07 Dec BULLETIN – SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2024
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
The Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Second Sunday of Advent
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLE
Holy are you, God of righteousness and peace; you wait with patience for all to come to repentance after sending your prophet to prepare the way of the Lord. As we light these candles, open our ears to hear you speak tenderly to us and open our hearts to welcome you as a shepherd gently leading his flock. Comfort not only us, O God, but the entire hurting world.
Reveal your glory and speak to us, O holy God, of righteousness and peace. Amen. Light two candles.
RESPONSIVE READING
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.
With 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.
BRIEF ORDER OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, [☩] one God, who is alive and ever present in our world, reviving and restoring creation.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another. Silence is kept for reflection.
God of mercy, we confess that we continually seek to satisfy ourselves, to derive pleasure, power and authority in ways that compromise others. We cling to what’s familiar and remain stuck in patterns of thought or behavior.
Take heart, for in Christ the Lord, our Savior, each of us is given many chances to start over and begin again. Through the power of the Father, and Holy Spirit [☩] by their compassion and mercy shown toward us, receive all of the grace and all of the forgiveness you may need.
Amen.
GATHERING HYMN
Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus #30
APOSTOLIC GREETING Page 57
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
KYRIE Pages 57-59
🎶In peace let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For this holy house, and for all who offer here and online their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶Help, save, comfort, and defend us gracious Lord.
🎶Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE Pages 58-59
🎶Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
🎶Lord God, heavenly king, almighty God and Father: we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God: You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
🎶The Lord be with you.
🎶And Also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Stir up our hearts, O God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming give to all the people of the world knowledge of salvation through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, as one God, now and forever. Amen.
FIRST READING MALACHI 3:1-4
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
RESPONSIVE SCRIPTURE READING LUKE 1:68-79
Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, you have come to your people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of your servant David.
Through your holy prophets, you promised of old to save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our forebears, and to remember your holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear, holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God’s people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
SECOND READING PHILIPPIANS 1:3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Page 62
🎶Alleluia, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the 3rd chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL LUKE 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
The Gospel of the Lord.
🎶Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN of the DAY
On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry #36
PROFESSION of FAITH Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He decended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life-everlasting. Amen.
PRAYERS of INTERCESSION
As we prepare for Emmanuel, God-with-us, let us pray for all people and places that long to experience God’s presence. A brief silence.
Refining God, move through your church. Root out practices that harm people and kindle a fire among us all for sharing the gospel. In your tender compassion, shine on those dwelling in darkness; guide us into the way of peace.
Renewing God, transform your creation. Steer us from habits that harm what you have made and guide us in practices that preserve and restore creatures and habitats. In your tender compassion, shine on those dwelling in darkness or the shadow of death; guide us into the way of peace.
Ruling God, teach the nations your ways. Strengthen organizations and communities that broker peace and care for refugees, immigrants, and all caught in the center of conflict. In the tender compassion of our God, shine on those dwelling in darkness or the shadow of death; guide them into the way of peace.
Rescuing God, restore any people in need. Heal all who are suffering (especially those on our prayer list.) Provide comfort, strength and sustenance toward wholeness starting today. Give them hope of a future. In your tender compassion, guide those experiencing fear toward peace.
Revealing God, help us to see your presence in each other. Enrich our season of Advent and bless the efforts of all who are preparing ahead of time for Christmas. In your tender compassion shine light upon our daily schedules. Guide our families toward peace.
Reassuring God, we remember those who have died and rest in you. Guide us in deep gratitude for their life and allow us to learn from their faithful witness. In your tender compassion, shine on those dwelling in the shadow of death or grief; guide them into the way of peace.
There is none else to whom we choose to plead our case or to whom we would pour out our hearts, O God. And we do so confidently because we know firsthand of your tender compassion and infinite mercies. Receive these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, who upon becoming incarnate, endured his share of our very own life experience. Amen.
EXCHANGE OF PEACE
OFFERING
OFFERATORY
🎶Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit.
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 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.
BENEDICTION
CLOSING HYMN
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly #44
DISMISSAL Page 74
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE