Worship Service for Midweek of Advent 1
Rev. Gregory Mech | December 2, 2020 | Midweek of Advent 1 | Immanuel Lutheran Church ONLINE and IN-PERSON – Joplin, Missouri | Wednesday at 7:00 pm
Thank you for supporting Immanuel Lutheran financially. Learn more at immanueljoplin.com/GIVE.
Special thanks to all who helped to make this broadcast possible today:
Rev. Gregory Mech, DCE Jason Glaskey, organist Betty Lingenfelter, the COVID Committee and Board of Elders.
AS WE GATHER
“Very good.” These are the words used in Genesis 1 to describe what God sees as He looks over everything that He has just made. All of creation, including humanity, is perfect and just as God intended it to be. Yet, that perfection does not last long. With Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God’s command to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin enters the world. What was once “very good” is now fallen, imperfect, and not-so-good. Yet, already in Genesis 3:15, the Lord promises One who will save. Eve’s offspring, Jesus, will bring redemption by another tree—the tree of the cross. Through His birth, life, death, resurrection, and return, all creation will be restored and will again be “very good”!
Midweek of Advent 1
Jesus, the Seed of Jesse’s Tree
December 2, 2020
+ Preparation +
HYMN “What Hope! An Eden Prophesied” LSB 342
What hope! An Eden prophesied
Where tame live with the wild;
The lamb and lion side by side,
Led by a little child!
A shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stem,
A branch from David’s line,
A Prince of Peace in Bethlehem:
The fruit of God’s design.
As banner of God’s love unfurled,
Christ came to suffer loss,
That by His death a dying world
Would rally to the cross.
Come, Jesus, come, Messiah Lord,
Lost Paradise restore;
Lead past the angel’s flaming sword—
Come, open heaven’s door.
Copyright © 1998 Stephen P. Starke; admin. Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
INVOCATION
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
OPENING SENTENCES Isaiah 11:1; Genesis 3:15; Romans 5:19
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.
For as by the one man’s disobedience
the many were made sinners,
so by the one man’s obedience
the many will be made righteous.
SERVICE OF LIGHT
The Spirit and the Church cry out:
Come, Lord Jesus.
All those who await His appearance pray:
Come, Lord Jesus.
The whole creation pleads:
Come, Lord Jesus.
Awaiting the shoot from the stump of Jesse, we implore:
Come, Lord Jesus.
HYMN “Light of Light, O Sole Begotten” LSB 914
Light of Light, O Sole-Begotten,
Radiance of the Father’s face,
Word made flesh, who lived among us,
Full of truth and full of grace,
Shine upon our human darkness;
Pierce the night that shrouds our race.
Word eternal, through Your being
God created all we see,
When the empty spaces echoed
With the Father’s, “Let there be …”
Light and life burst from the glorious
Power of Your majesty!
Still Your brooding Spirit hovers
Over chaos, dark and deep
Calling out with invitation:
“Rise, awaken from your sleep,
Christ the Lord will shine upon you,
And from death your soul shall keep.”
Come, Lord Jesus, by Your Spirit
In our hearts Your work begin.
Bring the healing restoration
Of Your image lost by sin;
From Your fulness all receiving
Grace on grace, new life within!
Copyright © 1992 Stephen P. Starke; admin. Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give Him thanks and praise.
Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who had mercy on Adam and Eve after they disobeyed Your loving command in the Garden of Eden, promising a second greater Adam who is the light of the world. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.
+ Word +
PSALM LSB, p. 245
Let my prayer rise before You as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
O Lord, I call to You; come to me quickly;
hear my voice when I cry to You.
Let my prayer rise before You as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips.
Let not my heart incline to any evil thing;
let me not be occupied in wickedness with evildoers.
But my eyes are turned to You, O God; in You I take refuge. Strip me not of my life.
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.
Let my prayer rise before You as incense,
the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
FIRST READING Romans 5:12–21
A reading from Romans, the fifth chapter.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
SECOND READING Genesis 1:27; 3:8–15
A reading from Genesis, the first and third chapters.
1:27 So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
In many and various ways, God spoke to His people of old by the prophets.
But now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son.
HYMN “Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord” LSB 352, v.1-4
Let the Earth now praise the Lord,
Who has truly kept His word,
And at last to us did send
Christ, the sinner’s help and friend.
What the fathers most desired,
What the prophets’ heart inspired,
What they longed for many a year,
Stands fulfilled in glory here.
Abram’s promised great reward,
Zion’s helper, Jacob’s Lord,
Him of two-fold race behold—
Truly came, as long foretold.
As Your coming was in peace,
Quiet, full of gentleness,
Let the same mind dwell in me
Which is Yours eternally.
THE LITANY
In peace let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace from above and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For all servants of the Church, and for all the people, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For all public servants, for the government and those who protect us, that they may be upheld and strengthened in every good deed, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For those who work to bring peace, justice, health, and protection in this and every place, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For those who bring offerings, those who do good works in this congregation, those who toil, those who sing, and all the people here present who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For favorable weather, for an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and need, let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, have mercy.
For the faithful who have gone before us and are with Christ, let us give thanks to the Lord:
Alleluia.
Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
Silent individual prayer and petition
Rejoicing in the fellowship of all the saints, let us commend ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ, our Lord:
To You, O Lord.
O God, from whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
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.
SERMON HYMN “God Loves Me Dearly” LSB 392, v. 1-3
God loves me dearly, grants me salvation,
God loves me dearly, loves even me.
Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly,
God loves me dearly, loves even me.
I was in slav’ry, Sin, death, and darkness;
God’s love was working to make me free.
Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly,
God loves me dearly, loves even me.
He sent forth Jesus, My dear Redeemer,
He sent forth Jesus, and set me free.
Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly,
God loves me dearly, loves even me.
SERMON “Jesus, the Seed of Jesse’s Tree”
PRAYER
Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
BLESSING
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
The almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless you and keep you.
Amen.
HYMN “God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven” LSB 877
God, who made the earth and heaven, darkness and light:
You the day for work have given, for rest the night.
May Your angel guards defend us,
Slumber sweet Your mercy send us,
Holy dreams and hopes attend us All through the night.
And when morn again shall call us to run life’s way,
May we still, whatever befall us, Your will obey.
From the power of evil hide us,
In the narrow pathways guide us,
Never be Your smile denied us All through the day.
Guard us waking, guard us sleeping, and when we die
May we in Your mighty keeping all peaceful lie.
When the last dread call shall wake us,
Then, O Lord, do not forsake us,
But to reign in glory take us With You on high.
Holy Father, throned in heaven, all-holy Son,
Holy Spirit, freely given, Blest Three-in-One:
Grant us grace, we now Implore You,
Till we lay our crowns before You
And in worthier strains adore You While ages run.
Acknowledgments
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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