December 4 online worship

Preparations for Worship:

• Do your best to eliminate distractions like the phone, TV, etc.
• Worship actively! Whether you are by yourself or with others, try reading the parts of the service aloud (responses, lessons, and prayers).
• This service is for children too. Help them participate. Ask those who have that ability to read a prayer or lesson aloud. Take a moment to describe what’s happening. Ask questions. Encourage little ones to draw what they are hearing while you all listen. Unlike our more typical Sunday worship at church, you can pause at any time for questions and discussion.
• Before you begin, load each of the videos below. (You might first have to get past a distracting ad.)
• Pause for a moment of quiet meditation. Then pray:
  “Heavenly Father, I have come to worship you. Draw near to me in your gracious Word, and assure me of your loving kindness. Curb my wandering thoughts, that with undivided attention I may hear your voice and speak your praise. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.”

CONFESSION OF SINS

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

Dear friends, let us approach God with a true heart and confess our sins, asking him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us.

Lord of life, I confess that I am by nature dead in sin.  For faithless worrying and selfish pride, For sins of habit and sins of choice, For the evil I have done and the good I have failed to do, You should cast me away from your presence forever.  O Lord, I am sorry for my sins. Forgive me, for Jesus’ sake.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. In his great mercy, God made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our sins.  Hear the word of Christ through his called servant: I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In peace, let us pray to the Lord. For the well-being of all people everywhere, that they may receive from you all they need to sustain body and life, hear our prayer, O Lord. Lord, have mercy.

For the spread of your life-giving gospel throughout the world, that all who are lost in sin may be brought to faith in you, hear our prayer, O Christ. Christ, have mercy.

For patience and perseverance in this life, that we may not lose the hope of heaven as we await your return, hear our prayer, O Lord. Lord, have mercy.

Lord of life, live in us that we may live for you. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the way for your only Son. By his coming, give us strength in our conflicts, and shed light on our path through the darkness of this world; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

LESSON – ROMANS 15:4-13

⁴Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope. ⁵And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God. ⁸For I am saying that Christ became a servant of those who are circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. ⁹He also did this so that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name.  ¹⁰And again it says: Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.  ¹¹And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples give him praise.  ¹²And again Isaiah says: There will be a Root of Jesse, and he is the one who will rise up to rule the Gentiles; on him the Gentiles will place their hope.  ¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

GOSPEL – MATTHEW 3:1-12

In those days, John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ²“Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near!” ³Yes, this is he of whom this was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.”  ⁴John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him. ⁶They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. ⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Therefore produce fruit in keeping with repentance! ⁹Do not think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰Already the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ¹¹I baptize you with water for repentance. But the one who comes after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

DEVOTION – ISAIAH 11:1-10

CONFESSION OF FAITH – NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

OFFERING

Offerings may be given on-line at tithe.ly/risensavior, mailed to the church, or dropped off at the church.

Our members have joined together in faith and love to do the Lord’s work in this community and around the world.  Guests need not feel obligated to participate in this offering which supports our ministry.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

Heavenly Father, You stir the hearts of Your faithful to prepare us for the advent of Your Son.

We implore You, feed us continually with Your Word and Sacraments as we look for His return.

Almighty God, You preserved Jesse’s faithful line by the incarnation of Your Son.

Give families and individuals strength to faithfully fulfill their vocations to love and forgive one another, that we may be trained up in Your fear, love and trust.

Lord, we praise you for your victory over sin and death and for giving us the privilege of sharing this good news with all people. Thank you for blessing our church body with many missions throughout our country and world where the gospel is being proclaimed. We pray for our missionaries and their families, that they may be strengthened by your Spirit for daily ministry with all its challenges. We pray for our congregations, our synod, and WELS-affiliated ministries that support missionary efforts.

May your Spirit continue to guide the body of Christ in supporting your work.

Compassionate Lord, as we await the day when the wolf will dwell alongside the lamb and pain and destruction are no more, grant us patience, comfort and healing, according to Your will.

Hear our prayers for all the sick, and give wisdom and skill to all medical professionals who care for them.

Heavenly Father, grant that we may be kept in joy and sustained in hope through every trouble and trial of this mortal life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who taught us to pray…

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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; 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.

THE LORD’S BLESSING

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace. Amen.

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