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The start of the new Church Year, Advent is a season of repentant preparation for the annual celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord in the season of Christmas. While we should live each day with sorrow over our sins and trust that God forgives our sins for Jesus’s sake, we especially focus on such repentance in this season, especially as Jesus comes to us now and will come a final time in the future. Advent is often said to focus on the Lord Jesus’s past coming in human flesh in order to die for our sins, His present coming in Word and Sacrament to forgive our sins, and His future coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. The specific themes of our Sunday Divine Services and Midweek Vespers Services do not exactly correspond, however.

The following are the Sundays in Advent 2016, using the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, as we follow Lutheran Service Book’s Three-year Lectionary Series A.

  • First Sunday (11/27): Jesus comes as our humble King (Matthew 21:1-11)
  • Second Sunday (12/04): Jesus’s way is prepared by John the Baptizer (Matthew 3:1-12)
  • Third Sunday (12/11): Jesus assures John and us Who He is (Matthew 11:2-15)
  • Fourth Sunday (12/18): Jesus’s birth foretold to His guardian Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25)

The 10:45 a.m. Sunday services this Church Year are using LSB’s Divine Service, Setting Four.

The Lectionary Series does not appoint any Readings for midweek Advent services, so this year we have assembled Psalms, Readings and Hymns under the theme “Living among the Bible’s Trees”, focusing on the reason for our Lord’s coming, prophecy of it, His coming, and the benefit of His Final coming, respectively, as follows.

  • Advent I (11/30): Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
  • Advent II (12/07): Tree of the Lord’s Planting
  • Advent III (12/14): Tree of the Cross
  • Advent IV (12/21): Tree of Life

The 7:00 p.m. Wednesday services this Church Year are again using LSB’s order of Vespers.

The blue color of the cloths on the font, lectern, pulpit, and altar, as well as the pastor’s stole, represents hope and anticipation and serves to help distinguish Advent from Lent.

All are welcome to attend every service at Pilgrim or to listen to the sermons online. And, watch our home page for more about December and January’s other seasons.

Thanks go to Carla Adsit for creating the banner graphic at the top of this page from images found online.