St Ansgar Lutheran Church, London

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Sunday Morning

We invite you to join us for the following worship services:

Sundays
10:30 a.m. Worship service

Hand sanitizer will be available at the entrance and other locations in the church for
your use.

Washrooms will be available for use.

In the service: The service will be shown on the screen. The offering will not be gathered and presented, but there will be an offering plate at the back of the sanctuary where you can put your offering as you enter or leave. Pastor David distributes the communion wafers and an Assisting Minister distributes wine or grape juice in individual glasses.

We have coffee and fellowship time available again in Luther Hall after the service.

We will continue to evaluate our worship service procedures on a monthly basis.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT, NOVEMBER 30, 2025.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Outline for Worship (with sermon)
Sunday, November 30, 2025 – First Sunday of Advent
Based on ELW Setting Four

GATHERING

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE FIRST ADVENT CANDLE
Waiting, Preparation, Joy, Light
Advent is a time for waiting.
Advent reminds us that we are waiting for God to come to us,
God in the form of the baby Jesus, who lived and died and rose for us.
We wait for God, who will come again in a new and surprising way.
We light the first candle to remind us to wait.

ADVENT SONG – Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah (ELW # 240)
Light one candle to watch for Messiah:
let the light banish darkness.
He shall bring salvation to Israel,
God fulfills the promise.
From Luke 12, “Be dressed and ready for action and have your lamps lit;
be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding
banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and
knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes;
truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will
come and serve them.”

Let us pray: God, in whom we hope, we wait for your coming to us once again.
Strengthen us as we wait, so that we will not lack any spiritual gift. Help us to
stay awake to the signs of your coming.
Amen.

BRIEF ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, whose home is heaven
and earth, whose salvation is sure.
C: Amen.

P: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

P: Long-expected God,
C: we confess that we look to ourselves for the peace and security
only you can provide.
We reach for swords and spears, reluctant to release our grip on
the ways of war.
We become impatient while waiting and weary of keeping awake.
Free us from self-reliance, and teach us to live in harmony with
our neighbours. Increase our trust in God’s timing, and awaken
us to your advent among us, that we may abound in the hope
you have promised. Amen.

P: God judges us not as we deserve, but according to God’s
own righteousness. ☩ You are freed and forgiven, saved by grace,
and ready to welcome the Saviour.
C: Amen.

ENTRANCE HYMN - People, Look East (ELW #248)

GREETING
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you

KYRIE
A: In peace, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God,
and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise,
let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.

A: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
C: Amen.

HYMN OF PRAISE (sung) (ELW p. 149)
P: This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
C: Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain,
whose blood set us free to be people of God.
Power and riches and wisdom and strength,
and honour and blessing and glory are his.
This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia.
Sing with all the people of God
and join in the hymn of all creation:
Blessing and honour and glory and might
be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God,
for the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign.
Alleluia. Alleluia.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
P: Let us pray.
P: Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection
save us from the threatening dangers of our sins, and enlighten our walk
in the way of your salvation, for you live and reign with the Father and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen

WORD

FIRST READING: Isaiah 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it. 3 Many peoples shall come and say,
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the
God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk
in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word
of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

PSALM 122
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is at unity with itself;
4 to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
the assembly of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
5 For there are the thrones of judgement,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls
and quietness within your towers.
8 For the sake of my kindred and companions,
I pray for your prosperity.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek to do you good.”

SECOND READING: Romans 13:11-14
11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you
to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became
believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the
works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us live honourably as in
the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness,
not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

A: The word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
C: Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
P: The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 24:36-44
C: Glory to you, O Lord.

36 "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will
be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood
they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day
Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew nothing until the flood came and
swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man.
40 Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
41 Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one
will be left. 42 Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your
Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: if the owner of the house had known
in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake
and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also
must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

P: The Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to you, O Christ.

