Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We have set out to do this by gathering around the Gospel so that we may grow in the Gospel and go to others with this Gospel. In the church year, this week is the 4th Sunday in Advent. As we gather together to worship today, we have our Choir concert as our service.
M: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
M: Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
C: Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Ps 119:89,105)
(sung) O Lord, how shall I meet you,
How welcome you aright?
Your people long to greet you,
My Hope, my heart’s Delight.
O Jesus, let your Word be
A lamp to light my way,
To show me how to please you,
To guide me ev’ry day.
M: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
C: Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
M: Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
C: Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. (Psalm 51:1-2,7-8)
(sung) Sin’s debt, the fearful burden,
Let not your souls distress;
Your guilt the Lord will pardon
And cover by his grace.
He comes, for you procuring
The peace of sin forgiv’n,
His children thus securing
A heritage in heav’n.
M: The almighty God has been merciful to us and has sent his Son to die for all. For his sake, he forgives us our sins and calls us from darkness to his marvelous light. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son V and of the Holy Spirit
C: Amen.
(sung) He comes to judge the nations,
A terror to his foes,
Alight of consolations,
And blessed hope to those
Who love the Lord’s appearing.
O glorious Sun, now come,
Send forth your beams most cheering,
And guide us safely home.
Prayer of the Day
M: Stir up your power, O Lord, and come. Take away the burden of our sins and make us ready for the celebration of your birth, that we may receive you in joy and serve you always; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
The theme of this year’s concert is “Come!” That’s the theme of Advent. We’ve been looking at how God comes in Word and Sacrament, how He will come at the end of time, and we’ve been preparing ourselves for His coming in time in Jerusalem. In our concert today, we’ll focus on how He comes in Word and Sacrament and His coming in Bethlehem, and how He comes through us to others.
But why did He have to come? We just talked about it in our Confession and Absolution that was a part of our Gathering Rite. We are sinners. We can’t stand before a Holy God. We are not connected to Him when we are born into this world. We are separated from Him by our sins. So God promised one (already in the Garden) who would crush the devil’s head. Through the prophets, he repeated those promises. As in the Choir’s first song, Emmanuel, Isaiah’s promise of God with us, we hear how He comes to set us free from sin.
Part One The Promise to Come is Made
Emmanuel Choir
Emmanuel, Emmanuel! God will come to us one day, Emmanuel!
Emmanuel, Emmanuel! Free us with Your love, we pray, Emmanuel! (repeat)
Come Thou long expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free.
From our fears and sins release us.
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of ev’ry nation, Joy of ev’ry longing heart.
Israel’s strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of ev’ry nation, Joy of ev’ry longing heart.
Come Thou long expected Jesus.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel!
God will come to us one day, Emmanuel!
Bethlehem Processional Choir
Come, O come, come to Bethlehem.
Come, O come to Bethlehem, Join with us to search for Him.
Prophecy leads to the town where the infant King is found.
Come look, the star that lights our way fills the air with joy and praise.
Though the dusty road is long, hope and faith will lead us on.
See the star is shining bright, filling all the world with light;
And proclaims across the sky, “Glory be to God on high.”
See the Child of Bethlehem. Bow down and worship Him.
Gifts of love and praise we bring to the holy infant King.
Come, O come, O come to Bethlehem. Come, O come.
All of our Scripture Lessons today come from two different series of readings for the 4th Sunday in Advent. Our First Lesson is from the Book of the prophet Micah. In Chapter 5 we hear the location of the Savior’s birth prophesied.
Reading Micah 5:2-3
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.”
3 Therefore Israel will be abandoned
until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
to join the Israelites. (NIV)
Congregation (sung) O Little Town of Bethlehem CW 65:4
O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin And enter in; Be born is us today.
We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell;
Oh, come to us, Abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel!
Part Two of our concert is The Promise to Come is Kept. We’ll read the Second Lesson that is appointed for this Sunday, which is from Revelation Chapter 12. It is a fascinating lesson in the sense that this is (I believe) the only place in Scripture where we see the birth of Jesus spoken of from God’s point of view.
We have our own point of view, each of us, during the holiday season, don’t we? We see our family traditions, our memories of Christmases past. It’s interesting to see what God focuses on at the birth of the Savior. He doesn’t see just the birth of His Son. He sees His Son coming from the people He came to save, from the church itself, and He sees the whole New Testament Era all the way to the end of why the Savior came; so that the Savior would be taken back and protected and we would be delivered from Satan.
Part Two The Promise to Come is Kept
Second Lesson Revelation 12:1-6
12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[Psalm 2:9] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (NIV)
Child of Mary, Newly Born Choir
Child of Mary, newly born, softly in a manger laid,
Wake to wonder on this morn, view the world your fingers made.
Starlight shone above your bed, lantern light about your birth:
Morning sunlight crowns your head, light and life of all the earth!
Child of Mary, grown and strong, trav’ler, teacher, young and free,
See him stride the hills along, Christ the Man of Galilee.
