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:
O 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.
Between December 17th - 23rd, the Isaiah readings correspond with the antiphons. See page 5 of the Advent Guide.
Praying the Psalms
Psalm 101
A Psalm of David.
[1] I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O LORD, I will make music.
[2] I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
[3] I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
[4] A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.
[5] Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart
I will not endure.
[6] I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.
[7] No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
[8] Morning by morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
from the city of the LORD.
Psalm 102
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
[1] Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you!
[2] Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
[3] For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like a furnace.
[4] My heart is struck down like grass and has withered;
I forget to eat my bread.
[5] Because of my loud groaning
my bones cling to my flesh.
[6] I am like a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl of the waste places;
[7] I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
[8] All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who deride me use my name for a curse.
[9] For I eat ashes like bread
and mingle tears with my drink,
[10] because of your indignation and anger;
for you have taken me up and thrown me down.
[11] My days are like an evening shadow;
I wither away like grass.
[12] But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever;
you are remembered throughout all generations.
[13] You will arise and have pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
the appointed time has come.
[14] For your servants hold her stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
[15] Nations will fear the name of the LORD,
and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
[16] For the LORD builds up Zion;
he appears in his glory;
[17] he regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.
[18] Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
[19] that he looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
[20] to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to set free those who were doomed to die,
[21] that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
[22] when peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the LORD.
[23] He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he has shortened my days.
[24] “O my God,” I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”
[25] Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
[26] They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
[27] but you are the same, and your years have no end.
[28] The children of your servants shall dwell secure;
their offspring shall be established before you.
Old Testament Reading
2 Chronicles 22
[1] And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. [2] Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. [3] He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. [4] He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. [5] He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, [6] and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.
[7] But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. [8] And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. [9] He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.
[10] Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. [11] But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. [12] And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land. (ESV)
2 Chronicles 23
[1] But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. [2] And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers’ houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. [3] And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king’s son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David. [4] This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, [5] and one third shall be at the king’s house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD. [6] Let no one enter the house of the LORD except the priests and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the LORD. [7] The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”
[8] The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. [9] And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of God. [10] And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. [11] Then they brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.”
[12] When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the LORD to the people. [13] And when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” [14] Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD.” [15] So they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s house, and they put her to death there.
[16] And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD’s people. [17] Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. [18] And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. [19] He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. [20] And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they set the king on the royal throne. [21] So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.
New Testament Reading
Revelation 10
[1] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. [2] He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, [3] and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [4] And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” [5] And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven [6] and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, [7] but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
[8] Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” [9] So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” [10] And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. [11] And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
The "O" ANTIPHONS of Advent
Isaiah 11:1
[1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
Isaiah 11:10
[10] In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.
- 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.