The Hymn of the Day

The Hymn of the Day is designated for each Sunday of the Church Year.  These hymns are selected to reflect the theme of the day as found in the Gospel Lesson.  They are rich in theological content and are of historic significance in the worship life of the Church. They reflect the broad spectrum of the Christian Church coming from all parts of the world and from every age of the Church.

Unfortunately Lutheran Service Book does not contain the list of Hymns of the Day.  However, they are found in Lutheran Worship.

The Hymn of the Day for this Sunday is “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry.” This French hymn was originally written in Latin by Charles Coffin in 1736. Charles Coffin was a scholar and professor who sought to embody in song the message of today’s Holy Gospel. This hymn is widely used across a variety of denominations in liturgical churches everywhere.  It is rich in the biblical message of both John the Baptist and Jesus.

To plumb the depth of this hymn you may wish to study the following Bible passages and reflect on how Coffin was able to echo their meaning in his hymn.

Stanza 1: Matt 3:1-6; Is 40:3; Ps 34:18; Is 52:7; Luke 8:1; Mark 1:2-6; Luke 3:1-5; John 1:19-23.

Stanza 2: John 1:23; Psalm 10:17.

Stanza 3: Ps 48:3; Is 40:10; Is 40:7-8; Ps 90:6; Gen 15:1; Zeph 3:17.

Stanza 4: Ps 144:7; Ps 67:1; Num 6:25; Ps 138:7; 2 Cor 4:6.

Stanza 5: Ps 146:7; John 8:36.

Pastor Quardokus

Propers Plus for the Second Sunday in Advent

The Second Sunday in Advent

As We Gather

Advent and Baptism! These two hardly seem to go together until you hear the words of today’s Holy Gospel. Advent is a time of preparation.  It is a time to make straight paths for the Lord.  John the Baptist was commissioned to do this by “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

We daily sin much.  Does this mean that we have fallen from our baptism?  Martin Luther reminds us to return daily to our baptism.  For repentance is simply returning to baptism, drowning the old sinful self and allowing the new person to emerge in forgiveness and new life.

Make straight paths for the Lord every day of Advent by returning to your baptism in repentance and living the new life in Christ. May our lives shine brightly in the world so that people around us will be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Prelude “God Loves Me Dearly”.............. Kindergarten-Second Grade

    

Hymn ~ “All Christians Who Have Been Baptized” .... LSB 596

LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH - THE SECOND CANDLE:

P     As we light the second candle on our Advent wreath, we marvel at our Savior’s birth that God’s own Son would make our world His own and give His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death for sinners such as us. May the path into our hearts be made straight through repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins as we prepare for the Savior of the Nations to come.

C    Savior of the nations, come,

Virgin’s Son, make here Your home!

Marvel now, O heav’n and earth,

That the Lord chose such a birth.

Introit

Restore us, | O God;*

     let your face shine, that we | may be saved!

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph | like a flock!*

     You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, | shine forth.

You brought a vine out of | Egypt;*

     it took deep root and | filled the land.

Restore us, O | God of hosts;*

     let your face shine, that we | may be saved!

Glory be to the Father and | to the Son*

     and to the Holy | Spirit;

as it was in the be- | ginning,*

     is now, and will be forever. | Amen.

Restore us, | O God;*

     let your face shine, that we | may be saved!

Ps. 80:1, 8a, 9b, 7; antiphon: Ps. 80:3

Collect of the Day

P ... Stir up our hearts, O Lord, 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.

C    Amen.

Reading from the Book of Concord -                                  

The Smalcald Articles, Part III,

Article III, Repentance 37-40

Confession, too, cannot be false, uncertain, or fragmentary. A person who confesses that everything in him is nothing but sin includes all sins, excludes none, forgets none. Neither can the satisfaction be uncertain, because it is not our uncertain, sinful work. Rather, it is the suffering and blood of the innocent Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world [John 1:29].

This is the repentance John the Baptist preaches [Matthew 3:1-12]. And afterward, Christ does this in the Gospel [Mark 1:15], and so do we…

In Christians, this repentance continues until death. For through one’s entire life, repentance contends with the sin remaining in the flesh. Paul testifies that he wars with the law in this members (Romans 7:14-25) not by his own powers, but by the gift of the Holy Spirit that follows the forgiveness of sins [Romans 8:1-17]. This gift daily cleanses and sweeps out the remaining sins and works to make a person truly pure and holy.

