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SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT  December 10, 2023

ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH – LCMS – 700 Main St.  P.O. Box 220   Clyman, WI  53016

We Rejoice in the Patience of our God and we can share the news of His Sons coming!

 Pastor Dan 1-(920)-341-2025      shepherdatzion@gmail.com

 Bulletin Announcement email: zionclyman@gmail.com

Guests.  Welcome to Zion.  We are glad to have you with us.  Please sign our guestbook located in the Narthex.  About Holy Communion:  We welcome to the Lord’s Table all who have repented of their sins and seek to amend their sinful life; all who believe that Jesus is truly present in, with, and under the bread and the wine; and all who believe that through the words “given and shed for you” forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given.  If this is your confession and you are a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, then come with a thankful heart and join us.   If you are a visitor and would like to commune, please talk with Pastor Dan before the service.  To help in preparing to receive Holy Communion open the front cover of the Burgundy hymnal or turn to pages 329 & 330.  Gluten free wafers are available, please talk with an Elder or Pastor before the service if you would appreciate them.  

AS WE GATHER –    Advent is the season of waiting!  As we await Christ’s coming again in power and glory, we know that the time we are given before that great Day is due to the Lord’s patient grace.  Peter wrote-“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,” (2 Peter 3:9).  Why?  The more time there is before Christ’s return as King and Judge, means more time and opportunities for us to share the life-giving Gospel with all the world.  More time allows the Holy Spirit to work repentance in their hearts, believe in the coming King, and be brought into God’s eternal kingdom.  That patient grace of our heavenly Father allows us to rejoice in, and share the news of the coming King, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Ringing of the Bell and Welcome

 Hymn  “When All the World Was Cursed”      LSB 346

Invocation –  In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.    Amen

Opening Sentences   Psalm 27:13–14; 130:5 –   I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!    Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!     I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word, I put my trust and my hope.

Confession and Absolution   Based on Psalm 130 –  With hope in the Lord’s promises of renewal by His Word and Spirit, let us together confess our sins to Him.

All: Out of the depths I cry to You, Lord!  Lord, hear my voice!  Let Your ears be attentive to my pleas for mercy!       If You, O Lord, if You kept a record of my sins, I would have no hope.  But with You there is forgiveness, therefore I confess my sin to you and place my trust in Your grace through Christ my Lord.  Restore me, Lord God, and set me free from me sins.  Renew me in Your hope, that I may wait for Your salvation.  Because of Your steadfast love for me in Christ, forgive me, and redeem me from all my iniquities. Amen.

As we wait for Jesus’ final coming, we place our hope and our confidence in His promise of forgiveness in Him and what He has done for us.  Upon hearing your confession, I announce God’s grace to you.  As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.      Amen.

Introit    Psalm 80:1, 8, 9, 7; antiphon: v. 3. –    Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we may be saved!  Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock!  You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.  You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.  You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.      Restore us, O God of hosts; let You face shine, that we may be saved!  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.    

Salutation     The Lord be with you.      And also with you.

Prayer of the Day –   Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son,       that by His coming we may be found in Him, fully redeemed and at peace;     through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.       Amen.

Old Testament Reading   Isaiah 40:1–11 – (The Lord comes to comfort and pardon His people.) 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.  A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.     And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”      A voice says, “Cry!”  And I said, “What shall I cry?”  All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.  The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.     Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”  Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

 Epistle  2 Peter 3:8–14 –  (The Lord is patient toward you.)     

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ta thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.       But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.  Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!  But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

Verse Luke 3:4b, 6     Alleluia.  Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight;         all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia.  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.  From the house of the Lord we bless You.  Alleluia!

Holy Gospel           Mark 1:1–8       (The messenger prepares the way of the Lord.)    The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, first chapter.       Glory to You, O Lord.   The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way,     the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ ”  John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.     And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.  I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”   This is the Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to You, O Christ.

Nicene Creed –  I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.     And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.   And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come.  Amen

Hymn  “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry”     LSB 344

Sermon

Prayers of the Church

The 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.

 ** We gather our Tithes and Offerings **

Service of the Sacrament  

Preface   2 Timothy 4:22 –    The Lord be with you.  And also with you.  Lift up your hearts.  We lift them to the Lord.  Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.  It is right to give Him thanks and praise.

Proper Preface –    It is truly good, right, and salutary that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, whose way John the Baptist prepared, proclaiming Him the promised Messiah, the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and calling sinners to repentance that they might experience a joyful homecoming when He comes again in glory.  Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and singing:

Sanctus – LSB 208

Prayer of Thanksgiving –    Blessed are You, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have patiently shown mercy to us and given Your only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,        We thank You for the homecoming You promise to all who come to You through faith in Jesus Christ. Send to us Your comforting Spirit as we joyfully remember our Redeemer and receive Him who comes to us in His body and blood. Amen.

