Service outline for Sunday, December 6, 2020

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

                                        Sunday, December 6, 2020

                                                    Advent 2

 

 

PRELUDE                    All Earth Is Hopeful  Cherwien                                                

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                                                                                                                          #264

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

Advent Wreath

Hymn of Praise                                                                                          #240 V. 2

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Children's message

fIRST READING: Isaiah 40:1-11

¹Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.

²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term,

          that her penalty is paid,

          that she has received from the LORD's hand

          double for all her sins.

³A voice cries out:

          "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,

          make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

          and every mountain and hill be made low;

          the uneven ground shall become level,

          and the rough places a plain.

⁵Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

          and all people shall see it together,

          for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

⁶A voice says, "Cry out!"

          And I said, "What shall I cry?"

          All people are grass,

          their constancy is like the flower of the field.

⁷The grass withers, the flower fades,

          when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;

          surely the people are grass.

⁸The grass withers, the flower fades;

          but the word of our God will stand forever.

⁹Get you up to a high mountain,

          O Zion, herald of good tidings;

          lift up your voice with strength,

          O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,

          lift it up, do not fear;

          say to the cities of Judah,

          "Here is your God!"

¹⁰See, the Lord GOD comes with might,

          and his arm rules for him;

          his reward is with him,

          and his recompense before him.

¹¹He will feed his flock like a shepherd;

          he will gather the lambs in his arms,

          and carry them in his bosom,

          and gently lead the mother sheep.

PSALM: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

 ¹You have been gracious to your ^| land, O LORD;

          you have restored the good for- ^| tune of Jacob.

²You have forgiven the iniquity ^| of your people

          and blotted out ^| all their sins.

⁸I will listen to what the LORD ^| God is saying;

          for you speak peace to your faithful people

          and to those who turn their ^| hearts to you.

⁹Truly, your salvation is very near to ^| those who fear you,

          that your glory may dwell ^| in our land. 

¹⁰Steadfast love and faithfulness have ^| met together;

          righteousness and peace have ^| kissed each other.

¹¹Faithfulness shall spring up ^| from the earth,

          and righteousness shall look ^| down from heaven.

¹²The LORD will indeed ^| grant prosperity,

          and our land will ^| yield its increase.

¹³Righteousness shall go be- ^| fore the LORD

          and shall prepare for ^| God a pathway. 

 

SECOND READING: 2 Peter 3:8-15a

 ⁸But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. ¹¹Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? ¹³But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; ¹⁵and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

 

GOSPEL: Mark 1:1-8

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

          who will prepare your way;

³the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

          'Prepare the way of the Lord,

          make his paths straight,'"

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

 Praise to you, O Christ.

 

SERMON

 

HYMN                                                                                                                                               #256

 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                                                                                                                       #246

DISMISSAL

 

POSTLUDE                                   The King Shall Come                                         Beck

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