Third Sunday in Advent
December 14, 2025
The Third Sunday in Advent will be commemorated on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025.
Advent, a season of repentance, waiting and watching, looks forward in hope. Our Christian faith rests on the hope that Christ, who came in the flesh in history to accomplish our salvation, will also return in the same way to be our judge on the last day and bring us into eternal life.
To attend a worship service, visit locator.lcms.org/church to find a local Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregation. Enter your zip code and click “Search” to see a list of area churches, service times, and contact information.
If you are homebound, traveling, or otherwise unable to attend a service in person, KFUO Radio airs worship services throughout the church year. Visit KFUO.org to view the schedule and listen to services.
Liturgical colors for the Third Sunday in Advent
Blue or violet adorns the altar during Advent. Advent, a season of repentance, waiting and watching, looks forward in hope. Our Christian faith rests on the hope that Christ, who came in the flesh in history to accomplish our salvation, will also return in the same way to be our judge on the last day and bring us into eternal life.
Three-Year Series A Lectionary
Scripture readings
- Isaiah 35:1–10
- James 5:7–11
- Matthew 11:2–15
Lectionary summary
The Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ Brings True Rejoicing, Even Under the Cross
Sometimes life requires the astonishing patience of Job. Like him, we are to rejoice in the midst of affliction, be grounded in repentance under the cross of Christ, and hope relentlessly in His resurrection, that we might see “the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11). In the promise of the Gospel, therefore, “be patient” and “establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7, 8). Like St. John the Baptist, whatever your own kind of prison or suffering may be, call upon Jesus and receive the strength of His Word from those He sends to you. For as “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up,” so is the Good News of Jesus preached to you also (Matt. 11:5). He comes and restores the fortunes of Zion, His Holy Church, so that “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Is. 35:10).
One-Year Series Lectionary
Scripture readings
- Isaiah 40:1–8 (9–11)
- 1 Cor. 4:1–5
- Matt. 11:2–10 (11)
Lectionary summary
John the Baptizer Prepares the Way for the Lord
The voice of the Baptizer cried out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord …” (Isaiah 40:1). John called the people to be made ready for the Messiah’s coming through repentance, for “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). Now He asks from prison, “Are you the one who is to come …?” (Matt. 11:2). Jesus’ works bear witness that He is. The sick are made well; the dead are raised, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Their iniquity is pardoned; they have received from the Lord’s hand double forgiveness for all their sins. The “stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1) still deliver Christ’s overflowing forgiveness to the poor in spirit, comforting God’s people with the word of the Gospel which stands forever. This Gospel produces rejoicing among all those who believe.
Media kits
The LCMS has produced media kits for congregations to use in reaching out to their communities. The free, downloadable resources are designed to allow congregations to add invitations and local details about worship services. Congregations are invited to use these resources to advertise service information or simply to generate opportunities for pastoral conversations in the community.
