| Greeting and Welcome
Prelude – O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – 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 for 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! He brings love to ev’ry heart, He comes! He comes!
+ Preparation +
Invocation P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Psalm 40:1-3 P: I waited patiently for the LORD; C: He inclined to me and heard my cry. P: He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, C: and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. P: He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. C: Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.
Confession and Absolution – 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 P: That we may rejoice in the great things our forgiving God does for us, let us together confess our sins before Him. 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 looking to Jesus and following Him in faith, we have gone astray by disobeying Your Word. Instead of giving bold witness to You, we have kept silent and withheld Your grace from others. 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: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” Our God hears our prayers and answers them, removing our sins and declaring us blameless in His sight through faith in Jesus Christ. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I therefore 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: Show us Your steadfast love, O LORD, C: and grant us Your salvation. P: Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, C: for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. P: Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, C: that glory may dwell in our land. P: Yes, the LORD will give what is good, C: and our land will yield its increase. P: Righteousness will go before Him C: and make His footsteps a way.
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: Show us Your steadfast love, O LORD, C: and grant us Your salvation.
Salutation P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you.
Prayer of the Day P: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers. C: Embolden our witness to the true light that overcomes our darkness; P: for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
First Reading – Isaiah 61:1–4, 8–11 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Second Reading – 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – John 1:6–8, 19–28 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the first chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light…. And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Hymn – The King of Glory (AGPS 227)
Refrain: The King of Glory comes, The nation rejoices; Open the gates before Him, Lift up your voices.
Who is the King of Glory; How shall we call Him? He is Emmanuel, The promised of ages. Refrain
Children’s Sermon – Tim Cosby
Hymn of the Day – God Loves Me Dearly (LSB 392)
God loves me dearly, grants me salvation, God loves me dearly, Loves even me. Refrain
Refrain: Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly, God loves me dearly, loves even me. I was in slav’ry, sin, death, and darkness; God’s love was working to make me free. Refrain
He sent forth Jesus, my dear Redeemer, He sent forth Jesus and set me free. Refrain
Now I will praise You, O Love Eternal; Now I will praise You all my life long. Refrain
Sermon
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.
Prayers
+ Celebrating birthdays this week: 18 – Elena Grossenheider; 21 – Sherman Moore
Special Celebrations and Needs:
+ Church family members: Sharon Gaal, anticipating surgery; Sue DeFosset, with Covid; Daniel DeFosset, with Covid; Cathie Albers, soon to be undergoing knee surgery; Layton Wille, recovering from back surgery; Steve Dixson, recovering at home; Sandy Barbercheck, recovering from knee replacement surgery; Hank Schlichter, diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer; Ken Kight, in the hospital
+ Friends of our congregation: Seminarian Ryan Barnett, healing from leg surgery; Gary Schouten, cousin of Valerie Wehmueller, fighting kidney cancer; Don, friend of the Wehmueller family, upon a diagnosis of liver cancer; Rebecca Guion, daughter-in-law of Mary Guion, in the hospital
+ Those who are homebound or in nursing facilities: Twylah Atwood, Mary Aufderheide, Jules Bush, Frank & Sharon Gaal, Mary Guion, Jerry & Jane Keathley, Jim & Judy Thielker, Shirley Williams | 
