Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
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.
Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
Surely His goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
As with His love He befriends you.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen sound from His people again;
Gladly forever adore Him!
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – Psalm 104:24, 27–28, 30, 33
P: O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
C: These all look to You, to give them their food in due season.
P: When You give it to them, they gather it up;
C: when You open Your hand, they are filled with good things.
P: When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the ground.
C: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
P: I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Confession and Absolution
P: Today is Thanksgiving, a day we set aside as a nation to give thanks to our God who graciously gives us all things. In one of Paul’s letters to Timothy, he urges that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” For each one of us there are people we struggle to be thankful for.
C: We confess our struggles and our sins to God, seeking His forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
Silence for personal confession
P: God created this world and everything in it, including all of the people who live in it. According to God’s gracious will, He “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Here’s the truth: God loves the people of this world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life, and for His sake God forgives us all our sins.
C: Amen.
+ Word +
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Gracious God, You provide us all we need for our bodies and lives. Lead us by Your Holy Spirit to see and be thankful for all of the blessings You give us, thanking You with our lips and our lives; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Old Testament Reading – Deuteronomy 8:1–10
“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Hebrews 12:1–11
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Luke 17:11–19
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the seventeenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Hymn of the Day – Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (LSB 892)
Come, ye thankful people, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.
All be safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin;
God, our maker, doth provide
For our wants to be supplied.
Come to God’s own temple, come;
Raise the song of harvest home.
All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear.
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.
For the Lord, our God, shall come
And shall take His harvest home,
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away,
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast,
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.
Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide:
Come with all Thine angels, come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.
Sermon
Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life + of the world to come. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
P: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Lord, on this day we thank You for Your bountiful gifts to all of us. We remember Your many acts of kindness to Your people through all ages. We bless You for the orderly progression of the seasons and thank You for the bountiful harvest of the fruits of the earth. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We thank You for the Church, asking that the message of salvation joyfully be proclaimed throughout all the world. Bless the work of missionaries, teachers, health workers, and all others who share their faith in countless ways. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We thank You for the world in which we live and pray for the community of nations. Continue to give us all things needful, and grant that we be good stewards of the earth. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We thank You for the gift of our families and everyone in them. Help us be truly thankful not only for the material blessings in our lives but for the people who share our lives with us. Grant that our homes be places of love and care and our neighborhoods be welcoming sanctuaries for all. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We thank You for the faithful labor of people living out their vocations for our welfare. Today we ask a special blessing on the military forces of our nation, those stationed both at home and abroad, whose efforts serve to defend our nation in challenging times and who guarantee our safety in times of peace. And we remember those whose labor brings food to our tables in this and in every season. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: We thank You that Your care embraces all people as we remember those with special concerns and needs including the ill, hospitalized, and those shut-in, those who sorrow, the unemployed, and underemployed. Help us to find purpose and blessing in assisting those who need the care and compassion that we can offer them. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Merciful God, in our thankful remembrance we recall those no longer among us on earth, who now rejoice in the glorious light of Your heavenly kingdom. Grant that we be inspired by their faithful witness as we look forward to that time when we rejoice together at Your heavenly throne, giving You eternal thanks and praise. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
