FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT ORDER OF SERVICE
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Coronavirus
12-20-2020 10:00AM Worship
INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO TODAY’S WORSHIP:
Grace to you and peace from (+) God, our maker, our mercy, and our might.
One woman had remained childless for too many years. The other is betrothed but still a virgin. Now both wombs are surprisingly pregnant with the promise of new life. And so is the world. And so, by God’s grace, are you. For you have found favor with God. The invitation to soul and mind and body to the mystery and the word of God, as well as the opportunity to become a servant of God and a bearer of good news, are yours. Listen from your heart. Dance from the depths of your soul. Nothing will be impossible with God. Surrender to the surprise!
OPENING SONG: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH AND PRAYER:
L In our homes and as a community of faith on Zoom, we gather to pray our lost hopes, our broken peace,
our limited joys, and love so hard to find and to share in this season of coronavirus.
C The candles on the wreath mean that we claim the power to call this season ADVENT, because we
believe that God’s light continues to COME into this troubled world, into a wounded heart, and into
a seeking community of faith. And nothing can overcome it! Jesus Christ is still our true light!
L We have lit three candles, one for HOPE… one for PEACE… one for JOY. Today we light the fourth candle,
the CANDLE OF LOVE, even when there are things that dim our sparkling and chill our warmth –
loneliness and friendlessness… racism and oppression… queer bashing… body shaming… depression and
despair… sorrow and grief.
C There is no greater power than love, and there is no greater power than God’s love.
Listen! A virgin is pregnant, a young woman is awaiting a child.
Out of love, God has promised us a Savior, a deliverer, a liberator.
His name is Jesus, and he brings a love that will never let us go!
His love is stronger than our sins and failures, stronger even than death.
[The fourth candle, sometimes called the CANDLE OF LOVE, is lit.]
L God’s love illuminates both the shadow of hatred and the glow of a compassionate heart.
God’s love brightens the path to the birth and the blessing of Jesus Christ. This morning we pray:
C Come, O Holy One, as the beloved child, Emmanuel!
We will seek God, not in a long ago stable or a faraway place,
but in the people we meet and in the depths of our own hearts.
Soften our hearts and open our arms to receive you,
that we may make this a place worthy and warm,
gentle and sturdy, kindly and safe, for all of God’s children
of every age and situation, in the name and spirit of Jesus!
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Hallelujah!
SUNG 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.”
FIRST READING: 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16 [GOD’S LOVE expressed to King David in the promise of an everlasting throne, a dynasty, beyond his own life. Jesus is from that family line!]
7:1 Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,
7:2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.”
7:3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
7:4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:
7:5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?
7:6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.
7:7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”
7:8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;
7:9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
7:10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,
7:11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
7:16 Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.
SECOND READING: Romans 16:25-27 [GOD’S LOVE has been extended beyond the Jewish community to embrace the Gentile world in the gospel of Jesus Christ.]
16:25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
16:26 but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith —
16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
GOSPEL VERSE: “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… “
GOSPEL: Luke 1:26-38 [GOD’S LOVE is expressed to a teenage girl in the promise of a king, not to royalty in a palace, but to common folk in a barnyard stall.]
1:26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,
1:27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
1:28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
1:29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
1:30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
1:31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.
1:32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
1:33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
1:34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
1:35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
1:36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren.
1:37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
1:38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
THE SERMON: Rev. Robert Holum, member of St. Peter’s
SONG RESPONSE: “Hush, Hush, Somebody’s Callin’ My Name”
- Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name. Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name.
Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name. O my Lord, O my Lord, what shall I do, what shall I do?
- Sounds like Jesus, Somebody’s callin’…
- Soon one morning, Somebody’s callin…
- I’m so glad, got me religion on time…
- I’m so glad, trouble don’t last always…
- Hush… hush… Somebody’s callin’ my name…
OFFERING PRAYER:
O Lord, we open our hearts and our lives to your presence, power, and promises!
Give us the spirit and the patience, we pray, to bear your light to all who sit in the shadows of darkness.
Help us shine upon lost hopes, broken peace, missing joy, and love too hard to find and to share.
May your Kingdom come soon – both to us and also through us. AMEN.
MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… THE GREAT O ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT
[The GREAT O ANTIPHONS are a series of seven brief Advent prayers that are traditionally chanted or sung from December 17 to December 23, one for each day until Christmas Eve. The precise origin of these texts is unknown. However, by the 8th and 9th centuries, the church in Rome and monastic communities throughout western Europe were using them at evening worship services during the season of Advent. These ancient prayers beautifully express the Christian church’s profound longing for her long-expected Savior. Each antiphon begins with the acclamation “O”, addresses Jesus Christ by one of the Messiah titles derived from the Old Testament, and ends with a heartfelt appeal to “come” and save us in some particular way. The sequence of these antiphons is precise, progressing from before the creation of the universe, through the messianic prophecies of Israel, and culminating with the incarnation and birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Around the 12th century the GREAT O ANTIPHONS were collected into a Latin verse hymn, which was later translated by the English hymn writer John Mason Neale, finally becoming the beloved Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.
(sing at beginning) “OH… HEAR US. OH, HEAR US. OH… HEAR US, LORD. HEAR US, LORD… HEAR US.”
L O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You create the universe and hold all things together with strength and sweetness. O come to teach us the way of truth.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O Adonai, and ruler of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the law on Mount Sinai. O come and stretch out your mighty hand to redeem us.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O Root of Jesse, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings fall silent before you, and nations bow down and worship you. O come to deliver us and do not delay.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O Key of David, and royal wand of the house of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one else can open. O come to lead the captives from prison; free those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O Radiant Dawn, and light of day, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O King of the nations, you are the ruler that all people desire, you are the cornerstone that unites all people. O come and deliver the creatures you fashioned from the dust of the earth.
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L O Emmanuel, you are our king and our judge, you are the one whom all peoples wait for, you are the the Savior. O come and save us, Lord our God… be “God-with-us” now and forever!
C (sing) “HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
L Gracious God, through the ages you sent your promise to your people in many ways, through many voices…but in these last days, you have sent us your Son to bring us your promise in person.
Stir up your power, O Lord Jesus, and come. With your abundant grace, free us from the sin that hinders our faith and fill us with life and light.
O Holy Spirit, prepare our hearts to recognize the presence of Christ in many forms, and to receive him as our Lord and Savior, that his glory may dwell among us forever and ever, Amen.
C (sing) “OH… HEAR US. OH, HEAR US. OH… HEAR US, LORD. HEAR US, LORD, HEAR US.”
THE LORD’S PRAYER
THE BENEDICTION by one of the Pastors.
SONG SELECTION: “Joy to the World!”