| Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Opening Sentences P: The Spirit and the Church cry out: C: Come, Lord Jesus. P: All those who await His appearance pray: C: Come, Lord Jesus. P: The whole creation pleads: C: Come, Lord Jesus.
Opening Hymn – Comfort, Comfort Ye My People (LSB 347)
“Comfort, comfort ye My people, Speak ye peace,” thus saith our God; “Comfort those who sit in darkness, Mourning ’neath their sorrows’ load. Speak ye to Jerusalem Of the peace that waits for them; Tell her that her sins I cover And her warfare now is over.”
Yea, her sins our God will pardon, Blotting out each dark misdeed; All that well deserved His anger He no more will see or heed. She hath suffered many_a day, Now her griefs have passed away; God will change her pining sadness Into ever-springing gladness.
Hark, the herald’s voice is crying In the desert far and near, Calling sinners to repentance, Since the Kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way; Let the valleys rise to meet Him And the hills bow down to greet Him.
Make ye straight what long was crooked; Make the rougher places plain. Let your hearts be true and humble, As befits His holy reign. For the glory of the Lord Now o’er earth is shed abroad, And all flesh shall see the token That His Word is never broken.
Thanksgiving for Light P: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who led Your people Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Enlighten our darkness by the light of Your Christ; may His Word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for You are merciful, and You love Your whole creation and we, Your creatures, glorify You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. C: Amen.
Psalm C: You once revived us, Lord our God, and we rejoiced in You. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, we pray; in Christ Your love we view. P: LORD, You were favorable to Your land; You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. C: You once revived us, Lord our God, and we rejoiced in You. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, we pray; in Christ Your love we view. P: You withdrew all Your wrath; You turned from Your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away Your indignation toward us! Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? C: You once revived us, Lord our God, and we rejoiced in You. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, we pray; in Christ Your love we view. P: Show us Your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation. Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. C: You once revived us, Lord our God, and we rejoiced in You. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, we pray; in Christ Your love we view. P: Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before Him and make His footsteps a way. C: You once revived us, Lord our God, and we rejoiced in You. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, we pray; in Christ Your love we view.
First Reading - Nehemiah 4:1–23 Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders. So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night. In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.” At that time the Jews who lived near them came from all directions and said to us ten times, “You must return to us.” So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work. From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me. And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another. In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.” So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out. I also said to the people at that time, “Let every man and his servant pass the night within Jerusalem, that they may be a guard for us by night and may labor by day.” So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.
Second Reading - 2 Corinthians 10:1-18 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. We were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Hymn – Lord of All Hopefulness (LSB 738)
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy, Whose trust, ever childlike, no cares could destroy: Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray, Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.
Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith, Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe: Be there at our labors, and give us, we pray, Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.
Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace, Your hands swift to welcome, Your arms to embrace: Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray, Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.
Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm, Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm: Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray, Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.
Sermon
Prayers P: Let us pray. O Lord, who in the past revived Your people, showing them steadfast love, hear us as we pray for ourselves and all the Church: Strengthen our hope and increase faith and love among us and toward the world. Use us as fits Your gracious plans for them. C: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Revive us again and stir up our hearts to serve You. P: Show us Your steadfast love now, O Lord. Hear us as we pray for all who have been forgotten by the world’s commerce: Surround with faith-filled people all who are hungry and homeless, the many who are migrants and refugees, people dealing with sudden ills and long-term disabilities, and all who are in mourning. Use us as fits Your gracious plans for them. C: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Revive us again and stir up our hearts to serve You. P: Give us, O Lord, what we need as we struggle in this dark world: Renew in us true faith and peace, faithfulness in worship, a spiritual vitality, and a confidence in Your promise of eternal life. Grant that many join us in fruitful worship. Use us as fits Your gracious plans for them. C: Hear our prayer, O Lord. Revive us again and stir up our hearts to serve You. P: By the blessed coming of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who gave us His own righteousness, grant these our prayers, for we pray in His name. C: Amen.
Collect for Today P: Revive us again, Lord our God, C: and give us Christ’s own righteousness so that we may serve You and love the people around us as living stones of Your temple; P: through the same Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
Collect from Sunday P: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, C: that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds; P: through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen.
Luther’s Evening Prayer I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let your holy angels be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. 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.
Benediction P: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and + give you peace. C: Amen.
Closing Hymn – Prepare the Royal Highway (LSB 343)
Prepare the royal highway; The King of kings is near! Let ev’ry hill and valley A level road appear! Then greet the King of Glory Foretold in sacred story: Refrain
Refrain: Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God’s Word!
God’s people, see Him coming: Your own eternal king! Palm branches strew before Him! Spread garments! Shout and sing! God’s promise will not fail you! No more shall doubt assail you! Refrain
Then fling the gates wide open To greet your promised king! Your king, yet ev’ry nation Its tribute too should bring. All lands, bow down before Him! All nations, now adore Him! Refrain
His is no earthly kingdom; It comes from heav’n above. His rule is peace and freedom And justice, truth, and love. So let your praise be sounding For kindness so abounding: Refrain
+ + + + WORSHIP LEADERS + Preacher/Liturgist – Pastor Scott Jonas Organist/Pianist – Seth Carruthers Sound/Video – Mike Toney
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