12 Jul Bulletin – Sunday, July 12, 2026
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
Rev. Nancy Brody,Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, July 12, 2026
Seventh Sunday After Pentecost
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
BRIEF ORDER OF CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity [☩] one God, whose compassion endures forever.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin to God. Silence is kept for reflection.
Compassionate God, we confess to you all our sins. Our burden is heavy, and we cannot free ourselves. In your mercy, call us back to you. Your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Restore us to dwell in your peace. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” In the name of God, Father, [☩] Son, and Holy Spirit, your sins are forgiven. Rest in God’s love. Amen.
ENTRANCE HYMN
Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty #250
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.
Let us pray:
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Almighty God, we thank you for planting in us the seed of your word. By your Holy Spirit help us to receive it with joy, live according to it, and grow in faith and hope and love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING ISAIAH 55:10-13
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle, and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
PSALM 65:[1-8] 9-13
[You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; to you shall vows be fulfilled.
To you, the one who answers prayer, to you all flesh shall come.
Our sins are stronger than we are, but you blot out our trans-gressions.
Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there! They will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple.
Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation, O hope of all the ends of the earth and of the oceans far away.
You make firm the mountains by your power; you are girded about with might.
You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the clamor of the peoples.
Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs; you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.]
You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the river of God is full of water. You prepare the grain, for so you provide for the earth.
You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths overflow with plenty.
May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing, and the hills be clothed with joy.
May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; let them shout for joy and sing.
SECOND READING ROMANS 8:1-11
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he con-demned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
🎶Alleluia, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia. Alleluia.
The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the 13th chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL MATTHEW 13:1-9, 18-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. If you have ears, hear!” “Hear, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet such a person has no root but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
🎶Glory to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN OF THE DAY
Rise Up, O Saints of God! #383
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
Trusting in God’s steadfast love for all of creation, let us pray for the church and world. A brief silence.
By your Spirit, continue to prepare and nurture the church with the goal of helping it grow; scatter your grace generously upon people everywhere. O God of our salvation, hear our prayer.
By your Spirit, give all of creation cause to rejoice. Help humanity learn to tend this planet, the garden of your making, not only to take what it wants from it. O God of our making, hear our prayer.
By your Spirit, answer the prayers of everyone on our prayer list, including any who come to you out of personal need, a desire to intercede, fearful reverence or a sense of condemnation. Show your presence to them, O God of hope. Hear our prayer.
By your Spirit, we pray for children whose parents cannot care for them, for all who must toil while enduring hardships without refreshment, for those experiencing chronic problems without adequate resources or lacking the wisdom to manage them. O God of grace, hear our prayer.
By your Spirit, tend to everyone’s needs throughout the seasons. Safely guide those who travel for work or recreation. May vacationers and others who experience relief, share their refreshment. O God of unique and special memories, hear our prayer.
By your Spirit, we give thanks for the roots of your goodness which run deep throughout history. We remember saints who have gone before us in faith and ask to experience communion with them. God of holy community, hear our prayer.
O God, you continue to do awesome and marvelous things upon land, sky and sea. Show people everywhere the power of your might. May the earth tremble at your goodness, your righteousness, and abundant provisions. We trust your goodness and cast all our cares upon you. O God, let these things be so through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
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.
EXCHANGE of PEACE
OFFERING
OFFERTORY
🎶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.
BLESSING
CLOSING HYMN
On What Has Now Been Sown #261
DISMISSAL
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.
Altar flowers at St. Peter are presented by Lynn Noblit in memory of Ralph & Evelyn Noblit and loved ones.