Advent Gatherings—Second Thursday in Advent
Order of Service
Evening Prayer—LSB 243
Psalmody—Psalm 90 Sung responsively, whole-verse by whole-verse, congregation will begin singing at the second verse.
Office Hymn—Walther’s Hymnal #22—“Once He Came in Blessing”
1 Once He came in blessing,
All our sins redressing;
Came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us;
Hope and freedom gave us.
2 Still He comes within us,
Still His voice would win us
From the sins that hurt us;
Would to Truth convert us
From our foolish errors,
Ere He comes in terrors.
3 Thus, if thou hast known Him
Not ashamed to own Him,
But wilt trust Him boldly,
Nor hast spurned Him coldly,
He will then receive thee,
Heal thee, and forgive thee.
4 All these gifts are given
In His pledge from heaven:
Bread and wine deliver
Christ to the receiver;
Here He surely shows us
That He loves and knows us.
5 They who thus unshaking
Cleave without forsaking,
And in every measure
Seek the Master’s pleasure,
Shall depart with gladness
From this vale of sadness.
6 Fast the end is nearing,
Judgment day’s appearing,
When from cause of grievance
He shall grant deliv’rance,
And shall take us yonder
To celestial wonder.
7 On that day of blessing
And of wrath distressing,
All the dead shall waken
And from earth be taken,
There to stand before Him,
And fear or adore Him.
8 Then the faithful-hearted
Shall to bliss be parted,
But the foul deniers
To hell’s bitter fires,-
There to burn in terror
For their sin and error.
9 Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us.
Keep our hearts believing,
That we, grace receiving,
Ever may confess You
Till in heav'n we bless You.
Readings from Holy Scripture
Ecclesiastes 3:1–13 (NKJV)
1To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
2A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
3A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;
4A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
7A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
8A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
9What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?
10I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
11He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,
13and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 5:8–17 (NKJV)
8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
10finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.
11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
14Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
15See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Luke 10:38–42 (NKJV)
38Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
39And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Response—LSB 247
Catechism Recitation—LSB 321, The Seventh Commandment & To Parents
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Eph. 6:4
Canticle—LSB 248
Closing Hymn—LSB 354, “Arise, O Christian People"
Advent Midweek Series 2025
“The Time Is Near: Redeeming the Days Before Christ’s Advent”
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”—Ephesians 5:15–16
Series Overview
Time is God’s gift and our stewardship. It reveals whom we fear, love, and trust. The way we spend it shows where our hearts are set—on the passing world or on the world to come. During this Advent season, we remember that the time is short and Christ’s return draws near. These weeks call us to turn from idols that waste our days, to use every moment faithfully in our vocations, and to live as a people set apart, awaiting the fulfillment of all time in His glorious appearing.
Week 2—“Redeem the Time: Watchful Stewardship in a Passing Age”
Last week’s theme: Time reveals the heart’s allegiance. What we give our time to, we worship. Christ alone must enter and dwell in the heart as Lord, driving out every rival that demands our attention and trust.
Theme:
The days are fleeting; every moment is entrusted to us for faithfulness in our callings. The Christian redeems the time—turning from distraction and idleness to serve God and neighbor with attentive hearts and diligent hands.
The Seventh Commandment
You shall not steal.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.
To Parents
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Eph. 6:4
The Central Thought
God created us to look after the earthly gifts that He has given to our neighbors for their life and well-being.
What kinds of things do all people on earth need for their well-being?
Read Luke 19:1–10. What change did Jesus bring about in Zacchaeus?
✠ As Christians, we rejoice in and look after the earthly goods that God has given us and our neighbor for the support of daily life.
What are some ways that I can help to protect and care for the earthly goods of my neighbor?
A Closer Reading of the Small Catechism
78. Why are earthly goods such as money and possessions important?
They are the gifts by which God provides for our own and our neighbor’s needs and the enjoyment of life. (See the First Article of the Creed.)
225 Psalm 104:14–15 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
226 Proverbs 14:21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1–7, about the collection of money for poor Christians in Jerusalem.
79. How do we fear and love God in keeping the Seventh Commandment?
We fear and love God by not taking God’s earthly gifts from our neighbor in such ways as
A. stealing our neighbor’s possessions and money;
227 John 12:6 [Judas] said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
B. being lazy or sloppy when working as employees;
228 Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Read 2 Thessalonians 3:6–8.
C. acquiring goods by dishonesty, fraud, or taking advantage of others.
229 Psalm 37:21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.
Read about false measurements in Leviticus 19:36 and about trickery in 2 Kings 5:19–25.
We fear and love God by looking after our neighbor’s well-being, by helping to protect and improve our neighbor’s
A. earthly possessions;
230 Exodus 22:14 If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.
B. income and livelihood.
231 Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
232 Exodus 23:4–5 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
Read Genesis 13:8–12; 14:12–16; and Deuteronomy 22:1, 4.
—Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2017), 105–107.
Connections and Applications
80. What else is considered to be our neighbor’s possessions or property today?
Our neighbor’s property may include intellectual property such as ideas and writings (which can be stolen by copyright violation, patent infringement, or plagiarism) and also music, software, movies, and personal information (which might be stolen by online piracy, computer hacking, or identity theft).
81. How does God provide us and others with our earthly goods?
He provides for us through
A. the bounty of the earth (air, water, soil, food, minerals, and so on);
233 Psalm 65:9 You visit the earth and water it; You greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it.
Read Deuteronomy 8:7–10 and Psalm 65.
B. the vocation of parents, family, and neighbors;
234 Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.
