Third Sunday of Advent, December 12, 2021
Holy Communion at 8:30 and 11am
Prayer of the Day
Stir up the wills of your faithful people, Lord God, and open our ears to the preaching of John, that, rejoicing in your salvation, we may bring forth the fruits of repentance; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Amen.
Scripture
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
Sermon
“Sing, You Vipers!”
Luke 3:7-18; Zephaniah 3:14-20
The Baptist’s preaching may not be much emulated, but it certainly grabs your attention. “You brood of vipers,” he begins. With the fiery intensity we associate with the Old Testament prophets, John warns of wrath and trees with axes at their roots. What, the people ask, must we do? Repent! Turn from your sins. Repent! Turn to the One who is coming. The good news in John’s sermon is not in the hope that we will finally get it right; it is hope in the One who is coming with the Holy Spirit. In this One, the Christ, God’s long-planned promise of salvation and homecoming will be fulfilled. And what will happen then? Well, take it from one of those fiery Old Testament prophets, Zephaniah: God will burst forth in a song of joy. We, too, are invited to sing God’s song now. It’s a song of coat-giving and kind treatment; a song of thankfulness that finds peace amid troubles; a song that anticipates the joys of the God who delights in our salvation.
Hymns
Awake! Awake, and Greet the New Morn, WOV 633
Hark! A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding! LBW 37
As the Dark awaits the Dawn, ELW 261
People, Look East, WOV 626
WOV, With One Voice
LBW, Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW, Evangelical Lutheran Worship
In our prayers we remember Walther Christian Academy.