Prelude – God of Grace
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing (LSB 475)
Good Christian friends, rejoice and sing!
Now is the triumph of our King!
To all the world glad news we bring:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
The Lord of life is ris’n this day;
Bring flow’rs of song to strew His way;
Let all the world rejoice and say:
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Confession and Absolution
P: Give ear, O Lord, to the prayers of Your people, and listen to their cry for mercy.
C: You, O Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Silence for self-examination
P: Lord of mercy,
C: we confess that with us there is an abundance of sin, but in You there is the fullness of righteousness and an abundance of mercy. We are poor sinners whose thoughts, words, and deeds betray our weakness and death. You, O Lord, are gracious and merciful and, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, You have saved us by His blood. Give to us true repentance that we know Your forgiveness and the comfort of a clear conscience. Give us also hearts made new by Your grace, that we love You above all things and our neighbors as ourselves and, by Your Holy Spirit, do what is pleasing in Your sight. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Silence for meditation
P: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. Through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, our Savior, you have been made the children of God in Baptism and live because of His mercy. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: May He who began this good work within you bring it to completion on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be with you.
C: And also with you.
+ Word +
Salutation and Collect of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. O God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by Your Holy Spirit that, ever mindful of Your final judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with You in perfect joy hereafter; 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 – Acts 21:17-26
When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle - Romans 8:18-27
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Welcome of New Members, Derek & Laurel Don
Holy Gospel – Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the thirteenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Children’s Song – Rejoice in the Lord Always (AGPS 203)
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice, and again I say rejoice.
Children’s Message
Hymn of the Day – Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice (LSB 556, verses 1-3)
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.
Sermon
