01 Sep BULLETIN – SEPTEMBER 1, 2024
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
The Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
CONFESSION and FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever. Amen.
Let us confess our sin and come to God for healing.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Gracious God, have mercy on us. We confess that we have honored you with our lips, but have harmed our neighbors with our tongues. The cravings at war within us cause conflicts and disputes. In our desire to be first we make distinctions among ourselves. We place the needs of the poor and the suffering last. In your great mercy, forgive us our sins. Draw near to us with grace in time of need, and turn us to follow in the way of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
God promises to forgive our iniquity and to remember our sin no more. By grace you have been saved. In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, the source of eternal healing, your sins are forgiven. Amen.
ENTRANCE HYMN
O Master, Let Me Walk with You #492
APOSTOLIC GREETING Page 57
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
KYRIE Pages 57-59
🎶In peace let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶For this holy house, and for all who offer here and online their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
🎶Lord have mercy.
🎶Help, save, comfort, and defend us gracious Lord.
🎶Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE Pages 58-59
🎶This is the feast of victory for our God. Aleluia, aleluia, aleluia. Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.
🎶This is the feast of victory for our God. Aleluia, aleluia, aleluia. Power, riches, wisdom, and strength, and honor, blessings and glory are his.
🎶This is the feast of victory for our God. Aleluia, aleluia, aleluia. Sing with all the people of God, join in the hymn of creation: Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever, Amen.
🎶This is the feast of victory for our God. Aleluia, aleluia, aleluia. For the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign, Aleluia.
🎶This is the feast of victory for our God. Aleluia, aleluia, aleluia.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray:
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God our strength, without you we are weak and wayward creatures. Protect us from all dangers that attack us from the outside, and cleanse us from all evil that arises from within ourselves, that we may be preserved through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING DEUTERONOMY4:1-2, 6-9
So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.
PSALM 78:23-29
🎶Lord, who may dwell in your | tabernacle? Who may abide upon your | holy hill?
🎶Those who lead a blameless life and do | what is right, who speak the truth | from their heart;
🎶they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil | to their friends; they do not cast discredit up- | on a neighbor.
🎶In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who | fear the Lord. They have sworn upon their health and do not take | back their word.
🎶They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes a- | gainst the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be | overthrown.
SPECIAL MUSIC
Brad Crum
SECOND READING JAMES 1:17-27
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, ongoing away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Page 62
🎶Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Mark, the 7th chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around [Jesus], they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.” Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
🎶Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN of the DAY
O Living Bread from Heaven #197
PROFESSION of FAITH Apostles’ Creed Page 64
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He decended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life-everlasting. Amen.
PRAYERS of INTERCESSION
Drawn together in the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray with confidence for the church, God’s good creation, and all who are in need. A brief silence.
God of every generation, give the church a sense of purpose and belonging. Sustain and build up leaders and lay people as we accompany one another in our life with Christ. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
God of creation, you named humans as co-creators with you. Where the earth cries out in pain, bring wholeness. Guide governments and industry, that environmental laws and practices seek to heal and not harm. Bring relief and justice to people and places suffering from climate catastrophe. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Sovereign God, we pray for local communities of every kind: rural and urban; established and new. Lead those in authority to seek the good of all through their words and actions and to mentor others in honest and generous ways. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Healing God, you draw near to all who are hurting. Be with all who desire relief from chronic and acute illness, cancer, and post-traumatic stress. Strengthen health care workers, therapists, and caregivers. Tend to those who are close to our hearts (especially those on our prayer list). Merciful God, receive our prayer.
On this Labor Day weekend, we remember and give thanks for all who have fought for workers’ rights around the world. Continue to improve working conditions and establish fair wages so that all people may thrive. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
Comforting God, console us as we mourn our departed. We hold fast to the promise that death has been defeated by our Savior Jesus Christ. Merciful God, receive our prayer.
As your beloved children, we entrust these and all our prayers to you, holy God, in the name of your dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
EXCHANGE of PEACE
OFFERING
OFFERTORY Page 75
🎶Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit.
OFFERING PRAYER Page 68
Blessed are you, O Lord our God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts. With them we offer ourselves to your service and dedicate our lives to the care and redemption of all that you have made, for the sake of him who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
LITURGY OF HOLY COMMUNION Pages 68-72
🎶The Lord be with you.
🎶And also with you.
🎶Lift up your hearts.
🎶We lift them to the Lord.
🎶Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
🎶It is right to give him thanks and praise.
🎶It is indeed right and salutary….we praise your name and join their unending hymn.
🎶Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might; heaven and earth are full of your glory, Hosana, Hosana, Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
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 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.
POST-COMMUNION CANTICLE
🎶Thank the Lord and sing his praise; tell everyone what he has done. Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear his name. He recalls his promises and leads his people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Aleluia, Aleluia.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
BENEDICTION Page 74
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
Amen.
CLOSING HYMN
Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness #224
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
Revised Common Lectionary copyright © 1992 Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission. Prayers adapted from Sundays and Seasons, copyright © 2019, Augsburg Fortress. Used with permission. Psalm readings from Lutheran Book of Worship, copyright © 1978. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual Subscription #SB160715 Other quotations from Scripture from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, National Council of Churches in Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.