Celebrating the Seasons of the Church Year

Happy New Year! We share these familiar words with each other after the clock has ticked down to midnight. December 31^st gives way to January 1^st, and we look forward to a new year filled with new experiences, new challenges, and a fresh start. We often spend New Year’s Eve reviewing the events of the past year. We remember fun times—birthdays and anniversaries. We recall problems and difficulties—time spent in the hospital, bills that came due. We bring to mind additions to our families, and also subtractions when a loved one is called home to heaven. We remember the past and look forward to the future.

That’s what we’ve gathered to do this morning. Today we come to the last day of the church year—Christ the King Sunday. As we look back over the church year, we remember our celebrations that focus on Jesus’ life. We thank God for the work that Jesus did. We hold tightly to the promise of eternal life that brings comfort at the loss of a loved one. Today we celebrate the different seasons of the church year and thank God for the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, our King.

P: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

P: he restores my soul.

P: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,

P: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

P: Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

 

P: Almighty God, you have crowned your Son as King and by him you will renew all creation. With Jesus as our Shepherd, unite the families of earth now torn apart, that all may be subjected to his gentle rule. He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Ezekiel 34:15-16

¹⁵ I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

 

ADVENT

 

 

Commentary on the Advent Season

Seasons change. Spring becomes summer. Summer gives way to autumn. Autumn changes to winter, and winter to spring. The pattern continues year after year. The same happens in the church year. The first season is called “Advent,” which means “coming.” The first four Sundays of the church year help us prepare for Jesus’ coming. Usually we think about Jesus coming at Christmas. Advent helps us prepare for Christmas, but more than that, for the day Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. The blue color of the candles, the cloth on the pulpit, and the pastors’ stoles helps us remember that just as Jesus went back to heaven, soon he will come back and we’ll see him in the sky.

During Advent, the prophet Isaiah calls us to prepare a way for the LORD. We need to be ready for Jesus’ arrival. Our hearts are like the hills and valleys Isaiah mentioned—rough and rugged, desolate and dreary. We sin so often that we can’t count the things that we’ve done wrong. We need a smooth path. John the Baptist proclaimed, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is near!” The only way to smooth out our hearts is to repent of the things we have done wrong and trust that Jesus came into this world to die for our sins. As we listen to the words of Isaiah, listen for the reason Jesus came once, and the reason for which he will come again.

Let’s join in singing two verses of our hymn, The Advent of Our King.

 

 

Isaiah 40:3-5,11

³ A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. ⁴ Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. ⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” ¹¹ He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

This is the Word of the Lord.

 

CHRISTMAS

 

 

Commentary on the Christmas Season

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, please to put a penny in the old man’s hat. Please to put a penny in the old man’s hat. That old song sums up the way much of the world looks at Christmas. Christmas is a time for festivity and feasting, a time to share what we have with others. We need to love all mankind and really strive for “Peace on earth, goodwill toward men.”

The second season of the church year, Christmas, commemorates the arrival of God’s greatest gift—his Son, Jesus. The colors of the Christmas season are white—a reminder that even though our sins make us dirty, Jesus will wash us and make us as clean as new-fallen snow. We celebrate Christmas to thank God for sending our Savior into the world.

Some Christians have stopped celebrating Christmas. They feel that since Christmas has become too commercialized, too worldly, we should just skip the season. They have a point, don’t they? Often we celebrate Christmas because “it’s what we’ve always done.” We send out cards, buy gifts, attend parties, and go to church because it’s Christmas.

We need to celebrate this season, not because the world tries to ruin it, or because we have to, but for the same reason the shepherds outside Bethlehem celebrated. They heard the angels’ announcement that the Savior had been born. They hustled to the place and found everything exactly as the angel had told them. Christ the Savior is born! He came to save his people from their sins. What better reason do we have to celebrate Christmas? Without Jesus’ birth our salvation is not possible. He is born, the child divine. Let’s celebrate Christmas, and remember why—Jesus, our Savior, is born!

