December-4-2016-Bulletin-1
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They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9 St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Second Sunday of Advent – December 4, 2016 420 Beaver Street PO Box 411 Mars, PA 16046-0411 www.stjohnchurchmars.org Phone: 724-625-1830 email: [email protected] Pastor‟s cell: 412-585-1628 Pastor‟s email: [email protected] Rev. Robert Zimmerman, Pastor Jacob Gordon, Director of Music Ministries We welcome you to St. John Lutheran Church. We are delighted to have you worship with us this morning. Should you have no permanent church-home in this community, why not consider making this one your own? Please sign the guest book as you leave worship today. You are most welcome here at St. John! Most elements of our service can be found in the bulletin, everything else is in the hymnal. Page refers to the numbered pages towards the front of the hymnal, hymns are bold and towards the back. Please rise when there is an *, congregational responses are in bold, and underlined elements of the service are found in the hymnal. LESSONS & CAROLS WITH HOLY COMMUNION Second Sunday of Advent – December 4, 2016 This morning, Lessons and Carols take the place of our usual three Scripture readings and sermon. The pattern of the traditional lessons and carols service, which traces its roots to Christmas Eve 1918 at King‟s College, Cambridge, England (though that service had its roots in older, monastic services). In 1934, King‟s College is also believed to have conducted the first Advent Lessons and Carols service. The lessons for today‟s service start with the story of The Fall and hear the promise of the Redeemer from the prophets; we close with Matthew‟s account of John the Baptist who is “preparing the way.” The music following each reading is intended to reflect on Scripture – sometimes in very obvious ways, by paraphrasing the words, and other times in more expository ways, by expanding a particular theme of the lesson. Many of the musical responses are congregational, but some are choral or instrumental; during those “carols,” you are invited to reflect on the readings while listening to the musical offerings. Today we commemorate John of Damascus, theologian and hymnwriter, who died around 749. A monk in an abbey near Jerusalem, John wrote many hymns as well as theological works. One of his works, The Fount of Wisdom, remained influential for centuries. PRELUDE: Unexpected and Mysterious – David Lasky ANNOUNCEMENTS GATHERING The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God. *LIGHTING THE CANDLES OF ADVENT Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe. John the Baptist calls all people to prepare the Lord‟s way for the kingdom of heaven is near. Bless us as we light the candles on this wreath. Baptize us with the fire of your Spirit, that we may be a light shining in the darkness welcoming others as Christ has welcomed us, for he is our light and our salvation. Blessed be God forever. Amen. *ADVENT SONG #240: Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah, stanzas 1 & 2 *CALL TO WORSHIP Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the king‟s son. Let him defend the needy among the people, rescue the poor, and crush the oppressor. Blessed are you, Lord God, the God of Israel; you alone do wondrous deeds! And blessed be your glorious name forever, and may all the earth be filled with your glory. Amen and amen. 2 *PROCESSIONAL HYMN:Come, Thou Redeemer of the Earth Text: Veni, Redemptorgentium, attr. to St. Ambrose; tr. John Mason Neale and others Music: PUERNOBIS, trad. European, adapt. Michael Praetorius *PRAYER OF THE DAY Let us pray. Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming nurture our growth as people of repentance and peace; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song. FIRST LESSON Genesis 3:1-15 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, `You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, 3 she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” HYMN Jesus Christ the Apple Tree Text: Traditional American Music: O WALYWALY, traditional English SECOND LESSON Jeremiah 31:31-34 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt-- a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. ANTHEM Maria Walks amid the Thorn arr. by Siegfried Strohbach Maria walks amid the thorn, What 'neath her heart doth Mary bear? Kyrie eleison. Kyrie eleison. Maria walks amid the thorn, A little child doth Mary bear, Which seven years no leaf has born. Beneath her heart He nestles there. Jesus and Maria. Jesus and Maria. 4 And as the two are passing near, Kyrie eleison, Lo! roses on the thorns appear, Lo! roses on the thorns appear. Jesus and Maria. Text and music: Maria duchein Dornwaldging,trad. German THIRD LESSON Baruch 4:36 - 5:9 Look toward the east, O Jerusalem, and see the joy that is coming to you from God. Look, your children are coming, whom you sent away; they are coming, gathered from east and west, at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing in the glory of God. Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. For God will give you evermore the name, “Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.” Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.