+ 4th Sunday in Advent +
P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
1 O come, O
come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear. Refrain
ref Rejoice!
Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
5 O come, Thou
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. Refrain
6 O come, Thou
Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Refrain
7 O come,
Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace. Refrain
Text: Public domain
INTROIT Psalm 19:1, 4–6; antiphon: Isaiah 45:8a
Shower, O heavens, | from above,*
and let the clouds rain down | righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may | bear fruit;*
let the earth cause them | both to sprout.
The heavens declare the glo- | ry of
God,*
and the sky above proclaims his | handiwork.
Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end
| of the world.*
In them he has set a tent | for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his |
chamber,*
and, like a strong man, runs its | course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the | end of them,*
and there is nothing hidden | from its heat.
Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*
and
to the Holy | Spirit;
as it was in the be- | ginning,*
is
now, and will be forever. | Amen.
Shower, O heavens, | from above,*
and let the clouds rain down | righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may | bear fruit;*
let the earth cause them | both to sprout.
COLLECT OF THE DAY
P Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever
C Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Deuteronomy 18:15–19
15“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.’
A This is the Word of the Lord.
EPISTLE Philippians 4:4–7
4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say,
Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to
everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be
anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
HOLY GOSPEL
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the first chapter.
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into
the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40and she
entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41And
when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42and
she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb! 43And why is this granted to
me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For
behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb
leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who
believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the
Lord.”
46And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the
Lord,
47and my
spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has looked on the humble estate of his
servant.
For behold, from now on all generations
will call me blessed;
49for he who is mighty has done great things for
me,
and holy is his name.
50And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts
of their hearts;
52he has brought down the mighty from their
thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
53he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent empty away.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring
forever.”
56And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
APOSTLES’ CREED
C I believe in God, the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life T everlasting. Amen.
SERMON
Great Cause for Joy Philippians 4:4
Grace, Mercy and Peace are yours from God our Father
and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Philippians 4:4.
That’s a command from the Bible.
This is required. Not optional. God says it. You are to do it. “Rejoice”.
“Always”.
If you are not rejoicing, you are sinning. That would be a sin of
omission. You are not doing - You are omitting - what you are given to do.
Rejoice. Always. Easier said than done, isn’t it?
Listen, though, to how this is said, “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
“in the Lord.” This Epistle to the Philippians is a clear confession that Jesus
Christ is the Lord. Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem,
who suffered under Pontius Pilate, who was crucified for our sins and rose
again for our victory, is our Lord. Rejoice in the Lord!
Without
the Lord, without Christ, there is fear and guilt. Fear is when one wonders,
“Does God like me? Will He be kind to me?” Guilt is when one wonders, “Is God
pleased with me? Does He approve of me?”
In the Lord, with Christ, there is faith and there is forgiveness.
Faith says, “Yes, Jesus loves me.” “He has washed away my sin, let His little
child come in.” With faith, comes the fruits of faith, including the peace that
surpasses all understanding, and joy, that lifts up the spirit beyond doubts and
fears and worries and guilt.
“Rejoice in the Lord.” “in the Lord.” In Christ -- that makes all
the difference.
You who believe and are baptized are in Christ. If there is ever a
fear that God doesn’t care about you, hear what the Lord Christ says. He says,
“Believe in me. I forgive you your sins. I forgive you your doubts. I care
about you more than you can even imagine and I want you in my life, forever.
That’s why I came; that’s why I suffered and died; that’s why I live. So
please, for my sake, Rejoice with me.”
Now of course, there will be those days, there will be difficult
times in this life when joy is robbed from you, when you can’t find it within
yourself to rejoice. You just can’t. You’re told to rejoice, but look at all
that’s going on that is just so wrong. Instead of counting your blessings, your
mind starts counting all your losses and all your debts. And then as if it’s
not bad enough in the present moment, your mind starts thinking about all
that’s probably going to go wrong in the future. And so the grief and the
anxiety take up everything and leave no space for rejoicing.
Philippians 4:5 & 6
”The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God.”
The Lord is at hand. He came to this world born of Mary. And so we
believe He will come again. And in the meantime He comes to us and keeps us
invites us to take all our cares and anxieties and give them to him. He is our
great cause for constant rejoicing.