SERMON
Matthew 24:36-44
Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the prayers of our hearts,
always be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our Strength, and our Redeemer.
AMEN

This morning is the first Sunday of Advent and therefore, the first Sunday of
the new church year. We begin year A of the three-year cycle this morning,
which is Matthew’s year. When I read this morning’s Gospel lesson for this
first Sunday of Advent, I noticed a couple of things. I noticed that we begin the
Advent season by reading a passage from the end of the Gospel of Matthew.
It seems strange to read from the end of the Gospel of Matthew when this
is the book chosen to guide us during the rest of the church year. My first
thought was maybe we should start at the beginning. We do not actually read
from the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew until the fourth Sunday in Advent.
Another thing I noticed about our lesson is that does not sound very much
like Christmas. The lesson certainly is not jolly. Nothing about this lesson
helps us enter into the Christmas spirit. The season of Advent begins with
warnings for awareness of and readiness for the end times, which come in
some form to every era and every human life. The church encourages us to
read the passage this morning. Let us follow the church’s wisdom, trusting that
we will not lose our Christmas spirit, but hopefully see it transformed.
Matthew presents us with four vignettes, each told with a minimum of detail.
To be honest, each vignette seems intended to get our attention, if not to
scare us. These four vignettes teach us things about what verse 36 calls
“that day and hour.” This important phrase alludes back to the events
described in verses 30 and 31, which tell us about an event, or a promise,
or an assurance that permeates the entire New Testament. The way Matthew
depicts this is to say that “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory.” By saying this the way he does,
Matthew gives us spectacular imagery of the risen Christ riding a cloud
to enter again into our world. This imagery points to the reality that the
future is in God’s hands. The picture of Christ riding on the cloud assures
us that God will intervene in creation. Some other Biblical writers talk
about God’s future for the creation in joyous terms. Paul talks about
the “glory about to be revealed to us.” The author of 1st Peter writes of
“an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven
for you.” These four vignettes remind us that God’s decisive action in
history will include a time of judgement as well.
These four scenes that Matthew paints for us jump start our imagination.
Because they are concrete scenes with people and action, they draw us in.
We need to be careful, however, because these four vignettes intend to
make us squirm and sweat in our seats. Getting ready for Christmas can
make us feel that way too.
The first vignette is an allusion to Noah and the flood story in the Book of
Genesis. While we know that story, how often do we miss how terrible it
really is? God regretted creating human beings. God decided to drown the
whole lot of them. One family would be left. God told Noah to build an ark.
We know the rest of the story. Except for those on the ark, all the animals
and people on earth drown in the flood. Someone who reads this story
without the whole context of the Bible, would find the image of God disturbing
and terrifying, if not insane. In just a few sentences, Jesus paints a scene
of real terror. Jesus focuses on the part of the story that Genesis ignores:
what it was like for the people caught in the flood. People were simply going
about their daily lives: eating lunch, drinking a soda, planning a wedding.
All these things sound innocent. We would expect scenes of merchants
cheating customers, or someone abusing the poor. What we get is
the judgement. With no warning, the floods come down and sweep them
all away.
The next two vignettes are very similar to each other. With one sentence
each, Jesus presents two pairs of people. In both scenes, the two people
depicted are working hard at tedious jobs. Two workers are in a field, and
two women were grinding meal. From each pair one is received into God’s
kingdom, and one is left outside the kingdom. These two vignettes are not
as harsh as the first one. They do not threaten destruction.
The last vignette does not make us feel any better than the first three.
Here Jesus describes God breaking into our world with the image of a thief
breaking into a house. With a burglary, the value of what we lose is only part
of the problem. If someone breaks into our house, we feel violated. It takes
time to feel comfortable in our own home again. Even if Jesus is trying to
make a point with this scene, the image leaves us with an uneasy feeling.
These vignettes seem like the last thing we need to hear as we are coming
into the Christmas season. Why do we need stories about floodwaters
drowning people with no warning, or people being shut out by God,
or thieves intruding into the place where we most want to feel safe?
Let us be honest: Christmas is a difficult time. We have turned a blessing
into a burden. Most of us find this time of the year stressing us to the maximum.
We rush around trying to buy presents, cook food and do holiday baking,
make travel arrangements, and some still send out Christmas cards
and letters. We want everything to be perfect, causing extra stress on
an already stressful season. For some people the holiday is the saddest
time of the year. Lonely people are lonelier at Christmas. If we have had
a recent death in the family, or lost a good friend, Christmas makes the
loss more intense. All of this leaves little time for Christmas cheer.
What we often try to do at Christmas is to hang on as best we can.
We fill the holiday with reindeer, snowmen, eggnog, cookies, and Hallmark
Christmas movies. We try to muster a little Christmas spirit. Trying to be
cheerful when we are not feeling cheerful just masks the emptiness inside.
We try to fill the emptiness with sentimentality.
Maybe the lectionary committee knew what they were doing by assigning this
text for the first Sunday of Advent. If these unsettling stories from the Gospel
of Matthew do nothing else, they tear away our attempts at sentimentality.
Nothing about Noah’s story is sentimental. Can we even imagine God
being as angry as that story sounds? There is nothing sentimental about
being excluded by God. Certainly, there is nothing sentimental about
a thief breaking into our house. When we hear one more rendition of
“Frosty the Snowman” or “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” we need the
words of Matthew to remind us that Christmas is about serious business.
Christmas is about a God who aches over the sin in the world. We don’t like
to hear about God’s judgement, but God’s judgement means that God cares
when people are hurt.
These unsettling stories proclaim to us at the start of Advent that God
hears the cries of the oppressed, of the abused, of the world’s victims.
Matthew shows us that preparation for the season means more than
making sure the presents are wrapped and under the Christmas tree.
We are called to discipleship and witness. We are called to resist the
world’s evil.
The Gospel of Matthew is about more than judgement. After the word
of judgement comes the word of hope, the word of tolerance, the word
of grace. We may not like it that God speaks right before Christmas
through Jesus and Matthew with these frightening stories, but God
needs to get our attention. We are the church, called to show and
teach what the true meaning of Christmas is for one and all.
The word “Advent” means “coming,” and so this season we both celebrate
Jesus’ first Advent among humanity, and await his second Advent, when all
shall live together as children of God, and the darkness will give way to light.
AMEN

