OLD TESTAMENT READING: 1 Kings 3:4-15
(Solomon asks for wisdom to rule his people)
EPISTLE READING: Ephesians 1:3-14
(He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 2:40-52 (Jesus remains behind at the temple)
DECEMBER 26, 2021
AS WE GATHER
Simeon and Anna rejoiced when Mary and Joseph brought week-old Jesus to the temple. He was physical proof that God was keeping His promises made centuries ago. Firstborn males had to be consecrated to God because He had spared them at the time of the exodus. In our Psalm today, God promises redemption for His people, and in Christ we are His chosen people, holy and dearly loved, as Paul writes in the Epistle. Today is the Sunday after Christmas, and we focus on how we exhibit love, forgiveness, and peace, thanking God for His promises kept.
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Exodus 13:1–3a, 11–15
(Every firstborn Israelite male must be redeemed, remembering the exodus.)
EPISTLE READING: Colossians 3:12–17
(“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”.)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 2:22-40
(Simeon and Anna praise God when they see the baby Jesus in the temple.)
AS WE GATHER
Whether your family exchanges Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or at all), Christians gather here to celebrate, receive, and unwrap the perfect Gift, that is, Jesus Christ Himself. The wrapping paper in our homes temporarily covers a gift and is soon thrown away, but Jesus comes to us this day by His Means of Grace to give to us infinite things we can’t find anywhere else—the love of His life, the forgiveness of sins, and the salvation of our souls. We rejoice in the gift of the Child wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in the manger, knowing the great gifts the Lord comes to bring for us and for the whole world through the Savior given and born for us.
Isaiah 52:7-10 (ESV)
Hebrews 1:1-6 (ESV)
John 1:1-14 (ESV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
AS WE GATHER
In the beginning, “when all was still”, was the Light. The Light became flesh and dwelt among us in the stillness of the night. In tonight’s Candle Light Service, we celebrate the incarnation of the Light, who shines from the beginning till eternity. As the Gospel of Light is read, let us focus on the candles that are lit, and remember that we, too, are lit by the true Light. And as we sing the Hymn of Light, let us celebrate with a quiet joy that is different from the exuberance of Easter. Let us give praise to Him who shines on us all the days of our lives.
Isaiah 9:2-7 (NIV)
Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)
John 1:1-14 (NIV)
BLESSING
May God, who has called you out of darkness to be servants of light, grant you the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, and the peace of the Christ Child. Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen
AS WE GATHER
Christmas is coming! But the coming of the promised Messiah does not just signify a baby being born in a stable; it reveals the Son of God coming to a broken, sinful world to save each of us from our own sinful nature. He comes to rule His people with loving justice; He comes to sacrifice Himself for us; He comes to fulfill all God’s promises to us.
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Micah 5:2–5
(Little Bethlehem shall be the birthplace of the promised ruler of Israel.)
EPISTLE READING: Hebrews 10:5–10 (Jesus came to earth to do His Father’s will.)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 1:39–45
(Elizabeth greets Mary and the unborn Jesus, and Mary rejoices in God, her Savior.)
AS WE GATHER
Today we rejoice. Zephaniah the prophet calls for rejoicing because the Lord is in the midst of His people. In Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi, he repeatedly encourages the Church to rejoice, because the Lord’s coming is at hand. Our Lord came to us once, He will return, and even now is with us in Word and Sacrament. So rejoice!
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Zephaniah 3:14–20 (Rejoice; the Lord is in your midst. He will rejoice over you.)
EPISTLE READING: Philippians 4:4–7
(Rejoice for the Lord is at hand.)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 7:18–28
(The promised Messiah has indeed come.)
December 5, 2021
AS WE GATHER
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. These words of greeting from the pen of the apostle Paul are so familiar to us that we may miss what they convey. Grace: God’s riches at Christ’s expense; the favor of the Lord God for sinners like us; the unrelenting, unstoppable love of Jesus revealed in places like the manger, the cross, and the empty tomb. Peace: wholeness and completeness that is simultaneously out of this world yet fully in this world; union with the Father through the forgiveness earned by His Son! As we continue our Advent journey today, our gracious God comes to us through His Means of Grace to deliver His perfect peace.
FIRST READING: Malachi 3:1–7b
(The Lord sends His messenger to His people.)
EPISTLE READING: Philippians 1:2–11 (We thank Jesus for our partnership in the Gospel.)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 3:1–14
(John preaches repentance for the forgiveness of sins.)
AS WE GATHER
While the secular calendar won’t switch to 2022 for another month, the Church Year begins anew today. Advent is a season of waiting and preparation. One Advent tradition is to mark the four Sundays in Advent with four words that encompass what Jesus brings as He comes into the world to be our Immanuel—God with us. These four words are hope, peace, joy, and love. Today we focus on hope. There is a lot of suffering in the world, but hope exists in Christ’s incarnation, death, resurrection, and return.
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Jeremiah 33:14–16
(A righteous Branch will spring up for David.)
EPISTLE READING : 1 Thessalonians 3:9–13
(“May the Lord make you increase and abound in love.”)
HOLY GOSPEL: Luke 19:28–40 (Jesus’ triumphal entry)
AS WE GATHER
Today is the Last Sunday of the Church Year. Next week we will turn our attention to Advent and preparations for the celebration of Christ’s incarnation. But as we prepare to celebrate Christ’s first coming, we also anticipate His second coming. Christ’s return in glory is the focus of this service. Jesus calls on His followers to stay awake and remain prepared for His coming. He warns that no one knows the day or the hour of His return. But He promises He is returning and returning soon.
FIRST READING: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
EPISTLE READING: Revelations 1:4b-8
HOLY GOSPEL: Mark 13:24–37
November 14, 2021
AS WE GATHER
As the Church Year is approaching its close, we turn our focus to the last things. The very last thing that we confess in the Apostles’ Creed is that we believe in the life everlasting. In Revelation, John describes the heavenly city of God and tells us that the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Brilliant brightness has always been associated with the seeing of God, from the time when Moses had to veil his face because it reflected the dazzling presence of the almighty Lord. As we come into His presence for worship, we have a partial sense of that glory as we await that time beyond time, when we shall experience it fully in the life everlasting in His heavenly kingdom.
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Daniel 12:1–3
(Those who are named in the Book of Life will be delivered.)
EPISTLE READING: Hebrews 10:11–25
(The Lord will not remember the sins of the faithful anymore.)
HOLY GOSPEL READING: Mark 13:1–13
(The one who stands firm to the end will be saved.)
