First
Week of
Advent
CELEBRATE: CHRIST HAS COME!
Opening Candle Meditation
LEADER: If you, O Lord, should count our sins, Who of us, O Lord, could stand?
But with You there is forgiveness, that all might look to you.
I will wait for the Lord. PEOPLE: My soul waits, and in His word do I hope.
My soul waits for the Lord:
More than watchmen for the morning,
More than watchmen for the morning.
[ Spoken while lighting each appropriate candle ]
The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep.
God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.
[ Spoken after the candle is lit ]
Jesus said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory.
Liturgy of the already
LEADER: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
PEOPLE: and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Hymn
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
God rest ye merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ, our Savior, was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray
Oh tidings of comfort and joy; comfort and joy!
Oh tidings of comfort and joy!
From God, our heavenly Father, a blessed angel came
and unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same
how that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.
Oh tidings of comfort and joy; comfort and joy!
Oh tidings of comfort and joy!
“Fear not”, then said the angel, “let nothing you affright;
this day is born a Savior, of a pure virgin bright
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s power and might.”
Oh tidings of comfort and joy; comfort and joy!
Oh tidings of comfort and joy!
Now, to the Lord sing praises, all ye within this place,
And in true love and brotherhood each other now embrace,
This holy tide of Christmas, of beauty and of grace
Oh tidings of comfort and joy; comfort and joy!
Oh tidings of comfort and joy!
WAIT: CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN!
A LITURGY OF THE NOT YET
LEADER: “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
PEOPLE: I believe, Lord help my unbelief.
It is appointed for man to die once, and then comes judgment.
Lord teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Christ will come like a thief in the night.
So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
In this present evil age, darkness and debauchery abound.
Hear our cry, O Lord, from the realm of injustice.
Hear our cry: How long?
Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.
We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but those who are preserved by faith.
God has not destined you for wrath, but to obtain salvation
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spirit, fasten us with the breastplate of faith and love,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
For on that last day, every rule and authority and power of darkness
will be destroyed.
He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
We confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is appointed for man to die once, and then comes judgment.
Spirit, establish our hearts blameless in holiness.
Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay.
Amen. Come Lord Jesus!
Hold Fast
How does Christ’s return “to judge the living and the dead” comfort you?
In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, I confidently await the very judge who has already offered himself to the judgment of God in my place and removed the whole curse from me. Christ will cast all his enemies and mine into everlasting condemnation, but will take me and all his chosen ones to himself into the joy and glory of heaven. (Heidelberg Catechism Q52)
Reading & Prayer
Personal Bible Reading. This week’s sermon text: Revelation 20:1-15
Pray on behalf of family and friends, the church local and global.
Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)
Closing Candle Meditation
LEADER: God of the watching ones, the waiting ones, the slow and suffering ones:
PEOPLE: Give us your benediction, your good word for our souls,
that we might rise and rest in the kindness of your company.
They will need no light of lamp or sun
For the Lord will be their light.
[ Spoken while extinguishing each appropriate candle ]
Our citizenship is in heaven,
And from it we await our Savior, Jesus Christ.
[ Spoken after all the candles are extinguished ]
He who testifies to these things says: “Surely I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Amen.