The First Sunday in Advent — Ad Te Levavi
The new church year begins by focusing on the humble coming of our Lord. “Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey.” Even as He was born in a lowly manger, so Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a beast of burden. For He bears the sin of the world. He is the Son of David riding to His enthronement on the cross, where He shows Himself to be “The Lord, our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5-8). Our Lord still comes in great humility to deliver His righteousness to us in the Word and Sacraments. Before receiving Christ’s body and blood, we also sing, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:1-9) And as we receive the Sacrament, we set our hearts on His return in glory, for”Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11-14).
Introit: (Psalm 25:4-5, 21-22; antiphon: Psalm 25:1-3a)
Pastor: To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be put to shame;
Congregation: Let not my enemies exalt over me.
Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame.
P: Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
C: Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
P: May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
C: Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Gloria Patri – pg. 186
(Note: The Gloria In Excelsis is not sung during Advent)
Collect of the Day
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
- Lighting of the Advent Wreath +
P: We light one Advent candle, remembering Jesus who is coming again. He will come to gather His people from everywhere, both the living and the dead.
C: We remember Jesus who will come at the end of time. None of us knows what day that will be.
P: We hear His call to watch. (One Advent candle is lit.)
C: We light one Advent candle as a sign of our watchfulness and waiting.
P: Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.
C: Through Your Word and Spirit may our souls be blessed. - Jeremiah 23:5-8 +
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (6) In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (7) “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ (8) but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”
Gradual: (Psalm 25:3, 4)
None who wait for you shall be | put to shame; *
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly | treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, | O Lord; *
teach me | Your paths.+ Romans 13: 8 -14 +
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (11) Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. (12) The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. (13) Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. (14) But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Lutheran Confessions Responsive Reading: The Augsburg Confession (1530)
P: What do we believe, teach, and confess of God (A.C. Art. 1)?
C: Our churches teach with common consent that the decree of the Council of Nicaea about the unity of the divine essence and the three persons is true. It is to be believed without any doubt. God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible [Nehemiah 9:6]. Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit [Matthew 28:19]. These three persons are of the same essence and power. Our churches use the term person as the Fathers have used it. We use it to signify, not a part or quality in another, but that which subsists of itself.
P: Our churches condemn all heresies [Titus 3:10–11] that arose against this article, such as the Manichaeans, who assumed that there are two “principles,” one Good and the other Evil. They also condemn the Valentinians, Arians, Eunomians, Muslims, and all heresies such as these. Our churches also condemn the Samosatenes, old and new, who contend that God is but one person. Through sophistry they impiously argue that the Word and the Holy Spirit are not distinct persons. They say that Word signifies a spoken word, and Spirit signifies motion created in things.
Verse: (Psalm 85:7)
P: Alleluia.
C: Show us Your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation. Alleluia.
- Matthew 21:1-9 +
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, (2) saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. (3) If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” (4) This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, (5) “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (6) The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. (7) They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. (8) Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (9) And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”