Let’s join in singing the first verse of What Child Is This?

 

 

Luke 2:15-20

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

This is the Word of the Lord.

 

Please join in singing the next verse of What Child Is This.

 

EPIPHANY

Commentary on the Epiphany Season

The Christmas season doesn’t last very long. In fact, it lasts just 12 days. January 6^th marks the end of Christmas and the beginning of the Epiphany season. Epiphany means “appearance” or “revealing.” As we go through this part of the church year, many of the themes each week often have something to do with the appearance of Jesus, the Light of the World.

The season begins with the festival of Epiphany. Some cultures celebrate January 6^th as Three Kings Day, or the Christmas of the Gentiles. Epiphany marks the arrival of the wise men from the East who came to worship the King after seeing his star in the east.

The color green dominates the Sundays that follow. Green is the color of life, and each of the Sundays after the Epiphany concentrate on Jesus’ life here on earth as our Savior. We recall his baptism and watch him perform his first miracles. On the final Sunday of the season, we climb a mountain with Peter, James and John, and watch as Jesus is transfigured (changed) right before our eyes. He revealed his glory and demonstrated his plan to go to Jerusalem and complete god’s plan of salvation.

Epiphany reminds us that the gospel is for all people, not just for the Jews. Jesus came to bring light to Jews and Gentiles. He came to set the world free from the slavery of sin. He brought the joy of forgiveness for all. The next time you see the word Epiphany in the bulletin, remember that Jesus has revealed himself as the Light of the world—our Savior!

Let’s sing the verse of Hail to the Lord’s Anointed to close our thoughts on the Epiphany season.

 

 

 

Isaiah 61:1-2,5-6,11

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, ² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,

⁵ Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. ⁶ And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. ¹¹ For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Please join in singing the next verse of The King of Love My Shepherd Is.

LENT

 

 

Commentary on the Lenten Season

The next season of the church year is Lent. Lent lasts 40 days, not including Sundays. It begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Palm Sunday. The color of this season is purple—the color of royalty and also the color of repentance.

Christians began observing Lent between 200-300 A.D. Lent was a time of preparation for individuals who had been instructed in the Christian faith for three years. Following the model of God’s prophets and Jesus, the believers focused on repentance and prayer during these 40 days. They would be baptized and receive the Lord’s Supper for the first time during the Easter Vigil, the night before Easter.

How do you observe Lent? Do you attend our Wednesday services? Do you “give something up” for Lent? Lent is more than an outward observance. On the Sundays in Lent we see Jesus hard at work for us. He did everything perfectly because we couldn’t. He walked the tightrope of God’s law without slipping and falling. He never sinned. He kept it perfectly for us. When we go through the season of Lent, we take the time to admit all our sins. We recognize that we are the reason why Jesus went to the cross.

Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. This week commemorates the last week of Jesus’ life. We gather on Thursday night, Maundy Thursday, to celebrate the institution of the Lord’s Supper. On Good Friday we mourn Jesus' death and thank God that he punished Jesus instead of us. All the events of Holy Week build to the moment when Jesus, our Good Shepherd, willingly gave his life for the sheep.

Let’s join in singing the hymn verse that focuses on our Shepherd’s sacrifice.

 

 

John 10:11-18

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

This is the Word of the Lord.

We continue with the fourth verse of The King of Love My Shepherd Is.

 

EASTER

 

 

Commentary on the Easter Season

Easter follows the season of Lent and Holy Week. This summer we had several milkweed plants in our back yard. Monarch butterflies came and laid their eggs.

Just a few days later we found microscopic caterpillars eating their fill. It didn’t’ take long for them to grow. They devoured the leaves, the flowers, even the seedpods. Soon, each caterpillar found a hidden spot on another plant and attached itself to a branch. They curled up, and began to change.

