The Second
Sunday of Advent
6 December
2015
The Gathering
of the Community
Processional Hymn
‘O Come, O
Come, Emmanuel’ Common Praise #89 vv. 1, 4, 5
Introductory Responses
The Presider stands at the Wreath and says,
Blessed are
you, gracious God,
creator of
heaven and earth.
We praise you for Jesus the Christ
who has come among us in the flesh
and opened to us the way of salvation.
We watch
for the day of his coming again.
May we rejoice without shame or fear
to behold the day of his appearing. [i]
Hymn of Praise
‘Prepare
the Way of the Lord’ Common Praise #107 (sung thrice)
During the Hymn of Praise the Advent Wreath is lit.
Collect
Let us
pray.
God of
mercy,
may the radiance of your redeeming love rise
in our hearts,
lighting the way from the shadow of darkness
and guiding our feet into the way of peace. Amen.
[ii]
The
Proclamation of the Word
First Reading
A reading
from Baruch (5.1-9).
Take off the garment of your sorrow and
affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. Put on the robe of the righteousness that
comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; for
God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven. For God will give you evermore the name, “Righteous
Peace, Godly Glory.”
Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the
height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east
at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. For they went out from you on foot, led away
by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on
a royal throne. For God has ordered that
every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys
filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of
God. The woods and every fragrant tree have
shaded Israel at God’s command. For God
will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and
righteousness that come from him.
Hear what
the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
The Song of Zechariah
‘Blessed Be
the God of Israel’ Common Praise #11 (sung to
#508)
The Second Reading
A reading
from the Letter to the Philippians (1.3-11).
I thank my God every time I remember
you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you,
because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began
a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all
of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace
with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the
gospel. For God is my witness, how I
long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may
overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine
what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless,
having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ
for the glory and praise of God.
Hear what
the Spirit is saying to the Church.
Thanks be to God.
The Gospel Hymn
‘Lamb of
God, to Thee We Raise’ Common Praise #270 vv. 1, 2, 3
The Gospel
The Lord be
with you.
And also with you.
The Holy
Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke (3.1-6).
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of
Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was
ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and
Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan,
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is
written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one
crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made
low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and
all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
The Gospel
of Christ.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The Homily
The Apostles’ Creed
I
believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator
of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead.
On
the third day he rose again;
he
ascended into heaven,
he
is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and
he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the
holy catholic church,
the
communion of saints,
the
forgiveness of sins,
the
resurrection of the body,
The Prayers of
the Community
Intercessions, Petitions and
Thanksgivings
The Exchange of the Peace
May the
peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.
The Holy
Communion
The Offertory Hymn
‘Sing
Praise to God Who Reigns Above’ Common Praise #310
Prayer over the Gifts
God of
abundance,
we bring before you
the precious fruits of your creation
and with them our very lives.
Teach us patience and hope
as we care for all those in need
until the coming of your Son,
our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
[iv]
Thanksgiving at the Table
The Lord be
with you.
And also with you.
Lift up
your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give
thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that we should at all times and in all
places give thanks and praise to you,
almighty and merciful God, through our
Saviour Jesus Christ.
You comforted your people with the promise
of the Redeemer,
through whom you will also make all things
new
in the day when he comes to judge the world
in righteousness.
And so, with all the choirs of angels,
with the church on earth and the hosts of
heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending
hymn: [v]
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.
Holy One,
the beginning and the end, the giver of life:
Blessed are
you for the birth of creation.
Blessed are
you in the darkness and in the light.
Blessed are
you for your promise to your people.
Blessed are
you for the prophets’ hopes and dreams.
Blessed are
you for Mary’s openness to your will.
Blessed are
you for your Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh.
In the
night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord
Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and
eat; this is my body given for you.
Do this for
the remembrance of me.
Again,
after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it
for all to drink, saying:
This cup is
the new covenant in my blood,
shed for
you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for
the remembrance of me.
Let us
proclaim the mystery of faith:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
With this
bread and cup we remember
your Word
dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.
We remember
our new birth in his death and resurrection.
We look
with hope for his coming.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Holy God,
we long for your Spirit.
Come among
us. Bless this meal.
May your
Word take flesh in us.
Awaken your
people. Fill us with your light.
Bring the
gift of peace on earth.
Come, Holy Spirit.
All praise
and glory are yours, Holy One of Israel,
Word of God
incarnate, Power of the Most High,
one God,
now and for ever. Amen. [vii]
The Lord’s Prayer
As our
Saviour taught us, let us pray,
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
The Breaking of the Bread
God of
promise,
you prepare
a banquet for us in your kingdom.
Happy are those who are called
to the supper of the Lamb.
The gifts
of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
The Communion
The Hymn after Communion
‘For the
Bread Which You Have Broken’ Common Praise #74
The Sending
Forth of the Community
Prayer after Communion
God for
whom we wait,
in this meal you give us a foretaste of that
day
when the hungry will be fed with good things.
Send us forth to make known your deeds
and to proclaim the greatness of your name,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and
Lord. Amen.
[ix]
Glory to
God,
whose power, working in us,
can do infinitely more
than we can ask or imagine.
Glory to God from generation to generation,
in the Church and in Christ Jesus,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Closing Hymn
‘On
Jordan’s Bank, the Baptist’s Cry’ Common Praise #103
Dismissal
Let us go
forth in the name of Christ who is coming.
Thanks be to God.
[i] Eucharistic
Preface for Advent from The Book of
Alternative Services (1985), 219, alt.
[ii]
Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and
after Communion for Year C: Advent 1
through Epiphany 6’, 1.
[iii] Evangelical
Lutheran Worship (2006), 105.
[iv] Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects and
Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and after Communion for Year C: Advent 1 through Epiphany 6’, 12.
[v] Evangelical Lutheran Worship: Leader’s Desk Edition (2006), 269 alt.
[vi] Common Praise #722.
[vii] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006),
110.
[viii]
Common Praise #744.
[ix]
Liturgy Task Force, ‘Trial Use Collects and Seasonal Prayers over the Gifts and
after Communion for Year C: Advent 1
through Epiphany 6’, 13
