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Liturgy for Advent 3    

Narrator: Today we light the candle of Joy.

  A reading from the Gospel of Luke chapter 2 verses 8 to 12:

“There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them.  They were terribly afraid, but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid!  I am here with Good News for you, which will bring great joy to all the People.  This very day in David’s town your Saviour was born – Christ the Lord!  And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

  The Prophet Isaiah foretold of a messenger who would be seen coming across the mountains announcing, with joy, the Good News of the victory of God and the regathering of His People back to a right relationship with Him.  (Isaiah 52: 7)  This is the same Good News announced by the angels.

  But Rome’s religious leaders also announced good news at celebrations surrounding the Roman Emperor, particularly on his birthday, when he, too, was hailed as “saviour” and “lord”.  But Jesus’ birth in a lowly cattle stall, and his being laid in a manger, distinguishes the true King from the Roman Emperor, whose loyalists in Luke’s day would have bristled at the implicit comparison.

  It is significant that the angels bypassed the ruling elite and the religious leaders of Israel and announced their Good News to some shepherds, a group despised by ‘respectable Society’ because a shepherd’s duties kept them from participating in the religious activities of their communities. 

  The angels gave three titles to the baby that the shepherds would find “wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger”.  He would be their “Saviour”, their “Christ” and their “Lord”, titles linked to the Old Testament narrative of the “salvation that God is bringing to Israel”.  Jesus is entering Israel’s history as God’s agent of divine deliverance and as God’s anointed ruler who has received sovereign authority from God.  The Good News is joyful news indeed.  The shepherds, living on the margins of society, were the perfect candidates to be the first to hear the Good News from God that joy and salvation belong to the whole people, not to the self-selected few. 

‘Rejoice! It’s Christmas‘ by Helen Steiner Rice

May the holy remembrance of the first Christmas Day

Be our reassurance Christ is not far away.

For on Christmas he came to walk here on Earth,

So let us find joy in the news of his birth.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Good Christians All Rejoice’

John Neale

Prayer of Praise and Confession    

Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God.

And our spirits rejoice in you.

We will praise you as long as we live.

We will sing praises to you our whole lives long.

We will not trust in the powerful of this World,

But will trust in you–Creator of Heaven and Earth,

the One who gives food to the hungry,

the One who enacts justice for the oppressed.

Our souls proclaim your greatness, O God

As we worship you in this place, as we light these candles in hope, peace, and joy.

Holy God of Joy, we rejoice in the reality of who you are.

We live within the joy of your love for us.

Our contentment comes and goes.  Our happiness ebbs and flows.  Our feelings depend upon our circumstances, our physical health, our brain chemistry. 

But our joy is deeply rooted in our identity as your beloved children.  And we give you thanks.

Merciful God, you sent your messenger to prepare the way, to transform us like the refiner’s fire, to call us to account.  The prophets of old have spoken and guided our feet in the way of peace.

Forgive us for our failure to listen and to act.  Forgive us when we are quick to point the finger at someone else.  Forgive us when we put our heads down and ignore the cries of injustice.  Forgive us when we presume to understand the complexity of issues that divide and distract people.

When our spirits despair and we deny our blessedness,

Forgive us, O God.

When we ignore the mighty things you have done, when we doubt your mercy,

Forgive us, O God.

When we are proud in the thoughts of our hearts and minds,

Forgive us, O God.

When our power and privileges rests on the oppression of others,

Forgive us, O God.

When our wealth causes others to go hungry,

Forgive us, O God.

Merciful God forgive us, heal us, encourage us, and speak through us, that we may be transformed through the refiner’s fire, and that the offerings of our hands and our hearts may prepare the way for the Christ child to be welcomed among us and our community.

To your glory we pray.  Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness 

(from 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 & 10a) 

The Apostle Paul writes to the Church in Thessalonica saying:

“God did not choose us to suffer His anger, but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with him.”

