THE ORDER OF WORSHIP

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December 10 , 2017 PRELUDE Puer nobis Nascitur Dandrieu
Second Sunday of Advent
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Holy Communion (ELW 5)
All may stand and make the sign of the cross, the sign with which we are
INTRODUCTION marked at baptism, as the presiding minister begins.

John called people to repent, to completely reorder their lives so that In the name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
nothing would get in the way of the Lords coming. Isaiah proclaims the
promise that the coming one will be gentle with the little ones. The prophet Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from
calls us all to be heralds with John, to lift up our voices fearlessly and say, whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the
See, your God is coming! We say it to one another in worship, in order inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily
to say it with our lives in a world in need of justice and peace. magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CHILDREN are always welcome to our Worship Service. Rainbow bags If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
and a cry room are available. A staffed nursery is also available if needed. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins
An usher will gladly provide you with assistance. and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As a worship courtesy, we ask that you please turn off or set to vibrate Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
all cellular telephones and pagers during the worship service.
Please kneel, silence is kept for reflection.
We ask that all present today please fill out the Attendance and Communion
registration card found in your bulletin and place it in the offering plate so Most merciful God,
that we may record your presence with us. we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We
have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have
done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our
whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the
sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us,
PRAYER UPON ENTERING THE PEW and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
Almighty God, by our baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son,
Jesus Christ, you turn us from the old life of sin. Grant that we who are God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and
reborn to new life in him may live in righteousness and holiness all our made us alive together through Christ. By grace you have been saved. In
days, through you Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God
strengthen you through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts
through and show forth in your lives. Amen.

Please stand and sing:

GATHERING SONG: On Jordans Bank the Baptists Cry (ELW 249)

GREETING

Behold, now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of salvation. 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

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his
coming strengthen us to serve you with purified lives; through Jesus Christ,
our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

Please be seated.

CHILDRENS MESSAGE

BLESSING OF THE ADVENT WREATH

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe. John the Baptist
calls all people to prepare the Lords way for the kingdom of heaven is
near. Bless us as we light the candles on this wreath. Baptize us with the
fire of your Spirit, that we may be a light shining in the darkness
welcoming others as Christ has welcomed us, for he is our light and our
salvation. Blessed be God forever. Amen.

CONGREGATIONAL SONG: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, vv. 1, 4-5

 3
A voice cries out:
In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
6
A voice says, Cry out!
And I said, What shall I cry?
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
9
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
Here is your God!
FIRST READING Isaiah 40:1-11 10
See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
In grand, flowing, poetic lines, the prophet announces that the exile of his reward is with him,
Gods people in Babylon is over. The Lord will deliver Israel and will care and his recompense before him.
for her as a shepherd cares for his sheep. This word can be trusted, 11
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
because the only enduring reality in life is the word of the Lord. he will gather the lambs in his arms,
1
Comfort, O comfort my people, and carry them in his bosom,
says your God. and gently lead the mother sheep.
2
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her The word of the Lord.
that she has served her term, Thanks be to God.
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORDs hand
double for all her sins.
RESPONSE Comfort, Comfort Now My People (ELW 256) new earth, where righteousness is at home.
14
Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be
found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15aand regard the patience
of our Lord as salvation.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Please stand for the reading of the gospel

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION AND VERSE

Verse: Prepare the way | of the Lord.*

All flesh shall see the salva- | tion of God. (Luke 3:4, 6)
SECOND READING: 2 Peter 3:8-15a
GOSPEL: Mark 1:1-8
This short letter deals with pressing concerns regarding the final advent of As the Gospel is announced, worshippers are invited to trace a cross upon
Jesus, especially concerns that could arise over its apparent delay. The their forehead, then over their lips, and then over their hearts, silently
author of the letter calls on Christians to anticipate the promised coming of praying, May the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ be ever on my mind, on
the Lord through conduct dedicated to God. my lips, and in my heart.
8
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a The holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Mark
thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not Glory to you, O Lord!
slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you,
not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 10But the day of
the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a The Gospel of Mark does not begin with a story of Jesus birth but with the
loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord.
everything that is done on it will be disclosed. 1
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
11
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of 2
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12waiting See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the who will prepare your way;
heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with 3
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
fire? 13But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a Prepare the way of the Lord,
 make his paths straight, We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds
4
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We
countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one
were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the
was clothed with camels hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, The one who is more
powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Guided by the light of Christ, let us pray for the coming dawn of joy,
healing, and comfort for all Gods people.
The gospel of the Lord!
Please sit or kneel as you are able.
Praise to you, O Christ!
Each petition ends with:
Please be seated. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
SERMON Pastor Charles Peterson
We raise our prayers to you, O God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the
Please stand and sing: name of the one who is, who was, and who is to come, Jesus Christ our
Lord.
HYMN OF THE DAY: Prepare the Royal Highway (ELW 264) Amen.