Inside the chrysalis, a miraculous change takes place. After a week, the caterpillar has morphed into something brand new. It emerges from its tomb-like cocoon to flex orange wings crisscrossed with black lines and fine white dots. The lumbering, voracious caterpillar has become a delicate, graceful butterfly.

The butterfly has long served as a symbol for Easter in the Christian Church. Three days after his death and burial, Jesus emerged from the tomb. He returned to life as the earth shook and strong Roman soldiers collapsed in fear. The angels rolled away the stone to show the world that Jesus’ cocoon was empty.

Easter is the greatest festival in the church year. One of our hymns expresses our Easter joy like this: The strife is o’er, the battle done; Now is the Victor’s triumph won; now be the song of praise begun. Alleluia! (CW 148 v.1). The color of the day is white, the same as Jesus’ clothing shining like the sun on the day of resurrection. We celebrate this day like no other, because on Easter morning all of our enemies were completely and utterly defeated. We also have hope that one day we will live forever in heaven, thanks to Jesus’ resurrection. Easter morning is the foundation of our faith, because, as Paul reminds us, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). Jesus lives! The eyewitnesses recorded their experiences. We know that he lives, and because he lives, so will we.

Let’s join in singing the two verses of I Know that My Redeemer Lives.

 

 

Hebrews 13:20-21

²⁰ May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Let’s join in the first verse of Alleluia! Sing to Jesus.

 

PENTECOST

 

 

Commentary on the Pentecost Season

The festival of Pentecost marks the birthday of the Christian Church. Fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he sent the Holy Spirit to his disciples. The Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak in different languages.

They shared the good news of Jesus’ resurrection with people from every nation, people, and language. The color for this celebration is red—the color of fire, the color of the Holy Spirit. In the Middle Ages, rose petals were dropped from church rafters to simulate the tongues of fire that appeared over the disciples’ heads. Trumpets were sounded to recall the sound of the mighty, rushing wind. A live dove was set free inside the church to fly off, or a carved dove was let down by a rope.

The Pentecost season continues from Pentecost Day through as many as 28 Sundays. It is a long season, and the color is green—the color of life—to help us focus on our lives as God’s children. This part of the church year gives all kinds of guidance for Christian living. How can we live in a sinful world? How do we respond to our government? How do we treat each other—parents and children, husbands and wives, neighbors and friends? How do we spread the gospel. We hear God’s answers for all these questions and many more.

Let’s sing the verse of the hymn Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling.

 

 

Acts 20:18-25,28

¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.

²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

This is the Word of the Lord.

We sing the next verse of The King of Love My Shepherd Is.

END TIMES

 

Commentary on End Times

The end of the church year, called “End Times,” reminds us to be prepared for life beyond the grave. The theme for the third to last Sunday is The Last Judgment. God’s Word reminds us that faith in Jesus and confidence in his forgiveness enables us to stand before God on Judgment Day. The second to last Sunday is Saints Triumphant. We praise and thank God for taking his believers to heaven where they celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil forever. The final Sunday of the church year, today, is Christ the King Sunday. We are reminded that Jesus was more than just a prophet and a teacher. He is the Son of God, the King of the universe who will welcome us home to heaven. Listen to the words of our Savior as he describes his eternal reign and the judgment to come.

 

Matthew 25:31-40

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

This is the Gospel of the Lord. Please be seated.

 

Offering

The members of Salem give an offering to support God's mission within our congregation and beyond. If you are a visitor, please don't feel obligated to support this ministry. You are our guest. Welcome!

Please be sure to sign the red friendship register in the pew, pass it to your neighbor, and return it to the center aisle when you are finished. Thank you!

 

 

Prayer Requests and Lord’s Prayer

 

Confession and Absolution

 

P: Most merciful God,

P: Because he came to judge us with justice, Jesus Christ declares us not guilty. He gave his life as a ransom for all. For his sake your sins are forgiven!

Words of Institution

 

Distribution

 

Closing (Revelation 7:11-17)

 

P: All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God:

P: Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

P: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.

P: He will lead them to springs of living water.