Baptism of Our Lord January 10, 2020

Today’s Theme for Worship: Today’s lessons show us the meaning of the name “Christ,” the Anointed one.

Hymn: 78 O Light of Gentile Nations

1 O Light of Gentile nations, O Savior from above,

Drawn by your Spirit’s leading, We come with joy and love

Into your holy temple And wait with rev’rent mind

As Simeon once had waited His God and Lord to find.

2 Dear Lord, your servants meet you In ev’ry holy place

Where your true Word has promised That we should see your face.

Today you still allow us Who gather round you here

In arms of faith to hold you As did that aged seer.

3 Lord, when life’s troubles touch us, You seem to hide your face,

And through our tears we often Can scarcely sense your grace.

Then be our joy and brightness, Our cheer in pain and loss,

Our sun in darkest terror, The glory round our cross.

4 Let us, O Lord, be faithful Like Simeon to the end

So that his prayer exultant May from our hearts ascend:

“O Lord, now let your servant Depart in peace, I pray,

Since I have seen my Savior And here beheld his day.”

Text: Johann Franck, 1618-77, abr., adapt.; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827-78, alt.

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: We have come into the presence of God, who created us to love and serve him as his dear children. But we have disobeyed him and deserve only his wrath and punishment. Therefore, let us confess our sins to him and plead for his mercy.

C: Merciful Father in heaven, I am altogether sinful from birth. In countless ways I have sinned against you and do not deserve to be called your child. But trusting in Jesus, my Savior, I pray: have mercy on me according to your unfailing love. Cleanse me from my sin, and take away my guilt.

P: God, our heavenly Father, has forgiven all your sins. By the perfect life and innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has removed your guilt forever. You are his own dear child. May God give you strength to live according to his will.

C: Amen.

P: In the peace of forgiveness, let us praise the Lord.

♬ Oh Taste And See

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.

Bless-ed are they who take re-fuge in him.

Your Word, O Lord, is e-ter-nal;

it stands firm in the heav-ens.

Your faith-ful-ness con-tin-ues for-ev-er.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.

Bless-ed are they who take re-fuge in him.

Prayer of the Day

P: Let us Pray.

Father in heaven, at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan you proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit. Keep us who are baptized into Christ faithful in our calling as your children and make us heirs with him of everlasting life; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: ♬ Amen.

First Lesson: Isaiah 49:1-6
The Servant of the LORD describes his calling and his work.

Listen to me, you coastlands.

Pay attention, you faraway peoples!

The Lord called me from the womb.

When I was inside my mother, he mentioned my name.

²He made my mouth like a sharpened sword.

He hid me in the shadow of his hand.

He made me a polished arrow.

He concealed me in his quiver.

³He said to me, “You are my servant Israel,

in whom I will display my glory.”

⁴But I said to myself, “I have labored in vain.

I spent my strength and came up empty, with nothing.

Yet a just verdict for me rests with the Lord,

and my reward is with my God.”

⁵But now the Lord,

who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to turn Jacob back to him,

so that Israel might be gathered to him,

so that I will be honored in the eyes of the Lord,

because my God has been my strength—

⁶the Lord said:

It is too small a thing that you should just be my servant

to raise up only the tribes of Jacob

and to restore the ones I have preserved in Israel,

so I will appoint you to be a light for the nations,

so that my salvation will be known to the end of the earth.

Psalm of the Day – Psalm 2

Refrain

Great are the works of the Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia!

Great are the works of the Lord.

Why do the nations conspire*

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers

gather together against the LORD*

and against his Anointed One.

Refrain

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;*

the Lord scoffs at them.

Then he rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,*

“I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will proclaim the decree of the LORD:*

He said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”

Glory be to the Father and to the Son*

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,*

is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Refrain

Second Lesson: Acts 16:25-34
Paul and Silas baptize the family of the jailer of Philippi.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Instantly all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷When the jailer woke up and saw that the prison doors were opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted with a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling in front of Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them outside and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his home. ³³At the same hour of the night, he took them and washed their wounds. Without delay, he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴Then he brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them. He rejoiced, because he and his whole household had come to believe in God.