We have confessed our sins before God, and have proclaimed our trust in the saving work of Jesus Christ, as Paul writes, so, let us accept that God has heard our prayers, and that God has answered us by forgiving our sins and accepting us into that renewed relationship with Him for which He seeks.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of illumination 

Almighty, gracious Father, for as much as our whole salvation depends upon our true understanding of your holy Word, grant to all of us that our hearts, being freed from worldly affairs, may hear and comprehend your holy Word with all diligence and faith, that we may rightly understand your gracious will, cherish it, and live by it with all earnestness, to your praise and honour, through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Bible Readings

Psalm 126:

1  When the LORD brought us back to Jerusalem, it was like adream!  2  How we laughed, how we sang for joy!  Then the other Nations said about us,

“The LORD did great things for them.”

3  Indeed He did great things for us; how happy we were!

4 LORD, make us prosperous again, just as the rain brings water back to dry riverbeds.  Let those who wept as they planted their crops, gather the harvest with joy!  6  Those who wept as they went out carrying the seed will come back singing with joy, as they bring in the harvest.

Isaiah 61:

1  The Sovereign LORD has filled me with His Spirit.  He has chosen me and sent me,

to bring good news to the poor

to heal the broken-hearted,

to announce release to captives and freedom to those in prison.

2  He has sent me to proclaim that the time has come when the LORD will save His people and defeat their enemies.

He has sent me to comfort all who mourn,  3  to give to those who mourn in Zion joy and gladness instead of grief, a song of praise instead of sorrow.

They will be like trees that the LORD has planted.  They will all do what is right, and God will be praised for what He has done.  4  They will rebuild cities that have long been in ruins.

8  The LORD says,

“I love justice and I hate oppression and crime.  I will faithfully reward my people and make an eternal covenant with them.  9  They will be famous among the Nations; everyone who sees them will know that they are a people whom I have blessed.”

10  Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done.  Sher is like a bride dressed for her wedding.  God has clothed her with salvation and victory.  11  As surely as seeds sprout and grow, the Sovereign LORD will save His people, and all the Nations will praise Him.

(Today’s English Version)

This is the Word of God.

Praise to you Almighty God.

John 1:

6  God sent a messenger, a man named John,  7  who come to tell people about the light, so that all should hear the message and believe.  8  He himself was not the light; he came to tell about the light.  9  This was the real light – the light that comes into the World and shine on all of Humanity.

19  The Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sent some Priests and Levites to John to ask him,

“Who are you?”

20  John did not refuse to answer, but spoke out openly and clearly, saying,

“I am not the Messiah.”

21  “Who are you, then?” they asked.  “Are you Elijah?”

“No, I am not” John answered.

“Are you the Prophet?” they asked.

“No.” he replied.

22  “Then tell us who you are,“ they said, “we have to take an answer back to those who sent us.  What do you say about yourself?”

23  John answered by quoting the Prophet Isaiah,

“I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert; make a straight path for the Lord to travel!’”

24  The messengers who had been went by the Pharisees,  25  then asked John,

“If you are not the Messiah nor Elijah nor the Prophet, why do you baptise?”

26  John answered,

“I baptise with water, but among you stands the one you do not know.  27  He is coming after me, but I am not good enough even to untie his sandals.”

28  All this happened in Bethany on the east side of the Jordan River, where John was baptising.

(Today’s English Version)

This is the Gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ (TiS312)

Verse 1 of 5

Once in royal David’s city

Stood a lowly cattle shed

Where a mother laid her baby

In a manger for his bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ her little child.

Verse 2 of 5

He came down to Earth from Heaven

Who is God and Lord of all,

And his shelter was a stable,

And his cradle was a stall;

With the poor and mean and lowly

Lived on Earth our Saviour holy.

Verse 3 of 5

And through all his wondrous childhood

Day by day like us he grew;

He was little, weak, and helpless,

Tears and smiles like us he knew;

And he feeleth for our sadness,

And he shareth in our gladness.

