• Pastor Beck

COLLECT OF THE CHURCH

Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen!

• Pastor Beck

†Part of a, "Songs of Advent," series.  A Christmas special:  See Episode #6.

Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart
          in peace, According to Your word; 
     For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 
               Which You have prepared in the presence of all
                  peoples, 
          A light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory
​                    of Your people Israel.

~ Song of Simeon (Nunc Demittis)

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother:
        "This child is destined to cause the falling and
             rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign
                that will be spoken against, so that the
                   thoughts of many hearts will be
                      revealed.  And a sword will pierce
                         your own soul too."

~ Simeon's Blessing

• Pastor Beck

He sweeps away in judgment, he gathers with joy--the very same word.  The sorrowful joy of the Son, the joyful sorrow of the Father.  We rejoice, because Jesus can sweep away our sin.

• Pastor Beck

~ Mary's Song (The Magnificat)

• Pastor Beck

The intersection of the secular and the religious:  At Christ's first Advent, John the Baptist proclaimed the immanence of the Savior's coming into the world, to a people ruled by one Herod, the tetrarch of Galilee.  As we anticipate Christ's second Advent during this Advent Season, we recognize that we still need a Savior--one who will again intersect our world with His coming in glory, as the dead are raised and the saints receive the inheritance of the world to come.

• Pastor Beck

†Part of a, "Songs of Advent," series.  A Christmas special: See Episode #6.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel/ for he has visited and redeemed his people/ and has raised up a horn of salvation for us/ in the house of his servant David,/ as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,/ that we should be saved from our enemies/ and from the hand of all who hate us;/ to show the mercy promised to our fathers/ and to remember his holy covenant,/ the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us/ that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,/ might serve him without fear,/ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days./ And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;/ for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,/ to give knowledge of salvation to his people/ in the forgiveness of their sins,/ because of the tender mercy of our God,/ whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high/ to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,/ to guide our feet into the way of peace.

~ Zechariah's Song (Benedictus)

• ​Pastor Beck

COLLECT OF THE CHURCH

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.

Amen!