Silence is kept for reflection.

HYMN OF THE DAY – Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers (ELW #244)

NICENE CREED
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God, begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven;
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen

PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
A: In our waiting and watching, we come to you in prayer, O God, trusting your
promise to renew the church, the nations, and the whole creation.
A: God of our church, send forth your Spirit as we pray for our Bishops Larry
and Carla. Empower them with your wisdom to lead the church. We also pray
for the Thames Ministry area, especially the people of St. John’s Lutheran
Church, Aylmer, in their time of pastoral vacancy. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of the people, we come seeking wisdom and instruction. Uphold and
strengthen lay leaders, teachers, deacons, pastors, and bishops. Teach us
your ways and lead us in your paths. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of the earth, we seek your goodness in the grandeur of creation.
Empower us to care for forests and oceans, as we see you in the world
around us. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of the nations, grant wisdom to leaders, judges, and mediators.
Cast out words of hate and transform them into words for building up
community. Remake implements of war to sow peace. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of healing, bring comfort and strength. We pray for our kindred and
companions who are ill or despairing, especially Beth, Jean, Mary Margaret,
Kristine, Karen, Emma, Cathy, Lene, Heather, Grethe, Lyra, Donna, Ahlan,
Regena, and those others who are in our hearts. Surround all with care
and consolation. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of new possibilities, when addiction wounds, jealousy tears down,
and relationships fray, show us how to journey with one another.
Nurture therapists, counsellors, and sponsors in their care for others.
God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Merciful God, we pray for peace as war continues to rage in Ukraine
and in Israel and Gaza. Shelter all living in fear; protect those seeking refuge
in neighbouring countries; sustain families separated by the horrors of war;
tend to those who are injured; comfort all who mourn their dead. Direct your
people into the way of peace. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: God of all time, build up our lives that we would reflect your grace. At the last,
bring us with all the saints to your holy city where peace and goodness make
a home. God of grace,
C: hear our prayer.

A: Draw near to us, O God, as we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in
your mercy through Jesus Christ, Emmanuel.
C: Amen.

PEACE
P: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you.

LORD’S PRAYER
P: Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.
C: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.

SENDING

BLESSING
P: May God who comes among us, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit,
grant you patience in waiting, peace in the darkness, and good news
to share today and always.
C: Amen.

SENDING HYMN – The King Shall Come (ELW #260)

DISMISSAL
A: Go in peace. Keep awake.
C: Thanks be to God.

DISMISSAL HYMN – Go Now in Peace
Go now in peace, never be afraid.
God will go with you each hour of every day.
Go now in faith, steadfast, strong and true.
Know He will guide you in all you do.
Go now in love, and show you believe.
Reach out to others, so all the world can see.
God will be there, watching from above.
Go now in peace, in faith, and in love.