235 Proverbs 1:8 Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
C. our jobs and careers.
236 2 Thessalonians 3:10–12 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
237 Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
82. How shall we use our own earthly goods?
We are to be good stewards of God’s created gifts so that
A. our family is provided with shelter, food, education, health care, and the like;
238 1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
B. others (especially the poor) benefit from our grateful and charitable use of what God has given us at home, in church, as neighbors, and as citizens;
239 Matthew 5:42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
240 1 John 3:17 If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?
241 Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Read Proverbs 17:5 and Leviticus 19:9–10.
C. the church has the resources it needs for the proclamation of the Gospel;
242 1 Corinthians 9:14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
243 Galatians 6:6 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.
D. all creation prospers under our care for the land, water, and air.
244 Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
245 Deuteronomy 22:6 If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young.
Read Leviticus 25:3–5.
Note: In Christian freedom, a wise person once determined early in life to live on 80 percent of his income while saving 10 percent and giving 10 percent to church and charity. At the end of life, this person was both generous and wealthy.
—Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2017), 107–109.
How does the Seventh Commandment relate to the Table of Duties: To Parents?
God not only entrusts earthly goods to households but also entrusts children themselves—human beings of eternal worth—to the care of father and mother. Time, attention, and instruction are among the most valuable “earthly gifts” given to parents for the sake of their children’s spiritual life.
The Table of Duties teaches:
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
In this duty, parents are not merely avoiding harm to their children; they are actively protecting and improving their children’s true treasure: faith, character, and wisdom. To neglect this calling—through apathy, distraction, or chronic busyness—is, in a real sense, to deprive children of what God intends them to receive. Thus the Seventh Commandment and the parental office are directly connected.
Parents exercise stewardship not only of money and possessions but of hours, habits, priorities, and the spiritual environment of the home.
What does it mean to “redeem the time” within the vocation of parenthood?
(Ephesians 5:15–17)
Every household operates with finite resources. Just as families budget dollars with care, Christians are to budget time—because time, once spent, cannot be regained. Time is one of the primary means by which God provides spiritual and earthly care.
If a Christian family seeks to obey the Seventh Commandment by protecting and improving their neighbor’s possessions, they must also ask:
How do we protect and improve the spiritual well-being of the children entrusted to us?
This requires deliberate, thoughtful planning of how daily and weekly time is used.
How much time do parents actually have to steward each day?
A simple calculation frames the conversation:
24 hours per day
Minus 8 hours of sleep
(a reasonable average assumed in Scripture’s expectation of work, rest, and watchfulness)Leaves 16 waking hours per day
Across a week this becomes:
112 waking hours per week
These 112 hours are not ours in an absolute sense. They are the Lord’s—entrusted to us for faithfulness toward our families, neighbors, and congregation.
Parents can consider:
How many of those hours go to paid work?
How many to household management (meals, cleaning, logistics)?
How many to commuting?
How many to screens, entertainment, and digital distraction?
How many to exercise, hobbies, and personal recharge (rightly necessary in moderation)?
How many to family conversation, reading, catechesis, and prayer?
How many to church life, including Divine Service, catechesis, fellowship, and acts of mercy?
This accounting is not meant to produce guilt but rather clarity. Time is a limited gift—and the Seventh Commandment teaches us that indifference or laziness toward our vocation can deprive our neighbor (including our own children) of what is theirs by God’s design.
How does this lead us toward faithful, watchful stewardship?
Three themes from the readings reinforce this:
Ecclesiastes 3:1–13
God has appointed a season for everything. Parents are freed from frantic striving but called to be intentional in each God-given season.Ephesians 5:8–17
Christians walk as children of light, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. Stewardship of time is part of that discernment.Luke 10:38–42
Martha’s work was not sinful, but it crowded out “the one thing needful.” Time budgeting allows households to ensure the “better portion” remains central.
Thus, watchful Christian stewardship means asking:
What must we guard our time from?
What must we prioritize our time toward?
How do we regularly ensure that the “training and instruction of the Lord” is not squeezed out by urgent but lesser things?
Discussion Framework for Tonight
Step 1: List the non-negotiables
Sleep, work hours, school, commute, meals, worship, etc.
Step 2: Identify discretionary but necessary items
Household tasks, errands, children’s activities, extended family responsibilities.
Step 3: Name the hidden time-takers
Scrolling, streaming, email loops, idleness, overcommitment, disorganized transitions, etc.
Step 4: Consider the Table of Duties: To Parents
Given our 112 waking hours each week, how many are intentionally devoted to:
Teaching the faith
Reading Scripture
Prayer
Conversation and listening
Modeling wisdom, patience, work, and love
Bringing children to Divine Service and catechesis
Step 5: Ask what changes would constitute “redeeming the time”
Not in a burdensome sense, but in the joyful realization that God has given parents real hours in which He intends to bless their children.
LSB 862, “Oh, Blest the House”
Prayer: Lord God, giver of every good and perfect gift, teach us to rejoice not only in the earthly goods You bestow but also in the hours and seasons You entrust to us for faithful service. Curb every anxious and distracted heart that would squander the time appointed for hearing Your Word, and guard us from neglecting the callings by which we are to bless our families, neighbors, and Your Church. Grant to parents wisdom and diligence to bring their children up in the training and admonition of the Lord, and give to all Your people a steadfast devotion like Mary, who chose the one thing needful. Order our days according to Your will, that in all our vocations we may gladly receive Christ’s gifts and faithfully serve those You have placed in our care; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
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