When you feel like you can’t rejoice, what then? Well, do
something Christian about it: Repent and believe the Gospel.
Repent. Honest to God, repent. That’s a helpful saying, “Honest to
God.” The opposite is to hide from God, to avoid the truth when it comes to God
and try to just dismiss sins of the mind as “weakness” or “nervous condition”.
Honest to God, call a spade, a spade. And call a sin, a sin. Rejoice in the
Lord always. If you aren’t rejoicing, repent.
But true repentance always moves you to faith. Repent and believe the Gospel, they
must always go right together. If you only have repentance, sorrow over the sin
of omission, sorry that you didn’t rejoice, then all you have is sadness with a
serving of guilt on top.
Repent and
believe the Gospel. Believe that you are forgiven of all your sins of deeds,
and words and thought. Believe that God can help. Turn it over to Him. Take
some peace of mind, trusting that He is going to help you, the Lord is going to
save you. Know that in His mind, He already knows how it’s all going to work
out for you. He’s got a way to restore all your losses. He’s got all those
things you’re worried about covered. And then He’s got even more blessings in
mind for you in eternity, blessings that will surpass your understanding. Thank
Him for that, then take a slow deep breath, and Rejoice.
Just to change the subject for the moment, all of us who are
pro-life are going to love this Gospel reading today. Elizabeth and her
pre-born baby boy John rejoice in the Lord. She says to Mary, “For behold, when
the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for
joy.” That’s a great lesson for us about how to define life. It’s a great
lesson for us of how to define faith. That baby heard and believed and then
experienced the fruit of that faith, true joy.
You don’t feel like rejoicing? It doesn’t matter what you “feel
like”. You have as much reason to jump for joy as that little baby boy did,
whether you feel it or not. His source of joy was what he heard, not what he
felt. So you too, don’t focus so much on your feelings, hear what the Lord
says. On Thursday night and Friday morning we will hear what the Lord has to
say for Christmas. Here’s a preview from Isaiah 9: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince
of Peace.”
That Christmas miracle baby, Jesus, is our Prince of Peace. And
the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
O heavenly Father, you have made all things in heaven and earth to serve your will and to glorify you. We thank you for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the salvation you have prepared for all people in Him.
With contrite hearts we turn to you, O God. We acknowledge our trespasses and offenses and confess that we have failed to do the good which we ought to have done, and that we have done the evil which we ought not to have done. Forgive us and move us to a living faith that daily seeks to flee sin and live in righteousness. Forgiven of our sins, guide us to the peace that passes all understanding
We have heard your promises that you are near to all who call upon you in truth. We pray for all people everywhere. Let your Spirit be at work in ever y home and every school, every shop and store, an in every kind of labor or industry. Let all the nations of the earth know your kindness and salvation.
For the wounded in spirit, the sick in mind, the distressed in heart, we pray you to make your face shine on them. For all who travel, for those in prison, for all who are unable to go home we ask you to comfort them with your light and love.
In thanks for the gift that no words can fully express, the gift of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray, O heavenly Father, that this gift may be and remain ours. Make our hearts a suitable dwelling place for your Son Jesus and teach us to know the joy of his presence, the benefits of following in his steps and the glory of that crown which he has promised to all who are his in steadfastness of faith and life.
Almighty God, grant to Your Church
Your Holy Spirit and the wisdom that comes down from above, that Your Word may
not be bound but have free course and be preached to the joy and edifying of
Christ’s holy people, so that in steadfast faith we may serve You and, in the
confession of Your name, abide unto the end; through Jesus Christ, Your Son,
our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
C 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.
BENEDICAMUS
A Let us bless the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
BENEDICTION
P The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and T give you peace.
C Amen.
384 OF THE FATHER’S LOVE BEGOTTEN
1 Of the Father’s love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.
2 Oh, that birth forever blessèd,
When the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.
3 This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.
4 O ye heights of heav’n, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing.
Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Ev’ry voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.
D 5 Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore. Amen.
Text: Public domain
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Divine Service, Setting Three from Lutheran Service Book
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2020 Concordia Publishing House.
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