Sunday, November 28, 2021 - Advent Begins

Isaiah 64:1–9

¹Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! ²As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! ³For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you. ⁴Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. ⁵You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? ⁶All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. ⁷No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.

⁸Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. ⁹Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people.

 

 

Psalm 80

¹For the director of music. To [the tune of] "The Lilies of the Covenant." Of Asaph. A psalm. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth ²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. ³Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. ⁴O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? ⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. ⁶You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. ⁷Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. ⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. ⁹You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. ¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. ¹¹It sent out its boughs to the Sea, its shoots as far as the River. ¹²Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes? ¹³Boars from the forest ravage it and the creatures of the field feed on it. ¹⁴Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, ¹⁵the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. ¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. ¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. ¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name. ¹⁹Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

 

 

1 Corinthians 1:3–9

³Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵For in him you have been enriched in every way--in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- ⁶because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. ⁷Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

 

 

Mark 13:24–37

²⁴"But in those days, following that distress,

" 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; ²⁵the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

²⁶"At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³²"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "