Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles – Light One Candle (AGPS 163)
Light one candle for hope, one bright candle for hope,
He brings hope to ev’ry heart, He comes! He comes!
Light one candle for peace, one bright candle of peace,
He brings peace to ev’ry heart, He comes, He comes!
Light one candle for joy, one bright candle for joy,
Ev’ry nation will find salvation in Bethl’em’s baby boy.
Light one candle for love, one bright candle for love,
He brings love to ev’ry heart, He comes, He comes!
Hymn of Invocation – Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (LSB 338)
Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art,
Dear desire of ev’ry nation,
Joy of ev’ry longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver;
Born a child and yet a king!
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
+ Preparation +
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C: who made heaven and earth.
P: If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
C: But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
P: Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
C: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
P: Almighty God, merciful Father, in Holy Baptism You declared us to be Your children and gathered us into Your one, holy Church, in which You daily and richly forgive us our sins and grant us new life through Your Spirit. Be in our midst, enliven our faith, and graciously receive our prayer and praise; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Introit
P: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
C: My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
P: There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
C: The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
P: The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
C: The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.
All: 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
P: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
Kyrie
Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
Salutation and Collect of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Amos 9:9-15
“For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, ‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’
“In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the Lord who does this.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the Lord your God.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Hebrews 10:5-10
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”
When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Alleluia and Verse
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
These things are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Holy Gospel – Luke 1:39-45
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the first chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
Children’s Hymn – King of Kings (AGPS 151)
King of kings and Lord of lords,
Glory, hallelujah!
King of kings and Lord of lords,
Glory, hallelujah!
Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Glory, hallelujah!
Jesus, Prince of Peace,
Glory, hallelujah!
Children’s Sermon – Tim Cosby
Hymn of the Day –Be Thou My Vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art,
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
Thou my redeemer, my love thou hast won,
Thou in my dwelling, and I with thee one.
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and thou only, first in my heart,
Great God of heaven, my treasure thou art.
Great God of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
Sermon
Offertory
