Service outline for Sunday, December 13, 2020

 Welcome to worship at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church!  

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Advent 3                                                      

PRELUDE   Hark! a Tnrilling Voice is Sounding!     Lasky                                                            

CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS

Blessed be God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit, whose forgiveness is sure and whose steadfast love endures forever.

Amen.

Together let us honestly and humbly confess that we have not lived as God desires.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Loving and forgiving God,

we confess that we are held captive by sin. In spite of our best efforts, we have gone astray. We have not welcomed the stranger; we have not loved our neighbor; we have not been Christ to one another. Restore us, O God. Wake us up and turn us from our sin. Renew us each day in the light of Christ. Amen.

People of God, hear this glad news: by God’s endless grace your sins are forgiven, and you are free— free from all that holds you back and free to live in the peaceable realm of God.  May you be strengthened in God’s love, ☩ comforted by Christ’s peace, and accompanied with the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

HYMN            #248

GREETING

The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

kyrie

Hymn of Praise       #240 V. 3

 PRAYER OF THE DAY

Children's message

FIRST READING: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

 ¹The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,

          because the LORD has anointed me;

          he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

          to bind up the brokenhearted,

          to proclaim liberty to the captives,

          and release to the prisoners;

²to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor,

          and the day of vengeance of our God;

          to comfort all who mourn;

³to provide for those who mourn in Zion—

          to give them a garland instead of ashes,

          the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

          the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

          They will be called oaks of righteousness,

          the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.

⁴They shall build up the ancient ruins,

          they shall raise up the former devastations;

          they shall repair the ruined cities,

          the devastations of many generations.

⁸For I the LORD love justice,

          I hate robbery and wrongdoing;

          I will faithfully give them their recompense,

          and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

⁹Their descendants shall be known among the nations,

          and their offspring among the peoples;

          all who see them shall acknowledge

          that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.

¹⁰I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

          my whole being shall exult in my God;

          for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

          he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

          as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

          and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

¹¹For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

          and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

          so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

          to spring up before all the nations.

 

 PSALM: Psalm 126

¹When the LORD restored the for- ^| tunes of Zion,

          then were we like ^| those who dream.

²Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

and our tongue with ^| shouts of joy.

          Then they said among the nations,

          "The LORD has done great ^| things for them."

³The LORD has done great ^| things for us,

          and we are ^| glad indeed.

⁴Restore our for- ^| tunes, O LORD,

          like the watercourses ^| of the Negeb. 

⁵Those who ^| sowed with tears

          will reap with ^| songs of joy.

⁶Thse who go out weeping, carry- ^| ing the seed,

          will come again with joy, shoulder- ^| ing their sheaves.  

 

SECOND READING: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray without ceasing, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ¹⁹Do not quench the Spirit. ²⁰Do not despise the words of prophets, ²¹but test everything; hold fast to what is good; ²²abstain from every form of evil. ²³May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

 

GOSPEL: John 1:6-8, 19-28

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ¹⁹This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." ²¹And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." ²²Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" ²³He said,

          "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,

          'Make straight the way of the Lord,'"

as the prophet Isaiah said.²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" ²⁶John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

 

Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON

HYMN               #249

                                                                                   

 APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

 

I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

 

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.   Amen

 

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

PEACE

OFFERING

COMMUNION PRAYER

LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen

DISTRIBUTION OF COMMUNION

BLESSING

HYMN                                  #239

DISMISSAL

POSTLUDE     Prepare the Royal Highway      Farlee

Liturgy and hymns printed and streamed with permission through One License. A-710659