Virtual Worship for December 5, 2021
Second Sunday of Advent
Worship/Holy Communion at 9:00 a.m.
The congregation reads the boldface responses.
Once the prelude has begun, please cease all conversation
as we prepare our hearts and minds for worship.
PRELUDE
A Voice Cries Out - Michael Joncas
GATHERING
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please stand as you are able.
GATHERING HYMN
Prepare the Royal Highway (LBW 26)
1. Prepare the royal highway;
the King of kings is near!
Let ev'ry hill and valley
a level road appear!
Then greet the King of glory,
foretold in sacred story:
Refrain
Hosanna to the Lord,
for he fulfills God's word!
2. God's people, see him coming:
your own eternal king!
Palm branches strew before him!
Spread garments! Shout and sing!
God's promise will not fail you!
No more shall doubt assail you! Refrain
3. Then fling the gates wide open
to greet your promised king!
Your king, yet ev'ry nation
its tribute too may bring.
All lands will bow before him;
their voices join your singing: Refrain
4. His is no earthly kingdom;
it comes from heav'n above.
His rule is peace and freedom
and justice, truth, and love.
So let your praise be sounding
for kindness so abounding: Refrain
Text: Frans Mikael Franzén, 1772-1847; tr. Lutheran Book of Worship
Text © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship, admin. Augsburg Fortress.
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
All may make the sign of the cross, the sign that is marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who alone does wonders,
who lifts up the lowly,
who fills the hungry with good things.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin, trusting in the tender mercy of our God.
Silence is kept for reflection.
God for whom we wait,
in the presence of one another,
we confess our sin before you.
We fail in believing that your good news is for us.
We falter in our call to tend your creation.
We find our sense of self in material wealth.
We fear those different from ourselves.
We forget that we are your children
and turn away from your love.
Forgive us, Blessed One,
and assure us again of your saving grace.
Amen.
God, in Christ Jesus, has looked with favor upon you!
Through the power of the Holy Spirit,
☩ your sins are forgiven.
You are children of the Most High,
inheritors of the eternal promise,
and recipients of divine mercy.
God strengthens you anew to follow the way of peace.
Amen.
LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH
O come, O come, O Lord of might,
as to your tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times you gave the law
in cloud, and majesty, and awe
Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.
The candles of the advent wreath are violet or blue, the color of
royalty, and the color of humility and penitence.
The mood is set for the coming of the king, the one who will heal and save.
The second candle of Advent is often called the Bethlehem candle,
symbolic of the preparations being made to receive and to
cradle the Christ child. Hear the words of Micah 5:2: but you,
O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
The machinery whirls into motion—the fullness of time approaches.
Caesar’s census is proclaimed.
The Roman world moves. A young couple, descendant of kings,
approaches the tiny town. A stableboy fills the manger with fresh straw.
God is prepared, are we?
Let us pray together:
O God, in the darkness we light a flame of hope.
Allow it to dance not only upon our Advent wreath,
but within each of our hearts as well.
With joy, we keep the tradition of ages past as we encircle our
advent wreath with love and prayerful expectation.
May this advent season bring us a new birth of hope
in the ancient promises of God. Amen.
O come, O Branch of Jesse, free
your own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell your people save,
and give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Refrain
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Almighty and ever-living God, you anointed your beloved Son to be priest and sovereign forever. Grant that all the people of the earth, now divided by the power of sin, may be united by the glorious and gentle rule of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
A PRAYER FOR THE CALL COMMITTEE
Dear God, we thank you for your continued guidance as we look for the next pastor to lead, inspire, and help our church grow. We ask that you bless our call committee. Keep their hearts open and their eyes looking to you, so that you may direct all that they do towards the vision and plan you have for us. Again, we thank you Lord for all your blessings of wisdom, knowledge, and strength during this time of transition and your plentiful blessings unbeknown to us in the future. We pray this in your name. Amen.
Please be seated.
WORD
FIRST READING
Malachi 3:1-4
God announces a covenant with Israel. A messenger like Malachi (his name means “my messenger”) will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord by purifying and refining God’s people, as silver and gold are refined.
