Prelude – Assurance
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – When Morning Gilds the Skies (LSB 807)
When morning gilds the skies,
My heart, awaking, cries,
“May Jesus Christ be praised!”
When evening shadows fall,
This rings my curfew call:
“May Jesus Christ be praised!”
When mirth for music longs,
This is my song of songs:
“May Jesus Christ be praised!”
God’s holy house of prayer
Hath none that can compare
With “Jesus Christ be praised!”
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Psalm 25:6-7; 147:6
P: The Lord lifts up the humble;
C: He casts the wicked to the ground.
P: Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love
C: for they have been from of old.
P: Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
C: according to Your steadfast love, remember me, for the sake of Your goodness, O Lord!
Confession and Absolution
P: O almighty God, merciful Father,
C: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
P: Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of the Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
+ Word +
First Reading – Deuteronomy 17:14-20
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Philippians 2:1-18
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Matthew 21:23-32
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the twenty-first chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Song – How Majestic Is Your Name (AGPS 122)
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.
O Lord, we praise Your name.
O Lord, we magnify Your name,
Prince of Peace, mighty God,
O Lord God Almighty.
Children’s Message
Hymn of the Day – Thy Word Is a Lamp (LSB 247)
Refrain: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet
And a light unto my path.
When I feel afraid, think I’ve lost my way,
Still You’re there right beside me,
And nothing will I fear as long as You are near.
Please be near me to the end. Refrain
I will not forget Your love for me and yet
My heart forever is wandering.
Jesus be my guide and hold me to Your side,
And I will love you to the end. Refrain
Sermon
