Advent & CHristmas: Receiving Christ
December 10-11
Sermon Title: Be Renewed
Preacher: The Rev. Alex Shuttleworth
Saturday Evening Bulletin
Sunday Morning Bulletin
The Collect for the 3rd sunday in advent
O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the
ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The lesson: isaiah 35: 1-10
The Ransomed Shall Return
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;
2 it shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who have an anxious heart,
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down,
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
8 And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way;
even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain gladness and joy,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;
while I live I will praise the Lord.
2 Indeed, as long as I have my being,
I will sing praises unto my God.
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man,
for there is no help in them.
4 For when one breathes his last, he shall return again to the earth,
and in that day all his thoughts perish.
5 Blessed is the one who has the God of Jacob for his help
and whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is therein;
who keeps his promise for ever;
7 Who does right to those who suffer wrong;
and who feeds the hungry.
8 The Lord sets prisoners free;
the Lord gives sight to the blind.
9 The Lord helps those who have fallen;
the Lord loves the righteous.
10 The Lord cares for the strangers in the land; he defends
the fatherless and widow;
but the way of the ungodly he makes crooked.
11 The Lord shall be King for evermore,
even your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Praise the Lord.
(BCP 2019)
The gospel: matthew 11: 2-6
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
