Time After Pentecost
10:00 AM Service September 17, 2023
GATHERING
Prelude
Welcome and Announcements
Ringing of the Bell
(Please Stand)
Confession and Forgiveness
L: Blessed be God, the one who forms us, Jesus who bears the cross, the Spirit who makes our joy complete.
Amen.
L: Let us bow before God in humility, confessing our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
L: Steadfast and faithful God,
C: You have revealed the ways of justice, yet we fail to follow you. We are overwhelmed by the world’s violence and suffering. We are afraid to risk what we have for the sake of others. For the harm we have caused, known and unknown, forgive us. For the unjust demands we place on others and your creation, forgive us.
For the ways we turn away from you and our neighbor, forgive us.
Lead us back to you and set us on the right path; in the name of Je-sus Christ, our Savior.
Amen.
Hymn #853 “When Morning Gilds the Skies”
L: The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the commun-ion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
C: And also with you.
This is the feast...
Refrain
L: Let us pray:
All: O Lord God, merciful judge, you are the inexhaustible fountain of forgiveness. Replace our hearts of stone with hearts that love and adore you, that we may delight in doing your will, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
WORD
First Reading Genesis 50: 15—21 Pg. 85
R: Word of God, Word of life. C: Thanks be to God.
Psalm Psalm 103: 8—13 Pg. 939
Refrain:
PS 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
PS 103:9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
Refrain:
PS 103:10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
PS 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
Refrain:
PS 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
PS 103:13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
Refrain:
Second Reading: Romans 14: 1—12 Pg. 1765
R: Word of God, Word of life. C: Thanks be to God.
Children’s Sermon
(Please rise for the Gospel.)
After the Gospel is announced, we sing
The Gospel according to Matthew, the eighteenth chapter.
Gospel Reading Matthew 18:21—35 Pg. 1527
After the reading of the Gospel, we sing
(Please be seated)
Sermon Rev. Kristine Franke Hill
(Please Stand)
Hymn # 588 “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”
L: Together with the whole church, we confess our faith:
All: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
God’s only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
And he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
The Prayers
L: . . . Merciful God
C: Receive our prayers.
Sharing of the Peace
L: The peace of Christ be with you always.
C: And also with you!
L: You may share the peace with one another.
Offering
Offering Hymn # 663 “Spread, Oh, Spread, Almighty Word
Please stand as the last verse is sung and the offering is brought forward.
L: Let us pray.
All: God of power, God of plenty, all things belong to you. We bring your gifts to the table, that all might be fed. Form us into the body of your Beloved, Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
MEAL
P: It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise. . . We praise your name and join their un-ending hymn:
Eucharistic Prayer
P: Holy God, holy and mighty, holy and immortal:
you we praise and glorify, you we worship and adore.
You formed the earth from chaos; you encircled the globe with air;
you created fire for warmth and light; you nourish the lands with water.
You molded us in your image, and with mercy higher than the mountains, with grace deeper than the seas,
you blessed the Israelites and cherished them as your own.
That also we, estranged and dying, might be adopted to live in your Spirit, you called to us through the life and death of Jesus.
In the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do this for the remembrance of me.
Together as the body of Christ,
we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes:
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
P: We give you thanks, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for this blessing of for-giveness and new life, and we ask, Lord…
P: Remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray…
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen
Invitation to Communion
Communion Hymns
Hymn # 591 “That Priceless Grace”
Hymn # 461 “All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly”
Blessing
Prayer after Communion
SENDING
Benediction
P: The God of glory, Jesus name above all names, and the Spirit who lives within you, bless you now and forever.
Hymn # 843 “Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness”
L: Go in peace. God is at work in you. C: Thanks be to God.
Postlude
Our thanks to those who serve as our worship leaders today:
Our Reader—Jeff Lynch
Our Liturgist—Claire Roberts
Organist—Ed Workmon
Hand Bell Director—Wendy Kuenemann
Transitional Pastor—Rev. Kristine Franke Hill