Readings from Holy Scripture

           

Old Testament Reading                                         Isaiah 40:1–11

        ¹Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

        ²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

        and cry to her

      that her warfare is ended,

        that her iniquity is pardoned,

      that she has received from the Lord’s hand

        double for all her sins.

        ³A voice cries:

      “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

        make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

        ⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

        and every mountain and hill be made low;

      the uneven ground shall become level,

        and the rough places a plain.

        ⁵And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

        and all flesh shall see it together,

        for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

        ⁶A voice says, “Cry!”

        And I said, “What shall I cry?”

      All flesh is grass,

        and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

        ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades

        when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

        surely the people are grass.

        ⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,

        but the word of our God will stand forever.

        ⁹Get you up to a high mountain,

        O Zion, herald of good news;

      lift up your voice with strength,

        O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

        lift it up, fear not;

      say to the cities of Judah,

        “Behold your God!”

        ¹⁰Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

        and his arm rules for him;

      behold, his reward is with him,

        and his recompense before him.

        ¹¹He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

        he will gather the lambs in his arms;

      he will carry them in his bosom,

        and gently lead those that are with young.

Gradual

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of | Zion.*

     Shout aloud, O daughter of Jer- | usalem.

Behold, your king is com- | ing to you;*

     righteous and having sal- | vation.

Blessèd is he who comes in the name | of the Lord.*

     From the house of the Lord we | bless You.

Zech. 9:9; Ps. 118:26, alt.

Epistle Reading                                                      2 Peter 3:8–14

⁸Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

      ¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

      ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

P     Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight;

C    all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia.

Luke 3:4b, 6

Holy Gospel                                                                    Mark 1:1–8

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

      ²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

      “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

        who will prepare your way,

        ³the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

        ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

        make his paths straight,’”

⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

P     This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C    (sing) Praise to you, O Christ.

Hymn of the Day

“On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” ......................... LSB 344

Offertory ~ “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” ...................... LSB 349

(Stanza 1)

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!

Hymn ~ “Prepare the Royal Highway” ................................ LSB 343

All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reading from the book of Concord is from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions-A Readers Edition of the Book of Concord - 2nd edition, Copyright 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House

Preview of the Contemporary Service for the Second Sunday in Advent

The Second Sunday in Advent

Contemporary

As We Gather

Advent and Baptism! These two hardly seem to go together until you hear the words of today’s Holy Gospel. Advent is a time of preparation.  It is a time to make straight paths for the Lord.  John the Baptist was commissioned to do this by “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

We daily sin much.  Does this mean that we have fallen from our baptism?  Martin Luther reminds us to return daily to our baptism.  For repentance is simply returning to baptism, drowning the old sinful self and allowing the new person to emerge in forgiveness and new life.

Make straight paths for the Lord every day of Advent by returning to your baptism in repentance and living the new life in Christ. May our lives shine brightly in the world so that people around us will be prepared for the coming of the Lord.

Opening Medley:

The Glory of the Heavens

LIGHTING THE ADVENT WREATH - THE SECOND CANDLE:

P     As we light the second candle on our Advent wreath, we marvel at our Savior’s birth that God’s own Son would make our world His own and give His holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death for sinners such as us. May the path into our hearts be made straight through repentance as we prepare for the Savior of the Nations to come.

C    Savior of the nations, come,

Virgin’s Son, make here Your home!

Marvel now, O heav’n and earth,

That the Lord chose such a birth.

SONGS OF ADVENT ANTICIPATION

Emmanuel

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, His name is called Emmanuel;

God with us, revealed in us,

His name is called Emmanuel.

(Repeat Song)

Jesus Name Above All Names

Jesus, name above all names;

beautiful Savior, glorious Lord.

Emmanuel, God is with us;

blessed Redeemer, Living Word.

(Repeat Song)

Introit

P    Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

C    Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!

  You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

P    You brought a vine out of Egypt;  it took deep root and filled the land.

C    Restore us, O God of hosts;

  let your face shine, that we may be saved!

      Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

P    Restore us, O God;

C    Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Ps. 80:1, 8a, 9b, 7; antiphon: Ps. 80:3

Collect of the Day

P ... Stir up our hearts, O Lord, 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.

C    Amen.

Reading from the Book of Concord -                                  

The Smalcald Articles, Part III,

Article III, Repentance 37-40

Confession, too, cannot be false, uncertain, or fragmentary. A person who confesses that everything in him is nothing but sin includes all sins, excludes none, forgets none. Neither can the satisfaction be uncertain, because it is not our uncertain, sinful work. Rather, it is the suffering and blood of the innocent Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world [John 1:29].