CREED Please rise and greet one another in the peace of the risen Christ.
As they recite the creed, worshippers are invited to bow beginning with the
words born of the Virgin Mary, until the words he descended to the PEACE
dead.
The peace of Christ be with you always.
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and And also with you.
earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. Please be seated.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally ANTHEM AT THE OFFERING Comfort, Comfort arr. Ferguson
begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God
from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; Please stand and sing:
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 OFFERTORY HYMN: Create in Me a Clean Heart (ELW 188)
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.
 PREFACE

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

OFFERING PRAYER

God of abundance, we bring before you the precious fruits of your creation:
our time, our work, and our wealth. With them we offer back to you our
very lives. Teach us patience, fill us with hope, and empower us with love
as we care for all those in need until the coming of your Son, our Savior EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
and Lord. Amen. Worshippers are invited to bow with the consecration of the Lords body
and blood, each time the words Do this for the remembrance of me, are
DIALOGUE spoken.

Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life 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 INVITATION TO COMMUNION
your Word take flesh in us. Awaken your people. Fill us with your light.
Bring the gift of peace on earth. The coming of the Lord Jesus is a consuming fire. All who desire their old
Come, Holy Spirit. life to pass away and to live a new life in Christ, come with joy to the feast.

All praise and glory are yours, Holy God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Please be seated.
Holy One of Israel, the Word of God incarnate, the Power of the Most
High. Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all All baptized people are welcome to the table to receive Christs body and
honor and glory are yours, almighty Father, now and forever. blood. If you have not been baptized, you are also welcome to the table as
Amen. Gods guest; we are honored by your presence. We recognize the Body of
Christ as the community of the baptized, so if you would like to become part
LORD'S PRAYER of the Body of Christ, we encourage you to seek baptism. If you cant or
dont wish to receive today, we encourage you to hold your hands over
Lord Jesus Christ, for whom all creation waits, remember us in your your chest for a blessing as you come forward.
kingdom, and teach us to pray:
COMMUNION

The body of Christ, given for you.

The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Amen.

LAMB OF GOD
HYMN DURING DISTRIBUTION: ANNOUNCEMENTS
Let Us Go Now to the Banquet (ELW 523)
BLESSING
Please stand.
The God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony
SONG AFTER COMMUNION: Now, Lord (ELW 201) with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus.
Amen.

The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you
may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The God of all grace bless you now and forever.

Amen.

SENDING SONG: Blest Be the God of Israel (ELW 250)

DISMISSAL

Go in peace. Serve those in need. Proclaim the good news.

Thanks be to God!

POSTLUDE Chorale Partita on Blest Be the God of Israel Wells

UPCOMING COMMEMORATIONS

Lucy, martyr, died 304

Wednesday, December 13, 2017
Lucy was a young Christian of Sicily who was martyred during the
persecutions under Emperor Diocletian. Her celebration became
particularly important in Sweden and Norway, perhaps because the feast of
Lucia (whose name means "light") originally fell on the shortest day of the
year.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
John of the Cross, renewer of the church, died 1591
Let us pray. God for whom we wait, in this meal you give us a foretaste of Thursday, December 14, 2017
that day when the hungry will be fed with good things. Send us forth to John was a member of the Carmelite monastic order, and worked to reform
share the good we have with those who have not, and in this was to it. His writings reflect a deep interest in mystical thought and meditation.
proclaim the greatness of your name, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and
Lord. Amen.
Please be seated.