Second Sunday of Advent Worship Bulletin
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT – Coronavirus
12-05-2021 10:00AM Worship
(Welcome / Greeting by the Pastors)
INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO TODAY’S WORSHIP: Valerie Taylor Samuel
Welcome, sisters and brothers, in the mighty name of God, in the saving name of (+) Jesus, and in the strong name of the Spirit – Hallelujah! As wild as the lonely desert wilderness he appears in, John the Baptist stands by the waters of baptism and calls people to repent. Repentance is a bold turnaround in our orientation to life, to values, to relationships, to God. Without God in our lives, our lives are both barren and anxious. But when God comes into our lives, we are born anew. The invitation to turn to God is right in front of you. The decision is yours. But don’t wait too long. CHRIST IS COMING! Don’t let your life be detoured or reach a dead end. Prepare the way of the Lord inside the wilderness of yourself. And help get others ready!
OPENING SONG: “Somebody’s Knockin’ at Your Door” Katrina Whittaker, Kaela, Madison
SOMEBODY’S KNOCKIN’ AT YOUR DOOR;
SOMEBODY’S KNOCKIN’ AT YOUR DOOR;
O-OH SINNER, WHY DON’T YOU ANSWER?
SOMEBODY’S KNOCKIN’ AT YOUR DOOR.
- Knocks like Jesus. Somebody’s knockin’ at your door.
Knocks like Jesus. Somebody’s knockin’ at your door.
O-oh sinner, why don’t you answer? Somebody’s knockin’ at your door.
- Can’t you hear him?
- Jesus calls you.
- Can’t you trust him?
LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH AND PRAYER: Valerie and Lydia Henson
L For everything there is a season.
C And now is the time to turn toward God.
L Even now the voice cries in the wilderness to call us and warn us.
C We are seeking to get ready, we are trying to prepare.
L Even now the ax is ready to chop down, even now the fire is ready to burn up.
C If I’m not ready soon, it will soon be too late.
L The living Christ is coming to meet us! It’s time to get ready, it’s time to repent!
C Thank God for God’s mercy! Thank God for Jesus Christ!
L The second Advent candle is sometimes called the Candle of Peace.
In spite of so much injustice, conflict, affliction, and anxiety, God offers us a new day and a new way.
C This morning we pray…
O Lord, bless us as we light two candles of this Advent wreath.
Baptize us with your Spirit’s fire, that we might be right and do right, that we might be ready and make others ready for Jesus.
We renounce evil; we claim your love; we choose to be set free and made whole.
Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Hallelujah!
[Two candle are lit on the Advent wreath. Sometimes the first is called the Candle of Hope, and the second the Candle of Peace.]
FIRST READING: Malachi 3:1-4 [“Who can endure the day of his coming , who can stand when he appears?”] Doris Riley
3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight–indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;
3:3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness.
3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
Christina Crawford
SECOND READING: Philippians 1:3-11 [“… so that in the day of Jesus Christ you may be pure and blameless.”]
1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you,
1:4 constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,
1:5 because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now.
1:6 I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
1:7 It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
1:8 For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.
1:9 And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight
1:10 to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
1:11 having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
GOSPEL VERSE: Veronica Britto
“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 3:1-6 [“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”] Ben Shipanga?
3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,
3:2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.
3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
3:4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth;
3:6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'”
THE SERMON: Pastor Gwen or Pastor Neil
SONG RESPONSE: “Days of Elijah” Youth Choir
OFFERING… Sisters and brothers, we are God’s construction crew, building pathways of God’s justice, mercy, and love to others in the wilderness of this world. Let’s use our personalities, our possessions, and our passion to help others know the peace and promise of Jesus Christ.
OFFERING SONG: Queen Sutton
(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: Olliyah
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: “It’s a Highway to Heaven” Dennis Fortune
THE PRAYERS… We pray for the world to be redeemed, the Church reformed, all people restored!
Pastor John Gottschall
(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.”
THE LORD’S PRAYER
SONG SELECTION Paul Samuel
THE BENEDICTION by one of the Pastors.
SEASON OF ADVENT –
We begin a new Church Year with hope grounded in the presence and promise of our Savior! Stay awake… get ready… believe.