Wednesday, December 8, 2024

AS WE GATHER- Welcome to the Prince of Peace church family. May your time in worship be a blessing to you.

What Is Advent? Advent is a period of spiritual preparation in which Lutherans and other denominations of Christianity make themselves ready for the coming, or birth of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Celebrating Advent typically involves a season of prayer, fasting and repentance, followed by anticipation, hope and joy. We celebrate Advent not only by thanking God for Christ's first coming to Earth as a baby, but also for his presence among us today through His Word and Sacraments, led by the Holy Spirit. It is also a season of preparation and anticipation of his final coming at the end of time. May you have a blessed Advent season as you prepare your heart and home for Jesus.

Announcements

The Christmas Giving Tree DEADLINE is Saturday, December 14. Drop off will be between 9am and 10am (Please be respectful of the drop off time-frame)
The Christmas program is next Sunday, December 15th, during 2nd service, at 10:30am. Please come support the children’s efforts. Your presence makes it special for them
Flying Solo will be at Carol Lorentz’s house, on Tuesday the 10th See her contact info in this week printed newsletter
Today the Youth will have their Christmas Party and we will be going Christmas caroling at 2:30pm. All interested in caroling, meet here at the church by 2:15pm
Please join us for the next Mid-Week Supper at 6pm. This week’s menu will be: Clam Chowder, Tortellini Soup, small sandwiches, and desserts. Then we will have service at 7pm.
Book Group is starting the book 19th Christmas, By James Patterson & Maxine Paetro. They will meet January 6th, at 12:30pm for lunch and discussion
After first service today, we will welcome our newest members in the Fellowship Hall, with refreshments and pastries. Please join us!

Pre-Service – Bell Choir

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Traditional Spiritual

Arranged by Sandra Eithun

Installation of New Members

Sharing of the Peace

P: The peace of the Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.

Invocation

P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen.

Hymn: O Come, All Ye Faithful LSB# 379 sts. 1, ref., 2

1 O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come and behold Him

Born the king of angels:

Ref. O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

2 Highest, most holy,

Light of Light eternal,

Born of a virgin, a mortal He comes;

Son of the Father

Now in flesh appearing! Refrain

Text: tr. Frederick Oakeley, 1802–80, alt.; John F. Wade, c. 1711–1786 Text: Public domain

Confession and Absolution

P: O Lord, by your Holy Spirit working in our life, we recognize that we have not always responded to Your grace in faithfulness and obedience. Often we feel we deserve more or better, forgetting and rejecting Your Word and Your works of salvation.

C: Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that often we have welcomed and received You with our lips, but have not welcomed nor received You as the King You are. We fail to be thoroughly grounded in Your Word. Forgive us, dear Lord, for rejoicing in the temporal treasures on earth instead of the eternal treasures of heaven. We have dishonored and disobeyed You with our thoughts, words, and actions. For the sake of Jesus, forgive us, renew us, and lead us that we may walk in Your will and follow Your ways to the glory of Your holy name.

P: Out of His great love for us, God sent His only Son, Jesus, into our sinful world to be born in flesh and live in our midst, to die for our sins, and to rise from the dead, giving us forgiveness and life. As a called and ordained servant of the Word, by His command and by the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

C: Hosanna in the highest. Come, Jesus, our Lord and King, and fill us with peace and joy. Amen

Lighting of the Advent Wreath - 2nd Sunday of Advent

C: As we light the Second Advent Candle, we come before you Lord, in humble prayer, and ask that you prepare our hearts. To make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Hymn: O Come, All Ye Faithful sts. 3, ref., 4

3 Sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation,

Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!

Glory to God

In the highest:

Refrain: O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

4 Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning;

Jesus, to Thee be glory giv’n!

Word of the Father

Now in flesh appearing! Refrain

Text: tr. Frederick Oakeley, 1802–80, alt.; John F. Wade, c. 1711–1786 Text: Public domain

Old Testament Reading: Malachi 3:1-7b

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty. “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, ”says the Lord Almighty.

P: This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Epistle Reading: Philippians 1:2-11

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanksgiving and Prayer I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

P: This is the Word of the Lord.

C: Thanks be to God.

Please Stand

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:8-15

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

P: This is the Gospel of the Lord

C: Praise to You O Christ!

Please Sit

Kid’s Korner with Madeline Bartley

God Loves Me Dearly LSB # 392 sts. 1, ref, 3

1 God loves me dearly,

Grants me salvation,

God loves me dearly,

Loves even me.

Refrain Therefore I’ll say again:

God loves me dearly,

Loves even me.

1 God loves me dearly,

Grants me salvation,

God loves me dearly,

Loves even me.

Refrain Therefore I’ll say again:

God loves me dearly,

Loves even me.

Text: August Rische, 1819-1906; tr. Composite Text: Public domain

Sermon: We are consumed with worry about not being or doing enough

Offertory: Bell Choir

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

15th Century Veni, Veni Emmaneul

Arranged by Cynthia Dobrinski

Apostles’ Creed

C: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen.

Prayer of the Church

The Lord’s Prayer

P: Let us pray together the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:

C: 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.

Benediction

P: The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.

C: Amen.

Closing Hymn: Comfort, Comfort Ye My People LSB# 347

1 “Comfort, comfort ye My people,

Speak ye peace,” thus saith our God;

“Comfort those who sit in darkness,

Mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load.

Speak ye to Jerusalem

Of the peace that waits for them;

Tell her that her sins I cover

And her warfare now is over.”

2 Yea, her sins our God will pardon,

Blotting out each dark misdeed;

All that well deserved His anger

He no more will see or heed.

She hath suffered many a day,

Now her griefs have passed away;

God will change her pining sadness

Into ever-springing gladness.

3 Hark, the herald’s voice is crying

In the desert far and near,

Calling sinners to repentance,

Since the Kingdom now is here.

O that warning cry obey!

Now prepare for God a way;

Let the valleys rise to meet Him

And the hills bow down to greet Him.

4 Make ye straight what long was crooked;

Make the rougher places plain.

Let your hearts be true and humble,

As befits His holy reign.

For the glory of the Lord

Now o’er earth is shed abroad,

And all flesh shall see the token

That His Word is never broken.

Text: Johann Olearius, 1611–84; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827–78, alt. Text: Public domain

Serving Today:

Rev. Jim Bretthauer

DCE: Emily Leising

Director of Children and Family Ministry: Madeline Bartley

Organist: Dr. Daniel Barber