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALMODY
Luke 1:68-79
(Read responsively.)
Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel,
you have come to your people and set them free.
You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of your servant David.
Through your holy prophets, you promised of old to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our forebears,
and to remember your holy covenant.
This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear,
holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God’s people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
SECOND READING
Philippians 1:3-11
The apostle Paul was the pastor of many new churches. He writes in this letter about his joy to be in partnership with the Christians of Philippi. Listen to how tender-hearted Paul, sometimes a stern preacher, is with his friends as he encourages them to grow in love and knowledge.
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Please stand as you are able.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
GOSPEL
Luke 3:1-6
The holy gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.
1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
5Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Please be seated.
SERMON
The Prophet’s Voice!
Pastor Harkness
Please stand as you are able.
HYMN OF THE DAY
On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry (LBW 36)
1. On Jordan’s banks the Baptist’s cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings!
2. 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.
3. We hail you as our Savior, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward;
without your grace we waste away
like flow’rs that wither and decay.
4. Stretch forth your hand, our health restore,
and make us rise to fall no more;
oh, let your face upon us shine
and fill the world with love divine.
5. All praise to you, eternal Son,
whose advent has our freedom won,
whom with the Father we adore,
and Holy Spirit, evermore.
Text: Charles Coffin, 1676-1749; tr. composite
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Set free from sin and death and nourished by the word of truth, we join in prayer for all of God’s creation.
A brief silence.
The response to “Lord, in your mercy,” is “hear our prayer.”
The prayers conclude:
Confident that you hear us, O God, we boldly place our prayers into your hands; through Jesus Christ, our truth and life.
Amen.
Please be seated.
MEAL
OFFERING
OFFERTORY
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence - Ralph Vaughan Williams
Handbell Choir
Please stand as you are able.
OFFERING PRAYER
God of our waiting and watching,
we offer the gifts of our hearts and our lives
to the service of all your people.
Prepare the way before us
as we meet you in this simple meal,
through Christ Jesus, our pathway and our peace.”
Amen.
THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
DIALOGUE
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
PREFACE
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all places
give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God,
through our Savior Jesus Christ.
You comforted your people with the promise of the Redeemer,
through whom you will also make all things new
in the day when he comes to judge the world in righteousness.
And so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of pow’r and might:
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna. Hosanna. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE
Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life:
Blessed are you for the birth of creation.
Blessed are you in the darkness and in the light.
Blessed are you for your promise to your people.
Blessed are you in the prophets’ hopes and dreams.
Blessed are you for Mary’s openness to your will.
Blessed are you for your Son Jesus,
the Word made flesh.
In the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
With this bread and cup
we remember your Word dwelling among us,
full of grace and truth.
We remember our new birth in his death and resurrection.
We look with hope for his coming.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Holy God, we long for your Spirit.
Come among us.
Bless this meal.
May your Word take flesh in us.
Awaken your people.
Fill us with your light.
Bring the gift of peace on earth.
Come, Holy Spirit.
All praise and glory are yours,
Holy One of Israel,
Word of God incarnate,
Power of the Most High,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Come to Christ’s banquet.
Feast on God’s gift of grace.
COMMUNION
Holy Communion will be consumed together
by the congregation at your seats.
When giving the bread and cup, the pastors will say:
The body of Christ given for you. The blood of Christ shed for you.
Everyone may respond by saying: Amen.
POST-COMMUNION BLESSING
The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace. Amen.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Most High God,
you have come among us at this table.
by the Spirit’s power, form us to be bearers of your word,
sharing gifts of mercy and grace with all,
through Christ Jesus for whom we wait.
Amen.
SENDING
BLESSING
The God of Hope
fill us with all joy and peace in believing,
so that we may abound in hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
though Christ Jesus ☩ for who we wait.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN
Come, Now Long-Expected Jesus (LBW 30)
1. Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us;
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art,
dear desire of ev'ry nation,
joy of ev'ry longing heart.
2. Born thy people to deliver,
born a child, and yet a king;
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal Spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Christ is near.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
O Come Divine Messiah - Venez, divin Messie
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