Organ Prelude
Lighting of Advent Candle
Opening Hymn – Now the Light Has Gone Away (LSB 887)
Now the light has gone away;
Father, listen while I pray,
Asking Thee to watch and keep
And to send me quiet sleep.
Jesus, Savior, wash away
All that has been wrong today;
Help me ev’ry day to be
Good and gentle, more like Thee.
Let my near and dear ones be
Always near and dear to Thee;
O bring me and all I love
To Thy happy home above.
Now my evening praise I give;
Thou didst die that I might live.
All my blessings come from Thee;
Oh, how good Thou art to me!
Thou, my best and kindest Friend,
Thou wilt love me to the end.
Let me love Thee more and more,
Always better than before.
Opening Sentences
P: Jesus Christ is the Light of the world,
C: the light no darkness can overcome.
P: Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
C: and the day is almost over.
P: Let Your light scatter the darkness
C: and illumine Your Church.
Collect
P: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led Your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Reading – Isaiah 65:24; Psalm 10:17; Zechariah 13:9b
P: God’s Word speaks answers to our questions. As people of the past awaited the promised Savior to come, the Lord assured His presence through His inspired prophets and psalmists
P: “Before they call I will answer;
C: while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
P: O Lord, You hear the desire of the afflicted;
C: You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear.
P: “They will call upon My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people’;
C: and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
Psalm – Psalm 85:1-7
P: Lord, You were favorable to Your land; You restored the fortunes of Jacob.
C: You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin.
P: You withdrew all Your wrath; You turned from Your hot anger.
C: Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away Your indignation toward us!
P: Will You be angry with us forever?
C: Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
P: Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?
C: Show us Your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation.
Prayer
P: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Reading – 2 Peter 2:1-10
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,
P: O Lord, have mercy on us.
C: Thanks be to God.
P: In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets.
C: But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.
Hymn – Savior of the Nations, Come (LSB 332)
Savior of the nations, come,
Virgin’s Son, make here Your home!
Marvel now, O heav’n and earth,
That the Lord chose such a birth.
Not by human flesh and blood,
By the Spirit of our God,
Was the Word of God made flesh—
Woman’s offspring, pure and fresh.
Here a maid was found with child,
Yet remained a virgin mild.
In her womb this truth was shown:
God was there upon His throne.
Then stepped forth the Lord of all
From His pure and kingly hall;
God of God, yet fully man,
His heroic course began.
God the Father was His source,
Back to God He ran His course.
Into hell His road went down,
Back then to His throne and crown.
For You are the Father’s Son
Who in flesh the vict’ry won.
By Your mighty pow’r make whole
All our ills of flesh and soul.
From the manger newborn light
Shines in glory through the night.
Darkness there no more resides;
In this light faith now abides.
Glory to the Father sing,
Glory to the Son, our king,
Glory to the Spirit be
Now and through eternity.
Sermon
