Opening Prayer
God of our salvation,
you straighten the winding ways of our hearts
and smooth the paths made rough by sin.
Make our conduct blameless,
keep our hearts watchful in holiness,
and bring to perfection the good you have begun in us.
We ask this through him whose coming is certain,
whose day draws near:
your Son, our Lord ,Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity Of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
ADVENT 2 Ceremony
Blessed are you, Sovereign Lord, just and true: to you be praise and glory for ever. Of old you spoke by the mouth of your prophets, but in our days you speak through your Son, whom you have appointed the heir of all things. Grant us. your people, to walk in his light, that we may be found ready and watching when he comes again in glory and judgment; for you are our light and our salvation.
ALL:
Blessed be God for ever.
Micah 5:2
Family Leader:
God our Father, you spoke to the prophets of old of a Saviour who would bring peace. You helped them to spread the joyful message of his coming kingdom. Help us, as we prepare to celebrate his birth, to share with those around us the good news of your power and love. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the light who is coming into the world. Amen.
Advent candle song by Mark Earey
(Tune: ANGEL VOICES)
Verse 2
Prophet voices loudly crying,
making pathways clear;
glimpsing glory, self-denying,
calling all to hear.
Through their message - challenged, shaken –
hearts awaken:
God is near!
ALL:
Lord Jesus, Light of the world, the prophets said you would bring peace and save your people in trouble. Give peace in our hearts at Christmas and show all the world God's love. Amen.
Family Leader:
People of God: be glad! Your God delights in you. giving you joy for sadness and turning the dark to light. Be strong in hope therefore; for your God comes to save. You are God's children.
ALL:
Lord make us one in the love of Christ today and forever. Amen.
Hymn 34
Verse 2
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Introit
Hymn 33
Again the Lord’s own day is here,
the day to Christian people dear,
as, week by week, it bids them tell
how Jesus rose from death and hell.
For by his flock their Lord declared
his resurrection should be shared;
and we who trust in him to save
with him are risen from the grave.
We, one and all, of him possessed,
are with exceeding treasures blessed;
for all he did, and all he bare,
he gives us as our own to share.
Eternal glory, rest on high,
a blessed immortality,
true peace and gladness, and a throne,
are all his gifts, and all our own.
And therefore unto thee we sing,
O Lord of peace, Eternal King;
thy love we praise, thy name adore,
both on this day and evermore.
Collect
Second Sunday of Advent(page 157)
Salutation
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT
Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
ALL
And blessed be his kingdom, now and forever. Amen.
ALL
Blessed Lord and Father, we have assembled in your name and in fellowship with one another. Enable us by your grace to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; to proclaim and respond to your holy word. Teach us to pray for your world and your Church. Grant that we, confessing our sins, may worthily offer to you our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice and eat and drink of your spiritual food in this Holy Sacrament.
Amen.
COLLECT FOR PURITY
ALL
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE KYRIE
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.
The Lord be with you.
ALL:
And also with you.
Let us pray.
The Collect
Advent 2 (page 157)
Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
THE MINISTRY OF THE WORD
First Reading
Malachi 3:1-4
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
7:00am
Canticle 16 - (Benedictus Dominus Deus) - BOCP
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child,
shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in the darkness
and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son:
and to the Holy Spirit;
As it was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be forever.
Amen.
9:15am
Canticle 16 (BenedictusParish Psalter)St. Luke 1.68-79
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel:
for he hath visited, and redeemed his people;
And hath raised up a mighty salvation for us:
in the house of his servant David;
As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets:
which have been since the world began;
That we should be saved from our enemies:
and from the hands of all that hate us;
To perform the mercy promised to our forefathers:
and to remember his holy Covenant;
To perform the oath which he sware to our forefather Abraham:
that he would give us:
That we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies:
might serve him without fear:
In holiness and righteousness before him:
all the days of our life.
And thou, child shalt be called the Prophet of the Highest:
for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
To give knowledge of salvation unto his people:
for the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God:
whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us;
To give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death:
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Glory be to the father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end Amen.
Second Reading
Philippians 1:3-11
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God's grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.
7:00am
Gradual Hymn (Omitted)
9:15am
Gradual Hymn
Hymn 45
Ye servants of the Lord,
each in his office wait,
observant of his heavenly word,
and watchful at his gate.
Let all your lamps be bright,
and trim the golden flame;
gird up your loins as in his sight,
for awful is his name.
Watch! ’Tis your Lord’s command,
and while we speak, he’s near;
mark the first signal of his hand,
and ready all appear.
O happy servant he
in such a posture found!
He shall his Lord with rapture see,
and be with honour crowned.
Christ shall the banquet spread
with his own royal hand,
and raise that faithful servant’s head
amid the angelic band.
Gospel
Luke 3:1-6
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"
Sermon
Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is seen or unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
one in Being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
He came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
He was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake He was crucified
under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered, died and was buried.
On the third day He rose again
in fulfilment of the Scriptures;
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right
hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge
the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father.
With the Father and the Son
He is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic
and apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
ALL: Amen.
INTERCESSION
FORM H
LEADER
Let us pray for the Church and for the world.
Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
LEADER
Guide the people of this land, and of all the nations, in the ways of justice and peace; that we may honour one another and serve the common good.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
LEADER
Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation, that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others and to your honour and glory.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
LEADER
Bless all whose lives are closely linked with ours, and grant that we may serve Christ in them, and love one another as He loves us.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
LEADER
Comfort and heal all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit; give them courage and hope in their troubles, and bring them the joy of your salvation.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
LEADER
We commend to your mercy all who have died, that your will for them may be fulfilled; and we pray that we may share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom.
Silence
LEADER
Lord in your mercy
ALL
Hear our prayer.
The President adds a concluding Collect.
ACT OF PENITENCE
PRESIDENT
If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Silence
PRESIDENT
Let us therefore confess our sins.
FORM A
All:
Almighty God our heavenly Father we have sinned against you and one another, in thought, word, and deed, and in what we have left undone. We are sorry and we repent of all our sins. For your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past, and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your Name.
Amen.
or
FORM B
Most Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves; we have not loved ourselves as we ought. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
THE ABSOLUTION
PRESIDENT
Almighty God have mercy on you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins. Confirm and strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ALL
Amen.
THE GREETING OF PEACE
FORM A
PRESIDENT
We are the body of Christ. By the one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, and have all been made to drink of the one Spirit
ALL
Let us then pursue the things that make for peace and build up the common life.
FORM B
PRESIDENT
If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you
ALL
Leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
FORM C
PRESIDENT
The Kingdom of God is justice, peace, and joy inspired by the Holy Spirit
ALL
They who thus serve Christ are acceptable to God and approved by others.
Leader:
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
ALL
And also with you.
Peace Greeting
Offertory
Hymn 56
When the King shall come again,
all his power revealing,
splendour shall announce his reign,
life and joy and healing;
earth no longer in decay,
hope no more frustrated;
this is God’s redemption day
longingly awaited.
In the desert trees take root
fresh from his creation;
plants and flowers and sweetest fruit
join the celebration;
rivers spring up from the earth,
barren lands adorning;
valleys, this is your new birth,
mountains, greet the morning!
Strengthen feeble hands and knees,
fainting hearts, be cheerful!
God who comes for such as these,
seeks and saves the fearful;
deaf ears hear the silent tongues
sing away their weeping;
blind eyes, see the lifeless ones
walking, running, leaping.