Advent 4

Lord, fill our hearts with Your love, and as You revealed to us by an angel the coming of Your Son as a man, so lead us through His suffering and death to the glory of His resurrection, for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

When Mary visited Elizabeth she is called by her cousin blessed as the child inside of her leapt for joy as the sound of Mary’s voice. Ever see football players leap for joy at the time of a touchdown? Ever see a child jump up and down at the sight of the gift of a new puppy? How many of us are leaping for joy that the Christ-child is coming this Christmas? Elizabeth’s unborn child, John the Baptizer, leaped for joy in her womb when Mary with the unborn Jesus entered the room.

How many are leaping for joy this Christmas season? Many are not. Luke reminds us that the unborn child John the Baptist leapt for joy when Mary entered the room.

On this last Sunday in Advent, we are on the threshold of Christmas, a time of joyous celebration. Are we happy at Christmas for the right reasons? Are we happy because of gifts, family and friends gathering together, parties, vacation from school? True Christmas joy is based upon two realities.

1. Trust Christmas joy is found in who is being born:
A. Christ the Lord.
1. He is the eternal God.
2. Who created all things.
3. He is Lord of all.
B. The Lord whom we have offended.
1. As the all knowing and all seeing God He know our faults.
2. Our crimes our sins committed against Him in thoughts, words, and deeds rise up against us.

Transition: What shall we do? We can’t deny our sinfulness. We can’t ignore them. We can’t deny them. Instead we plead for mercy as we run into His welcome arms and welcome Him the Advent/Christmas season. This is where true joy is found as we consider.

2. What He is going to accomplish: “A Savior who is Christ the Lord”
A. He came to die in our stead
B. He came to take our punishment.
C. He came to be our Savior.

Some folks these days find it difficult to get into the holiday mood. They want to but the joy simply is not there. It is easy to be overwhelmed with life. For us our joy is found not in how we feel but on what God has objectively done for us. Christ has come to enter our world. He has come to bear our sin and be our Savior. Because He has visited His people we receive life in His name. It is for this reason that you can celebrated and find true peace and joy.

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Advent - mid week 3

Father, may the coming celebration of the birth of Your Son bring us Your saving help and prepare us for eternal life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

The prophet Zephaniah calls us to rejoice for God is in her midst. The theme of rejoicing is found in this third week of Advent. The theme says, ‘Joy to the world, for the lord is Coming” Christmas joy happens at the coming and the appearing of Jesus Christ. We rejoice in anticipation of His coming. It is a time of excitement of the one who is to come. The prophet encourages us

1. To sing and shout!
A. You have the victory – Vs.15a
B. You have God with you – Vv.15b, 17a
C. You have no fear – Vv.15c, 16b
2. God is Happy with you!
A. Because you are His people
B. Because you love and serve Him
C. Because you do His will
3. Our reasons to rejoice – God is in your midst!
A. God is with you
B. God is for you
C. God is in you

Time in the Word - Advent 4

The theme for the Fourth Sunday in Advent is How God Sent His Son. Next Sunday, we turn our attention toward the Nativity of Our Lord. With Mary we await the coming of the Christ, her Son, conceived in her womb by the Word and Spirit of God. As the Lord dealt graciously with her and did great things for her (Luke 1:48–49), so also he manifests Himself and His glory to us in mercy and gentleness. He comes to rule His people in peace, to “shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord.” He comes forth not from the great capital city of Jerusalem, but from lowly little Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2, 4). He comes to sacrifice Himself, in fulfillment of His Father’s will, for the salvation and sanctification of His people (Heb. 10:10). He who once visited Elizabeth while hidden in the womb of Mary (Luke 1:39–45), now comes to visit us today, hidden in the lowliness of simple water, bread and wine.

Monday, 14 December 2009—1 Samuel 2:1b, 2, 5b–7; Antiphon, Luke 1:46b–47—As the birth of our Lord draws near, the sense of anticipation and expectation is heightened. The antiphon is taken from the Magnificat, the song of the blessed Virgin when she visited and was blessed by Elizabeth, and the as-yet-unborn John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb in joy of being in his Savior’s presence. The entire antiphon looks forward to the salvation of the Lord, the salvation made concrete when the Son of God assumed flesh, and the salvation which was accomplished when He died on the cross. By His death and resurrection, He has brought us to life, made us rich, and exalted us.

Tuesday, 15 December 2009—Psalm 80:1–7—Twice in this section (and thrice in the entire psalm), the refrain beseeches the Lord, Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! The immediate context of the psalm was the dark days which had fallen upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel, the people and her kings having forsaken the true God and lapsed into idolatry. For us, the darkness is that of sin, which we desire to be put away and atoned for. Such has been accomplished for us by the Savior of the world, God in man made manifest to us: Jesus Christ. He has saved and restored us.

