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