| Prelude Greeting and Welcome Lighting of the Candles Hymn of Invocation – We Praise You and Acknowledge You, O God (LSB 941) We praise You and acknowledge You, O God, to be the Lord, The Father everlasting, by all the earth adored. To You all angel powers cry aloud, the heavens sing, The cherubim and seraphim their praises to You bring: “O holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth; Your majesty and glory fill the heavens and the earth!” The band of the apostles in glory sing Your praise; The fellowship of prophets their deathless voices raise. The martyrs of Your kingdom, a great and noble throng, Sing with the holy Church throughout all the world this song: “O all-majestic Father, Your true and only Son, And Holy Spirit, Comforter—forever Three in One!” You, Christ, are King of glory, the everlasting Son, Yet You, with boundless love, sought to rescue ev’ryone: You laid aside Your glory, were born of virgin’s womb, Were crucified for us and were placed into a tomb; Then by Your resurrection You won for us reprieve— You opened heaven’s kingdom to all who would believe. You sit in splendid glory, enthroned at God’s right hand, Upholding earth and heaven by forces You command. We know that You will come as our Judge that final day, So help Your servants You have redeemed by blood, we pray; May we with saints be numbered where praises never end, In glory everlasting. Amen, O Lord, amen! + Preparation + Invocation P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. Opening Sentences - Deuteronomy 6:4–5; Proverbs 3:3–6 P: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. C: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. P: Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. C: So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. P: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. C: In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Confession and Absolution P: Let us humble ourselves before God, confess our sins to Him, and ask His gracious forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. C: We now confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven and before one another, that we are sinful human beings by nature and by deed. We have not always put God first. We have used His holy name in ways that do not honor Him. We have not always been devoted to the Lord and have not fully cherished the sacred writings of our faith. We have failed in ways of keeping our thoughts, words, and deeds pure and honorable. At times we have taken what is not ours and have spoken that which is not helpful or true. We have broken the law of God by coveting that which is not rightfully ours and have not put the best construction on all things and spoken the best of all people. We pray our God to have mercy on us, to forgive us all our sins, and to bring us to everlasting life. Amen. P: The almighty and merciful Lord grants us pardon, forgiveness, and remission of all our sins. As a called and ordained servant of 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: Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live. C: Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your just decrees. P: You have appointed your testimonies in righteousness and in all faithfulness. C: My zeal consumes me, because my foes forget your words. P: Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it. C: Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true. 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: Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live. Salutation and Prayer of the Day P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Let us pray. O Lord, keep Your Church in Your perpetual mercy; and because without You we cannot but fall, preserve us from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; 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 – Amos 8: 4–7 Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?” The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.” P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Epistle – James 4:1-12 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Holy Gospel – Luke 16:1-15 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the sixteenth chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord. [Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ. Apostles' Creed C: 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 – Standin’ in the Need of Prayer (AGPS 220) Not my brother, nor my sister, But it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer; Not my brother, nor my sister, But it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer; It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer; It’s me, it’s me, O Lord, Standin’ in the need of prayer. Children’s Sermon – Steph Chapa Hymn of the Day – Chief of Sinners Though I Be (LSB 611) Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me, Died that I might live on high, Lives that I might never die. As the branch is to the vine, I am His, and He is mine. Oh, the height of Jesus’ love, Higher than the heav’ns above, Deeper than the depths of sea, Lasting as eternity! Love that found me—wondrous thought! Found me when I sought Him not. Only Jesus can impart Balm to heal the wounded heart, Peace that flows from sin forgiv’n, Joy that lifts the soul to heav’n, Faith and hope to walk with God In the way that Enoch trod. Chief of sinners though I be, Christ is all in all to me; All my wants to Him are known, All my sorrows are His own. He sustains the hidden life Safe with Him from earthly strife. O my Savior, help afford By Your Spirit and Your Word! When my wayward heart would stray, Keep me in the narrow way; Grace in time of need supply While I live and when I die. Sermon | 
