I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ,
His only Son our Lod, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.


Response Reading: 117. Advent Sunday (3)
PRES: The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus.
CONG: it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. the glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; 
PRES: they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God
CONG: Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
PRES: say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come,
CONG: he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.
PRES: Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped
CONG: Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy
PRES: Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert
CONG: The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs
PRES: In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
CONG: And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
PRES: The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walks in that Way.

1 Peter 2:1-10
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,"
8 and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message--which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.


hymnal 112
1. It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold;
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men.
From heaven's all gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
2. Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
Over all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plain
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing.
3. And ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way,
With painful steps and slow,
Look now, for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing.
4. For lo, the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When, with the ever circling years,
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.


hymnal 633
Take these gifts, take these gifts, O our God:
All we have, all we have comes from you.
With our voices raised in thanks, Lord, we give to you. Amen.


Hymnal 288
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O What a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking, above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.