Pastor Sullivan's Blog

Order of Service - Pg. 15 Hymn #105 Praise God the Lord, Ye Sons of Men Hymn #271 Word Supreme, Before Creation Hymn #137 In Peace and Joy I Now Depart Readings Hosea 14:1-9 1 John 1:1-10 John 21:19-24 Sermon on the Holy Gospel 1)          The season of Christmas is relatively short, lasting only twelve days. But in these twelve days a lot gets packed in. The second day of Christmas is St. Stephen’s day, Stephen being the first martyr for the faith after Christ’s ascension. The third day of Christmas, today, the church commemorates St. John, the apostle whom Jesus loved and the author of the fourth Gospel. Stephen died a bloody death for His confession of Christ while John is on the opposite end of the spectrum. John is the only one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ to die a natural death. There was even a saying among the apostles that John wouldn’t die at all, that he would remain alive until Christ’s return. We hear where this saying comes from in the Gospel lesson app

Order of Service - Pg. 15 Hymn #102 Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful Hymn #85 From Heaven Above to Earth I Come Hymn #87 Joy to the World Readings Isaiah 7:10-14 Hebrews 1:1-12 John 1:1-14 Collect for the Nativity of Our Lord Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new birth of Thine Only-Begotten Son in the flesh may set us free, who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of sin; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Sermon on the Epistle 1)          God doesn’t speak to you through prophets anymore. Throughout the Old Testament the Lord God chose to communicate with His people through prophets because sinners can’t bear to hear the voice of God unfiltered. After Adam and Eve fell into sin they heard the Lord walking in the Garden in the cool of the day so they hid themselves. Having rebelled against God’s commandment they feared God’s voice. When the Lord God

Order of Vespers - Pg. 41 Hymn #90 Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising Hymn #103 To The Shepherds As They Watched By Night Hymn #646 Silent Night, Holy Night Hymn #136 Angels From the Realms of Glory Collect for Christmas Eve O God, Who hast made this most holy night to shine with the brightness of the true Light, grant, we beseech Thee, that, as we have known on Earth the mysteries of that Light, we may also come to the fullness of its joys in Heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Sermon on the Holy Gospel 1)          The Christ enters the world in rather humble circumstances. His mother Mary and her betrothed, Joseph, must travel from tiny Nazareth in Galilee to even smaller Bethlehem in Judea, not because they want to but so a foreign government can register them so they can be taxed. Inconvenienced in the final month of her pregnancy, Mary and her bet