The Season of Advent | 1st Tuesday 05 Dec 2023
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Opening:
Almighty God, give us grace
to cast away the works of darkness,
and put on 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 his glorious majesty
to judge both the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and for ever. Amen.
I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out of Babylon, my people,
so that you do not participate in her sins
and suffer from any of her plagues.”
(Revelation 18:4)
__________
From Psalms: Psalm 79 – “The vineyard of the Lord is the House of Israel” | Hymns by Mike Anderson
_________
OT Reading: Micah 4:6-13 (GW)
4:6 “When that day comes,” declares the Lord,
“I will gather those who are lame.
I will bring together those who are scattered
and those whom I have injured.
I will change those who are lame into a faithful people.
I will change those who are forced away into a strong nation.”
The Lord will rule them on Mount Zion now and forever.
You, Jerusalem, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold of the people of Zion,
your former government will come back to you.
The kingdom will return to the people of Jerusalem.
Now why are you crying so loudly?
Don’t you have a king?
Has your counselor died?
Pain grips you like a woman in labor.
Daughter of Zion, writhe in pain and groan like a woman in labor.
Now you will leave the city,
live in the open fields,
and go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued.
There the Lord will reclaim you from your enemies.
But now many nations gather against you.
They say, “Let’s dishonor Zion and gloat over it.”
They don’t know the thoughts of the Lord or understand his plan.
He will bring them together
like cut grain on the threshing floor.
Get up and thresh, people of Zion.
I will make your horns as hard as iron
and your hoofs as hard as bronze.
You will smash many nations into small pieces.
You will claim their loot for the Lord,
their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
__________
Zion [Aaron Shust]
__________
NT Reading: Revelation 18:1-10 (GW)
Babylon’s Fall
18:1 After these things I saw another angel come from heaven. He had tremendous power, and his glory lit up the earth. He cried out in a powerful voice, “Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every evil spirit, every unclean bird, and every unclean and hated beast. All the nations fell because of the wine of her sexual sins. The kings of the earth had sex with her. Her luxurious wealth has made the merchants of the earth rich.”
I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of Babylon, my people, so that you do not participate in her sins and suffer from any of her plagues. Her sins are piled as high as heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Do to her what she has done. Give her twice as much as she gave. Serve her a drink in her own cup twice as large as the drink she served others. She gave herself glory and luxury. Now give her just as much torture and misery. She says to herself, ‘I’m a queen on a throne, not a widow. I’ll never be miserable.’ For this reason her plagues of death, misery, and starvation will come in a single day. She will be burned up in a fire, because the Lord God, who judges her, is powerful.
“The kings of the earth who had sex with her and lived in luxury with her will cry and mourn over her when they see the smoke rise from her raging fire. Frightened by her torture, they will stand far away and say,
‘How horrible, how horrible it is for that important city,
the powerful city Babylon!
In one moment judgment has come to it!’
__________
Bring Them Home! Holocaust Survivors Give Hope to Israeli Hostages in Gaza | Shulem Lemmer
__________
+ Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray for swift and total victory over all evil in the Holy Land. Set free the hostages*, and deliver from bondage every person captivated by the evil death cult terrorizing the Middle East. And finally, grant heavenly wisdom to those guiding Israel militarily, politically and diplomatically, as well as those who will restore Israel spiritually, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ O God, our heavenly Father, you manifested your love by sending your Son, Christ Jesus, into the world, that all might live through him: Pour out your Spirit on your faithful people in the Middle East, that his life-giving Gospel may be preached to every tribe and nation. Send forth laborers into your harvest; defend them in all dangers and temptations; and hasten the time when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be gathered in, and faithful Israel shall be saved; through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
+ Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom; and grant that we your servants, who now live by faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty; even Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
Closing: FaithandWorship.com | John Birch
May the Lord, when he comes,
find us watching and waiting.
+ In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
* Bring Them Home | Tikkun Global
The Peanut Gallery 