Prelude – Prelude in C Major
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 o’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?
Praise to the Lord, who has fearfully, wondrously, made you,
Health has bestowed and, when heedlessly falling, has stayed you.
What need or grief ever has failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade you.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences
P: Make haste, O God, to deliver us!
C: O Lord, make haste to help us!
P: May all who seek the Lord rejoice and be glad in Him!
C: May we say evermore, “God is great!”
P: For Christ is coming soon.
C: Soon, He will descend from the heavens.
P: Soon, He will raise the dead.
C: And we will always be with the Lord.
P: He is our help and our deliverer.
C: O Lord, do not delay!
Confession and Absolution
P: Indeed, Christ is coming soon to raise the dead and bring us into everlasting life with Him. Yet there are times when we have lived as if Christ’s return was not important and not imminent. Yet, our heavenly Father invites us to return to Him and ask for His forgiveness.
P: Heavenly Father,
C: we confess that we have ignored You and our neighbors in need. We have sinned in our thoughts, words, and actions. We have failed by our inactivity. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, O Lord, that we might be encouraged by Your presence and forgiven of our sin.
P: God hears your confession and has promised to always be with you. Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son, Jesus Christ, to die and rise for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen. We are forgiven. We look for the return of Jesus.
+ Word +
First Reading – Amos 5:18–24
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?
“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Colossians 3:1–17
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Matthew 25:1-13
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-fifth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Hymn – I’ve Got Peace like a River (AGPS 139)
I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.
I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.
I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.
I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.
Children’s Sermon
Hymn of the Day – When Peace, like a River (LSB 763)
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way;
When sorrows, like sea billows, roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul. Refrain
Refrain: It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul.
He lives—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought;
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! Refrain
Sermon
