Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost -September 20, 2020

Today’s Theme for Worship: The LORD calls us to be his faithful watchmen by our words and our way of life.

 

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

 

Opening Hymn: 304 vv. 1-2, 4-5  Jesus Sinners Does Receive

1  Jesus sinners does receive; Oh, may all this saying ponder

Who in sin’s delusions live And from God and heaven wander.

Here is hope for all who grieve-Jesus sinners does receive.

 

2  We deserve but grief and shame, Yet his words, rich grace revealing,

Pardon, peace, and life proclaim; Here their ills have perfect healing

Who with humble hearts believe-Jesus sinners does receive.

 

4  Come, O sinners, one and all, Come, accept his invitation.

Come, obey his gracious call; Come and take his free salvation!

Firmly in these words believe-Jesus sinners does receive.

 

5  I, a sinner, come to you With a penitent confession.

Savior, show me mercy, too; Grant for all my sins remission.

Let these words my soul relieve-Jesus sinners does receive.

 

Text: Erdmann Neumeister, 1671-1756, abr.; tr. composite.

         

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

 

P: The grace of our Lord + Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

C: And also with you.

 

Confession of Sins

P: God invites us to come into his presence and worship him with humble and penitent hearts. Therefore, let us acknowledge our sinfulness and ask him to forgive us.

C: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful, and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words, and actions.  I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good.  For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity.  But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray:  Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

P: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

C:  Amen.

 

Lord, Have Mercy

P: For all that we need in life and for the wisdom to use all your gifts with gratitude and joy, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: Lord, have mer-cy.

P: For the steadfast assurance that nothing can separate us from your love and for the courage to stand firm against the assaults of Satan and every evil, hear our prayer, O Christ.

C: Christ, have mer-cy.

 

P: For the well-being of your holy Church in all the world and for those who offer here their worship and praise, hear our prayer, O Lord.

C: Lord, have mer-cy.

 

P: Merciful God, maker and preserver of life, uphold us by your power and keep us in your tender care:

C: A-men.

 

P: The works of the Lord are great and glorious; his name is worthy of praise.

 

O Lord, Our Lord

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

Al-might-y God, mer-ci-ful Father,

you crown our life with your love.

 

You take a-way our sin; you com-fort our spir-it;

you make us pure and ho-ly in your sight.

You did not spare your on-ly Son, but gave him up for us all.

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

 

O Son of God, e-ter-nal Word of the Fa-ther,

you came to live with us;

you made your Fa-ther known;

you washed us from our sins in your own blood.

 

You are the King of glo-ry; you are the Lord!

O Lord, our Lord, how glo-rious is your name in all the earth.

 

Prayer of the Day

P: Let us Pray.

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: A-men.

 

First Lesson: Ezekiel 33:7-11

God calls Ezekiel to be a watchman for the house of Israel.

7But I have appointed you, son of man, to be a watchman for the house of Israel. So whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you are to warn them from me. 8When I say to a wicked man, “Wicked man, you shall surely die,” if you do not speak to warn the wicked man against his way, that wicked man will die because of his guilt, but I will also hold you responsible for his blood. 9But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die because of his guilt, but you will have saved your life.

10So you, son of man, say the following to the house of Israel.

This is what you people are saying: “Certainly our rebellion and our sins weigh us down, and because of them we are rotting away. How then can we live?” 11Say to them, “As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why should you die, O house of Israel?

 

Psalm 51 Have Mercy on Me

 

[Refrain:]

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your love;

Have mercy on me, O God, and cleanse me from my sin.

 

I was sinful at my birth, from the time I was conceived.

Yet you desired faith.

Cleanse me; I will be clean; wash me whiter than snow.

Let the bones you crushed rejoice.

 

[Refrain]

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your love;

Have mercy on me, O God, and cleanse me from my sin.

 

Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit.

Do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation

And grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

 

[Refrain]

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your love;

Have mercy on me, O God, and cleanse me from my sin.

 

Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy, have mercy.

 

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus tells us to be our brother’s keeper. Jesus also tells us how to speak to our brothers and sisters who have gone astray. We are watchmen, above all, for each other!


15“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his sin just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And, if he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as an unbeliever or a tax collector. 18Amen I tell you: Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Amen I tell you again: If two of you on earth agree to ask for anything, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20In fact where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.”

 

Hymn of the Day: 308 vv. 1-4 As Surely As I live, God Said

1  “As surely as I live,” God said, “I would not have the sinner dead,

But that he turn from error’s ways, Repent, and live through endless days.”

