Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost -October 4, 2020

Today’s Theme for Worship: God saved us by grace alone. We rejoice in that salvation and cling to that message.

Order of Service: Service of Word and Sacrament

Opening Hymn: 611 For the Fruit of His Creation

1 For the fruit of his creation, Thanks be to God.

For his gifts to ev’ry nation, Thanks be to God.

For the plowing, sowing, reaping, Silent growth while we are sleeping,

Future needs in earth’s safekeeping, Thanks be to God.

2 In the just reward of labor, God’s will be done.

In the help we give our neighbor, God’s will be done.

In our worldwide task of caring For the hungry and despairing,

In the harvests we are sharing, God’s will be done.

3 For the harvests of the Spirit, Thanks be to God.

For the good we all inherit, Thanks be to God.

For the wonders that astound us, For the truths that still confound us,

Most of all that Love has found us, Thanks be to God.

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.

Lord God, you call us to work in your vineyard and leave no one standing idle. Help us to order our lives by your wisdom and serve you in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: ♬ A-men.

Second Lesson: Philippians 1:18b-27

Paul is convinced that in life or death, Christ will glorify himself through Paul’s work.

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹because I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. ²⁰This matches my earnest expectation and hope that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, so even now, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹Yes, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²²But if I am to go on living in the flesh, that will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet which should I prefer? I do not know. ²³I am pulled in two directions, because I have the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. ²⁴But, it is more necessary for your sake that I remain in the flesh. ²⁵And since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith. ²⁶And so by my coming to you again, my goal is to give you even more reason to boast in Christ Jesus.

²⁷Just conduct yourselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or am absent, I may hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, contending together with one soul for the faith of the gospel.

Psalm 27 – Wait for the Lord - Special Music sings the verses Congregation joins in the refrain.

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

The LORD is my light and my salvation

whom shall I fear?

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

The LORD is the stronghold of my life

of whom shall I be afraid?

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

When the wicked advance against me to devour me,

My enemies and my foes will stumble and fall.

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear;

Though war break against me, I will be confident.

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only I seek:

That I may dwell in His house all the days of my life

To gaze on his beauty in his temple. I will sing and make music to Him.

Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away;

You have been my helper. Do not forsake me, God my Savior.

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

Refrain

Wait for the LORD; be strong,

take heart and wait for the LORD.

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

In human eyes, some appear more deserving of God’s blessings than others. Yet the “reward” for each believer is the same- eternal life in heaven.

“Indeed the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing to pay the workers a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³He also went out about the third hour and saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace. ⁴To these he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. ⁵Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. ⁶When he went out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing unemployed. He said to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’

⁷“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“He told them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ ⁸When it was evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group and ending with the first.’

⁹“When those who were hired around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But they each received a denarius too. ¹¹After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: ¹²‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

¹³“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you. ¹⁵Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶In the same way, the last will be first, and the first, last.”

Hymn of the Day: 559 Lord of the Living Harvest

1 Lord of the living harvest That ripens o’er the plain,

Where angels soon will gather Their sheaves of golden grain,

Accept our hands to labor, Our hearts to trust and love,

And be with us to hasten Your kingdom from above.

2 As lab’rers in your vineyard, Lord, give us work to do,

Content to bear the burden Of weary days for you,

To ask no other wages When you will call us home

Than to have shared the labor That makes your kingdom come.

3 Be with us, God the Father; Be with us, God the Son

And God the Holy Spirit, Most blessed Three in One.

Make us your faithful servants You rightly to adore,

And fill us with your blessing Both now and evermore.

Text: John S. B. Monsell, 1811-75, abr., alt.

Sermon: Isaiah 55:6-9

⁶Seek the Lord while he may be found!

Call on him while he is near!

⁷Let the wicked man abandon his way.

Let an evil man abandon his thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord,

and he will show him mercy.

Let him turn to our God,

because he will abundantly pardon.

⁸Certainly my plans are not your plans,

and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord.

⁹Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so my ways are higher than your ways,

and my plans are higher than your plans.

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: 318 Sent Forth by God’s Blessing

1 Sent forth by God’s blessing, Our true faith confessing,

The people of God from his dwelling take leave.

The supper is ended; Oh, be now extended

The fruits of this service in all who believe.

The seed of his teaching, Receptive souls reaching,

Shall blossom in action for God and for all.

His grace did invite us; His love shall unite us

To work for God’s kingdom and answer his call.

2 With praise and thanksgiving, To God ever-living,

The tasks of our ev’ryday life we will face.

Our faith ever sharing, In love ever caring,

Embracing his children of each tribe and race.

With your feast you feed us;

With your light now lead us;

Unite us as one in this life that we share.

Then may all the living With praise and thanksgiving

Give honor to Christ and his name that we bear.