Prelude – Arioso
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (LSB 802)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Confession and Absolution
P: Let us now confess our sin to God, our merciful Father.
C: Gracious God, with contrition and repentance, we admit and confess our sinfulness. We are by nature sinful and unclean. Daily we have sinned and done things we ought not to have done and have not done that which we are to have been doing as Your servants. We indeed deserve Your punishment in this life and for eternity. Trusting in Your mercy, we come to You for forgiveness. Our trust is not in ourselves but in the merits of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Have mercy on us, O God. Grant us remission of all of our sins, and by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within our hearts and lives, lead us into ways that reflect Your goodness and love.
P: God is gracious and merciful and hears our supplications. By the command of our Lord and as His called and ordained servant, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
First Reading – Deuteronomy 5:1-21, 32-33
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:
“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“‘You shall have no other gods before me.
“‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
“‘You shall not murder.
“‘And you shall not commit adultery.
“‘And you shall not steal.
“‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’”
“You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Romans 11:33–12:8
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Matthew 16:13–20
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixteenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Song – This Is My Commandment (AGPS 240)
This is my commandment that you love one another
That your joy may be full.
This is my commandment that you love one another
That your joy may be full.
That your joy may be full, that your joy may be full,
This is my commandment, that you love one another
That your joy may be full.
This is my commandment that you serve one another
That your joy may be full.
This is my commandment that you serve one another
That your joy may be full.
That your joy may be full, that your joy may be full,
This is my commandment, that you serve one another
That your joy may be full.
Children’s Message – Oliver LaMie
Hymn of the Day – The Law of God is Good and Wise (LSB 579)
The Law of God is good and wise
And sets His will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
To Jesus we for refuge flee,
Who from the curse has set us free,
And humbly worship at His throne,
Saved by His grace through faith alone.
Sermon
