Living Savior Lutheran Church4616 Gharrett St Missoula, MT 59803

livingsaviormissoula.org 406.543.8222Pastor Justin Cloute pastor@livingsaviormissoula.org

December 24th, 2017 Advent 4WELCOME TO WORSHIPWe are happy that you are here to worship with us and pray that the Lord bless you through his Word in your time with us.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask one of the greeters or anyone else who looks like they know what’s going on.

Signs for the restrooms are near the table in the back of the entryway. Parents, we know how hard it can be to get to church in the morning

and are so thankful that you have brought your children. We enjoy hearing children in worship, but we also understand you may want to take them out. There is a small nursery room out the back doors to the right.

Advent Series – Jesus Comes!Psalms of Advent

Dec 3 – Jesus Comes To Save Us From Our Sins (Psalm 24)Dec 10 – Jesus Comes, Listen To The Call To Repent (Psalm 85)Dec 17 – Jesus Comes, Rejoice! (Psalm 71)Dec 24 – Jesus Comes in Love – (O Antiphons)

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GREAT ANTIPHONSWith striking biblical images of creation, redemption, and ultimate restoration, the seven “Great Antiphons” or “O Antiphons” remind us that Christ, whose glorious return we anticipate and patiently await during Advent, is surrounding and sustaining us already.These ancient prayers address God in Christ with messianic titles drawn from Israel’s prophetic writings. In seven distinct, but interrelated ways they voice the ultimate petition of Scripture—“Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). Collectively they also suggest Christ’s response to that plea: the seven titles in Latin—Sapientia (Wisdom), Adonai (Lord), Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), Clavis David (Key of David), Oriens (Dayspring), Rex Gentium (King of Nations), and Emmanuel (God with us)—in reverse order form an acrostic ERO CRAS which means “I am coming soon.”

INVOCATION

P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

C: And also with you.

GATHERING RITE Come, Lord Jesus Come1

Choir ♪ Aimless searching, lost in night, come, Lord Jesus, come.Deep in darkness, longing for light, come, Lord Jesus, come.

Choir Refrain ♪ Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set they people free;

From our sins and fears release us, let us find our rest in Thee

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT CANDLEP: Advent is a time to celebrate God’s loveC: God’s love is pure.P: We celebrate by loving our neighbors as ourselves.C: God’s love is everlasting

1 Text: Charles Wesley, Music: Joel Raney, 2017 Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL, 60188

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P: We celebrate by loving the Lord our God with all our hearts.C: God’s love is all-powerful.P: We celebrate by spreading God’s love to a world in need.C: God’s love is freely given to all.P: Today we light four candles. The light of this fourth candle reminds us…(John 3:16)

All: sing refrain

O HIGHEST WISDOM, COME

CALL TO WORSHIP Amos 5:8M: Seek him who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn

and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea

and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name. C: Amen.

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THE FIRST ANTIPHONAll sing:

♪ O come, O Wisdom from on high,who ordered all things mightily;

to us the path of knowledge showand teach us in its ways to go.

RefrainRejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to you, O Israel

Silent Meditation

OO LORD OF ISRAEL, COME

ROOT OF JESSE, COME

OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 11:1-5,11Pastor: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; All: from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. P: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— Women: the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, Men: the Spirit of counsel and of might, All: the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— Men: and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. Women: He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, All: or decide by what he hears with his ears;P: but with righteousness he will judge the needy, All: with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. P: He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; All: with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Women: Righteousness will be his belt Men: and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

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P: In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; All: the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

THE SECOND AND THIRD ANTIPHONSAll sing:

♪ O come, O come, our Lord of might,who to your tribes on Sinai's height

in ancient times gave holy lawin cloud and majesty and awe. Refrain

O, come, O Root of Jesse, freeYour own from Satan's tyranny;

From depths of hell your people save,And bring them vict'ry o'er the grave. Refrain

O

KEY OF DAVID, COME

Litany of Confession and the Forgiveness of Sins

P: Almighty and most merciful God,we come before you with broken hearts to confess our

sin.We are “The captives in the darkness.”

We have sinned against you by ignoring your life-giving laws,leaving undone things we should have done,and doing things we ought not to have done.

All: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.P: We have betrayed our neighbors whom you so dearly love,

leaving undone things we should have done,and doing things we ought not to have done.

All: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.P: We have misused things in the physical world that you ordered in love,

leaving undone things we should have done,

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and doing things we ought not to have done.All: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy.P: For these sins against you, one another, and the world, we repent. Unlock our wayward hearts with your love

and illumine our darkened minds with understanding of your way,so that our actions may be pleasing to you.

