Calendar

Color: White\r\rFirst Reading: Revelation 7:2–17\rFirst Reading: Revelation 7:9–17\rPsalm: Psalm 149; antiphon: v. 4\rEpistle: 1 John 3:1–3\rGospel: Matthew 5:1–12\rIntroit: Psalm 31:1, 3, 5; antiphon: Revelation 7:14b\rGradual: Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5\rVerse: Hebrews 12:1a, 2a\r\rSaints Are Blessed in the Eternal Presence of Christ\r \r“A great multitude … from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,” cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne” (Rev. 7:9–17). Faith-filled saints from every place and time, with unified voices, eternally magnify the Lamb of God. As His beloved children, we, too, “shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3). Joined with the throng of angels and myriad saints, we shall “serve him day and night in his temple” (Rev. 7:9–17). In our earthly tension vacillating between saint and sinner, faith and doubt, sacred and profane, we earnestly seek Jesus to calm our fears, comfort our spirits and forgive our sins. The Holy Spirit through faith in Christ propels us forward, fortifying us in Word and Sacrament, to our eternal home. In the midst of our constant struggle as believers, we need to be blessed. And so we are. The poor in spirit, the meek, the hungry, the thirsty, the merciful, the pure and the persecuted are all blessed, and we will most certainly inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:1–12).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 1:10–18\rPsalm: Psalm 130; antiphon: vv. 3–4\rEpistle: 2 Thessalonians 1:1–12\rEpistle: 2 Thessalonians 1:1–5, 11–12\rGospel: Luke 19:1–10\rIntroit: Psalm 50:1–2, 14–15; antiphon: v. 23\rGradual: Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5\rVerse: Luke 19:9b, 10\r\rThe Lord Comes to Save and Call Us to Himself by the Tree of His Cross\r \rGod will judge “those who do not obey the gospel” (2 Thess. 1:8), but “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven” (2 Thess. 1:7), He will “be glorified in his saints” (2 Thess. 1:10). For by His cross, you are “considered worthy of the kingdom of God” (2 Thess. 1:5). Therefore, “give ear to the teaching of our God” (Is. 1:10), and “let us reason together” by faith in His Gospel (Is. 1:18). “Make yourselves clean” (Is. 1:16), not by “the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats” (Is. 1:11), but by the blood of Christ. His salvation comes to you by grace, as it came to Zacchaeus. That man sought “to see who Jesus was,” but he could not “because he was small in stature” (Luke 19:3). It is by way of a tree that Zacchaeus is found by the One he sought, for Jesus Himself “was about to pass that way” (Luke 19:4). The Lord calls Zacchaeus down and goes “in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7). So also, He visits us as sinners, securing eternal redemption for us through the tree of His holy cross.\r \r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Exodus 3:1–15\rPsalm: Psalm 148; antiphon: v. 13\rEpistle: 2 Thessalonians 2:1–8, 13–17\rGospel: Luke 20:27–40\rIntroit: Psalm 115:2–4, 8, 17–18; antiphon: v. 11\rGradual: Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5\rVerse: Luke 20:38\r\rThe Triune God Curbs Evil and Overcomes Death with Resurrection\r \rChristians live as “sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36), for the Lord our God “is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38). “Those who deny that there is a resurrection” (Luke 20:27) neither know the Scriptures nor the power of God, but the baptized faithful know “that the dead are raised” (Luke 20:37). For the Lord, who was and is and is to come, knows Israel’s sufferings and has “come down to deliver them” (Ex. 3:8). Moses reveals the name of Yahweh to God’s chosen people, by which He is “remembered throughout all generations” (Ex. 3:15). In contrast to that sacred remembrance of His name, St. Paul warns against the antichrist, who “takes his seat in the temple of God” (2 Thess. 2:4). That lawless man preaches and practices the activity of Satan. Christians, however, are comforted by the coming of the Lord Jesus, who slays the antichrist and refutes his false doctrine “with the breath of his mouth” (2 Thess. 2:8). By His preaching, “stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught” (2 Thess. 2:15). Hear, receive and believe God’s promise of love, comfort and good hope.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Malachi 4:1–6\rPsalm: Psalm 98; antiphon: v. 9b\rEpistle: 2 Thessalonians 3:1–13\rEpistle: 2 Thessalonians 3:6–13\rGospel: Luke 21:5–28\rGospel: Luke 21:5–36\rIntroit: Psalm 121:1–2, 5, 7–8; antiphon: Luke 21:33\rGradual: Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5\rVerse: Luke 21:28b\r\rGod’s Plan of Redemption Trumps Earthly Destruction and Violence\r \rThere are signs of the Lord’s coming all around: the cross that marks His Church, the violence and death of the sinful world, and the shaking of the natural order. “There will be great distress upon the earth” (Luke 21:23), but the faithful know that “the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:31). Therefore, “straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). Be awake and alert, and heed the words of Christ, which “will not pass away” (Luke 21:33). For you, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). He sends His preachers of repentance in the spirit and power of Elijah “before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” (Mal. 4:5), in order to “direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thess. 