Prelude
Greeting and Welcome
Lighting of the Candles
Hymn of Invocation – Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (LSB 940)
Holy God, we praise Thy name;
Lord of all, we bow before Thee.
All on earth Thy scepter claim,
All in heav’n above adore Thee.
Infinite Thy vast domain,
Everlasting is Thy reign.
Hark! The glad celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising;
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising,
Fill the heav’ns with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord!
Lo, the_apostles’ holy train
Join Thy sacred name to hallow;
Prophets swell the glad refrain,
And the white-robed martyrs follow,
And from morn to set of sun
Through the Church the song goes on.
Thou art King of Glory, Christ;
Son of God, yet born of Mary.
For us sinners sacrificed,
As to death a Tributary,
First to break the bars of death,
Thou hast opened heav’n to faith.
+ Preparation +
Invocation
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Opening Sentences - Psalm 46:1; 50:1
P: God is our refuge and strength,
C: a very present help in trouble.
P: The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth
C: from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Confession and Absolution
P: Invited by the grace of God, as His baptized children, we entreat His mercy confessing our sins and receiving His forgiveness.
C: O merciful Father, hear our plea for Your constant help in the struggle of living in the strength of our Baptism into the death and resurrection of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We lay our sins on His own atoning death. Raise us in the assurance of Your forgiveness and Your power to create a new and contrite heart, that we may serve You in holiness and forever sing Your praises both now and forever. Hear us for the sake of Jesus, our Lord and our eternal King. Amen.
P: The almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given you the new birth of water and the Spirit, strengthen you with His grace. In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, and by His authority, 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: Splendor and majesty are before him; we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!
C: Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
P: For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
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: Splendor and majesty are before him; we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!
Salutation and Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. O Lord, You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son, Jesus Christ, that we may follow Him on the way that leads to eternal life; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
First Reading – Judges 16:13–22
Then Delilah said to Samson, “Until now you have mocked me and told me lies. Tell me how you might be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web and fasten it tight with the pin, then I shall become weak and be like any other man.” So while he slept, Delilah took the seven locks of his head and wove them into the web. And she made them tight with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled away the pin, the loom, and the web.
And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. And he told her all his heart, and said to her, “A razor has never come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If my head is shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I shall become weak and be like any other man.”
When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up again, for he has told me all his heart.” Then the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hands. She made him sleep on her knees. And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison. But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle – Hebrews 12:4–24
In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Holy Gospel – Luke 13:22-30
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the thirteenth chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
[Jesus] went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
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 – Let Me Learn of Jesus (AGPS 156)
Let me learn of Jesus; He is kind to me;
Once He died to save me, nailed upon the tree.
When I go to Jesus, He will hear me pray,
Make me pure and holy, take my sins away.
Let me think of Jesus; He is full of love,
Looking down upon me from His throne above.
Children’s Sermon – Janet Leet
Hymn of the Day – Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise (LSB 802)
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all life Thou givest—to both great and small—
In all life Thou livest, the true Life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree
And wither and perish—but naught changes Thee.
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render: O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light that hides Thee.
Sermon
