Advent 3.7
Gather
The nights are long…
…the darkness deep…
…but the reason for our joy draws near.
Song – We Have Waited
Prayers of the People
God who is with us, in our joy as well as our sorrow, we pray this day for those in our community who are struggling during this time. Help us serve those who bear these burdens, that we all may experience the hope You give, for this life and the one to come.
Lord, in Your mercy…
Hear our prayer.
Lighting of the Advent Candle/Song – In This Season (Week 3)
Reading – Luke 1:67-79
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Song – Wintertide
Peace/Benediction
And now may the God of our joy remember us this day, this week and this season, though we dwell in the darkness. May He burst forth over us like the sunrise over the cold snow-laden fields. Go in joy to love and serve the Lord.
Next: Advent 4.1