Fourth Sunday of Advent Worship Bulletin

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT – Coronavirus

12-19-2021 10:00AM Worship

INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO TODAY’S WORSHIP: Pam Tennessee

Welcome, brothers and sisters, in the mighty name of God, in the saving name of (+) Jesus, and in the strong name of the Spirit – Hallelujah! One woman had remained childless for too many years. The other is betrothed but still a virgin. Now both wombs are miraculously 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. God is working salvation among us in Jesus! Surrender to the surprise!

OPENING SONG: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” Ben Shipanga

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel,

that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.

REJOICE! REJOICE! EMMANUEL SHALL COME TO YOU, O ISRAEL.

O come, O Wisdom from on high, embracing all things far and nigh:

in strength and beauty come and stay; teach us your will and guide our way.

O come, O Key of David, come and open wide our heav’nly home;

make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.

O come, O King of nations, come, O cornerstone that binds in one:

refresh the hearts that long for you; restore the broken, make us new.

LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH AND PRAYER: Pam Tennessee + Kathy Nelson

L Listen! A virgin is pregnant, a young woman is awaiting a child…

C How can this be?

L The Holy Spirit is responsible.

C But why?

L God promised us a Savior, a deliverer, a liberator, to save us from our sin.

C What is his name?

L Some call him Emmanuel, some Prince of Peace, and others, Jesus our Lord.

C Why would he come down from heaven to share our life and our pain?

L Because our God is a GOOD NEWS God, and God’s Son would willingly die to give us life.

C In Christ we have known a love that will never let us go!

L A message has been given, an invitation extended to each and all of us.

C May we listen from our hearts and dance from our souls at the miracle of GOD-WITH-US.

L The fourth Advent candle is sometimes called the Candle of Love.

There is no greater power than love. It is stronger than rulers and empires, stronger than grief or despair, stronger than our sins and failures, stronger even than death. God’s love will not fail.

C This morning we pray…
O Lord, bless us as we light four candles of this Advent wreath.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For the Lord elevates the lowly and releases the captive, feeds the hungry and scatters the proud.
O Lord, help us to risk yes and to say yes to your birth in our lives and our world.
We renounce evil; we claim your love; we choose to be set free and made whole.
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Hallelujah!

FIRST READING: Micah 5:2-5a [A ruler from Bethlehem – help and hope from an unlikely place.] – Maliek Patterson

5:2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

5:3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel.

5:4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth;

5:5 and he shall be the one of peace.

SECOND READING: Hebrews 10:5-10 [The greatest sacrifice ever – Jesus Christ gave his own body.] – Armia Dennis

10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;

10:6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.

10:7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of me).”

10:8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law),

10:9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.

10:10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

GOSPEL VERSE: Charlotte Webb

“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: Luke 1:39-55 [Two miraculous pregnancies – God in the midst of it all.] Mariah Morris

1:39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

1:40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

1:42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

1:43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

1:44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.

1:45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

1:46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,

1:47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

1:48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

1:49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

1:50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

1:51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

1:52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;

1:53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.

1:54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

1:55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

THE SERMON: The Rev. Dr. Harold Evans

SONG RESPONSE: “Hush, Hush, Somebody’s Callin’ My Name” – Queen Sutton

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… Not just in Mary’s time, but God continues to look with favor upon humble servants who are willing to make his love real to others. My friends, let us offer to God who we are now and what we might become through our time, our talents, and our treasures.

OFFERING SONG: Olliyah

(1) “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: Kaela

O Lord Jesus, we open our hearts and our lives to your presence, your power, and your promises! We want to be part of what you are doing in the world even now.
Give us the spirit to do what is right with our offerings, time, and talents.
May we bear your light to all who sit in the shadows of darkness and despair. AMEN.

MUSIC SELECTION Dennis Fortune

THE PRAYERS… THE GREAT O ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT – Carol Chatman + Micah Gillum

[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.