24 Aug Bulletin – Sunday, August 24, 2025
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
The Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
ORDER OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
In the name of the Father, and of the ☩ Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Baptized into Christ, let us confess our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Merciful God, you free us to love others, but we neglect our neighbors and follow our own way. You lead us by the Spirit of joy and peace, but we turn away from the abundant life you offer. You surround us with patience, kindness, and generosity, but we grow weary in doing what is right. In your mercy, forgive us. Do not give up on us. Heal us, break our bonds, and show us the path of life. Amen.
You belong to Christ Jesus and you are God’s children through faith. In the cross of ☩ Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven. Clothed with Christ, you are a new creation.
Amen.
GATHERING HYMN
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty #543
APOSTOLIC GREETING
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
🎶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
🎶Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.
🎶Lord God, heavenly king, almighty God and Father: we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God: You take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father; receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
🎶The Lord be with you.
🎶And Also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
O God, mighty and immortal, you know that as fragile creatures surrounded by great dangers, we cannot by ourselves stand upright. Give us strength of mind and body, so that even when we suffer because of human sin, we may rise victorious through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING ISAIAH 58:9b-14
If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your needs in parched places and make your bones strong, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. If you refrain from trampling the Sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests or pursuing your own affairs; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
PSALM 103:1-8
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all God’s benefits
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases;
who redeems your life from the grave and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy;
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
O Lord, you provide vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.
You made known your ways to Moses and your works to the children of Israel.
Lord, you are full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
SECOND READING HEBREWS 12:18-29
You have not come to something that can 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 not another word be spoken to them. (For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned to death.” 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. See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking, for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven! At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe, for indeed our God is a consuming fire.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
🎶Alleluia, Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the 13th chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL LUKE 13:10-17
Now [Jesus] was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the Sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured and not on the Sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it to water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things being done by him.
The Gospel of the Lord.
🎶Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN of the DAY
O Christ, the Healer, We Have Come #360
PROFESSION of FAITH Apostles’ Creed
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
Let us bless the Lord, and never forget all the ways that God is near, benefitting the church, creation and the whole world.
A brief silence.
You call your people to proclaim liberation and freedom for all to all. Give inspiration and wisdom to every leader and lay person so they might pursue a more just and equitable church and society. Redeem our lives O, Lord. Crown us with steadfast love and mercy.
You inspire all creation to sing and bless your holy name. Send healing rains to parched places and relief to flooded lands. Lead us to rebuild ruined ecosystems and habitats. Redeem all that lives O, Lord. Crown the earth with steadfast love and mercy.
You work vindication and justice for all. Make world leaders, local officials, and citizens compassionate. Redeem the lives of the downtrodden and oppressed O, Lord. Crown them with your steadfast love and mercy.
You can satisfy and heal. Make your ways known to those on our prayer list and anyone else in need of being renewed or restored to wholeness. Surround all who suffer from head to toe, inside and out, with your tender love and mercy.
Help us delight in the Sabbath and be invigorated by attending worship and being faithful in prayer. Enable all who gather here or online to be nourished. Refresh us O, Lord. As we crown you with praise and gratitude.
In memory of all the saints who now rest from their labors, we ask for your continued guidance and safekeeping until you return and we are all reunited. Yes, Lord. Guide us and keep us in your safekeeping.
Yes, indeed, Lord. You are full of steadfast love and deliver what’s needed even when we don’t understand the timing of things. Since you consider us your very own daughters and sons, we are confident in you. You never fail; so we trust you with all that we have and all that we are, praying in the holy name of Jesus. Amen.
EXCHANGE OF PEACE
OFFERING
OFFERATORY
🎶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.
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.
BLESSING
CLOSING HYMN
Oh, Happy Day When We Shall Stand #351
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE