The Birth of John the Baptist Vespers, Christ The KING Presbyterian Rev Paul Wallace

The Birth of John the Baptist Vespers

Call To Vespers

Mal 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

Processional

Praise To The LORD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWuF9S4Y1Kc&t=104s

St. Bartholomew New York City

Passing of the Peace Of Christ

May The Peace Of Christ Be With You

Response By All: And Also With You

Please Take a Moment To Pass The Peace Of Christ

Hymn

These Are The Days Of Elijah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s4hkcZhfqQ

First Reading

Isaiah 40:1 ? "Comfort, O comfort My people," says your God.

 2 "Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD'S hand Double for all her sins."

 3 ? A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

 4 "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;

 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

 6 A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.

 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

 6 "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."

(NAS95)

This Is The Word Of The LORD

Response By All: Thanks Be To GOD!!!

The LORD’S Prayer & Nicene Creed

Matthew 6:9 ? And Jesus said "In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.

 11 Give us this day our daily bread.

 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Christian What Do You Believe?

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth;

and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,

begotten of his Father before all worlds:

God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,

begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father,

by whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,

and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,

and was made man;

and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. 

He suffered and was buried; 

and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, 

and ascended into heaven, 

and sits on the right hand of the Father. 

And he shall come again with glory

to judge both the living and the dead 

whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The Lord, and Giver of Life,

who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

who with the Father and the Son

together is worshipped and glorified;

who spoke by the prophets.

And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

And I look for the resurrection of the dead

and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

The Doxology

Praise GOD From Whom All Blessings Flow: Tune All Creatures of Our God and King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD9wTAG8oWs

Second Reading & Refection

Luke 1:1 ? In as much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us,

 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,

 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;

 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

 5 ? In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

 6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord.

 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.

 8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,

 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

 11 And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

 12 Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.

 14 "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

 15 "For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb.

 16 "And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.

 17 "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

 18 Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years."

 19 The angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

 20 "And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."

 21 The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.

 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.

 23 When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

 24 After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

 25 "This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men."

Luke 1:26 ? Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,

 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

 28 And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."

 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

 30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."

 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"

 35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

 36 "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

37 "For nothing will be impossible with God."…..

Luke 1:56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

 57 ? Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son.

 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

 59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.

 60 But his mother answered and said, "No indeed; but he shall be called John."

 61 And they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name."

 62 And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.

 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, "His name is John." And they were all astonished.

 64 And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

 65 Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.

 66 All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, "What then will this child turn out to be?" For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

 67 ? And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

 68 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

 69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant--

 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old--

 71 Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;

 72 To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant,

 73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

 74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,

 75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

 76 "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;

 77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins,

 78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

 79 TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH, To guide our feet into the way of peace."

 80 And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

(NAS95)

The Holy Gospel Of Our LORD Jesus Christ

Response By All: All Glory To YOU LORD Christ

We will dig deeper into the Birth of John The Baptist on Sunday, so in our brief Vespers Lesson let’s look at the importance of June 24 as it applies to the Traditional Christmas Celebration of December 25.

First, we know full well John is Born 6 Months before Our LORD Jesus Christ.

Second, someone will come in the spirit of Elijah, and IT IS John, and Jesus says so

Third, John IS Jesus ‘s earthly Cousin

These quick thoughts remind us of the details our FATHER in Heaven puts into each page of HIS Word, with a detailed plan on how we will know HIS true Christ.

Please come back Sunday as we go further into this often-forgotten Celebration of a true mile marker in the True path to the Purchase of our Souls in Jesus Christ.

Have a Blessed Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Let Us Love And Sing And Wonder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSPm5_bOeHI

The LORD’S Feast

1Co 11:23 ? For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.

The LORD’S Benediction

Hebrews 13:20 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.

Let Us Go Forth As Those Who Love And Proclaim Our Risen LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.

Response By All: Thanks Be To GOD, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, AMEN!!!

Recessional

Now Thank We all Our GOD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGcbrZilBmk&t=108s