is to be truly sorry deep in our hearts. This is the kind of sacrifice you won’t refuse. Please be willing, Lord, to help the city of Zion and to rebuild its walls. Then you will be pleased with the proper sacrifices, and we will offer bulls on your altar once again.
Footnotes
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51.7 hyssop: A small bush with bunches of small, white flowers. It was sometimes used as a symbol for making a person clean from sin.
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Contemporary English Version Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
Glory 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.
CONFESSION
Let us make confession to God. Almighty God:
Merciful Father, I – a troubled and penitent sinner – confess to you all my sins and iniquities with which I have offended you and for which I justly deserve your punishment. But I am sorry for them, and repent of them, and pray for your boundless mercy. For the sake of the suffering and death of your Son, Jesus Christ, be gracious and merciful to me, a poor sinful being; forgive my sins, give me your Holy Spirit for the amendment of my sinful life, and bring me to life everlasting. Amen.
FORGIVENESS
Almighty God in his mercy has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. Through his Holy Spirit, he cleanses us and gives us power to proclaim the mighty deeds of God who called us out of darkness into the splendor of his light. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
PSALM 85:1-2, 8-1 (paraphrased slightly)
You have been gracious to our land, O Lord and have restored our good fortune.
You have forgiven the iniquity of your people and blotted out all their sins.
Listen to what the Lord God is saying for he speaks peace to faithful people who by grace willingly turn their hearts toward God.
Truly, your salvation, LORD, is very near to those who fear you, that your glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast love and faithfulness have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Faithfulness shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness shall go before the Lord and shall prepare for God a pathway.
PRAYER
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray. O God, our Father, by the cross of your Son you reconciled the world to yourself, enabling us to live in love and harmony. We thank and praise you for the forgiveness of sins and the precious gift of peace. Help us to forgive each other and to establish justice and concord throughout the world, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
From you, O God, come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works: Give to us, your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey your commandments; and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God forever.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, have mercy and hear us.
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.
CHILDREN’S SERMON
CREED (read by Rayna and Jameson Jury. Please just listen.)
I believe God made me along with the earth and all other creatures. God gave me a body, a soul, a heart, brain and 5 senses, clothing, food, a place to live and people to look after me, land, and animals. Everything I have and everything I need, including my safety, comes from him. God protects me because he is good and kind, not because of anything I do.
I believe that Jesus Christ was truly God from the start and also became truly human, that he was born of his mother, the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit. He suffered and died to save all people from sin, death, and the power of evil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy life-giving blood so that I may be His own and live in His kingdom and serve Him after he rose from the dead, lives now and reigns forever.
I believe that I cannot by my own ability believe in Jesus Christ the Lord or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit calls me, gives me the gift of grace, is making me holy and my faith strong. In the same way, the Holy Spirit does the same for the whole Christian church on earth, keeping it with Jesus Christ as one true faith. In this Christian church Jesus daily and richly forgives all the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. These things are most certainly true.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, in whom we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray that you guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you but remember that we are ever walking in your sight. We give thanks to you, heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ your dear Son, that you have this day so graciously invited us to this place. Into your hands we commend our bodies and souls, and all that is ours. Let your holy angels have charge of us, that the wicked one have no power over us.
You kept Abraham and Sarah in safety throughout the days of their pilgrimage, you led the children of Israel through the midst of the sea, and by a star you led the Wise Men to the infant Jesus.
Protect and guide us now in this time as we set out; make our ways safe and our homecomings joyful.
Bring us at last to our heavenly home, where you dwell in glory with your Son and the Holy Spirit, God forever.
Amen
2 PETER 3:8-15a
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.
BELL CHOIR SELECTIONS: GROUP TWO
Silent Night
Come, Thou Almighty King
Still, Still, Still
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
BLESSING and DISMISSAL
Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever.
Amen.
The Lord has made you free. Go in peace.
Thanks be to God.