December 15, 2024: 3rd Sunday of Advent
Zephaniah 3:14-20: (Shout for joy, daughter of Zion! God comes as warrior and lover)
Psalm 85: (Show us your steadfast love, grant us your salvation; love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss)
RCL/ELW: Isaiah 12:2-6: (God is my salvation. Give thanks, sing praise,
make his name known)
Philippians 4:4-7: (Rejoice in the Lord always; God’s peace, which passes understanding,
guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus)
Luke 7:18-28 (29-35): (Tell John you have seen the lame walk, the blind given sight, and
the poor given the Gospel)
RCL/ELW: Luke 3:17-18: (Ministry of John, stopping short of being put in prison)
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Opening Hymn: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: LBW#30, ELW #254, LSB #338
OR Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord (tune for “Savior of the Nations Come”): LSB #352
Hymn of the Day: Hark, the Glad Sound! LBW #35, ELW #239, LSB #349
OR Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness: ELW #843, LSB #849 (both familiar tunes)
OR There’s a Voice in the Wilderness: ELW #255
Communion Hymn #1: O Jesus, King Most Wonderful: LBW #537, LSB #554
OR Awake, Awake, and Greet the New Morn: WOV #633, ELW #242
Communion Hymn #2: Once He Came in Blessing: LBW #312, LSB # 333
OR Jesus, the Very Thought of you: LBW #316, ELW #754
Closing Hymn: Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers: LBW #25, ELW #244, LSB #515
OR Light Dawns on a Weary World: ELW #726
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For the Church, the world, for one another, and for the sake of all people, let us pray to the Lord.
A brief silence
Heavenly Father, thank you for the gifts you lavish upon us in Jesus! Thank you for every blessing you grant in this sin-damaged and death-shadowed world. Thank you for your peace that passes human understanding and endures past human malice. Whatever our circumstances, give us hearts filled with joy and hope. Give us grace to thank you for Jesus, and to lead others to the joy of knowing him.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Make your Church beautiful with faithfulness, holiness, and joy. May its love for Jesus gladden many hearts. Let your persecuted Church rejoice in knowing you are near. Let their gentleness be known to everyone, even their tormentors. Guard all our minds and hearts in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Turn your face toward those whom it is easy to ignore: prisoners, refugees, and people in mental institutions, nursing homes, or homeless shelters. Help us to shed the light of your love upon them through acts of simple human kindness. Help us to speak your word of peace, forgiveness, and salvation to them through our words of encouragement and mercy.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Bless the people of this congregation. Let us be a people in whom your Word is fulfilled: “Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. He will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.”
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Make the leaders of every nation acknowledge your justice, and govern in obedience to it. Let faithfulness spring up from every human heart, and your righteousness look down from the sky. Strengthen, protect, and guide our military, first responders, and aid workers. Show them your steadfast love and direct their deeds in righteous pathways. Bring the blessing of peace to us all.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Help all who suffer to turn to Jesus, who made the deaf hear, the blind see, and the lame walk. We especially pray for: {List}. Give them grace to not worry about anything, but lift their needs to you by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Grant your peace to them and all who love them, and guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Lord, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Heavenly Father, as we await the coming of your Son in glory, we also anticipate reunion with our beloved dead. Help us comfort all who grieve. Make us gentle, joyful, and steadfast in love. And we pray: rejoice over your people with gladness. Renew us in love. Exult over us with loud singing. Remove from us all sin and evil, so that we will not bear their reproach. Bring us, with all whom Jesus has redeemed, into your everlasting home, where we shall rejoice in your goodness forever.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
For all these things; for all we lift before you in the silence of our hearts; and for everything that you know we need, we pray in the name and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and commend into your mighty and merciful hands.
Amen.