C: ♬ Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel: Mark 1:4-11
At Jesus’ baptism, the heavens were “torn open,” and the Spirit descended like a dove.”
⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
⁵The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. ⁶John was clothed in camel’s hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He preached, “One more powerful than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals! ⁸I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰Just as Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love. I am well pleased with you.”
C: ♬ Praise be to you, O Christ!

Hymn of the Day: 88 To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord

1 To Jordan came the Christ, our Lord, To do his Father’s pleasure;

Baptized by John, the Father’s Word Was given us to treasure.

This heav’nly washing now shall be A cleansing from transgression

And by his blood and agony Release from death’s oppression.

A new life now awaits us.

2 These truths on Jordan’s banks were shown By mighty word and wonder.

The Father’s voice from heav’n came down Which we do well to ponder:

“This man is my beloved Son, In whom my heart has pleasure.

Him you must hear, and him alone, And trust in fullest measure

The word that he has spoken.”

3 Oh, hear and mark the message well, For God himself has spoken.

Let faith, not doubt, among us dwell, And so receive this token.

Our Lord here with his Word endows Pure water freely flowing.

God’s Holy Spirit here avows Our kinship while bestowing

The baptism of his blessing.

4 All that the mortal eye beholds Is water as we pour it.

Before the eye of faith unfolds The pow’r of Jesus’ merit.

For here it sees his precious blood To all our ills bring healing,

The wonders of that crimson flood The love of God revealing,

Assuring his own pardon.

5 To his disciples spoke the Lord, “Go out to ev’ry nation

And bring to them the living Word And this my invitation:

Let ev’ryone abandon sin And come in true contrition

To be baptized and thereby win Full pardon and remission

And heav’nly bliss inherit.”

Sermon

Apostles’ Creed

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

I believe in Jesus Christ, his 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 into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Offering Prayer

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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.

Hymn: 371 Oh, Love, How Deep vv. 1-3,7

1 Oh, love, how deep, how broad, how high, Beyond all thought and fantasy,

That God, the Son of God, should take Our mortal form for mortals’ sake!

2 He sent no angel to our race, Of higher or of lower place,

But wore the robe of human frame, And to this world himself he came.

3 For us baptized, for us he bore His holy fast and hungered sore;

For us temptation sharp he knew, For us the tempter overthrew.

7 All glory to our Lord and God For love so deep, so high, so broad,

The Trinity whom we adore Forever and forevermore.

Text: attr. Thomas à Kempis, 1380-1471, abr.; tr. Benjamin Webb, 1819-85, alt.

Prayer and Blessing

P: O Lord God, our heavenly Father, pour out the Holy Spirit on your faithful people. Keep us strong in your grace and truth, protect and comfort us in all temptation, and bestow on us your saving peace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

P: Almighty God, we thank you for teaching us the things you want us to believe and do. Help us by your Holy Spirit to keep your Word in pure hearts that we may be strengthened in faith, guided in holiness, and comforted in life and in death, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: ♬ A-men.

P: 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: ♬ A-men, A-men, A-men

Closing Hymn: 91 The Star Proclaims the King Is Here

1 The star proclaims the King is here; But, Herod, why this senseless fear?

For he who came from heaven’s throne Does not desire an earthly crown.

2 The wiser Magi saw from far And followed on his guiding star,

And, led by light, to Light they pressed And by their gifts their God confessed.

3 Within the Jordan River stood The pure and holy Lamb of God;

The Father’s voice, the Spirit-dove, Confirmed the Savior from above.

4 At Cana-miracle divine-When water reddened into wine,

The faithful saw his glory shown And put their trust in him alone.

5 All glory unto Jesus be And praise for his epiphany,

Whom with the Father we adore And Holy Spirit evermore.

Text: Coelius Sedulius, 5th century, abr.; tr. John M. Neale, 1818-66, alt.