St Edburg's Church - Bicester

Collect of the Day

God our redeemer,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for his coming as our saviour,
so we may be ready to greet him when he comes again as our judge; who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

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First Reading

Micah 5.2-5a

The LORD says to his people:
2But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labour has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 4And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth;
5and he shall be the one of peace.

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Psalm

Luke 1.46

1 My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; ♦
he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.

2 From this day all generations will call me blessed; ♦
the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his name.

3 He has mercy on those who fear him, ♦
from generation to generation.
4 He has shown strength with

his arm ♦
and has scattered the proud in their conceit,
5 Casting down the mighty from their thrones ♦
and lifting up the lowly.
6 He has filled the hungry with good things ♦
and sent the rich away empty.
7 He has come to the aid of his servant Israel, ♦
to remember his promise of mercy,

8 The promise made to our ancestors, ♦
to Abraham and his children for ever.

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Luke 1. 46-55

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.

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Second Reading

Hebrews 10.5-10

5When Christ came into the world, he said, ‘ Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me;

6in burnt-offerings and sin-offerings you have taken no pleasure.
7Then I said, “See, God, I have come to do your will, O God”

(in the scroll of the book it is written of me).’
8When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt- offerings and sin-offerings’ (these areoffered according to the law), 9then he added, ‘See, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

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Gospel

Luke 1.39-45(46-55)

39Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’ s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
46And Mary said, ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, 48for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

4th Sunday of Advent

49for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;
53he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,55according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

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Post Communion Prayer

Eternal God,
as Mary waited for the birth of your Son,
so we wait for his coming in glory; bring us through the birth pangs of this present age
to see, with her, our great salvation
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

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Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above)

Hebrews 10.5-10 © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA

Luke 1. 39-45(46-55) © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA

Micah 5.2-5a © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, US A

Collect (4th of Advent) © The Archbishops' Council 2000

Some material included in this service is

copyright: ©

The Archbishops' Council 2000