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Advent is a season inspired and guided by the Bible’s many apocalyptic texts—texts that candidly describe tribulation and gloom, prophesy stunning reversals and vindication, and evoke unsentimental hope and sturdy joy. These texts tell of stars beginning to fall, plead for the heavens to open, and portray choirs of angel armies singing.
“Apocalypse” simply means “unveiling” or “revelation.” Apocalyptic texts return time and again to visual imagery, inviting us to look for the coming power of God, catch glimpses of glory, and welcome God’s wonders into our hearts. These texts offer breathtaking vistas and teach us to set our hearts on a vision of salvation that extends far as the curse is found, which is very far indeed.
Over the centuries, use of these apocalyptic texts has been particularly prominent in times of travail. They have sustained the hopes of those suffering in Nazi concentration camps, fainting in the blazing sun of cotton plantations, or crouching in fragile shelters in Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine.
These texts challenge sentimental optimism and bolster resilient hope because they call attention to God’s power to save. It is the “day of the Lord” we wait for, long for, and plead for. By itself, human potential is futile. Contemplating Christ’s first coming intensifies our prayers for his second coming.
Contemplating these texts can be unnerving, disrupting our small comforts. Singing them can be wondrous, as the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and minds to a love as tender as a mother’s for her newborn baby, as glorious as the wonders of the nighttime sky, as vast as the cosmos.
In this Advent season, may we lament and intercede and sing with fervor, praying that God would
strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,. . .
[and] that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—
that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
- Ephesians 3:16–19, New International Version
“Welcome all wonders in one sight!” (Richard Cranshaw, lyrics of Welcome all Wonders)
of the 3:00 p.m. (EST) service on Dec. 8, 2024:
of the 6:00 p.m. (EST) service on Dec. 8, 2024:
Noël en Récit de Flûte, by Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier
Music: Jean-Jacques Beauvarlet-Charpentier (1734-94), P.D.
Variations on "Puer nobis", by Michael Burkhardt
Music: Michael Burkhardt © 1992 Morning Star Music Publications
Used by permission under OneLicense.net A-703303. All rights reserved.
Introit: Matin Responsory, by Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina
Text: medieval chant for the morning prayer service on the first Sunday in Advent, P.D.; trans. Kings College Choir, Cambridge © 1970 Oxford University Press
Music: Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-94), P.D.; arr. Kings College Choir, Cambridge © 1970 Oxford University Press
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Processional Carol: Come, Thou Redeemer of the Earth, arr. David Willcocks and Mark Schweizer
Text: St Ambrose of Milan (c. 340-397), P.D.; trans. John Mason Neale (1818-66), P.D.
Music (PUER NOBIS NASCITUR): Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), P.D.; arr. David Willcocks © 1970 Oxford University press; and arr. Mark Schweizer © 2018 St. James Music Press
Greeting and Bidding Prayer
Pastor: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
All: To him who loves us
and freed us from our sins by his blood,
and made us to be a kingdom,
priests serving his God and Father,
to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Pastor: Beloved in Christ, in this season of Advent, we prepare ourselves so that we may be shown its true meaning. We have gathered to hear, in readings from the holy scriptures, how the prophets of Israel and the apostles of Jesus foretold that God would visit and redeem his waiting people. We rejoice, in carols and hymns, that the good purpose of God is being mightily fulfilled. We encourage each other in Christian hope, so needed in a world filled with sorrow and despair.
We unite our hearts to pray for the world which God so loves, for those who have not heard the good news of God, or who do not believe it; for those who walk in darkness and the shadow of death; and for the Church in this place and everywhere, that it may be freed from all evil and fear, and may in pure joy lift up the light of the love of God. These prayers we humbly offer as we meditate on the readings from holy scripture, and also now, in the words that our Lord Jesus Christ taught us.
All: 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.
Forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory forever. Amen.
Carol: Lost in the Night, arr. Kyle Haugen
Text: Finnish song, P.D.; trans. Olav Lee © 1932 Augsburg Publishing House
Music: Finnish folk tune; arr. Kyle Haugen © 2020 Augsburg Fortress
Used by permission and under OneLicense.net A-703303. All rights reserved.
Carol: Rorate Coeli, by Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory
Text and Music: Gregorian chant for Isaiah 45; arr. Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory © 2012 Paul Caldwell & Sean Ivory
Used by permission.
