The Lord’s Day, December 6, in the Lord’s Year 2020 

Second Sunday of Advent: Love 

Please speak bold words and sing italicized words; * we invite you to stand as able. 

Meeting God 

Prelude & Quiet Prayer – five minutes before service (9:55-10:00 am) 

    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

The Spirit and the church cry out: Come, Lord Jesus. 

All those who await his appearance pray: Come, Lord Jesus. 

The whole creation pleads: Come, Lord Jesus. 

* Hymn 198, verses 1,4 & 5   Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates!  TRURO 

* Invocation 

Being Reconciled to God and One Another 

* Confession of Sin:  Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that in the Holy Spirit we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

* Declaration of Forgiveness in Christ: If you have repented of your sin and turned in faith to Jesus Christ, I can declare through Christ’s atoning death and life-giving resurrection that you are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

* New Life in Christ: If you love God, keep his commandments. Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 

* Advent Response (Hymn 194, verses 1 and 3) VENI EMMANUEL 

O come, O come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free thine own from Satan’s tyranny; from depths of hell thy people save, and give them vict’ry o’er the grave. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. 

O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths shall show forth your praise. 

* Gloria Patri (Hymn 735)      GLORIA PATRI (GREATOREX) 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen. 

* The Peace of Christ   The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. 

Welcome & Announcements; Scripture & Catechism – see Bell Ringer 

Hearing God by Word and Spirit 

Collect for Advent II: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

The Holy Scriptures Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2,8–13 

2 Peter 3:8-15a Mark 1:1-8 

     The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. 

Sermon – “If Only You Would Come Down!” 

Answering God in Faith, Prayer, and Giving 

The Nicene Creed – hymnal page 846 

Prayers of Thanksgiving, Petition, and Intercession 

* Offertory (Hymn 729)       HERR JESU CHRIST 

All things are thine; no gift have we, Lord of all gifts, to offer thee; and hence with grateful hearts today, thine own before thy feet we lay. 

* Doxology (Hymn 731) OLD HUNDREDTH 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. 

* Offertory Prayer 

Communing with God in the Lord’s Supper 

This is the table of the Lord, not of Ward Hill Church. Therefore, we invite to the Lord’s table all baptized persons who have confessed their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ. Normally, you should also be in regular fellowship with, if not this church, a congregation in another location. If you do not wish to participate in the Lord’s Supper today, we understand and sincerely ask for God’s blessing on your life. Either way, we are thankful that you have been present with us this day in the house of the Lord. 

Eucharistic Prayer and the Sanctus 

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. 

Praise be to you, Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed your mercy towards your people in giving your only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. We give thanks for the redemption you have prepared for us through Jesus Christ. Let your Holy Spirit come into our hearts to enlighten us with a living faith. With your whole Church on earth and with all the saints and angels in heaven, we worship and adore your glorious name in this unending praise: 

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. 

Consecration of the Elements & Ourselves: Discerning the Body of Christ 

O God, sanctify by your Spirit this bread and wine, which you have given and human hands have made. Here we offer them to you, that through them we may partake of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the same night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is given for you.” In the same way, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples saying, “Drink this, all of you. This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

Therefore, heavenly Father, we celebrate this supper in remembrance of your Son’s passion and death, his resurrection and ascension. We will eat of the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Blessing until the day when he comes again in glory. 

We ask you, O God, to remember the perfect and eternal sacrifice through which, in Christ, you have reconciled us with yourself. Grant that we may be united into one body, and be made a perfect living sacrifice in Christ. Through him, and with him, and in him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, forever and ever. And now we pray as our Savior taught us: 

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors; 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. 

Hymn 193, vv 1&2   Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence        PICARDY 

Holy Communion: Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ 

The bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ. The cup for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ. 

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast. 

The gifts of God for the people of God. Amen. 

Thanksgiving and Commission: Being the Body of Christ in the World 

Let us give thanks. Almighty and eternal God, you have fed us with the Holy Communion of the body and blood of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ; we thank you for this gift, by which you assure us that we are members of the mystical body of your Son and heirs through hope of your everlasting kingdom. So assist us by your Holy Spirit that we may grow daily in knowledge of your truth, and in faithfulness to your will, abiding in that fellowship in which all your saints have part; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen. 

Go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen. 

Being Sent with God’s Blessing into the World 

* Hymn 162, verses 1,2&4  Of the Father’s Love Begotten  DIVINUM MYSTERIUM 

Benediction 

Postlude