Verse 4 of 5

And our eyes at last shall see him,

Through his own redeeming love,

For that child so dear and gentle

Is our Lord in Heaven above;

And he leads his children on

To the place where he has gone.

Verse 5 of 5

Not in that poor lowly stable,

With the oxen standing by,

We shall see him: but in Heaven,

Set at God’s right hand on high

When, like stars, his children crowned

All in white shall gather round.

Cecil Alexander

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘As with gladness men of old’  (TiS314)

William Dix

Sermon

  I want to commence by very briefly looking at how words can be used not to convey any truth that may be implied by the words and phrases being used, but are used to portray a sculptured picture of reality; incorrectly used to convince the intended audience of these words and phrases of the portrayed ‘rightness’ of the politics and actions of the speaker.

  You have Hamas calling it unjust that Israel has not agreed to a cease-fire in Gaza, yet has itself unjustly refused to do the very thing Israel has stated would be the one basis upon which it would cease its military action, the immediate and total release of all of the hostages.

  You have Russia calling for an end to the destruction and death and the dislocation of people from the military action being undertaken by Israel in Gaza, yet refuses to discontinue its own so-called military action in the Ukraine, that has also resulted in the identical destruction and death and the dislocation of people.

  You have China calling for diplomacy and abiding by Internationally accepted principles for an end to the impasse in Gaza, yet it refuses to accept and abide by the ruling of an International Court of Arbitration regarding the boundaries between Nations in the South China Sea.

  The principle I am seeking to outlines is the danger of half-truths or of distorted truths becoming presented as the whole truth. 

  In a book titled, The Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes, I came across these two quotations that bring out the lesson I am seeking to put across:

  “A half truth is a whole lie.”  Yiddish Proverb 

  “The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted.”  Geog Christoph Lichtenberg  (an 18^th century German physicist, satirist and author) 

  (Reader’s Digest Quotable Quotes P157) 

  My point, though, is that this is not so with the Psalmist.  The Psalmist does not lie about God, they do not present half-truths about God, nor do they distort truths about God.  We need to accept that the Psalmist does not write their words as do some in the World today, to portray a false reality.  We need to accept that what the Psalmist writes about God is the truth, is relevant to us, and is something upon which we should contemplate and meditate.

  The writer of Psalm 126 says three important things when they write:

“Then the other Nations said about us,

‘The LORD did great things for them.’

Indeed He did great things for us; how happy we were!”  (Psalm 126: 2b, 2c & 3) 

  Firstly, they write:

“The LORD did great things for us.”  (verse 2c & 3a) 

  Secondly, they write:

“how happy we were (because of the great things that God has done for us).”  (verse 3b) 

  Thirdly, they write:

“other Nations (saw the great things that God has done for us, and how happy we were, and exclaimed the truth of what they saw).”  (verse 2b) 

  So, what has this to do with us at Advent?

  Todays passage from Isaiah 61 commences with these words:

“The Sovereign LORD has filled me with His Spirit.  He has chosen me and sent me.”  (Isaiah 61: 1a) 

  The Prophet Isaiah writes the words of a speaker who is saying that God is at work in the World.  The speaker is saying that God is empowering and equipping and directly them, so that through them God will fulfill His Will and purpose in the World.

  So, God is empowering and equipping and directly them to do what exactly?

“to bring good news to the poor

to heal the broken-hearted,

to announce release to captives and freedom to those in prison,

to comfort all who mourn”,

so we read in Isaiah 61: 1b & 3a.

  And what will be the result?

There will be “joy and gladness instead of grief, a song of praise instead of sorrow.  Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done.”, so we read in Isaiah 61: 3 & 8.

  But wait, there’s more! 

  The Prophet Isaiah then writes:

  “(God’s people) will be famous among the Nations; everyone who sees them will know that they are a people whom (God) has blessed. As surely as seeds sprout and grow, the Sovereign LORD will save His people, and all the Nations will praise Him.”  (Isaiah 61: 9 & 11b) 

  But haven’t we seen this pattern of three steps before?  Of course we have, for we’ve just seen it is in the words of the author of Psalm 126.

