Part One: Commemoration
Commemoration Liturgy
ADVENT PREAMBLE
Coming and Waiting
LEADER
Christ has come. The Son of God took on human flesh. God dwelt among men. The Savior arrived to redeem sinners. But before Jesus came to earth, there was a long time of waiting, expectation, and anticipation. Since the fall in Eden, creation groaned under the burden of curse and condemnation. For millennia, God’s good earth lamented the loss of paradise. For thousands of years, humanity grieved its guilt and shame. But thanks be to our gracious God! He would not abandon the creation he so loved. Instead, he instituted an eternal plan to redeem his fallen world. God wrapped his salvation plan with his faithful promises, guaranteeing that salvation would come to fruition. God would send his eternal Son, Jesus, into the world to rescue the grieving and groaning creation. God announced his coming through figures and foretellings, prophets and revelations, oracles and visions. For generations, God’s people waited for his coming. The inspired word of God directed humanity’s gaze to the living Word of God. Their future is our past. Indeed, the Son of God has come—born of a virgin, fulfilling ancient oracles, and bringing hope to mankind. This Advent season, we reenter their time of anticipation—a time of waiting, a time of longing, a time of grieving—looking ahead to the appearing of our Lord. For, in truth, we are in our own time of waiting and yearning— eagerly looking ahead for the final appearing—the second coming—of this same Savior.
ALL
And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”
CANDLE LIGHTING
Waiting Patiently
LEADER
The waiting of Advent eventually gives way to the joy of Christmas. But we cannot experience the true joy of Christ’s coming without encountering the reality of sin. The ruined world writhes under the curse until it is redeemed in Christ. The world is burdened under darkness until it is set free by the eternal Son— the Light of the World. Broken humanity suffers the loss of sin until it is restored by the God–Man, Christ the Lord. The Advent wreath and its candles help us remember these truths. As we set up the candles, we get ourselves ready to celebrate anew the coming of God’s Son. We prepare ourselves to receive him afresh, commemorating his coming as good news to mankind. Because of Jesus, peace triumphs over evil’s tyranny. In Christ, hope overcomes despair. The promised Messiah is joy to the aching human heart. The God-Man is the full expression of God’s love to sinners.
ALL
I waited patiently for the Lord; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
FIRST CANDLE
Peace Restored
LEADER
At Eden’s fall, God’s good and ordered world was ruined by sin. Beauty was marred. Dignity was defaced. Hostility and enmity ravaged the world. Humanity was separated from God. We gaze ahead to the coming of Christ, when all unrest is finally undone. The first candle of Advent reminds us that we wait for Christ as the restorer of peace on earth.
ALL
Come, see the works of the Lord, who brings devastation upon the earth. He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire. “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.” The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
SECOND CANDLE
Hope Fulfilled
LEADER
Long has humanity suffered under the threat of death, judgment, and despair. Mankind wanders the globe in fear, desperation, and hopelessness. We anticipate the coming of Christ, when all God’s promises will come to fruition. The second candle of Advent reminds us that we wait for Christ as the fulfillment of all human longing and hope.
ALL
Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory. In His name the nations will put their hope.
THIRD CANDLE
Joy Abundant
LEADER
We live in a world of pain and sorrow. Tragedy torments the globe, grief mocks mankind, and sorrow taunts the human heart. We look to Christ’s coming as the end of misery and rebirth of delight. The third candle of Advent reminds us that we wait for Christ as the fullness of joy to every believing heart.
ALL
Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known in all the earth. Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.
FOURTH CANDLE
Love Consummated
LEADER
God’s cosmos is rife with hatred and hostility. Wars abound. Relationships are in disarray. Humanity is estranged from its Creator. The history of earth is a tragic story of violence, animosity, and ill will. We wait for the coming of Christ, when God’s mercy will be fully put on display in the God-Man. The fourth candle of Advent reminds us that we wait for Christ as the fullness of God’s love poured out on undeserving humanity.
ALL
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
FIFTH CANDLE
Truth Victorious
LEADER
Sin blinds the eyes, deafens the ears, dulls the spirit, and hardens the heart. The world is lost in its evil ways, prone to rebellion, idolatry, immorality, and injustice. The human heart is perpetually deceitful and incurably wicked. Fueling the world’s disrepair is a rejection of God and his word. We have embraced lies to our own demise. We anticipate the coming of Christ as the light of God’s truth breaking into a deceived world. The final candle of Advent reminds us that we wait for Christ as the Word of God—the complete revelation of God to mankind.
ALL
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
SACRED SONG
Angels From the Realms of Glory
VERSE 1
Angels from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o’er all the earth; Ye who sang creation’s story Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
REFRAIN
Come and worship, come and worship, Worship Christ, the newborn king.
VERSE 2
Shepherds, in the field abiding, Watching o’er your flocks by night, God with us is now residing; Yonder shines the infant light.
VERSE 3
Sages, leave your contemplations, Brighter visions beam afar; Seek the great Desire of nations; Ye have seen his natal star.
BLESSING AND BENEDICTION
His Appearing
LEADER
As we wait and remember the first coming of Christ, we acknowledge that we eagerly wait for his second coming. Let us come and worship the newborn King in anticipation of his future return—the final advent of our reigning Lord. In unison, our anthem this season is: Come, Lord Jesus.
ALL
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age, as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
 Rieser, Michael. On the Eve of the Birth of Christ. 1869. Oil on canvas, 92 x 95 cm. Dorotheum.