May your peace, which surpasses all understanding,guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, through your Holy Spirit.

All: Amen.

P: By the command of our Lord Jesus Christ I announce that all of your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.All: “These are the words of the holy one, the true one,

who has the key of David,who opens and no one will shut,who shuts and no one opens:

P: “I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one mayseize your crown. If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the templeof my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name ofmy God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

Revelation 3:7b, 11-12

THE FOURTH ANTIPHONAll sing:

♪ O, come, O Key of David, come,And open wide our heav'nly home.

Make safe the way that leads on high,And close the path to misery. Refrain

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GOSPEL READING Matthew 16:13-1913 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” O

O GLORIOUS DAYSPRING, COME

KING OF NATIONS, COME

The Benedictus / Song of Zechariah: Luke 1:68-79

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a mighty savior for usin the house of his servant David,

as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and has remembered his holy covenant,

the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands 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 peopleby the forgiveness of their sins.

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By the tender mercy of our God,the dawn from on high will break upon us,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the way of peace.

FIFTH AND SIXTH ANTIPHONAll sing:

♪ O, come, O Dayspring from on high,And cheer us by your drawing nigh;Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,

And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Refrain

O come, O King of nations, bindin one the hearts of all mankind.Bid all our sad divisions cease

and be yourself our King of Peace. Refrain

OFFERINGPASSING THE PEACE OF CHRIST

Opportunity to turn to those around you and greet them with the words, “Peace be with you!”O GOD AMONG US, COME

The Magnificat / Song of Mary: Luke 1:46-55My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

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He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.

Silent Reflection

SEVENTH ANTIPHONAll sing:

♪ Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile hereUntil the Son of God appear. Refrain

BENEDICTION: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

P: May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spiritand soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of ourLord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

C: Amen.

News and NotesCHRISTMAS WORSHIP SCHEDULE

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Sunday, Dec 24th 10am - "O Antiphons"  We will mediate on these ancient prayers expressed in prophecy and song with the refrain "Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel"Sunday, Dec 24th 6pm - Our traditional Christmas eve candlelight service focusing on the "Signs of Christmas" with songs from the choir, narrations, recitations, and your favorite hymns.Monday, Dec 25th 10am - The Word became Flesh - Perhaps the most profound service of the Christian church year. Come to thank God for the miracle that lies at the center of our faith. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

End of the Year Giving Opportunities: This Christmas season as you reflect on the many ways God has blessed you, and most of all, in the gift of his Son, you may want to give a special gift to support the work of the Gospel here on earth. Think about designating a special gift to help finish the sanctuary or to our general fund. If you would like to give a gift to our mission work as a Synod, go to wels.net/giving Bible Basics: This class is for anyone interesting in learning more or just reviewing the central teachings of the Christian faith. We will begin another session after on Wed, Jan 10th. Talk to Pastor or Vicar, if you'd like to join us.

Serving at Living Savior

The Season of Advent

Music:Today: MaryNext Sunday: Jon

Camera:Today: DonavonNext Sunday: Terry

Greeters:Today: ClouteTonight: Team

Cleaners:This Week: Cloute

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Advent is a Latin word that means “coming.” The season of Advent has been observed by Christians in the four-week period before Christmas since at least the 5 th Century. Originally certain days were set aside for fasting to remember Christ’s coming and to look forward to his coming again. During Advent there is a deep sense of urgency as we consider the threefold emphasis of:

1) The “coming” of our Lord in the flesh at Christmas

2) The continual “coming” of the Lord in his Word

3) The second “coming” of Jesus at the end of time

Many churches use blue as the liturgical color of Advent. Blue is the color of heaven, and symbolizes hope and anticipation. An alternate color for Advent is purple. Purple is the color of royalty, since in ancient times purple was the most expensive dye to produce. It is an appropriate color for Advent since we remember our coming King. Purple also reminds us of repentance, a theme that runs throughout Advent as we prepare for Jesus coming.

ADVENT WREATH

The Advent Wreath is a combination of two very common symbols: light and the fir tree. From the early centuries of Christianity, it has been the practice to represent Christ by a burning candle. The fir tree has a long history of religious use. No doubt the Advent Wreath was suggested by the Christmas tree.

It seems that the Advent Wreath originated a few hundred years ago among the Lutherans of eastern Germany. A wreath of evergreens, made in various sizes, was either suspended from the ceiling or placed on a table. Four candles representing the four Sundays of Advent were fastened to the wreath.

Eventually the use of the Advent Wreath became wide spread and moved also from the home into the church. The general symbolism of the Advent Wreath lies in the growing light of the wreath, increasing each week as we approach the birthday of Jesus, the Light of the world.

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