  Firstly, the author of Psalm 126 writes:

“The LORD did great things for us.”  (Psalm 126: 2c & 3a) 

  What great things does the speaker in Isaiah 61 say that God will do through them?

“to bring good news to the poor

to heal the broken-hearted,

to announce release to captives and freedom to those in prison,

to comfort all who mourn”,

so we read in Isaiah 61: 1b & 3a.

  Secondly, the author of Psalm 126 writes:

“how happy we were (because of the great things that God has done for us).”  (Psalm 126: 3b) 

  What does the Prophet Isaiah will come about because of God working through the speaker quoted by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 61?

  There will be “joy and gladness instead of grief, a song of praise instead of sorrow”.  Jerusalem rejoices because of what the LORD has done, so we read in Isaiah 61: 3 & 8.

  Thirdly, the author of Psalm 126 writes:

“other Nations (saw the great things that God has done for us, and how happy we were, and exclaimed the truth of what they saw).”  (Psalm 126: 2b) 

  And what does the Prophet Isaiah say?

  “(God’s people) will be famous among the Nations; everyone who sees them will know that they are a people whom (God) has blessed. As surely as seeds sprout and grow, the Sovereign LORD will save His people, and all the Nations will praise Him.”  (Isaiah 61: 9 & 11b) 

  The identical pattern is found in Psalm 126 and in Isaiah 61.  This is the pattern by which we see God at work.  The emphasis is on God; God acting in Time and Space, not in myth; God acting in the History of Humanity, not in myth.  God is acting to bring joy and blessing to those who allow Him to work in their lives, the complete opposite to the emphasis of Man-made religions where you must do all that you can to appease and to please God so as to convince Him to bring joy and blessing to you.

  And the third step is so crucial to the process.  There is no room for people to be proud of their own god or gods; there is no room for people to seek to compare their god or gods to the God of the people of Israel; there is no room for people to be proud of their own efforts to bring about their right relationship with their god, nor with the God of the people of Israel.  It is to the reality of the God of the people of Israel working and achieving all, by His efforts alone, which “all the Nations” will become aware.  It is to the reality of the God of the people of Israel working His Will and purpose in the World through His chosen agent which “all the Nations” will become aware, such that “all the Nations will praise (God)” for what God is doing, as we read the words of the Prophet Isaiah.  (Isaiah 61: 11b) 

  But, it is still unclear how this passage relates to this Advent Season.

  Near the commencement of his three years of ministry, Jesus preached throughout the territory of Galilee, and became a respected teacher of the Scriptures in the synagogues.  (Luke 4: 14 & 15)  When his journeying took him back to his home-town of Nazareth, where he had spent most of his childhood through to his early adulthood, it was only natural that he be asked by the officials in the Synagogue in the town to read the Scriptures at the Sabbath meeting and to give a talk on the passage, as was the practice.  For the town was curious to justify for themselves the grounds for his notoriety throughout the region of Galilee. 

  Why he was handed the scroll of Isaiah from which to read is not explained, but Jesus used the opportunity.  He opened the scroll at where our chapter 61 commences, where the speaker recorded by the Prophet Isaiah states:

“The Sovereign LORD has filled me with His Spirit.  He has chosen me and sent me.”  (Isaiah 61: 1a) 

  Jesus read the following few verses from Isaiah 61 outlining the great work God would do among His people, which will bring joy and relief to His people, and for which all the Nations will acknowledge before God by praising Him; as we have just discussed.  Jesus sat down to commence his teaching, and Luke records Jesus saying to those present in the Synagogue:

“This passage of Scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”  (Luke 4: 21) 

  What was revolutionary in this speech of Jesus was his claim to be the person chosen by God, empowered by God, and sent by God, to accomplish God’s great work in the world.

