Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zec 9:9 NIV)

The Lutheran Order of Service for the first Sunday in Advent is available here in isiZulu and seTswana. Today it comes with a sermon based on the first chapter of St. Lukes gospel verses 67-79 in isiZulu (wz1301121202 Adv 1) and seTswana (wt1301121202 Adf 1) by my father Rev. E.A.W.Weber DD (Welbedacht, KZN).

Remember the change in liturgical colours: It’s purple now – as in Lent! Advent is a time of preparation and expectation – preparing for the coming of our Lord in his glory to judge both the living and the dead. For now the “Gloria in exelsis” is omitted in the liturgy until  God willing the intonation of the angels proclaiming the birth of Christ is heard yet again in the gospel Christmas Eve.

We thank the Lutheran Heritage Foundation for supporting the distribution of hard-copies of these orders of worship and sermons throughout Southern Africa. If you also want a copy please do not hesitate to subscribe by writing to EAWWeber@bundunet.co.za.

I pray you have a very blessed time of Advent and have time to meditate on the watchword from Zechariah 9,9 for the first Sunday of this new Church year:  “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (NIV)