Carol: E’en So Lord Jesus, Quickly Come, by Paul Manz
Text: adpt. from Revelation 22 by Paul Manz © 1969 Concordia Publishing House
Music: Paul Manz © 1969 Concordia Publishing House
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Carol: How Can I Keep From Singing, arr. Mark Patterson
Text: Pauline T., 1868, P.D.
Music: Robert Lowery (1826-99), P.D.; arr. Mark Patterson © 2019 Chorister's Guild
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Congregational Carol: When the King Shall Come Again
Text: adpt. from Isaiah 35 by Christopher M. Idle (c. 1975) © 1982 The Jubilate Group
Music (GAUDEAMUS PARITER): Jan Roh, 1544, P.D.; arr. David Schelat © 1997 Birnamwood Publications
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Carol: People, Look East, arr. Eugene Butler
Text: Eleanor Farjeon, 1928, P.D.
Music (BESANÇON): French carol, P.D.; arr. Eugene Butler © 1983 The Sacred Music Press
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Carol: My Lord, What a Morning, arr. Robert I. Hugh
Soloist: Grace Becerra
Text and Music: African American Spiritual, P.D.; arr. Robert I. Hugh © 2006 Colla Voce Music
Used by permission.
Carol: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, arr. Craig Courtney
Text: Liturgy of St. James, P.D.; trans. Gerard Moultrie, 1864, P.D.
Music (PICARDY): French folk tune, P.D.; arr. Craig Courtney © 2012 Beckenhorst Press
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Carol: Keep Yo’ Lamps, arr. Rosephanye Powell
Text and Music: African American Spiritual, P.D.; adpt. Rosephanye Powell © 2009 Fostco Music Press
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Congregational Carol: Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending, arr. Larry Visser
Text: vs. 1 & 4, Charles Wesley (1707-88), P.D.; vs. 2, John Cennick (1718-55), P.D.
Music (WESTMINSTER ABBEY): Henry Purcell (1659-95), P.D.; arr. Larry Visser © 1998, 2017 GIA Publications
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Carol: In Silent Night, by Mitchell B. Southall
Text and Music: Mitchell B. Southall © 1957 Ralph Jusko Publications
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Carol: Out of the Orient Crystal Skies, by Richard Zgodava
Text: English, c. 1610, P.D.
Music: Richard Zgodava © 1975, 1985 Augsburg Publishing House
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Congregational Carol: Joy to the World, arr. David Cherwien
Text: Isaac Watts, 1719, P.D.; arr. Hal H. Hopson © 1983 Belwin-Mills Publishing; desc. David Cherwien © 2020 Birnamwood Publications.
Music: George Frederick Handel, 1742, P.D. arr. Lowell Mason, 1836, P.D.; arr. David Cherwien © Birnamwood Publications.
Used by permission under OneLicense.net A-703303. All rights reserved.
Carol: Welcome All Wonders, by Richard Dirksen
Text: Richard Crashaw (1613-49), P.D.
Music: Richard Dirksen © 1977 Shawnee Press
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Prayer for the World
Pastor: God of grace and glory,
in this world so filled with despair, we cling to your promise:
surely Christ is coming soon.
As we wait for this glorious appearing,
we pray for the world that you so love:
we long for your Holy Spirit to bring healing, justice,
and peace that surpasses understanding
to every place of suffering and hopelessness,
including those we name now in our hearts. . . . [silence]
As this Advent season continues to unfold,
challenge and strengthen us to be people of eager expectation
and ministers of your peace.
Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Charge and Blessing
Pastor: But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.
Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
All: To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Pastor: May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
All: Alleluia! Amen.
Recessional Carol: O Come, All Ye Faithful, arr. David Willcocks
Text: attr. John F. Wade, 1743, P.D.; tr. Frederick Oakeley, 1841, and others, P.D.; stanza 2 by Debra Rienstra © 2024 Debra Rienstra
Music (ADESTE FIDELES): John F. Wade, 1743, P.D.; arr. John Ferguson © 1992 GIA Publications; desc. David Willcocks © 1961 Oxford University Press
Used by permission and under OneLicense.net A-703303. All rights reserved.
O Come, All Ye Faithful, by David Cherwien
Music: David Cherwien © 1981 A.M.S.I.
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Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich, by Johann Sebastian Bach
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), P.D.
Finale, from Partita on "Vom Himmel hoch", by Walter Pelz
Music: Walter Pelz © 2001 Augsburg Fortress
Used by permission and under OneLicense.net A-703303. All rights reserved.