  In saying what he did, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, God’s Saviour for all of Humanity, Jew and Gentile, as the Scriptures had foretold.  Jesus claimed that God’s great work among Humanity would be fulfilled in and through his life and death and resurrection, as the Scriptures had foretold.  (Michael Wilcock in The Message of Luke p61) 

  John the Baptist had been arrested by King Herod Antipas in around mid27AD and imprisoned in Herod’s fortress at Machaerus, located to the east of the Dead Sea in what was the territory of Peraea, now part of Jordan.  (Mark 1: 14)  After he had been in prison for about one year, around mid28AD, some of his Disciples shared with him the news of what Jesus had been doing throughout Judea and Galilee.  (Luke 7: 17 & 18) 

  John, isolated as he was in his prison cell, would have had difficulty comprehending what he had heard, for he had not experienced first-hand the authority of the teaching of Jesus nor the wonders of the miracles of Jesus.  He was receiving snippets of information about Jesus without clarification of the context or of the response of people to the ministry of Jesus.  John had a clear awareness of his calling from God;

“I am ‘the voice of someone shouting in the desert:  Make a straight path for the LORD to travel.’”, quoting from Isaiah 40: 3.  (John 1: 23) 

  John had a clear awareness that his ministry was just the commencement of God working in the World and that he was preparing the way for whatever it was that God was doing and whoever it was through whom God was to fulfill His great work in the world.  John would have found it frustrating to be where he was without being able to continue in his ministry of pointing to “the real Light, the Light that comes into the World and shines on all of Humanity”, as John the Apostle writes  (John 1: 9)  , or of knowing whether his ministry had finished and was now superseded by “he (who) is coming after me”, as he referred to the Messiah to the messengers sent by the “Jewish authorities in Jerusalem”  (John 1: 27) 

  It is no wonder, then, that, at this point in time, John the Baptist sent some of his Disciples to seek out Jesus and to ask Jesus:

“Are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”  (Luke 7: 19 & 20) 

  Jesus, fully aware of the frustrations felt by John and of John’s uncertainty as to whether he had fulfilled his calling, replied by referring to the very news that John’s Disciples had originally passed on to John, that is, “Jesus healing people from sickness and disease, and evil spirits, and giving sight back to the blind”, and presenting the Good News.  (Luke 7: 21)  .

  Jesus answered John’s messengers:

“Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.  How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”  (Luke 7: 22 & 23) 

  In his answer, Jesus quotes from a passage in Isaiah 35: 5 & 6, and also, for a second time, from Isaiah 61: 1.  For a second time in his ministry, Jesus identifies himself with the person whom Isaiah records as being chosen by God, empowered by God, and equipped by God to fulfill God’s Will and purpose in the World, the Salvation of Humanity.

  Jesus then said,

“How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”  (Luke 7: 23) 

  In saying this, I believe that Jesus was encouraging John, with the understanding that John had successfully accomplished his task of being the voice pointing people towards Jesus.  Jesus was telling John that he had done all that God had called him to do.

  But Jesus was also talking to a wider audience, those who were not imprisoned in Herod’s fortress, and who could see and hear Jesus, or gain first-hand accounts of what people had seen and had heard about Jesus.  It was this wider audience to which Jesus was challenging to respond to his message of God’s Good News, not with fear and dread of the judgement of God, which was the message proclaimed by the religious authorities in Jerusalem, but with joy, because of the promise from God Jesus was presenting to them:

“Our God is merciful and tender.  I am here to tell you that you will be saved by having your sins forgiven.”  (Luke 1: 77 & 78a) 

  At this Advent time, we, too, can share in this joy; the joy of knowing that God called Jesus, empowered Jesus, equipped Jesus, and led Jesus to accomplish the task God has planned and enacted for bringing Salvation to all of Humanity, to all Nations.  Let us rejoice always in living out of our “life in union with Christ Jesus”, in the same manner as the Apostle Paul encouraged the Church at Thessalonica.  (1 Thessalonians 5: 16 & 18)  

  We are no longer imprisoned by our sins, but are now at liberty to love and to serve our Lord and Saviour.  Amen.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘Child in the manger’  (TiS319)

Mary Macdonald

translated by Lachlan Macbean

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘The Three Drovers’ from Five Australian Christmas Carols

Verse 1 of 3

Across the plains one Christmas night, three drovers riding blithe and gay,

Looked up and saw a starry night, more radiant than the Milky Way;

And on their hearts such wonder fell, they sang with joy “Noel!  Noel!”

