Season of Advent
Hopeful waiting. Expectancy. Longing. Things are not right within us nor in the world around us, so we wait. We wait for the arrival of King Jesus. The word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning“coming” or “arrival.” During Advent we remember the first coming of Jesus and we long for his second coming. Robert Webber explains Advent as, “a corporate spiritual journey that calls for expectant waiting and readiness for the coming of the Christ. When the Church travels this journey and treats it as a discipline of life and prayer, the joy of Christmas is immeasurably intensified.”
- Calling -
O Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim Your praise.
Glory 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. Alleluia!
Our King and Savior now draws near:
Come, let us adore him. Alleluia!
- Constitution -
Read/Listen, Meditate, Pray, and Contemplate on God’s Word, remembering that God is with you and ready to speak to you because he loves you.
THE PSALM - 119:49–72
Psalm 119:49–72
Zayin
[49] Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.
[50] This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
[51] The insolent utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from your law.
[52] When I think of your rules from of old,
I take comfort, O LORD.
[53] Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
who forsake your law.
[54] Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourning.
[55] I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
and keep your law.
[56] This blessing has fallen to me,
that I have kept your precepts.
Heth
[57] The LORD is my portion;
I promise to keep your words.
[58] I entreat your favor with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to your promise.
[59] When I think on my ways,
I turn my feet to your testimonies;
[60] I hasten and do not delay
to keep your commandments.
[61] Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
I do not forget your law.
[62] At midnight I rise to praise you,
because of your righteous rules.
[63] I am a companion of all who fear you,
of those who keep your precepts.
[64] The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love;
teach me your statutes!
Teth
[65] You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
[66] Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments.
[67] Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep your word.
[68] You are good and do good;
teach me your statutes.
[69] The insolent smear me with lies,
but with my whole heart I keep your precepts;
[70] their heart is unfeeling like fat,
but I delight in your law.
[71] It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn your statutes.
[72] The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen
Old Testament- Isaiah 9:8–17
[8] The Lord has sent a word against Jacob,
and it will fall on Israel;
[9] and all the people will know,
Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say in pride and in arrogance of heart:
[10] “The bricks have fallen,
but we will build with dressed stones;
the sycamores have been cut down,
but we will put cedars in their place.”
[11] But the LORD raises the adversaries of Rezin against him,
and stirs up his enemies.
[12] The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west
devour Israel with open mouth.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
[13] The people did not turn to him who struck them,
nor inquire of the LORD of hosts.
[14] So the LORD cut off from Israel head and tail,
palm branch and reed in one day—
[15] the elder and honored man is the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
[16] for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,
and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
[17] Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows;
for everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks folly.
For all this his anger has not turned away,
and his hand is stretched out still.
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
New Testament - 2 Peter 2:1–10
[1] 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. [2] And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. [3] 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.
[4] 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; [5] 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; [6] 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; [7] and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked [8] (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); [9] then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, [10] 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,
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Gospel - Mark 1:1–8
[1] The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[2] As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
[3] the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”
[4] John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. [5] And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. [6] Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. [7] And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. [8] I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
- Communion -
Pray for yourself, others, our church, our neighbors, and the world.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer & the collect of the week
Our Father who art in heaven...
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.
- Commission -
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Amen. (Romans 15:13)
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and our neighbors.