Humility. December 9, 2018 Second Sunday in Advent

Humility December 9, 2018 Second Sunday in Advent

WELCOME Greetings in Jesus the King! Welcome! Today is the second Sunday in the Advent season. Can you think of some of the Biblical themes of this season? Certainly, the love and faithfulness of God our Father is high up there, but have you ever considered the idea of hope? Although it may not be the first thing that comes to mind during the Christmas season, there is much to consider. In fact, hope is a very prominent theme in Advent. The anticipation of the coming Messiah is always in light of the hope we have in his return. Just as the Israelites hoped for their deliverance, we too look forward to the final deliverance, his return in glory when he will create a new heaven and a new earth. If you are visiting with us this morning, please be sure to fill out a Get Connected card. Should you have any questions whatsoever, please feel free to contact me at the church office. In Christ, Pastor Arthur Andrews CONTACT US Hephatha Lutheran Church 5900 E. Santa Ana Canyon Rd. Anaheim, CA 92807 Phone: 714-637-0887 Fax: 714-637-6088 HephathaChurch@hephatha.net www.hephatha.net Office Hours: M-F 8:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Morning Services: To assist those with hearing loss, Hephatha has installed a Hearing Loop in the Sanctuary. For more information please see the flyer in the narthex. We have a limited number of headset receivers available for checkout. Please see an elder for more information and to check out a receiver. STAY CONNECTED Hephatha Lutheran Church & School Download Hephatha's App: Our Hephatha Hephatha.net

OUR 8:00 A.M. WORSHIP WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Rev. Arthur Andrews OPENING HYMN Prepare the Royal Highway LSB # 343 INVOCATION Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. OPENING SENTENCES Based on Luke 3:4 6 Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is coming soon! People: He is coming soon indeed! Alleluia! Pastor: Prepare the way of the Lord. People: Make His paths straight. Pastor: Every valley shall be filled, People: and every mountain and hill made low. Pastor: The crooked shall become straight, People: and the rough places shall become level ways. Pastor: All flesh shall see the salvation of God. People: We wait for Christ s return and the resurrection of all flesh. Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is coming soon! People: He is coming soon indeed! Alleluia! LIGHTING OF THE SECOND CANDLE ON THE ADVENT WREATH Pastor: On the four Sundays in Advent, we light a new candle each week. We mark the four candles with these four words: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus Christ is the hope of the nations. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we hope. Pastor: Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we rest. CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Pastor: In the season of Advent, we prepare for Jesus to come. As we wait for His coming, we consider how unworthy we are to have Jesus in our presence, how crooked our world has become, and how unjust are our relationships. We come before the Lord in humility. Silence for reflection. Pastor: Heavenly Father, People: we confess that we have strayed from Your path. We have been selfish and cruel. We have treated our neighbors with injustice

and prejudice. We have oppressed the weak in order to gain power. We long to return to You, but how are we to return? Pastor: Hear these words of forgiveness, for they are from Christ Himself: As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. People: Amen. Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise! COLLECT OF THE DAY (in unison) Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. EPISTLE Philippians 2:5 8 (Page 980) Reader: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. RESPONSE Alleluia Page 156 HOLY GOSPEL Luke 3:1 14 (Page 838) P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the 3 rd Chapter. C: (Sung): Glory to You, O Lord. After the reading: P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: (Sung): Praise to You, O Christ. HYMN OF THE DAY On Jordan s Bank the Baptist s Cry LSB # 344 SERMON Down to Earth Humility Text: Philippians 2:5 8 NICENE CREED Page 158 PRAYER OF THE CHURCH P: Lord, in Your mercy; C: Hear our prayer. OFFERING OFFERTORY Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart LSB # 806 SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT (Please see the tan pew card) Page 161 CONCLUDING COLLECT BENEDICTION CLOSING HYMN Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer LSB # 918

