| Greeting and Welcome
Prelude
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates (LSB 341)
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates! Behold, the King of glory waits. The King of kings is drawing near; The Savior of the world is here. Life and salvation He doth bring; Therefore rejoice and gladly sing. To God the Father raise Your joyful songs of praise.
A righteous Helper comes to thee; His chariot is humility, His kingly crown is holiness, His scepter, pity in distress. The end of all our woe He brings; Therefore the earth is glad and sings. To Christ the Savior raise Your grateful hymns of praise.
How blest the land, the city blest, Where Christ the ruler is confessed! O peaceful hearts and happy homes To whom this King in triumph comes! The cloudless sun of joy is He Who comes to set His people free. To God the Spirit raise Your happy shouts of praise.
Fling wide the portals of your heart; Make it a temple set apart From earthly use for heav’n’s employ, Adorned with prayer and love and joy. So shall your Sov’reign enter in And new and nobler life begin. To God alone be praise For word and deed and grace!
Redeemer, come and open wide My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide! O enter with Thy grace divine; Thy face of mercy on me shine. Thy Holy Spirit guide us on Until our glorious goal is won. Eternal praise and fame We offer to Thy name.
+ Preparation +
Invocation P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Psalm 33:20–22 P: Our soul waits for the LORD; C: He is our help and our shield. P: For our heart is glad in Him, C: because we trust in His holy name. P: Let Your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, C: even as we hope in You.
Confession and Absolution P: Confident in His steadfast love, let us confess our sins to God our Father. C: Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we do and by what we fail to do. Instead of waiting on You and clinging to Your promises, we impatiently go our own way. Instead of loving our neighbors as ourselves, we put our wants first and serve our interests instead of Yours, O God. For the sake of our Savior and King, have mercy on us. Forgive us and restore us. Guide us and renew us. Help us to walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen. P: “You are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7–8). Our faithful God hears our prayers and answers them, taking away our guilt and giving us His righteousness. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, our Savior and King, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
+ Word +
Introit P: Behold, your king is coming to you; C: righteous and having salvation. P: To You, O LORD, C: I lift up my soul. P: O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame; C: let not my enemies exult over me. P: Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame; C: they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
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: Behold, your king is coming to you; C: righteous and having salvation.
Salutation and Prayer 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 to us as we wait for Your arrival. Protect us by Your hand that we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
First Reading – Isaiah 64:1–9 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil—to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O LORD, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people.
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – 2 Corinthians 7:1-12 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Mark 11:1-10 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the eleventh chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Apostles' Creed I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen.
Children’s Hymn – Lord Jesus Christ, We Humbly Pray (LSB 623)
Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly pray That we may feast on You today; Beneath these forms of bread and wine Enrich us with Your grace divine.
Give us, who share this wondrous food, Your body broken and Your blood, The grateful peace of sins forgiv’n, The certain joys of heirs of heav’n.
Children’s Message – Pastor Scott
Hymn of the Day – On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry (LSB 344)
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry Announces that the Lord is nigh; Awake and hearken, for he brings Glad tidings of the King of kings!
Then cleansed be ev’ry life from sin; Make straight the way for God within, And let us all our hearts prepare For Christ to come and enter there.
We hail Thee as our Savior, Lord, Our refuge and our great reward; Without Thy grace we waste away Like flow’rs that wither and decay.
Lay on the sick Thy healing hand And make the fallen strong to stand; Show us the glory of Thy face Till beauty springs in ev’ry place.
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee Whose advent sets Thy people free, Whom with the Father we adore And Holy Spirit evermore.
Sermon
Choir Anthem – Peace Came to Earth
(lyrics provided for reflection)
Peace came to earth at last that chosen night When angels clove the sky with song and light And God embodied love and sheathed His might— Who could but gasp: Immanuel! Who could but sign: Immanuel!
And who could be the same for having held The infant in their arms, and later felt The wounded hands and side, all doubts dispelled— Who could but sigh: Immanuel! Who could but shout: Immanuel!
You show the Father none has even seen, In flesh and blood You bore our griefs and pain, In bread and wine You visit us again— Who could but see Immanuel! Who could but thrill: Immanuel!
How else could I have known You, O my God! How else could I have loved You, O my God! How else could I embrace You, O my God! Who could but pray: Immanuel! Who could but praise Immanuel! | 
