First Sunday of Advent Worship Bulletin
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (First Sunday of the Church Year)
11-27-2022 10:00AM Hybrid Worship
+ Gathering +
THE OPENING RITE FOR ADVENT (with words from a Czech litany): Ida Swindle + Congregation
L O Lord, when I’m down and helpless;
when lies are reigning, when fear and indifference are growing…
C May your Kingdom come!
L When joy is missing;
when love is missing and unbelief is growing…
C May your Kingdom come!
L To the sick and the lonely; to the imprisoned and tortured…
C May your Kingdom come!
L Into the churches, into our praying, into our singing…
C May your Kingdom come!
L Into our hearts, into our hands, into our eyes…
C May your Kingdom come soon! HALLELUJAH!
OPENING SONG: “Soon and Very Soon” Brown #38
LIGHTING THE FIRST ADVENT CANDLE AND PRAYER: Ida + Congregation
L Waiting without hope is torture.
C Waiting without help produces fear.
L But our hope is in the God who does come.
C And our help is in the God who is here.
L So we wait, expectantly, for the God who will come again into our lives, into our church, into our world.
C For we know that the Liberator is on the way!
L People, get ready! People, wake up! You know what time it is.
C Salvation is nearer now than when we first believed!
[One candle is lit on the Advent wreath. Sometimes it is called the Candle of Hope.]
L Let us pray.
C O Lord our God, bless us as we light the first candle of this Advent wreath.
Shake us and wake us, shock us and surprise us, so that we may be ready for Christ’s coming.
We renounce evil; we claim your love; we choose to be set free and made whole.
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Hallelujah!
+ Holy Word +
FIRST READING: Isaiah 2:1-5 [God’s great tomorrow – “Ain’t gonna study war no more!”] Pam Tennessee
2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
3 Many people shall come and say,
“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning [a]hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.The Day of the Lord
5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk
In the light of the Lord.
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
SECOND READING: Romans 13:11-14 [Christ’s second coming – “Wake up now!”] Cecil Webb
Put on Christ
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk [a]properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“We need to hear from You, we need a word from You.
If we don’t hear from You, what will we do?
Wanting You more each day, show us Your perfect way.
There is no other way that we can live.”
GOSPEL: Matthew 24:36-44 [The Lord’s unexpected arrival – “You must be ready!”] Donna Jones
No One Knows the Day or Hour
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of [a]heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what [b]hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what [c]hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG RESPONSE: “My Lord, What a Morning” Brown #40
THE PRAYERS… We pray for the world to be redeemed, the Church reformed, and all people restored!
Pastor Clesha Staten
(sung at beginning and end) “Oh… hear us. Oh, hear us. Oh… hear us, Lord. Hear us, Lord… hear us.”
(sung after each intercession) “Hear us, Lord… hear us.”
+ Holy Meal +
TITHES (10% giving) AND GIFTS… We faithfully undertake GOD’S MISSION with our money and our lives!
SONG SELECTION: All Saints Choir
OFFERTORY:
“Come by here, my Lord, come by here; come by here, my Lord, come by here;
Come by here, my Lord, come by here. O LORD, COME BY HERE!
(2) Someone needs You, Lord, come by here…
(3) Send a blessing, Lord, come by here… ”
OFFERING PRAYER by the Communion Assistant: ?
O Lord, we open our hearts and our lives to your presence and your promises! Give us the spirit and the patience, we pray, to bear your light to all who sit in the shadows of despair and darkness. Amen.
THE PREFACE:
L Sisters and brothers, the Lord be with you! C AND ALSO WITH YOU!
L Lift up your hearts! C WE LIFT THEM UP IN LOVE FOR GOD!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God! C IT IS RIGHT TO GIVE GOD OUR THANKS AND PRAISE!
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken)
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and either wine or grape juice. CHRIST COMES TO US IN BREAD AND WINE AND BLESSING, BRINGING US PEACE, UNITY, STRENGTH, AND HOPE!
[During the Advent Season we will not have any Communion Songs. Instead, we invite you to spend the time in quiet reflection and prayer. Without God our lives are empty and barren, without hope! Sometimes troubles surround us and turmoil makes our hearts shudder and grow weary. And sometimes temptation leads us astray. Can we recognize our deep need and look for those signs of God’s saving grace?]
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant. ?
+ Sending +
BENEDICTION by the Pastor… God sends us TO SHINE with the Light of Jesus Christ in a shadowy world!
CLOSING SONG: “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” Brown #297
Both Paul and Jesus challenge us to wake from sleep, to be watchful, to be ready.
What would need to be done in your own life to get ready for the advent of Jesus?
Even in the midst of trouble and turmoil, God allows us glimpses of the kingdom to come.
What signs of promise do you see that bolster your hope in a new heaven and a new earth?