Prelude – Now Thank We All Our God
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (LSB 790)
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O, my soul, praise Him, for He is your health and salvation!
Let all who hear now to His temple draw near,
Joining in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who e’er all things is wondrously reigning
And, as on wings of an eagle, uplifting, sustaining.
Have you not seen all that is needful has been
Sent by His gracious ordaining?
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Zechariah 9:9
P: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
C: Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
P: Behold, your king is coming to you;
C: righteous and having salvation is He.
Confession and Absolution – Matthew 11:28; Romans 7:21, 24
P: By ourselves, we are not righteous and cannot free ourselves; our only hope is to be given Christ’s righteousness and thereby be saved. Let us therefore confess our sins to God, our heavenly Father.
Silence for reflection on God’s Word and our sinful condition.
P: Merciful God,
C: I confess to You and in the presence of my brothers and sisters that I daily sin much and deserve nothing but punishment. Not only am I by nature sinful and unclean, but also with St. Paul, “I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
P: Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He offers full and free pardon for all your sins and even your sinful condition. By His death and resurrection, He provides rest, not only from physical turmoil and emotional stress; in Him, we find rest for the soul! As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Salutation and Collect of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Lord Jesus, whose yoke is easy and burden light, who has promised that we will find rest for our souls, when we are weary, strengthen our resolve; when disheartened, lift our spirits; and when opposed on all sides, surround us with Your strong love, for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Acts 10:1-15
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.” When the angel who spoke to him had departed, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier from among those who attended him, and having related everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Romans 7:14-25a
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Matthew 11:25–30
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the eleventh chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Song – Make Me a Servant (AGPS 174)
Make me a servant, humble and meek,
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak.
And may the pray’r of my heart always be:
Make me a servant, make me a servant,
Make me a servant today.
Children’s Message
Hymn of the Day – We Shall Overcome (AGPS 259)
We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday.
Oh, if in our hearts we do believe,
We shall overcome someday.
We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday.
Oh, if in our hearts we do believe,
We’ll walk hand in hand someday.
We shall all have peace, we shall all have peace,
We shall all have peace someday.
Oh, if in our hearts we do believe,
We shall all have peace someday.
Sermon
