Third Sunday before Advent
Collect
Almighty Father,
whose will is to restore all things
in your beloved Son, the King of all:
govern the hearts and minds
of those in authority,
and bring the families of the nations,
divided and torn apart by the ravages of sin,
to be subject to his just and gentle rule;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Additional Collect
God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Job 19.23-27a
23‘O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! 24O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock for ever! 25For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; 26and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, 27whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
Psalm 17.1-9
R Incline your ear to me, O Lord, and listen to my words.
1 Hear my just cause, O Lord; consider my complaint; *
listen to my prayer, which comes not from lying lips.
2 Let my vindication come forth from your presence; *
let your eyes behold what is right. R
3 Weigh my heart, examine me by night, *
refine me, and you will find no impurity in me.
4 My mouth does not trespass for earthly rewards; *
I have heeded the words of your lips. R
5 My footsteps hold fast in the ways of your commandments; *
my feet have not stumbled in your paths.
6 I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; *
incline your ear to me, and listen to my words. R
7 Show me your marvellous loving-kindness, *
O Saviour of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them. R
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; *
hide me under the shadow of your wings,
9 From the wicked who assault me, *
from my enemies who surround me to take away my life. R
Second Reading
2 Thessalonians 2.1-5,13-17
1As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. 3Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. 4He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?
13But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia. Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven. Alleluia.
Gospel
Luke 20.27-38
27Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus, and asked him a question, 28‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; 30then the second 31and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. 32Finally the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.’
34Jesus said to them, ‘Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; 35but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. 37And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.’
Post Communion
God of peace,
whose Son Jesus Christ proclaimed the kingdom
and restored the broken to wholeness of life:
look with compassion on the anguish of the world,
and by your healing power
make whole both people and nations;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Blessing
May God give to you and to all those whom you love
his comfort and his peace, his light and his joy,
in this world and the next;
and the blessing…
Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above):
Some material included in this service is copyright: © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA
Post Communion (3rd before Advent) © CBFCE 1980; Archbishops' Council 1999 / Church of the Province of Southern Africa
Some material included in this service is copyright: © The Archbishops' Council 2002
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