3:5). Although you are often faithless, “the Lord is faithful,” and by the preaching of His Word “he will establish you and guard you against the evil one” (2 Thess. 3:3). Therefore, “do not grow weary in doing good” (2 Thess. 3:13). In the midst of calamity, believe upon the Lord, Jesus Christ. \r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Green\r\rOld Testament: Malachi 3:13–18\rPsalm: Psalm 46; antiphon: v. 7\rEpistle: Colossians 1:13–20\rGospel: Luke 23:27–43\rIntroit: Psalm 134; antiphon: Psalm 33:8\rGradual: Revelation 7:14b; Psalm 84:5\rVerse: Luke 23:43\r\rJesus Christ Reigns, Enduring the Cross — Its Scorn and Shame\r \rThe Lord Jesus reigns in love among those who are baptized in His name. “They shall be mine,” He says, “and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him” (Mal. 3:17). Jesus’ service through crucifixion for sinful men anchors us in new life. In the proclamation of His Son, God makes His justice clear, defining “the distinction between the righteous and the wicked” (Mal. 3:18). He truly is “the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38), who governs His Church with all authority in heaven and on earth. He has come into His kingdom by His cross, and He graciously remembers us in paradise. Therefore, do not weep for Him, but with repentant faith “weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). Then the mountains and hills of Jerusalem, His holy Church, shall cover you with His righteousness and peace. For He “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). “All things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16), and “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” bodily in Him, reconciling all things to Himself “by the blood of his cross” (Col. 1:19–20). \r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Blue\r\rOld Testament: Isaiah 2:1–5\rPsalm: Psalm 122; antiphon: v. 6\rEpistle: Romans 13:11–14\rEpistle: Romans 13:8–14\rGospel: Matthew 24:36–44\rGospel: Matthew 21:1–11\rIntroit: Psalm 118:25–28; antiphon: Zechariah 9:9b, alt.\rGradual: Zechariah 9:9; Psalm 118:26, alt.\rVerse: Psalm 24:7\r\rThe Lord Comes in Meekness and Humility to Save Us Now\r \rThe Lord Jesus enters Jerusalem “humble, and mounted on a donkey,” riding on “a beast of burden” (Matt. 21:5), as He Himself bears the sins of the world in His body. Now He comes by the ministry of the Gospel to save us from sin, death, the devil and hell. Therefore, we sing, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Matt. 21:9). For we are called “to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,” His Holy Church, “that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Is. 2:3). By His Word, we “walk in the light of the Lord” (Is. 2:5). That is to live in love, which “does no wrong to a neighbor” (Rom. 13:10). We “cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light,” for “salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11, 12). Hence, the entire Christian life is a time to wake and watch, “for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42).\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship

Color: Red\r\rOld Testament: Ezekiel 3:16–21\rPsalm: Psalm 139:1–12; antiphon: v. 17\rEpistle: Romans 10:8b–18\rGospel: John 1:35–42a\rIntroit: Psalm 89:1, 5, 15–16; antiphon: John 15:27\rGradual: Romans 10:15b, 18b; Isaiah 52:7b, alt.\rVerse: John 1:39a\r\rSt. Andrew, Apostle\r \rThe old church year ends with the watchman’s cry (Matt. 25:6), and the new one begins with it (Ezek. 3:17): John the Baptist’s call of warning and repentance, which St. Andrew heard and heeded. But John’s forerunning task was chiefly to point his disciples to Jesus, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). Thus, Andrew became the first of Christ’s disciples. He, in turn, pointed his brother Simon Peter to the Messiah (John 1:41), and “immediately they left their nets and followed” the Christ (Matt. 4:20). “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (Rom. 10:15). Andrew’s eagerness to follow Christ and bring others to Him made “no distinction between Jew and Greek” (Rom. 10:12; John 12:20–22), and he may be counted as the first missionary. His zeal in following Christ led him, according to tradition, to face a martyr’s death on an X-shaped cross. So we are directed at the beginning of Advent to focus our eyes on Christ’s cross, where God’s Lamb was offered for our salvation.\r\rLectionary summary © 2021 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Used by permission. http://lcms.org/worship