Holy Communion Service in English
Worship Service
Lectionary Theme: Annunciation to Joseph Immanuel: Celebration of Joy
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Isaiah 7:10-17 First Lesson
10. Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying,
11. Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.
12. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.
13. Then Isaiah said: “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also?
14. Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
15. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
16. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
17. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.”
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Romans 8:31-39 Second Lesson
31. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32. He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?
33. Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
35. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36. As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39. nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Ephesians 1:15-23 Epistle
15. I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
16. I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
17. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
18. so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
19. and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
20. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21. far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
22. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
23. which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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Matthew 1:18-25 Gospel
18. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly.
20. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23. “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”
24. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife,
25. but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.