Please note that there will not be a morning Worship Service
at St. Peter Lutheran, Stettler on December 24, 2023.
Please join us at the church at 7:00pm for the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.
The readings for Advent 4 can be found below.
INTRODUCTION
God keeps the promise made to David to give him an everlasting throne. The angel tells Mary that God will give David’s throne to her son Jesus. She is perplexed by Gabriel’s greeting and by the news of her coming pregnancy, but she is able still to say, “Count me in.” We who know that Jesus is called king only as he is executed still find it a mystery hard to fathom, but with Mary today we hear the news of what God is up to and say, “Count us in.”
The Lessons: (Link to the Readings)
First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Instead of David building a house (temple) for God, God promises to establish David’s house (dynasty) forever. Centuries later, after the Babylonian exile, no king sat on the throne. Even then, however, the people of Israel remembered this promise and continued to hope for a king, the messiah, God’s anointed.
Psalm: Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. (Ps. 89:1)
Second Reading: Romans 16:25-27
Paul closes his letter to the Romans by praising God because, in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, God has revealed the promised, divine plan of salvation for all humanity. Paul proclaims this gospel of Christ in order to bring about the obedience of faith among all nations.
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
In this annunciation, Luke makes clear that God comes with good news for ordinary people from little known places. This king will not be born to royalty in a palace, but to common folk in a stall. Here Luke highlights the role of the Spirit, a special emphasis in this gospel.
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. With your abundant grace and might, free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy, that willingly we may bear your redeeming love to all the world, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.