The Fourth Sunday of
Advent
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Prelude, Welcome, and Information
God of
love, may this wreath and its light remind us that Jesus came to save us from
our sin. Bless this wreath and all who gather around it as we prepare our
hearts to celebrate Christmas. Come, Lord Jesus, bring hope, faith, and life
to our world. Amen.
Dear Jesus, may the light of your love always
shine in our hearts. As Christmas draws closer, we marvel at your great love
for us. Let your love transform every aspect of our lives and touch everyone
we encounter. Our hearts are open to you, Jesus. Amen.
Joyous light of glory of the immortal
Father,
Heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus
Christ,
We have come this day
And we look to this rising light in
a dark season.
We sing to God, the Father,
the Son and Holy Spirit.
You are worthy of being praised
with pure voices forever.
O Son of God, O Giver of Light,
The universe proclaims your glory.
Amen.
Hymn
#240 Light One Candle, vs. 1-4
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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.
Psalm: Psalm 80:
1-7, 17-19
Give ear, O
Shepherd of Israel,
you who
lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are
enthroned upon the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and
Manasseh.
Stir up
your might, and come to save us!
Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we
may be saved.
O Lord God
of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s
prayers?
You have
fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us
the scorn of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us,
O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
But let
your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we
will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.
Restore us,
O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
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The Lord be with you. And
also with you.
Let us pray.
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and
come. With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that hinders
our faith, that eagerly we may receive your promises, for you live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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Reading:
Isaiah 7:10-16
A reading from the prophet, Isaiah
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of
the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as
heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put
the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of
David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God
also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young
woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He
shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and
choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and
choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be
deserted.
The Word of the Lord
Reading:
Romans 1:1-7
A reading from the letter to the Romans
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for
the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in
the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from
David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ
our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring
about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including
yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God’s beloved
in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel
Verse:
Alleluia! The virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel. Alleluia! (Mt. 1:2-3)
Gospel Reading: Matthew 1:18-25
A reading from the Gospel of Matthew
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his
mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was
found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a
righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to
dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of
the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he
will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what
had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God
is with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with
her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise
to you, O Christ.
Sermon
(added at the end of the document)
Hymn
#263 Savior of
the Nations, Come
Thanks and Offertory
Prayers of the Church:
O God of the promise, we rely on you for grace and
mercy in all things. Hear our prayers for the world, the church, and for all
people according to their needs.
O Wisdom of
our God Most High, teach us your wisdom of what appears to many to be folly, we
pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
O Leader of
the House of Israel and Giver of the Law, bless all your people – the ones
chosen as well as the ones adopted, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
O Root of
Jesse’s stem, help us to see ourselves as part of your plan and your people’s history,
we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our
prayer.
O Key of
David, open us all to your grace, mercy, and direction, we pray… Lord, in your
mercy, Hear our prayer.
O Radiant
Dawn, shine your healing light on all the darkened and wounded places in our
lives, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear
our prayer.
O King of
all nations, grant peace in Ukraine, Russia, and all of eastern Europe, to Iran
and Afghanistan, and to all who suffer the terrors and dangers of war anywhere,
we pray… Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
O Emmanuel
God-with-us, be with those struggling with the COVID-19 virus as well as all
the “flu” and the RSV virus as well as all who work for healing in any way, we
pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
O Keystone of the Church, bless all who minister in the name of your Son, especially the Church of St. Peter in Broadhagen as they prepare to call a new pastor, we pray... Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
O Sign of
God’s love, hear the prayers of our hearts for those we care for and for those
who have asked for our prayers … * … we pray…
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. {*Gail
Mauer, Deb Kirschner, Rose Gotzmeister}
O God of
the promise, we await the fulfillment of your promises in Jesus Christ. Hear
all our prayers this day and every day as we commend to you all for whom we
pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn #295 Of the Father’s Love Begotten
The
Lord’s Prayer
Finally let
us pray for all things as our Lord would have us ask:
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.
Closing prayer
Lord, open
our hearts to your grace.
Through the
angel’s message to Mary
we have
learned to believe
in the
incarnation of Christ your Son:
lead us by
his passion and cross
to the glory
of his resurrection.
Through our
Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and
reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Benediction & Sending
May the Lord
bless us and keep us.
May the
Lord’s face shine upon us with grace and mercy.
May the Lord
look upon us with favor and X give us peace.
Amen.
Hymn
#257 O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel
Go in peace. Serve
the Lord. Thanks be to God.
W
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Upcoming Services
for December and January:
December 24 Communion, Church, 7:00pm (Christmas
Eve)
December 25 Service on YouTube, 11:00am (Christmas Day)
January 1 Service on YouTube, 11:00am
(The Name of Jesus)
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All this took place to fulfill what had
been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with
us.”
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Shakespeare
wrote in his play, Romeo and Juliet, “What's in a name? That which we
call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet (Act II, Scene II) That may
be. Yet names are vital in the Scripture. In many cases, a name tells us of a
person’s identity AND mission.
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“God is with
us” is such a wonderful name. You can still find it today in a number of
cultures and, although it is often used in Latin/Spanish/Italian culture in
both male and female forms, it is found in other modern cultures, even in
German, although not too often found in the English-speaking world.
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Each of us
has a name and many of us have a few. There are given names, sometimes called
“Christian names.” They can be loaded with family meaning. For example, I’m
named for my grandfathers, John J. Dailey and William Goldsworthy. “John” means
“God is merciful” in its original Hebrew form. “William” has something to do
with the will and helmets, so its “Wilhelm” in the original German form.
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In today’s
reading we hear of the name of Jesus and his title, Emmanuel. Of course, that’s
not his only title. The traditional “O Antiphons” intoned at Evening prayer at
these days that end Advent are a list of Jesus’ titles – Key of David, Wisdom
of God Most High, Radiant Dawn, Keystone of the Church, and so on. Those titles
proclaim who Jesus is and what he stands as in our church life.
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However in
the Gospel reading today, Jesus is given two names – Jesus and Emmanuel.
Jesus (the Latinization of “Yeshua” or Joshua) means “God is the savior” or
“God saves.” The title Emmanuel means “God is with us.”
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Now how is
that important to us today? Actually both names are Good News to us. Those
names ring through the ages as who Jesus is and what Jesus is about.
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Matthew puts
it this way as the angel tells Joseph: She will bear a son, and you are to name
him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The old
prayer tells us: “as it was in the
beginning, is now, and will be unto the ages of ages” Jesus remains the
savior of all the world and the savior of each one of us. By him, we are saved
from our sins. Condemnation and anger are laid aside, although there can be
anger over injustice and oppression. Jesus is Savior.
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Isaiah prophecies
Emmanuel to King Ahaz, who refused a sign out of feigned piety. Well, he got
his sign anyway. The sign would be a child called Immanuel which means “God is
with us.” Jesus is God-with-us. In a most amazing twist of things, the Author
of all life enters the story as a character in the story and not just the
narrator. Jesus will always be human just as he will always be the Son.
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Can we get
better Good News than “God with us” and “God saves”? Even if we were to lay
aside all the other wonderful things of this season, the reality of the
Incarnation remains. No government can end it. No corporation can claim it or
patent it. It is for us – the people given life and grace by God.
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Good News of
great joy for all the people.
“Look, the virgin shall conceive and
bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
