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GATHERING
PRELUDE
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
RINGING OF THE BELL
Please rise as you are able
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, alive in the world, reviving creation, arriving soon. Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence is kept for reflection.
God of mercy, we confess that we have sinned. We trust earthly powers and human authority alone. We grow fearful. We cling to false comforts.
God of might, we confess that we have sinned. We have turned away from our neighbors. We have trusted false promises.
God in our midst, we confess that we have sinned. We plead: come to us. Bring your mercy to birth in us.
A righteous branch springs forth: it is Christ the Lord, our Savior, in whom we have forgiveness, life, and mercy. By the power of the Holy Spirit, receive the grace and forgiveness of God through Christ Jesus, whose day draws near.
Amen.
GATHERING HYMN “Prepare the Royal Highway” Hymn #264
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.
KYRIE
The assembly will sing the refrain.
Refrain:
For peace in the world, for the health of the church, for the unity of all; for this holy house, for all who worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord
Refrain
That we may live out your impassioned response to the hungry and the poor; that we may live out truth and justice and grace, let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord
Refrain
For peace in our hearts, for peace in our homes, for friends and family; for life and for love, for our work and our play, let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord
Refrain
For your Spirit to guide; that you center our lives in the water and the Word; that you nourish our souls with your body and blood,
let us pray to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord.
Refrain
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection alert us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and redeem us for your life of justice, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Please be seated.
LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH
Hymn #240 “Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah” Vs. 1-2
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 refin-ing God’s people, as silver and gold are refined.
1 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. 2 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; 3 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. 4 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.
PSALM: “Blessed Be the God of Israel” Hymn #250
Choir will sing the 1st verse..
The congregation will sing verses 2 and 3.
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.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you, 4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5 because of your sharing in the gos-pel from the first day until now. 6 I am confident of this, that the one who be-gan a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus
Christ. 7 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 im-prisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight 10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11 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.
CHILDREN’S SERMON Pastor Chris Steubing
Please rise as you are able.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
The Gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL READING: Luke 3: 1—6
John the Baptist is a herald of Jesus, whose way is prepared by “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” As we hear the careful record of human leaders, we sense the spectrum of political and religious authority that will be challenged by this coming Lord.
1 In 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, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the for-giveness of sins, 4 as 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,
5 Every 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;
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Please be seated.
SERMON Pastor Chris Steubing
HYMN OF THE DAY “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” Hymn #249
Please rise if you are able.
THE NICENE CREED:
Together with the whole church, we confess our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary
and became truly human.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,*
who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
THE PRAYERS
. . . . .Lord, in Your mercy, Receive our prayer.
THE PEACE
The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.
You may share the peace with one another.
OFFERING
OFFERING HYMN “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” Choir
The offering is collected as the hymn is sung. Please rise as you are able as the offering is brought forward.
OFFERING PRAYER
Let us pray. God of abundance, we bring before you the precious fruits of your creation, and with them our very lives. Teach us pa-tience and hope as we care for all those in need until the coming of your Son, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
THE LORD’S PRAYER: (Sung)
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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen
BENEDICTION
The God of all grace bless you now and forever.
SENDING HYMN “Hark, the Glad Sound!” Hymn #239
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Prepare the way for Emmanuel.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
Our thanks to those who serve as our worship leaders today:
Our Reader—Kathy Pearson
Our Liturgist—Claire Roberts
Organist—Jimmy Cheung
Choir and Hand Bell Director—Wendy Kuenemann
Pastor—Rev. Christopher Steubing