At Bethany Lutheran 教堂, worship is a celebration of what God has done for us in His Son, 耶稣基督, our Lord and Savior—His initiative in our life, His saving events throughout history. Worship is a remembrance, a reenactment-if-you-will, of God's redemptive acts for all people throughout history; it is also a joyful reception through faith, by God's people now, who live to proclaim His redeeming grace to all the world. 的 Lutheran understanding of "Gottesdienst" or "God's service to us" and "our service to God" are foundational to all that we do in worship. God first comes to us, and we respond in confession, joyful praise, prayer and humble faith.  

+  +  +

Mid-Week Advent Series

的 Clothing of the King...

每天早上, 太阳升起, alarm clocks sound, 朦胧的眼睛睁开, 然后, 在某一时刻, 我们穿上衣服. 袜子, 内衣, 裤子, 衬衫, and shoes; we don clothing that rightly corresponds to our vocation, 我们的文化, and even the weather outside. 我们的 clothing serves as the marker that sets us apart as a species and as an indicator of societal and individual values and traits.  

As Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Twain may have been right on that first part, but his statement excludes the first naked people of history, 亚当和夏娃. And we would argue these two have had quite the influence on who we are and where we are going due to both their lack of clothes as well as their eventual attire. And so it follows that clothing in the Bible is more than a tangential detail. 事实上, clothing often has significant implications for revealing God’s plan of redemption, for our Creator is also the first tailor, 裁缝, 和鞋匠. Despite their rebellion, he covered 亚当和夏娃’s shame and nakedness.  

的 biblical authors use both metaphorical and actual descriptions of priestly and royal garments to point us to the one true Priest and King, 耶稣. And it’s this King, first wrapped in the rags of a swaddle, who then hangs on the cross in order to clothe us in the riches of his righteousness.  

1517 produced this Advent Series and if you’d like a downloadable daily Advent devotional go to www.1517.org/advent.  

• 12月6日^th at 6:30PM in Bethany’s Sanctuary: “的 Foretaste of Fashion”
• 12月13日^th at 6:30PM in Bethany’s Sanctuary: “An Enviable Style”
• 12月20日^th at 6:30PM in Bethany’s Sanctuary: “Clothed in Conviction”

Oh Come Let us Adore Him:

• December 10th - 3:00PM & 7:00PM Annual Christmas concerts: Joy to the World
• December 15th - K-2 Christmas program One Starry Night, 9:00AM & 6:30PM
• December 24th - 9:30AM Advent IV
• December 24th - 3:00PM, 5:00PM and 11:00PM Christmas Eve
• December 24th - HOLY CROSS, CYPRESS - 7:00 PM Christmas Eve
• December 25th - 9:30AM Christmas morn with Holy Communion

+  +  +

 的 相同 text will be explored at ALL in-person worship sites on Sunday mornings: 

Bethany Lutheran in Long Beach, 的 Gathering in Long Beach, and Holy Cross in Cypress; and of course on the Live Stream via our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/c/BethanyLutheranLongBeach at 9:30AM Worship Service.  

SUNDAY MORNING LINEUP:

• In person worship on the campus of Bethany at 8:00 & 9:30AM and Holy Cross at 11:00AM.  Live streamed at 9:30AM.  的 9:30AM service will be Live Streamed via our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/c/BethanyLutheranLongBeach and the recording will be available to watch anytime thereafter.  Worship theme and preacher 相同 on both campuses.
• Sunday morning study in person on the campus of Holy Cross at 9:30AM; lessons of the day with particular attention to the sermon text.

SUNDAY MORNING RESOURCE LINKS:

• Worship Service Resource Page (2023)
• 布道播客
• Under Grace, Under 8!

圣餐: