21 Sep BULLETIN – SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2024
WELCOME to MESSIAH & ST. PETER LUTHERAN CHURCHES
The Reverend Nancy Brody, Pastor
Greta Wright, Organist
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost
ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRELUDE
BRIEF ORDER OF 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.
GATHERING HYMN
God Himself Is Present #249
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
🎶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, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation, and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives. Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil, take up our cross, and follow your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST READING JEREMIAH 11:18-20
It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. And I did not know it was against me that they devised schemes, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will no longer be remembered!” But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
PSALM 54
🎶Save me, O God, | by your name; in your might, de- | fend my cause.
🎶Hear my | prayer, O God; give ear to the words | of my mouth.
🎶For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless have | sought my life, those who have no re- | gard for God.
🎶Behold, God | is my helper; it is the Lord who sus- | tains my life.
🎶Render evil to those who | spy on me; in your faithful- | ness, destroy them.
🎶I will offer you a | freewill sacrifice and praise your name, O Lord, for | it is good.
🎶For you have rescued me from | every trouble, and my eye looks down | on my enemies.
SECOND READING JAMES 3:13 – 4:3, 7-8a
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 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.
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 9th chapter.
🎶Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL MARK 9:30-37
[Jesus and the disciples went on] and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
🎶Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
HYMN of the DAY
Amazing Grace #448
PROFESSION of FAITH Apostles’ Creed Page 65
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, creation, and all who are in need.
A brief silence.
Loving God, you welcome all at your table of grace. Instill in your church a spirit of humility and curiosity, that we embrace all who seek you. We pray especially for ministries of hospitality and faith formation. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
Creating God, you shape the world so there is more than enough for all. Curb our habits of overuse and waste regarding energy, food, and water. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
Gracious God, brings justice and solidarity by encouraging peace among people; heal divisions within our country so that together, we might cooperate for the good of all. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
Faithful God, you draw near to you all who are in need. Bring healing and wholeness to all who suffer (especially those on our prayer list). Transform economic, political, and social systems that oppress vulnerable people and reinforce structural racism and generational poverty. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
Transforming God, you accompany all through changes and transitions. Help us to see where you call our community to new ways of living the gospel promise; assure us that even as change brings loss, it also brings hope and life. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
Merciful God, you embrace us on our final pilgrimage from this life. Accompany all who have died, console those who mourn, and at the last, show us the way to eternal life in you. By your name and in your might, hear our prayer and sustain us, O God.
We whole-heartedly entrust these and all of our prayers to you in your name and by your might, O God, according to him who does save and sustain us, that is, Jesus Christ, our Lord working in concert with the Holy Spirit. 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.
BENEDICTION
CLOSING HYMN
Love Divine, All Love Excelling #315
DISMISSAL Page 74
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE