Prelude             “Dutch Chorale” John Bull

Draw Us in the Spirits Tether - Harold Friedell,  Music- Union Seminary, 1957 

 

Draw us in the Spirit's tether, | for when humbly in your name,

two or three are met together, | you are in the midst of them  Percy Dearmer (1867-1936)

 

Welcome & Announcements

 

*Confession & Forgiveness

Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God,

whose compassion endures forever.

Amen.

Let us confess our sin to God.

 

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.

Gathering Hymn "Making Their Way”

 

*Prayer of the Day

O God, with all your faithful followers of every age, we praise you, the rock of our life. Be our strong foundation and form us into the body of your Son, that we may gladly minister to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

 

Old Testament Reading Isaiah 51:1-6

 1 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug. 2 Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah, who bore you, for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many. 3 For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.

 

 4 Listen to me, my people, and give heed to me, my nation, for a teaching will go out from me and my justice for a light to the peoples. 5 I will bring near my deliverance swiftly; my salvation has gone out, and my arms will rule the peoples; the coastlands wait for me, and for my arm they hope. 6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath, for the heavens will vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats, but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.

 

Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.

 

A Living Psalm       Pastor Bill & Martha Radatz

"i thank You God for this amazing"

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

 

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

 

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

 

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

E. E. Cummings

 

The Epistle Lesson  Romans 12:1-8

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

  3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

 

Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God.

 

*Gospel Acclamation

*Gospel      Matthew 16:13-20    Glory to you O Lord

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

 

The Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to you, O Christ.

 

Sermon         Pastor Kurt Christenson

 

*Hymn of the Day By All Your Saints

 

*Prayers of Intercession (Sung at beginning and end of prayers)

Response to each petition: Merciful God, receive our prayer.

 

*Apostle’s Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come 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.

 

*Exchange of Peace

The peace of the Lord be with you. And also with you.

 

Offering

Give online using the button at the top right

Or

Text “Give” to (866) 870-5222

 

Offertory “Lamb of God”.    Twila Paris arr. Bill Engel       

 

*Offering Prayer

Loving God, we offer at your table the gifts of our hearts. Help us take heart in you and share freely of your love, so that all creation can taste your abundance. We ask this in the name of Jesus, through the Spirit abiding with us now and forever. Amen.

 

*The Great Thanksgiving

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 our thanks and praise.

 

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, 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. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

 

Holy God, you alone are holy, you alone are God.  The universe declares your praise: beyond the stars; beneath the sea; within each cell; with every breath.

We praise you, O God.

 

Generations bless your faithfulness: through the water; by night and day; across the wilderness; out of exile; into the future.

We bless you, O God.

 

 

We give you thanks for your dear Son: at the heart of human life;

near to those who suffer; beside the sinner; among the poor; with us now.

We thank you, O God.

 

In the night in which he was betrayed..

Remembering his love for us on the way, at the table, and to the end, we proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

 

We pray for the gift of your Spirit: in our gathering; within this meal;

among your people; throughout the world.

Blessing, praise, and thanks to you, holy God, through Christ Jesus,

by your Spirit, in your church, without end. Amen.

 

*The Lord’s Prayer

Lord, remember us in your Kingdom and teach us to pray: 

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

 

Agnus Dei

Verse 2:

Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,

Robed in flow'rs of blooming spring;

Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,

He makes our sorrowing spirit sing.

 

Communion Distribution

 

Communion Hymn “Lamb of God”

 

*Communion Blessing and Prayer

Compassionate God, through the gifts of bread and wine our hearts are filled with the abundance of your love. Strengthen us that we, through this holy meal, may share your love freely, as you have shared with us. We ask this in the name of Jesus, through the Spirit nourishing us now and forever.

Amen.

 

*Sending Hymn “O Savior, Precious Savior” 

 

*Blessing & Dismissal

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn look upon you with favor and give you peace. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

Go In Peace, Serve the Lord!

Thanks Be To God!

 

Postlude         “Oh, that I have a Thousand Voices”  Max Reger 

O Savior, Precious Savior  Music- Angel’s Story by Arthur Mann 1850-1929                                                                          setting-Engel       

“O Savior, Precious Savior”