Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
9 E Homestead Ave. Palisades Park, NJ 07650 201-944-2107 Sundays 11:00 a.m. We preach Christ crucified (1. Corinthians 1,23)

Thursday, December 22, 2016

O King of the nations. 22. December antiphon

℣ O King of the nations, the Ruler they long for, the Cornerstone uniting all | people: * 
℟ Draw near and save mankind, whom You formed | out of clay. 

For to us a Child has been born and a Son has been given; authority rests upon His shoulders, and He is called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9,6). He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for all people; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2,4). Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a Stone, a Tested Stone, a Precious Cornerstone, of a Sure Foundation; Whoever believes will not be in haste. (Isaiah 28,16). For Jesus Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2,14). 

Jesus is the King of the nations and the Cornerstone of His Church. He is the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, the one who is all and fulfills all. This incarnate Jesus was born to redeem fallen mankind from sin, death and hell; He was born to restore mankind's broken fellowship from God the Father. All that has been sundered will be rebound; all that is lost will be found; all who are built on Him will endure for ever and ever. 

Prayer: O Christ Jesus, King of the nations, send forth the Holy Spirit to proclaim the gospel so that in hearing we are grounded upon the solid foundation of the prophets and the apostles with You the Cornerstone, our everlasting salvation.  Amen. 

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