Sunday Next Before Advent Sermon Resources

THE COLLECT.
STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE LESSON. Jeremiah 23. 5
BEHOLD, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north-country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

THE GOSPEL.
The 1662 BCP has the following Gospel:
St. John 6. 5.
When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? (And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.) Philip answered him, Two hundred shillings' worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, there is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes; but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world.

The 1962 Canadian BCP has the following Gospel:
St. John 1. 35
JOHN the Baptist stood, with two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi (which is, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou? He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first findeth his own brother, Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Cephas (which is, by interpretation, A stone). The day following, Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

INTROIT. Ps 85:1-7
LORD, thou art become gracious unto thy land: / thou hast restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the offence of thy people, / and covered all their sins.
3 Thou hast taken away all thy displeasure, / and turned thyself from thy wrathful indignation.
4 Turn us then, O God our Saviour, / and let thine anger cease from us.
5 Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever? / and wilt thou stretch out thy wrath from one generation to another?
6 Wilt thou not turn again, and quicken us, / that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Ant. O LORD, show thy mercy upon us, / and grant us thy salvation.
Glory be. Repeat Antiphon.

GRADUAL. Ps 85:8-13
I WILL hearken what the Lord God will say: / for he shall speak peace unto his people and to his saints, and unto them that turn their heart to him.
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, / that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together: / righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth springeth out of the earth; / and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
12 Yea, the LORD shall give what is good; / and our land shall yield her increase.
Alleluia, All. Righteousness shall go before him, / and shall direct his going in the way. All.

Additional Propers for Eucharistic Devotion