Prelude – As The Deer
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Crown Him With Many Crowns (LSB 525)
Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark how the heav’nly anthem drowns
All music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless king
Through all eternity.
Crown Him the Lord of love.
Behold His hands and side,
Rich wounds, yet visible above,
In beauty glorified.
No angels in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bend their wond’ring eyes
At mysteries so bright.
Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave
And rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save.
His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die.
Crown Him the Lord of heav’n,
Enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the king to whom is giv’n
The wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns
As thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns,
For He is king of all.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Confession and Absolution
P: In today’s Epistle, James urges, “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Let us go to God, echoing David’s words in Psalm 54, appointed for today.
P: O God, save me, by Your name,
C: and vindicate me by Your might.
P: O God, hear my prayer;
C: give ear to the words of my mouth.
P: James’ words in today’s Epistle guide our confession. Gracious God,
C: we confess that as we have desired friendship with the world, we forget that it would mean enmity with God. We confess that our passions are at war within us. We have had bitter jealousy and selfish ambition inside us. In all humility, we come to You, holy Lord, seeking Your peace to calm the war within us.
P: God has not given up on you! He yearns jealously over the spirit that He has made to dwell in us. Indeed, He gives more grace. James writes, “A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace,” and in His death and resurrection, Jesus gave us His righteousness and established peace between us and God. 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.
+ Word +
Introit
P: Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
C: Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
P: He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.
C: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen
P: Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. O God, whose strength is made perfect in weakness, grant us humility and childlike faith that we may please You in both will and deed; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Proverbs 15:1-12
A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
A gentle tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
A fool despises his father’s instruction,
but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.
In the house of the righteous there is much treasure,
but trouble befalls the income of the wicked.
The lips of the wise spread knowledge;
not so the hearts of fools.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.
The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,
but he loves him who pursues righteousness.
There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way;
whoever hates reproof will die.
Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the Lord;
how much more the hearts of the children of man!
A scoffer does not like to be reproved;
he will not go to the wise.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – James 3:13—4:10
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Mark 9:30-37
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, the ninth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
[The disciples] went on from there and passed through Galilee. And [Jesus] did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Apostles' Creed
C: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life + everlasting. Amen.
Children’s Hymn – Father Welcomes (AGPS 95)
Refrain: Father welcomes all His children
To His fam’ly through His Son,
Father giving His salvation,
Life forever has been won.
Little children, come to me,
For My kingdom is of these.
Life and love I have to give,
Mercy for your sin. Refrain
Children’s Sermon – Tim Cosby
Hymn of the Day – Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice (LSB 556)
Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice,
With exultation springing,
And with united heart and voice
And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God has done,
How His right arm the vict’ry won.
What price our ransom cost Him!
Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay;
Death brooded darkly o’er me.
Sin was my torment night and day;
In sin my mother bore me.
But daily deeper still I fell;
My life became a living hell,
So firmly sin possessed me.
“Now to My Father I depart,
From earth to heav’n ascending,
And, heavn’ly wisdom to impart,
The Holy Spirit sending;
In trouble He will comfort you
And teach you always to be true
And into truth shall guide you.
Sermon