Wednesday, 16 December 2009—Micah 5:2–5a—Seven hundred years before the birth of our Lord, the prophet Micah was sent by God to rebuke the people for their idolatry and prophesy about the coming Christ. Here, he tells where the Savior is to be born: Bethlehem, the city of David (who was from the clan of Ephrathah). In his Gospel, St Matthew cites this prophecy as fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

Thursday, 17 December 2009—Hebrews 10:5–10—Christ came as a tiny Baby born in a manger in Bethlehem, but let us take care not to romanticize the scene too much. He came for one purpose, and that was to do His Father’s will by offering up His body as a sacrifice for us, so that we—who could never please God, whether by our conduct or by any sacrifices which we ourselves could offer—so that we might be saved and made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Friday, 18 December 2009—Luke 1:39–45 (46–56)—The Gospel for Sunday tells of the Visitation, when the blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Both John and Elizabeth were jubilant to be in the presence of the Son of God, even while He was in the womb of His mother. John leaps, Elizabeth blesses Mary, and Mary responds by singing the Magnificat.

Saturday, 19 December 2009—The hymn of the day, Once in Royal David’s City (LSB 376), was designed by composer by Cecil Frances Alexander as a catechism hymn, to go along with the Second Article of the Creed: I believe in…Jesus Christ…conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. It tells the story of the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, Royal David’s City, as foretold by the prophet Micah.

Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Advent: Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

The Magnificat:
My soul magnifies the Lord,and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For he who is mighty has done great things for me,and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear himfrom generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
He has brought down the mighty from their thronesand exalted those of humble estate;
He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,to Abraham and to his offspring forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Prayer for newness of life in Christ: Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon ourselves the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life in which Your Son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility, that in the Last Day, when He shall come again in glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Prayers from Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.
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This week's Time in the Word is written by Pr. Jeffrey Keuning who serves Zion, Dexter and St. John, Casey, IA of the Iowa West District of the LCMS

Advent 3

Almighty God, through John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, You once proclaimed salvation; now grant that we may know this salvation and serve You in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One god, now and forever.

Our anxiety over life in a broken world gives way to the joy inside of our tears – as Christians we can experience real and lasting joy mid tears and sadness. We truly expect and actually prepare for the reception of God’s peace in the Christ child, a peace that passes all human understanding. The prophet Zephaniah announces the joy and demonstrates God’s presence in our midst while Luke shows us how the Holy Spirit helps us prepare by cleansing the way and anticipating the consummation of all things.

1. Joyful tears make now our patience before people.
A. Patience recognizes that the Lord is near. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near (Vs.5)
B. This patience petitions God. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (V.6)
1. We offer prayer and supplication.
2. We offer it with thanksgiving.
C. Patience keeps our hearts and minds in the peace of God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (V.7)

2. Joyful tears show our imitation of Christ.
A. We imitate His qualities. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (v.8)
1. We receive these qualities in Baptism, when we become “Christ’s”
2. They are detailed in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. You, dear friend are blessed. The Kingdom of Heaven is yours! You shall see God for you are called the sons of God - for you belong to Christ. (Matthew 5:1-12)I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Philippians 3:10)
1. We suffer in our fight against opponents of the Gospel. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have (Philippians1:29-30)



2. We suffer with the same mind of Christ detailed by Paul when he encouraged us
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11)
C. We imitate the apostolic tradition, which assures us that the God of peace will be with us. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9)
1. We recount what we have learned, received, heard, and seen from the apostles.
2. We proclaim the incarnate Word, whose birth we celebrate at Christmas.
3. We celebrate God’s peace in Communion.
The God of peace will be with you. Now that’s true comfort – comfort we need as we live in the midst of tears and sadness.

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Mid-week Advent 2

All powerful Father, as we await the healing power of Christ Your Son let us not be discouraged by our weakness as we prepare for His coming. Keep us steadfast in Your love for we ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

In our preparations for the celebration of Christmas we prepare also our attitudes concerning our giving. In the book of Malachi God promises to send a messenger who would prepare the way of the Lord. The prophet asks a telling question “but who can endure the day of His coming?” (vs.2)

1. Can you take Christmas?
Who can take the coming of Christ at Christmas? Each year Christmas is becoming more and more difficult to endure it seems with the buying and exchanging of gifts and their cost. Social agencies report that at Christmas there are more stressors than at any other time of the year. There is more loneliness, more heartache, and more disappointments.

