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 103
Of David.
[1] Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
[2] Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
[3] who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
[4] who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
[5] who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
[6] The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
[7] He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
[8] The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
[9] He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
[10] He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
[12] as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
[13] As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
[14] For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
[15] As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
[16] for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
[17] But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
[18] to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
[19] The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
[20] Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
[21] Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
[22] Bless the LORD, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Psalm 104
[1] Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
[2] covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
[3] He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
[4] he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.
[5] He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
[6] You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
[7] At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
[8] The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
[9] You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
[10] You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
[11] they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
[12] Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
[13] From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
[14] You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
[15] and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
[16] The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
[17] In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
[18] The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.
[19] He made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
[20] You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
[21] The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
[22] When the sun rises, they steal away
and lie down in their dens.
[23] Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
[24] O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
[25] Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
[26] There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.
[27] These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
[28] When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
[29] When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
[30] When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
[31] May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
[32] who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
[33] I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
[34] May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.
[35] Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
Praise the LORD!
Old Testament Reading
2 Chronicles 24
[1] Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. [2] And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. [3] Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
[4] After this Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. [5] And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. [6] So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” [7] For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.
[8] So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. [9] And proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. [10] And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. [11] And whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. [12] And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. [13] So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. [14] And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
[15] But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. [16] And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.
[17] Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. [18] And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. [19] Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
[20] Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” [21] But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD. [22] Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah’s father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the LORD see and avenge!”
[23] At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. [24] Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.
[25] When they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. [26] Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. [27] Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding of the house of God are written in the Story of the Book of the Kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
New Testament Reading
Revelation 11
[1] Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, [2] but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. [3] And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
[4] These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. [5] And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. [6] They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. [7] And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, [8] and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. [9] For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, [10] and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. [11] But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. [12] Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. [13] And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
[14] The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
[15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.
[18] The nations raged,
but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name,
both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
[19] Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
The "O" Antiphons of Advent
Isaiah 9:6–7
[6] For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[7] Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
- 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.