| Prelude Greeting and Welcome Lighting of the Candles Hymn of Invocation – 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. To me He said: “Stay close to Me, I am your rock and castle. Your ransom I Myself will be; For you I strive and wrestle. For I am yours, and you are Mine, And where I am you may remain; The foe shall not divide us. “Though he will shed My precious blood, Me of My life bereaving, All this I suffer for your good; Be steadfast and believing. Life will from death the vict’ry win; My innocence shall bear your sin, And you are blest forever. “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. “What I on earth have done and taught Guide all your life and teaching; So shall the kingdom’s work be wrought And honored in your preaching. But watch lest foes with base alloy The heav’nly treasure should destroy; This final word I leave you.”
+ Preparation + P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. P: Let us come before our Lord and King in a time of confession so that we may receive assurance of His mercy and forgiveness.
We take a moment of silence for personal prayers and reflection.
P: Lord Jesus, You are the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. C: All things have been created by You: things in heaven and things on earth, visible and invisible. P: All things are Yours, including us. We have been created by You and for Your glory. C: Yet our sinfulness separates us from You and Your will for our lives. By what we do and what we fail to do, we fall apart without You holding us together. P: Lord Jesus, in all things You reign supreme. You are the King of all, the Sovereign of our souls. God the Father dwells fully in You. C: By Your blood, You have reconciled us to the Father. By Your cross, grant us Your forgiveness and peace. Amen. P: Our merciful God is pleased to have all His fullness dwell in His crucified, risen, and ascended Son, Jesus Christ. He alone is the image of God, and in Him all things hold together. Through faith in Christ, you and I have been reconciled to God and stand renewed in His presence. As a called and ordained servant of Christ the King, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
+ Word + Introit P: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. C: The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” P: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” C: The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. 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: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Salutation and Collect of the Day P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Let us pray. Almighty God, as Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, gloriously took His throne, ascending to Your right hand, C: grant that we also ascend in heart and mind and continually dwell there with Him, P: who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
First Reading – 1 Samuel 19:1-7 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted much in David. And Jonathan told David, “Saul my father seeks to kill you. Therefore be on your guard in the morning. Stay in a secret place and hide yourself. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you. And if I learn anything I will tell you.” And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the Lord worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?” And Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan. Saul swore, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be put to death.” And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan reported to him all these things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Epistle – Ephesians 1:15–23 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Holy Gospel – Luke 24:44-53 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the twenty-fourth chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord. Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ. 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.
Children’s Hymn – Brothers and Sisters in Christ (AGPS 78) Sing Alleluia! Amen! Let your prayers and your praises ascend. Lift up your voices and sing To our Lord God, our Savior and King! Here brought together by grace, We are gathered as friends in this place. And assembled as one, In the name of the Son, Lifting hearts, lifting hands, Celebrating as friends And proclaiming the Lord, All our praises afford. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Children’s Message – Tim Cosby Hymn of the Day – I Am Forever Who I Am Though mountains slide into the sea, And waters rush where fields should be, Though monuments and nations fall, Your holy city stands through all. When nothing seems to stay the same, You teach us your eternal name. Refrain Refrain: I am forever who I am. Above you, beneath you, Around you and within you. Be still and know that I am God. Each generation looks for truth, And doubt can trouble age or youth. If other gods would take your place Remember us with love and grace. Reclaim us if we go astray; You are the Truth, the Life, the Way. Refrain Some days seem long, though life is brief, And death is waiting like a thief. When vision fades and dreams go dry, We will on unseen things rely. Our stories take up but a page, But yours goes on from age to age. Refrain Sermon Offertory | 