Wisdom from a world above now by waiting hearts is heard:
Hear him speak the words of love, Christ the true eternal Word.
Child of Mary, grief and loss, all the sum of human woe,
Crown of thorn and cruel cross, mark the path you choose to go.
Man of sorrows, born to save, bearing all our sins and pains:
From his cross and empty grave Christ the Lord of glory reigns.
Child of Mary, gift of grace, by whose birth shall all be well,
One with us in form and face, God with us, Emmanuel!
Night is past and shadows fled, wake to joy on Christmas morn:
Sunlight crown the Savior’s head, Christ the Prince of peace is born.
Another appointed Second Lesson for the 4th Sunday in Advent comes from the letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 10. Here it reminds us that the Savior came to fulfill the Father’s will. He came to crush the serpent’s head by His life and His death as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all.
Reading Hebrews 10:5-10
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’”[Psalm 40:6-8]
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (NIV)
O Come to the Manger Choir
Come to the manger, O come to the stall. Come see the baby, the Lord of all.
Lying asleep on a bed of hay, O come see the child, come see where He lay.
Come to the manger, O come to the stall. Hear angels singing of peace to all.
Born unto you the Savior of men, A wee little King born in Bethlehem.
Come to the manger, O come to the stall. Sing of His birth to the Lord of all!
Sing praise to the Father who sent His Son. O come, share the joy, come everyone!
Part Three is The Promise to Come is Shared. The Gospel for the 4th Sunday in Advent is Luke 1:39-55, the interchange between Elizabeth and Mary. One of the things we see is Elizabeth is thrilled and recognizes the child that Mary is carrying is her Lord. We see Mary talking about the great things God has done for her; how He is her Savior. We see their focus before the birth of Christ, which begs the question, what is our focus at this time of the year? Is it this incredible truth that God left heaven and became one of us? Or is it all the trappings of the season?
Part Three The Promise to Come is Shared
Gospel Luke 1:39-55
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors.” (NIV)
M: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise be to you, O Christ!
Be Seated
Congregation The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came CW 24:3,4
In the back of church we’ve got Christmas cards that have a picture of the church and times of worship that people can pick up and share with co-workers, family, friends, neighbors, relatives and the like. Inviting someone else to come to Christmas worship is a wonderful thing, but if that’s where it stops, we’ve failed our God. The shepherds didn’t just leave the manger and go and find other people and say “Hey, take a left at David Street, go down to the corner of Moses Street and there you will find a residence and out back there is a stable. You should really go see it. It’s something else.” They didn’t just invite people to go see. They told the people who they had seen and what the angels had said and what He had come to do. God has called us to talk about Jesus, not about our children, not about our choir, not about our church; to talk about Jesus.
Sing Again the Christmas Story choir
Sing again the Christmas story, how the Savior came to dwell.
Sing again the Christmas story: God with us, Emmanuel.
Angel chorus sang the message, holy baby, lowly birth.
Humble shepherds ran to find Him, King of Heaven come to earth.
Sing the story, Christmas story: how the Savior came to dwell.
Sing the story, Christmas story: God with us, Emmanuel.
From a throne room to a manger, Christ, the sacrificial Lamb.
Kneel before Him, give Him glory, helpless baby, Great I Am!
Sing again the Christmas story, how the Savior came to dwell.
Sing again the Christmas story: God with us, Emmanuel.
This morning in place of the prayer of the church we’ll use the O Antiphons of Advent. Each of the Antiphons is a prayer of petition requesting that God come and keep one of the promises made in the Old Testament. Either it is spoken or it’s sung. The good news is that we know all of these promises of a Savior are “yes” in Jesus.
O Antiphons of Advent
The Great O Antiphons of Advent have been cherished for centuries by Christian worshipers. Each one consists of a title given to Christ in the Old Testament and a petition asking him to come and fulfill the Scriptural promise or prophecy.
M: Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed of the nations and their Savior, Come and save us, O Lord our God.
C: (sung) Oh, come, Oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the most High, mightily order all things; come and teach us the way of prudence.
C: (sung) Oh, come, our wisdom from on high,
Who ordered all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O Lord of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai; come in your glory and redeem us.
C: (sung) Oh, come, oh, come, our Lord of might,
Who to your tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times gave holy law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O root of Jesse, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will give praise; come quickly to deliver us.
C: (sung) Oh, come, O Rod of Jesse’s stem.
From every foe deliver them
That trust your mighty pow’r to save:
Bring them in victory through the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O Key of David, you open and no one can close, you close and no one can open; come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness.
C: (sung) Oh, come, O 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.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting, come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
C: (sung) Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
M: O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone for uniting all people, come and save us all, whom you formed out of clay.
C: (sung) Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease
And be yourself the king of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!
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.
M: O Lord God, our heavenly Father, pour out the Holy Spirit on your faithful people. Keep us strong in your grace and truth, protect and comfort us in all temptation, and bestow on us your saving peace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen
Benediction
M: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.
C: Amen.
Closing Hymn Hark the Glad Sound! The Savior Comes CW 12
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7.) Amen.