Advent Season | Monday 08 Dec 2025
+ In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
Opening prayer:
Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures
to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn,
and inwardly digest them,
that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word
we may embrace and ever hold fast
the blessed hope of everlasting life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
“Finally, dear brothers and sisters,
we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus
to live in a way that pleases God,
as we have taught you.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:1)
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From the Psalms: Psalm 21 | Poor Bishop Hooper
how i rejoice in you oh lord
for you have given me everything my heart desires
you have not withheld anything i have requested
i’ve asked you for life and you have given it
rise up rise up rise up
rise up oh lord in all your power
and we will celebrate yes we will sing and praise
of all your might
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OT Reading: Isaiah 24:1-16 (NLT)
Destruction of the Earth
24:1 Look! The Lord is about to destroy the earth
and make it a vast wasteland.
He devastates the surface of the earth
and scatters the people.
+ Priests and laypeople,
servants and masters,
maids and mistresses,
buyers and sellers,
lenders and borrowers,
bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
+ The earth will be completely emptied and looted.
The Lord has spoken!
24:4 The earth mourns and dries up,
and the land wastes away and withers.
Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
+ The earth suffers for the sins of its people,
for they have twisted God’s instructions,
violated his laws,
and broken his everlasting covenant.
+ Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.
Its people must pay the price for their sin.
They are destroyed by fire,
and only a few are left alive.
+ The grapevines waste away,
and there is no new wine.
All the merrymakers sigh and mourn.
+ The cheerful sound of tambourines is stilled;
the happy cries of celebration are heard no more.
The melodious chords of the harp are silent.
+ Gone are the joys of wine and song;
alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.
+ The city writhes in chaos;
every home is locked to keep out intruders.
+ Mobs gather in the streets, crying out for wine.
Joy has turned to gloom.
Gladness has been banished from the land.
+ The city is left in ruins,
its gates battered down.
+ Throughout the earth the story is the same—
only a remnant is left,
like the stray olives left on the tree
or the few grapes left on the vine after harvest.
24:14 But all who are left shout and sing for joy.
Those in the west praise the Lord’s majesty.
+ In eastern lands, give glory to the Lord.
In the lands beyond the sea, praise the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
+ We hear songs of praise from the ends of the earth,
songs that give glory to the Righteous One!
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Rejoice, The Lord is King | Eunsook Park [Gracias Choir]
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NT Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (NLT)
Live to Please God
4:1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
4:3 God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
4:9 But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.
4:11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
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Take My Life and Let It Be | Songs and Everlasting Joy
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Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated to you; and then use us, we pray, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. | William Temple
Go before us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, through your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem: Protect your people from the machinations of the evil one; and grant Israel’s leaders your heavenly wisdom, and the courage to do what’s right in your sight. Unite all your people around the common goal of restoration and peace, that they might return to you – the one true God – through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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.
The Peanut Gallery 