| Prelude Greeting and Welcome Lighting of the Candles Hymn of Invocation – Beautiful Savior (LSB 537) Beautiful Savior, King of creation, Son of God and Son of Man! Truly I’d love Thee, truly I’d serve Thee, Light of my soul, my joy, my crown. Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands, Robed in flow’rs of blooming spring; Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, He makes our sorr’wing spirit sing. Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight, Bright the sparkling stars on high; Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer Than all the angels in the sky. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, Son of God and Son of Man! Glory and honor, praise, adoration Now and forevermore be Thine! + Preparation + P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. P: Our help is in the name of the Lord, C: who made heaven and earth. P: If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? C: But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared. P: Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner. C: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen. P: Almighty God, merciful Father, in Holy Baptism You declared us to be Your children and gathered us into Your one, holy Church, in which You daily and richly forgive us our sins and grant us new life through Your Spirit. Be in our midst, enliven our faith, and graciously receive our prayer and praise; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. C: Amen. + Word + Introit P: He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations. C: Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! P: Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, C: O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! P: He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 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: He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations. Kyrie Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy. Salutation and Collect of the Day P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Let us pray. O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; 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 – Genesis 12:1-9 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Romans 4:1–8, 13–17 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” The promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Holy Gospel – Matthew 16:24-28 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixteenth chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord. Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Apostles' Creed 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, I Adore You (AGPS 94) Father, I adore You, Lay my life before You. How I love You. Jesus, I adore You, Lay my life before You. How I love You. Spirit, I adore You, Lay my life before You. How I love You. Children’s Message – Janet Leet Hymn of the Day – Amazing Grace (LSB 744) Amazing grace—how sweet the sound— That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see! The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be As long as life endures.
Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come; His grace has brought me safe thus far, His grace will lead me home. Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail And mortal life shall cease, Amazing grace shall then prevail In heaven’s joy and peace. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we’d first begun. Sermon Offertory | 