The Words of Our Lord – Consecration of the Elements

Pax Domini –   The peace of the Lord be with you always.    Amen.

Agnus Dei LSB 210

 Distribution Hymns: “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People”  LSB 347      “I Leave All Things….”  LSB 719                  “Rejoice, Rejoice Believers”   LSB 515

Post-Communion Canticle

Hymn “Lord, Bid Your Servant Go in Peace”     LSB 937

Post-Communion Thanksgiving    2 Peter 3:14 –    O God the Father, the fountain and source of all goodness, who in steadfast love sent Your only-begotten Son into this world of sin, we thank You that because of what The babe of Bethlehem did on the cross, You see us washed in His blood and “without spot or blemish, and at peace.”        We give you thanks and praise for the meal which has refreshed us and reassured us of our everlasting home You have given us by grace through faith.  We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.        Amen

Benediction      Psalm 130:5; Numbers 6:24–26        We wait for the LORD, our souls wait, and in His word, we put our trust and our hope.       The Lord bless you and keep you.  The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.  The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace.  Amen.

Hymn  “Go Tell It on the Mountain”                    LSB 388

___________________________________________

*Announcements*

From the Board of Stewardship and Evangelism:     2 Peter 3:11 – “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?” All the things of the earth have an expiration date: “Good until the last day.” On that day, all these things will be dissolved. The things that seem so important now will simply cease to be. Peter issues this to us as a challenge: Since this is so, what kind of life should we be living? What should your priorities be? On things? Or on the things of God?

The Pewpoint – THEME OF THE DAY –   You Are Prepared through Repentance for the Coming of the Lord

“The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) begins when John the Baptist appears and comes “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). As the prophet Isaiah had written, John is the messenger of the Lord, sent before His face to prepare His way. To this day, the ministry of the forerunner continues in the preaching of the Law and the Gospel and in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. By these ways and means, “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Is. 40:5), and the Good Shepherd “will gather the lambs in his arms” (Is. 40:11). He speaks “tenderly to Jerusalem,” and He comforts His people by pardoning their iniquity (Is. 40:1–2). What is more, He promises “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). Repent, therefore, and humble yourself as you wait for His coming in peace (2 Peter 3:14), because He “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

YES IN CHRIST  —  Saying Yes With Our Treasures –    Needed per week to make budget: $3,072                          Sunday Envelopes $1,310     Plate $10       Advent  $325         Cemetery Memorial – Eli Dornfeld Fund $ 50

Attendance:   Advent Service:  30  Communed:   26       Mid-Week Service: 11   Communed:   11                                       Sunday Service: 34   Communed:   31

Dates to Remember:    Dec. 19^th – Chosen Bible Class at 6pm

Dec. 24^th – No 8:30am worship service at Zion

Dec 24^th – Christmas Eve @ 7pm

Dec 25^th – Christmas Day @ 830am  There is NO worship service on Wednesday December 27th

Jan 1^st – New Year’s Day – 830am There is NO worship service on Wednesday January 3rd

Installation of officers on Sunday January 7th and Wednesday January 10th 

We are collecting mittens and hats for “Mary’s Room” for ages up to 5 years old. We have another organization in Watertown called the Bread Basket. They will accept all sizes of mittens, hats and scarfs and we will be accepting donations through the New Year. There will be a box in the front entrance.

 

Wish a happy Anniversary and Birthday to these members

Jim & Erica G	12/23
Felix & Janet O	12/29
Kevin & Sandra S	12/29

Joelle S	12/11
Kevin S	12/14
Jadelyn A	12/15
Warren J	12/17
Ronald L	12/17
Malachi D	12/20
Karen H	12/25
Douglas S	12/28
Carl F	12/30

 

Quilter’s will be enjoying time off this December and will meet Thursday, January 4, 2024

Good Shepherd is hosting a festival of Christmas Hymns on Saturday, December 16th at 6:00 PM, for more information there’s flyers on each of the doors.

We received a letter from Janis Milits which was a Seminary student that we had as one of our missions. Pick up a copy in the back of church or in the narthex.

Prepare a Place for the Coming King!  This Wednesday, December 13^th, we will look at Olive Oil.  The oil of life!  Oil used for light, food, medicine, and for anointing, the setting aside of someone for a special purpose, by God.  See you there!  Pastor Dan