 

2  To us, therefore, Christ gave command: “Go forth and preach in ev’ry land;

Bestow on all my pard’ning grace Who will repent of sinful ways.

 

3  “All those whose sins you thus remit I truly pardon and acquit,

And those whose sins you do retain Condemned and guilty shall remain.

 

4  “What you will bind, that bound shall be; What you will loose, that shall be free;

Unto my Church the keys are giv’n To op’n and close the gates of heav’n.”

 

Text: Nikolaus Herman, c. 1480-1561, abr.; tr. Matthias Loy, 1828-1915, alt.

 

 

Sermon: Romans 13:1-10

Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God. 2Therefore the one who rebels against the authority is opposing God’s institution, and those who oppose will bring judgment on themselves.

3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to evil. Would you like to have no fear of the one in authority? Do what is good, and you will receive praise from him, 4because he is God’s servant for your benefit. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because he does not carry the sword without reason. He is God’s servant, a punisher to bring wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore it is necessary to submit, not only because of wrath, but also because of conscience.

6For this reason you also pay taxes, because the authorities are God’s ministers, who are employed to do this very thing. 7Pay what you owe to all of them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed.

8Do not owe anyone anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments—do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet (and if there is any other commandment)—are summed up in this statement: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no harm to a neighbor, so love is the fulfillment of the law. 

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate.  He suffered death and was buried.  On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church.  We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

 

Offering Prayer

Electronic Giving! You can give your offerings from your smartphone with the GivePlusChurch app, which can be downloaded for free at Google Play or the App Store. You can also give at holytrinitylutheranwyoming.com by clicking the Offerings link at the top of the page or scan the QR code below. If you have any questions about any of these options, please contact Dave Conrad at dconrad765@gmail.com or 616-406-7172

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Prayer of the Church

 

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 us 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.

 

The Sacrament

 

P: The Lord be with you.

C: And also with you.

 

P: Lift up your hearts.

C: We lift them up to the Lord.

 

P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

C: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

 

P: Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In love he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. He sends the Holy Spirit to testify that we are his children and to strengthen us when we are weak. Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ. To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and thanks and honor and glory for ever and ever.

 

Holy, Holy, Holy

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

 

You are my God, and I will ex-alt you.

I will give you thanks, for you have be-come my sal-va-tion.

Ho-ly, ho-ly, ho-ly is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of your glo-ry.

 

Words of Institution

P: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying “Take and eat; this is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

 

P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.

C: A-men.

 

O Christ, Lamb Of God

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

 

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

have mer-cy on us.

 

O Christ, Lamb of God,

you take a-way the sin of the world;

grant us your peace.

A-men.

 

 

Thank the Lord

Thank the Lord and sing his praise.

Tell ev-'ry-one what he has done.

 

Let all who seek the Lord re-joice

And proud-ly bear his name.

 

He re-news his prom-is-es and leads his peo-ple forth

in joy with shouts of thanks-giv-ing.

 

Al-le-lu-ia! Al-le-lu-ia!

 

Prayer

P: Hear the prayer of your people, O Lord, that the lips which have praised you here may glorify you in the world, that the eyes which have seen the coming of your Son may long for his coming again, and that all who have received in his true body and blood the pledge of your forgiveness may be restored to live a new and holy life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: A-men.

 

Blessing

M: Brothers and sisters, go in peace. Live in harmony with one another.  Serve the Lord with gladness.

 

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace.

C: (sing) Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

Closing Hymn: 620 To You, Our God, We Fly

1  To you, our God, we fly For mercy and for grace.

Oh, hear our lowly cry And do not hide your face!

Refrain:

O Lord, stretch forth your mighty hand

And guard and bless our native land.

 

2  The pow’rs that you ordained With heav’nly wisdom bless;

May evil be restrained, Replaced by righteousness.

Refrain:

O Lord, stretch forth your mighty hand

And guard and bless our native land.

 

3  Give peace, Lord, in our time. Oh, let no foe draw nigh

Nor lawlessness and crime Insult your majesty!

Refrain:

O Lord, stretch forth your mighty hand

And guard and bless our native land.

 

4  Though vain and foolish, still We are your people, Lord.

Oh, bend us to your will; We’ll serve no other God!

Refrain:

O Lord, stretch forth your mighty hand

And guard and bless our native land.

 

Text: William W. How, 1823-97, abr., alt.