“Noel!  Noel!  Noel!”

Verse 2 of 3

The air was dry with Summer heat, and smoke was on the yellow Moon,

But from the Heavens, faint and sweet, came floating down a wondrous tune,

And, as they heard, they sang full well, those drovers three, “Noel!  Noel!”

“Noel!  Noel!  Noel!”

Verse 3 of 3

The black swans flew across the sky, the wild dog called across the plain,

The starry lustre blazed on high, still echoed on the Heavenly strain,

And still they sang “Noel!  Noel!” those drovers three “Noel!  Noel!”

“Noel!  Noel!  Noel!”

John Wheeler

Offering

Offering Prayer    

“For the life that you have given”  TiS774  

[This hymn is being sung to the tune Austria – there is no introduction.]

[This YouTube is for another hymn so disregard the words – only the one verse is needed.]

For the life that you have given,

For the love in Christ made known,

With these fruits of time and labour,

With these gifts that are your own:

Here we offer, Lord, our praises;

Heart and mind and strength we bring;

Give us grace to love and serve you,

Living what we pray and sing.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Prayers for Others

Lord our God, you have revealed yourself as One who wishes to bring about justice and true peace among people; in a World that looks away from injustice,

You cast your eyes on the destitute, the poor, and the wronged; you have called us to follow you, to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the time of your blessing.

Be present with your Church, Lord, as we respond to your call.

Open our eyes to the downtrodden.  Fill us with compassion for the plight of the alien, the refugee, and the immigrant.  Lead us into ministries that help orphans and widows.  Give us courage to block the paths of the ungodly who exploit the poor and powwerless.

Set us free from pious exercises that prevent us from the true worship you choose:

Sharing bread with the hungry,

Sharing homes with the homeless,

Sharing clothes with the naked,

Sharing the hope of renewed lives and opportunities for those in our prisons.

So may your justice roll down like waters, your righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.  Lead our footsteps to stand with the poor, that we might stand with you.

Merciful God, may Mary’s song of praise to you be heard through the ages, drowning out the din of Christmas chaos.

May it be heard by the victims of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in Mali, and in Myanmar.

May it ring in the ears of the traumatised in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

May it sing in the hearts of those stuck in the refugee camps of Lebanon, Jordan and Greece.

May it be the rally cry of peace for the war-weary of the Ukraine, and South Sudan, and Yemen, and Gaza.

May it nourish hope in the bellies of those fearful of failed harvests and failed rains.

May it be a song that stirs reverent fear in the hearts of those who assume power and leadership of Nations, so that they seek your Kingdom and not theirs.

And may the joyful promises of justice and overturned power fill all our hearts to overflowing action.  To your glory and honour we pray.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil,

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,

Now and forever.  Amen.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Hymn ‘What child is this?’  from A Wreath of Carols p52

William Dix

Benediction    

  God has promised to come to heal the broken-hearted, to give courage to fearful hearts, and to give release us from those things that bind our hearts and our souls.  Let us open our eyes to see the presence of God in our lives, and to the working of God in our hearts and minds, such that we, too, can sing our praise of God who does great things for us.

  And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always.  Amen.

You are invited to listen to or join in singing the Benediction Hymn ‘Rejoice and be Merry’  Carols for Choirs 1 number 32

Verse 1 of 4

Rejoice and be merry in songs and in mirth!

O praise our Redeemer, all mortals on Earth!

For this is the birthday of Jesus our King,

who brought us salvation, his praises we’ll sing.

Traditional English Carol