OPENING SONG WELCOME OUR 9:30 A.M. WORSHIP Your Love Never Fails Rev. Arthur Andrews LIGHTING OF THE SECOND CANDLE ON THE ADVENT WREATH Pastor: On the four Sundays in Advent, we light a new candle each week. We mark the four candles with these four words: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus Christ is the hope of the nations. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we hope. Pastor: Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we rest. PASTORAL PRAYER BAPTISM BAPTISM SONG CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION SONG SCRIPTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS Baptized In Water Sing, Sing, Sing Connor Lehnberg Philippians 2:5 8 (NIV) OFFERING (Please fill out an attendance card and place it in the offering basket.) WE SING TO THE LORD SERMON PRAYER BENEDICTION CLOSING SONG Jesus Loves Me Down to Earth Humility Text: Philippians 2:5 8 Your Grace Is Enough OUR 11:00 A.M. WORSHIP WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS OPENING SONG CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Your Love Never Fails Rev. Arthur Andrews LIGHTING OF THE SECOND CANDLE ON THE ADVENT WREATH Pastor: On the four Sundays in Advent, we light a new candle each

week. We mark the four candles with these four words: hope, peace, joy, and love. Jesus Christ is the hope of the nations. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we hope. Pastor: Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. People: We wait for the Lord, and in His Word do we rest. SONG Sing, Sing, Sing EPISTLE Philippians 2:5 8 HOLY GOSPEL Luke 3:1 14 WE SING TO THE LORD SERMON NICENE CREED PRAYERS OFFERING Jesus Loves Me Down to Earth Humility Text: Philippians 2:5 8 RITUAL OF FRIENDSHIP To aid us in our ministry to the body of Christ please fill out an attendance card and pass it toward the center aisle. THE LORD S SUPPER (Please see the tan pew card) COMMUNION SONG We Believe In this time of desperation, When all we know is doubt and fear There is only one foundation, We believe we believe In this broken generation, When all is dark You help us see There is only one salvation, We believe we believe Chorus 1 We believe in God the Father, We believe in Jesus Christ We believe in the Holy Spirit, And He's given us new life We believe in the crucifixion, We believe that He conquered death We believe in the resurrection, And He's coming back again Verse 2 So let our faith be more than anthems, Greater than the songs we sing In our weakness and temptations, We believe we believe Chorus Bridge Let the lost be found and the dead be raised In the here and now let love invade Let the church live loud our God we'll say

We believe we believe And the gates of hell will not prevail For the pow'r of God has torn the veil Now we know Your love will never fail We believe we believe Chorus 2 We believe in God the Father, We believe in Jesus Christ We believe in the Holy Spirit, And He's given us new life We believe in the crucifixion, We believe that He conquered death We believe in the resurrection, And He's coming back He's coming back again. He's coming back again We believe, we believe CCLI Song # 6367165 Matthew Hooper Richie Fike Travis Ryan Abundant Life Ministries UK (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI)) Integrity Worship Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI)) Integrity's Praise! Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI)) Travis Ryan Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing (IMI)) For use solely with the SongSelect Terms of Use. All rights reserved. www.ccli.com CCLI License # 684779 POST COMMUNION COLLECT BENEDICTION CLOSING SONG Your Grace Is Enough A youth group for 5 th & 6 th graders 5 th & 6 th Grade Youth Group Come IGNITE your faith through games, food, and the word of God. Bring your friends for this exciting group of 5 th & 6 th graders. Day: TODAY, Sunday, December 9 Time: 4:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Location: Youth Room

DOWN TO EARTH HUMILITY Text (s): Philippians 2:5-8; I Corinthians 13:1-3; Proverbs 16:18; II Chronicles 26:5; Deuteronomy 8:18 INTRODUCTION: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8, ESV). Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death and the worst kind of death at that a crucifixion (Philippians 2:5-8, MSG). If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (I Corinthians 13:1-3). WHAT WAS JESUS ATTITUDE? Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage (Philippians 2:6, NIV). though he was in the form of God, did not count equality

with God a thing to be grasped (Philippians 2:6, ESV). WHY DOES JESUS EMPTY HIMSELF? by taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7, ESV). WHAT KIND OF SERVANT WAS JESUS? the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-god state of mind. C.S. Lewis WHAT KEEPS US FROM GOD? Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18, NIV). He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper (II Chronicles 26:5). You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Deuteronomy 8:18). WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR ADVANTAGES? CONCLUSION: There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still. Corrie Ten Boom

