Description

Matthew 24:36-44

Business as usual is risky business.  It’s easy for us to get so caught up in the routines of our living that we do them without thought.  We put ourselves on auto-pilot, and one day simply leads to the next, in a mindless meaningless monotony.  Or we have an exaggerated sense of the importance of what we are doing and become consumed by it, never giving thought to the priorities in life. In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages us to ‘watch’, not only that we might be ready for His unexpected return, but that we might do everything in expectation He will be served within it.

 

… We Lift Our Hearts in Worship …

[Preservice options include videos (countdowns, worship music, welcomes), worship music CD, or live music by worship band.]

 

Time of Praise and Worship

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Charles Wesley, John Wasson, & Rowland Hugh Prichard, ©2005 praisecharts.com

Available on www.PraiseCharts.com, www.LifewayWorship.com, www.MusicNotes.com

Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble

Martin Smith, ©1994 Curious? Music UK (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Creator King

Mary MacLean, ©2003 Vertical Worship Songs

 

[Traditional Options]

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

BH 75 79; BH 91 77; CH 244; CHH 125; EH 66; ELW 254; HWC 124; HFG 168; HLC 102; LBW 30; LSB 338; LW 22; NCH 122; PH 1,2; RH 115; RS 496; STTL 157; WC 135; UMH 196; WAR 153; WHM 121; WIS 181

Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers

EH 68; ELW 244; HS 98 801; LBW 25; LSB 515; PH 15

 

 

Invocation and Introduction of Today’s Theme

  

Pastor:             In the name of the Father, Who calls all to His holy mountain;

In the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, Who came in history; comes through Word and Sacrament; and will come again;

In the name of the Holy Spirit, Who equips us to be ready, walking in the light.

 

ALL                  Amen

 

 

Opening Prayer

 

Pastor              Almighty God, we gather on this first Sunday of the new church year with high expectation.  We look for Christ to come to us here and now, as the Word is proclaimed, and as we receive His grace in the sacrament of the Supper.  And we look for Him to come again, at any time, when we least expect it.  Fill us with the power of His Spirit, that we might be ready, walking in the light.

 

ALL                  Amen. 

 

 

Time of Greeting

  

Time of Confession and Forgiveness

[Alternate location:  following Message]

 

Pastor              On this first Sunday in Advent, our focus turns toward the return of Christ.  As we anticipate His coming, we acknowledge we are not ready.  We are silent, now, as our minds and hearts are settled in the presence of our holy God.

 

(a time of silence)

 

                                Father, we gather as Your people, confessing we don’t always live as Your people.

 

ALL                  We get caught up in the busyness of our living, and give no thought to You.

 

Pastor              Jesus tells us to “watch…and be ready”.

 

ALL                  We confess we are not good ‘watchers’.  We are not vigilant about living as Your children.  We are so distracted by the cares of life we pay little attention to You.

 

Pastor              St Paul reminds us to clothe ourselves with Christ and not gratify the desires of the flesh(Romans 13:14) because the day of the Lord is coming.

 

ALL                  We confess we still do a lot of ‘gratifying’.  We indulge ourselves, as if we are the only ones who matter.  We have our secrets, and keep those hidden in the dark, all the while pretending we’ve got it together.

 

                       

Pastor              Christ is coming.  He came in the past to be our Redeemer; He comes to us in the present, through His Spirit, to comfort and direct us; and He will come again, as the judge of the living and the dead, and will usher in a Kingdome that will have no end.

 

God has called us to Himself.  He has redeemed us through the cross of Christ, and empowers us through the empty tomb to live as His people.  He pours our His Spirit upon us, that we might be joyful and abundant in our living, even as we look to His return.  We are ready, for He has readied us.

  

ALL                  “Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord”Isaiah 2:5

 

Lighting of the Advent Wreath

 

Pastor              “Watch, because you do not know the day your Lord will come.”Matthew 24:42

 

ALL                  Come, Lord Jesus.  We walk in Your light.(Isaiah 2:5)

 

  

… We Hear God’s Word …

[Read aloud both the introduction and Scripture]

 

First Reading:  Isaiah 2:1-5

                       

Isaiah foretells the time when all nations will flow toward God ‘like a river flowing UP a mountain’,

a reversal of how things are

 

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nationsand will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.5 Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.