December 4, 2022 - Advent 2 – Prepare

Prayer Before Worship - Our Sunday School students are preparing for the worship service on Christmas Eve. We are preparing for our celebration of Your birth. Don’t let us ever stop preparing ourselves for Your coming into our hearts on a daily basis.

Hymn 11

Service Word and Sacrament, front of hymnal page 26

Prayer: Stir up our hearts, O Lord,/ to prepare the way for Your only Son. By His coming give us strength in our conflicts/ & shed light on our path through the darkness of this world; through Your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,/ who lives & reigns with You & the Holy Spirit,/ one God, now & forever. (Sing) Amen.

Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah describes the Coming One, endowed with the Spirit, bringing peace. His rule is perfectly righteous. We(the poor) find deliverance.

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Verse: Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight paths for Him. All mankind will see God's salvation. (Sing) Alleluia......pg 30

Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

John the Baptist: “Repent.....Prepare.” Those given the Spirit stand in the Judgment & enter the kingdom of heaven by grace.

1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Hymn 16

Sermon Text & Epistle: Romans 15: 4-13

Paul directs us to live the peace of the Lord by showing love, patience, and acceptance of one another. This is accomplished as we place our trust in the God of all hope & so are filled with joy & peace in Christ.

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Theme: All I want for Christmas is

1 Hope 2 Unity 3 Joy and Peace

Prayer: Lord, please use the Scripture to give us hope. Please use the Scripture to give us unity. Please use the Scripture to give us peace and joy.

Nicene Creed, front of hymnal, page 31

Thankoffering The members of St. Paul's have joined together to do the Lord’s work in this area & around the world. Visitors need not feel obligated to participate in this offering which supports our church’s ministry.

Prayer of the church, front of hymnal, page 32

Special Prayers; Lord’s Prayer, page 32; continue page 33

Distribution of Lord’s Supper to the members of St. Paul’s & other WELS or ELS congregations who by their membership have indicated they are qualified to examine themselves (1 Cor 11:27-29) & to express oneness in faith (1 Cor 10:17). If you are a guest today & haven’t yet had the chance to express your agreement with us & would like to receive the Lord’s Supper together with us in the future, please speak with the usher after worship. We would be delighted to help you come to appreciate a “close” relationship with your Lord, with us and with our congregation.

Hymn 27 during distribution

Continue page 36

Hymn 13