PRAYERS OF THE CONGREGATION To place someone on the Prayer Chain, please contact Donna Letz in the church office at 714-637-0887 or at hephathachurch@hephatha.net. Those who are ill, recovering, or grieving: Keri Toghia (cancer, friend of Lisa Young); Tammy Meyers (friend of the Maron s, diagnosed with ALS); Noella Rose (friend of Karin DeVore); Harvey Miller (Cancer); Brian Mathis (Hope Glennon s son-in-law); Julie Brown (fighting cancer, Cathy Blankenship s cousin); Soula Xenos (Catherine Lagaris cousin) Don Larson; Pearl Gifford; Tim Ross (battling leukemia); Genell Jackson (cancer, friend of Catherine Lagaris); John (fighting cancer, Nikki Burns nephew); friend of Laura Elardo (fighting cancer); Jessica (Elizabeth Chorak s sister); Diane Dodson (Bettyann s daughter); Myriam Aguilar; Sheri Rose Shepard; Jerry Lyn (Brandon Joseph); Jeanie Wood (Lisa Young s friend); Emma Hughes. Those who are serving in the armed forces: Brandon Walker (Jeri May s great-grandson); Steven Lauridsen (Georgina Lauridsen s son); JT Gaumer (Jan Delaney s grandson); Shayne Mabry (friend of Robert Burns); Robert Burns (Hephatha & OLU grad); Sgt. Carlos Ortiz; Ryan Armstrong (Marie Schillings grandson); Steven and Kyle Drake (Lindsay Drake s cousins). THOSE SERVING TODAY: ELDERS David Hughes and Adam Sharpe USHERS Jim Maglia, Jim Letz, Donna Elmquist, and Jerry Algeo ACOLYTE Anna Manthei, Elli Sumrow, and Blake Alandar PRAISE BAND Mike Cooper, John Sarraffe, Bryan Sievers, Chris Wichmann, Laureene Ernst, and Robyn Maron TECH Brayden Shay-Foley and Haley Castillo Date ATTENDANCE AND GIVING (Monthly average needed to meet budget is $53,600) Attendance Rec d 11/18 207 $7,413 11/25 213 $9,895 12/2 492 $12,551 Oct. YTD Budget Actual Over/ (under) $54,025 $53,713 ($312) $205,100 $200,353 ($4,747)

MID-WEEK ADVENT SERVICES & DINNER Comfort and Joy Join us for Mid-week Advent dinners at 6:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall, and services at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary December 12, 2018 Pardon of Christ Isaiah 40:3-5 Youth Board will be serving tacos December 19, 2018 Power of Christ Isaiah 40:10-11 School will be serving crock pot soups SUNDAY ADVENT SERVICES Down to Earth Down to Earth Humility Philippians 2:5-8 December 9, 2018 Down to Earth Obedience Philippians 2:12-16 December 16, 2018 Down to Earth Lifestyle Matthew 1:18-25 December 23, 2018 CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES Christmas Trees Monday, December 24, 2018 CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICE A Savior is Born Tuesday, December 25, 2018 10:00 a.m.

Offering Envelopes 2019 Offering envelopes are available in the Narthex. If you do not have envelopes, but would like some, please check the box on the envelope in the pew, or write your request on the Get Connected card. WEEKLY SCHEDULE MONDAY: December 10 No Junior High School Youth Group this week, join us at the concert. Sound of Joy School Concert @ 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. TUESDAY: December 11 Praise Band Practice @ 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Panera Bread, Festival Center fundraiser @ 4:00 p.m. 8:-00 p.m. WEDNESDAY: December 12 Women s Wednesday Study @ 9:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Advent Dinner hosted by the Youth Board (taco bar) @ 6:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Mid-week Advent service @ 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. High School Youth Group @ 7:00 p.m. for the Advent Service and 8:00 p.m. for fellowship in the Youth Room. THURSDAY: December 13 Women s Thursday Bible Study @ 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. SUNDAY: December 16 SERVICES: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 6:01 p.m. Sunday School @ 9:30 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Nursery Care @ 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. in Room 6. Open in the Word Bible Study @ 9:30 a.m. in the Youth Room.