This is the repentance John the Baptist preaches [Matthew 3:1-12]. And afterward, Christ does this in the Gospel [Mark 1:15], and so do we…

In Christians, this repentance continues until death. For through one’s entire life, repentance contends with the sin remaining in the flesh. Paul testifies that he wars with the law in this members (Romans 7:14-25) not by his own powers, but by the gift of the Holy Spirit that follows the forgiveness of sins [Romans 8:1-17]. This gift daily cleanses and sweeps out the remaining sins and works to make a person truly pure and holy.

           

Readings from Holy Scripture

Old Testament Reading                                         Isaiah 40:1–11

        ¹Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

        ²Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

        and cry to her

      that her warfare is ended,

        that her iniquity is pardoned,

      that she has received from the Lord’s hand

        double for all her sins.

        ³A voice cries:

      “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

        make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

        ⁴Every valley shall be lifted up,

        and every mountain and hill be made low;

      the uneven ground shall become level,

        and the rough places a plain.

        ⁵And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

        and all flesh shall see it together,

        for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

        ⁶A voice says, “Cry!”

        And I said, “What shall I cry?”

      All flesh is grass,

        and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

        ⁷The grass withers, the flower fades

        when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

        surely the people are grass.

        ⁸The grass withers, the flower fades,

        but the word of our God will stand forever.

        ^[9Get you up to a high mountain,

        O Zion, herald of good news;

      lift up your voice with strength,

        O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

        lift it up, fear not;

      say to the cities of Judah,

        “Behold your God!”

        ¹⁰Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

        and his arm rules for him;

      behold, his reward is with him,

        and his recompense before him.

        ¹¹He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

        he will gather the lambs in his arms;

      he will carry them in his bosom,

        and gently lead those that are with young.]

Gradual

P     Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.

C    Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.

P     Behold, your king is coming to you;

C    righteous and having salvation.

P     Blessèd is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

C    From the house of the Lord we bless you.

Zech. 9:9; Ps. 118:26, alt.

Epistle Reading                                                      2 Peter 3:8–14

⁸Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

      ¹¹Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

      ¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

P     Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight;

C    all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia.

Luke 3:4b, 6

Response to the Reading of God’s Word

Lift Up Your Heads

Holy Gospel                                                                    Mark 1:1–8

¹The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

      ²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

      “Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

        who will prepare your way,

        ³the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

        ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

        make his paths straight,’”

⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Sermon Song

O Come, Be Born Again

Emmanuel

Offertory

Joy Has Dawned

Closing

Glorious Light

All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reading from the book of Concord is from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions-A Readers Edition of the Book of Concord - 2nd edition, Copyright 2005, 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

First Advent Midweek Service Preview

Service of Light

 

Hymn ~ “The People That in Darkness Sat”........................ LSB 412

 

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

       Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,

       A quiet chamber set apart

       For You to dwell within my heart.

 

O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel!

 

Old Testament Lesson                                     Isaiah 64:1–9

        ¹Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,

        that the mountains might quake at your presence—

        ²as when fire kindles brushwood

        and the fire causes water to boil—

      to make your name known to your adversaries,

        and that the nations might tremble at your presence!

        ³When you did awesome things that we did not look for,

        you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

        ⁴From of old no one has heard

        or perceived by the ear,

      no eye has seen a God besides you,

        who acts for those who wait for him.

        ⁵You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,

        those who remember you in your ways.

      Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;

        in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?

        ⁶We have all become like one who is unclean,

        and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.

      We all fade like a leaf,

        and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

        ⁷There is no one who calls upon your name,

        who rouses himself to take hold of you;

      for you have hidden your face from us,

        and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

        ⁸But now, O Lord, you are our Father;

        we are the clay, and you are our potter;

        we are all the work of your hand.

        ⁹Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,

        and remember not iniquity forever.

        Behold, please look, we are all your people.

 

Epistle Lesson                                           Romans 8:26–30

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

 

Holy Gospel                                                   Luke 2:25–38

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

according to your word;

³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation

³¹that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Hymn ~ “O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide”..................... LSB 355

Tune: LSB 498

 

Magnificat ~ “My Soul Now Magnifies the Lord”.............. LSB 934

Litany................................................................................................................ Page 250

Hymn ~ “Of the Father’s Love Begotten”............................ LSB 384