A. Can you endure the secularization of Christmas?

B. Can you endure the refiner’s fire of cleansing of sins? (3:3)

C. Can you endure the holy presence of Christ?

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Time in the Word - Advent 3

The Coming of Jesus Enables Us to Rejoice

The Third Sunday in Advent has traditionally been called by the Latin word, Gaudete, meaning ‘Rejoice!’ For as you are called to repentance, so also are you urged to rejoice in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. By His own Cross, He has accomplished salvation for you; He has cleared away your enemies, taken away the judgments against you, and has come to reign in your midst. Indeed, He rejoices over you with gladness! (Zeph. 3:15–17). Therefore, even from prison St. Paul encourages us to rejoice in the Lord always, knowing that the peace of God will guard and keep us in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:4, 7). We find an example and encouragement in the case of John the Baptizer. As he languishes in prison, he calls upon Jesus and is strengthened by the Word of the Gospel that he receives. The same good news is preached to you, by which all things are made new and even the dead are raised up (Luke 7:22). Do not be offended by the cross, therefore, but let your life be one of prayer and thanksgiving (Luke 7:23; Phil 4:6).

Monday, 7 December 2009—Psalm 146:5–8; Antiphon, Philippians 4:4—On this Gaudete (‘Rejoice’) Sunday, the antiphon urges us to Rejoice in the Lord always! We rejoice because the Lord has set the prisoners free, even we who are in bondage to the lusts of our fallen flesh. We rejoice because He opens the eyes of the blind, even we who are blinded by sin. We rejoice because He lifts up those who are bowed down, even we who are bowed down by our guilt. We rejoice because the Lord loves the righteous, even we who are righteous, not by our deeds, but by our faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind.

Tuesday, 8 December 2009—Psalm 85—The antiphon, v. 2, proclaims You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. This is the reason that we sinners can rejoice; in Christ, God has forgiven all our sin. The psalm reflects the fact that, even after we are forgiven, we again fall into sin must seek forgiveness. Because of the steadfast love of the Lord, He indeed revives us again, that we may rejoice in Him.

Wednesday, 9 December 2009—Zephaniah 3:14–20—The people of Israel—the people of God—are summoned to rejoice and exult because the Lord has taken away all judgments. He has done this for us—the people of God—by the Lord God who is in our midst: Christ, who came to earth as a man, and lived, died, and rose again for us. He still is in our midst, coming to us in His means of grace, Word and Sacrament, the mighty one who saves us.

Thursday, 10 December 2009—Philippians 4:4–7—Rejoice in the Lord always, says St Paul. Why? Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection, has taken away the reproach of God for sin. We are now at peace with God, peace that surpasses all our understanding, for we can never fully understand the mystery of God assuming flesh, becoming sin for us, and dying to redeem us from the curse of our sin. We can only rejoice in the Lord that He has done so because of His grace and mercy.

Friday, 11 December 2009—Luke 7:18–28—‘Is Jesus the long-expected Messiah and Savior?’ ask John’s disciples. What do you see? The blind see, the lame walk…the dead are raised, and so on. Only God can do this, foreshadowing the restoration of fallen creation, which will be completed at the Second Coming of Christ. In the meantime, we who are spiritually poor have the Good News of the forgiveness of sins preached to us. Jesus Christ is the promised One, who by His death has healed us of the disease of iniquity and has raised us to life, who were dead in our trespasses and sins.

Saturday, 12 December 2009—The hymn of the day, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (LSB 357), is an ancient hymn based upon seven even more ancient antiphons (called the ‘O’ Antiphons) which were used in the Office at Vespers (the evening office) during the last seven days of Advent. Each antiphon and each hymn stanza refers to a different title for Christ: Wisdom, Adonai (‘Lord’), Root (or Branch) of Jesse, Key of David, Dayspring, King of Nations, Emmanuel (‘God with Us’).

This week's Time in the Word is written by Pr. Jeffrey Keuning who serves St. John Dexter and Zion, Casey, IA
Schnorr von Carolsfeld, woodcuts © WELS Permission to use these copyrighted items is limited to personal and congregational use.

St. Nicholas Day

He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose English name comes from the German Sankt Niklaus. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as is common for early Christian saints.[2] In 1087, his relics were furtively translated to Bari, in southern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nicholas of Bari.

The historical Saint Nicholas is remembered and revered among Catholic and Orthodox Christians. He is also honoured by various Anglican and Lutheran churches. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, and children, and students in Greece, Belgium, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, the Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro. He is also the patron saint of Barranquilla, Bari, Amsterdam, Beit Jala, and Liverpool. In 1809, the New-York Historical Society convened and retroactively named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York City.[3] He was also a patron of the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors, who protected his relics in Bari.