Month: December 2012

Posted on

12 30 12 Prelude: "Jesus! Name High over All" by Tim Smith

Heather Lunneberg, Soloist

Jesus! The name high over all,
With sweetness fills each breast;
Let all men now before Him fall,
And in His presence rest.

Jesus! The name to sinners dear,
The name to sinners giv’n;
It scatters all their guilty fear,
And turns their hearts to heav’n.

O that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace!
The arms of love3 that compass me
Would all mankind embrace.

Happy, if with my latest breath
I might but gasp His name;
Proclaim to all and cry in death,
“Behold, behold the Lamb!”

Posted on

12 30 12 Prelude: "Jesus! Name High over All" by Tim Smith

Heather Lunneberg, Soloist

Jesus! The name high over all,
With sweetness fills each breast;
Let all men now before Him fall,
And in His presence rest.

Jesus! The name to sinners dear,
The name to sinners giv’n;
It scatters all their guilty fear,
And turns their hearts to heav’n.

O that the world might taste and see
The riches of His grace!
The arms of love3 that compass me
Would all mankind embrace.

Happy, if with my latest breath
I might but gasp His name;
Proclaim to all and cry in death,
“Behold, behold the Lamb!”

Posted on

The Proclamation of the Birth of Christ

Today, the twenty-fifth day of December,
unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth
and then formed man and woman in his own image.
Several thousand years after the flood,
when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.
Twenty-one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah;
thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.
Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the judges;
one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;
in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.
In the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.
The forty-second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;
the whole world being at peace,
JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,
being conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and nine months having passed since his conception,
was
born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.
Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
according to the flesh.

Posted on

Gift of Love

Text: Luke 2:1-2
Date: Christmas Eve + 12/24/12

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Yes, that’s right, you heard it, “King.” The little baby Jesus was born in a humble stall, not in a palace. Nevertheless, He is royalty, born to be King of a Kingdom not “of” this world though “in” it. And unlike the temporary claims of this world’s autocrats, His is the everlasting kingdom, the King-dom of God. So, blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Continue reading “Gift of Love”

Posted on

The Embodiment of God's Love

Text: Hebrews 5:5, 10
Date: Advent IV + 12/23/12

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, because it is the way in which he came that makes His coming a blessing to us. That is, though this is the God who once came to speak with Moses in a burning bush and who came to lead His people out of Egypt in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, the Lord of Hosts Isaiah saw in the temple with great fear and trembling, now He comes to us as one of us. The Spirit of Christ says in Psalm 40, “a body have you prepared for me.” Today we prepare to celebrate that moment in time when the Father fashioned a sinless body for the Son as the fruit of Mary’s womb. Today our Epistle tells us the reason He was given a human body, namely so that He could be the “once for all” offering and sacrifice that takes away your sin and the sin of the world. Amid our Advent praises there begins already today the lilting rhythms of carols of the season, saying, Joy to the world! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus! Continue reading “The Embodiment of God's Love”

Posted on

Rejoice in What You Have Heard

Text: Luke 7:18-28
Date: Advent III + 12/16/12

Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! For when He comes we rejoice. And He rejoices over us (Zeph 3:14, 17)! The Third Sunday in Advent is called “Rejoice Sunday” as the Introit announces, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Like John the Baptist in prison, however, we are not always in the mood to rejoice. Our expectations are often contradicted, our hopes suppressed, our happiness challenged, our security threatened. We question even those things we thought most reliable, that we were most convinced of. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” The true joy of this day, however, comes as the Word of God lifts our eyes once again above our own weakness to the One who came to save us, who comes now to give us freedom, hope and life, and who is coming again in the fullness of His glory. Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! Continue reading “Rejoice in What You Have Heard”

Posted on

God Begins His Work in You

Text: Luke 3:3, 10 (3:1-14)
Date: Advent II + 12/9/12

Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! For when He comes among us we are changed. He comes to us before we are able to come to Him. God sent John the Baptist “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” And we are among the crowds through the ages who have come out “to be baptized by him.” John’s baptism was preparatory to our baptism into Christ. But by John’s preaching we are called to repudiate our old way of life and be converted by faith to God’s gift of newness of life through the forgiveness of our sins. May we hear once again God’s call through John that we may be blessed by the King who comes in the Name of the Lord. Continue reading “God Begins His Work in You”