Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied.
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world, by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine,
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No fear in life, no fear in death,
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
‘Til He returns or calls me home,
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand!
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences – John 1:10–12
P: Jesus Christ was in the world, and the world was made through Him,
C: yet the world did not know Him.
P: He came to His own,
C: and His own people did not receive Him.
P: But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name,
C: He gave the right to become children of God.
Confession and Absolution – John 1:14
P: God has come to us to make us His own children. Let us confess our sins of unbelief that He may give us faith to receive Him and His love.
C: O God, we confess that we have ignored Your voice and Spirit by choosing to go our own way. Without You, we are lost and confused and without hope. Without You, we do not know love. Come now to us and forgive our waywardness and weakness. Give us Your gifts of faith, hope, and love. Receive us again into the family of Your redeemed. Amen.
P: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 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.
+ Word +
Introit
P: Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
C: The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.
P: O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart;
C: you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
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: Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Almighty God, You know we live in the midst of so many dangers that in our frailty we cannot stand upright. Grant strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations; 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 – Jeremiah 1:4–10
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 12:31—13:13
But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – John 6:60-66
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
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 – Seek Ye First (LSB 712)
Seek ye first the kingdom of God,
And His righteousness.
And all these things shall be added unto you!
Allelu, alleluia!
Ask and it shall be given unto you,
Seek and ye shall find,
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you,
Allelu, alleluia!
Children’s Sermon – Tim Cosby
Hymn of the Day – Great Is Thy Faithfulness (LSB 809)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be. Refrain
Refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! Refrain
Sermon
