The Service in PDF format is at: June 25, 2023 Service
Video of service is at: YouTube
Peace Lutheran Church
We welcome you in the name of the Lord Jesus. We are honored with your presence. If you do not have a church home, you are invited to join us regularly. Please introduce yourself to Pastor Jeremy Lucke or one of the Ushers as you leave today and sign the guest book in the entryway. We continue to observe the guidelines for health and safety. If you have any questions, please see an usher. Everyone is welcome.
The ringing of the bell and the lighting of the Christ candle mark the beginning of our service and a time for quiet meditation, prayer, and inward reflection as we begin our worship.
Children are welcome at our worship services. If you prefer, Peace Lutheran has a playroom equipped for children three years old and younger. The room is unstaffed and can be accessed in the fellowship hall where the service is also being live streamed for your convenience and enjoyment.
Holy Communion is celebrated every first and third Sunday and will follow the order of service in the bulletin. If you are a baptized Christian and share our faith in Jesus as Savior and have been instructed in the meaning and use of the Lord’s Supper, you are invited to partake. We have pre-wrapped communion wine or juice and wafers. We also have gluten-free wafers available. If you desire a gluten-free wafer, ask the server. May the body and blood of Jesus, present in the bread and wine, be a blessing to you.
There are times during the service when you will be asked to stand if you are able. Please feel free to remain seated if standing is difficult.
Offering. Peace Lutheran Church understands and teaches that Offerings are voluntary and to be from the heart. Whether we give or do not give does not determine our salvation. Whether we give much or little does not determine our standing before God. Sharing an Offering is an opportunity to quietly practice generosity with our neighbors. Offerings may be placed in the plates by the doors as we exit the sanctuary.
Serving You
Pastor Pastor Jeremy Lucke
Music Director Colleen Schulze
Choir Director Diane Crocker
Supt. Of Sunday School Brandy Stokes & Karyn Stanley
Admin Assistant Daniel Dusek
Parish Nurse Kathy Durling
Webmaster Jim Holroyd
Audio-Visual Johnathon Holroyd, George Abele, Nicholas Abele, Merv Munster, Callie Santora, Caleb Santora, Joyce Long, Oscar Gutbrod, Sam Worth, Rick Durling, Jim Holroyd, Nora Stanley, Debbi Weiler, Daniel Dusek
Today June 25, 2023
Musician Colleen Schulze
Reader Joe Payne
Flowers Oscar & Carole Gutbrod
AS WE GATHER… “Can’t see the forest for the trees” is a popular saying that means one can get so involved in details of a matter that the larger scale and situation as a whole is missed. In today’s Gospel, a hearer of Jesus’ words can get so caught up in other details that one “can’t see the forest for the trees.” Many of the details in today’s Gospel deal with unglamorous parts of the Christian life in this world, even in our closest relationships. Through those “trees,” though, we are able to see the “forest” of words of hope and promise from our Savior.
OPENING SONG “The Old Rugged Cross”
George Bennard, Words: Public Domain, Music: Public Domain
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suff’ring and shame
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain
Chorus: So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some day for a Crown
O the old rugged cross so despised by the world
Has a wondrous attraction for me
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary
Chorus
In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine
A wondrous beauty I see
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died
To pardon and sanctify me
Chorus
To the old rugged cross I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away
Where His glory forever I’ll share
Chorus
Leader: In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
OPENING UP TO GOD AND ONE ANOTHER
Leader: Having been raised with Christ, let us confess our sin to God and to one another, trusting that Christ, who is all in all, forgives all sins.
~~~~~~~~~~~ Silence ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Leader: We have sinned against You, O God, in thought, word, and deed.
People: Forgive us and renew us, O Lord.
Leader: We have not loved You with our whole heart.
People: Forgive us and renew us, O Lord.
Leader: We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
People: Forgive us and renew us, O Lord.
Leader: We have spent our time in vain pursuits.
People: Forgive us and renew us, O Lord.
Leader: We have struggled to put off the old self with its practices.
People: Forgive us and renew us, O Lord.
Leader: You have been raised with Christ. You have been given a new self, which is being renewed after the image of God. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
HYMN OF PRAISE “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
by: Robert Robinson & Asahel Nettleton; Public Domain
Come, thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
While the hope of endless glory
fills my heart with joy and love,
Teach me ever to adore Thee,
may I still thy goodness prove.
.
Here I raise my Ebenezer,
hither by thy help I’m come;
And I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.
.
O to grace how great a debtor,
daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.
Leader: Let us Pray…
Leader: O God, because Your abiding presence always goes with us, keep us aware of Your daily mercies that we may live secure and content in Your eternal love; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
SCRIPTURE LESSONS
Old Testament Lesson Jeremiah 20:7-13
Jeremiah’s complaint and God’s assurance.
7 O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
10 For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you have I committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord; praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
Reader: This is the Word of the Lord.
People: Thanks be to God!
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.
9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.
11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it.
13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.
15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,
18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.
20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death,
22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.
Leader: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
People: Praise to You, O Christ.
SERMON HYMN “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)”
Chris Tomlin | John Newton | Louie Giglio, © 2006 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing), Vamos Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I’m found
Was blind but now I see
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Chorus: My chains are gone I’ve been set free
My God my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love amazing grace
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures
Chorus
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine
SERMON
Pastor Jeremy Lucke
People: 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 was born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate.
Was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended 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 Christian Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.
Leader: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.
Leader: For pastors, teachers, missionaries, and all who proclaim God’s Word, that God would embolden them to speak His word of repentance and forgiveness, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: For those who struggle to believe in Christ’s unwavering love, that the victory won by the risen Christ would pierce their darkness of doubt and despair, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: For all the rulers of the world, that God would turn their hearts to His will of mercy, peace, and justice, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: For those who are sick and recovering, (especially…), that they rely on the steadfast love and faithfulness of Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: For those who celebrate special occasions and answered prayers, (especially…), that their joy be a witness to the goodness of God, let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your promise to hear us.
People: Amen.
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
Leader: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with favor and X give you peace.
People: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN “How Great Thou Art”
Stuart Wesley Keene Hine; Copyright 1949 and 1953 Stuart Hine Trust CIO Stuart K. Hine Trust (Administration: USA All rights by Capitol CMG Publishing, except print rights for USA, North, Central and South America administered by Hope Publishing. All other non USA Americas rights by the Stuart Hine Trust. Rest of World – Integritymusic.com.)
O Lord my God
When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds
Thy hands have made
I see the stars
I hear the rolling thunder
Thy pow’r thru’out
The universe displayed
.
Chorus: Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
Then sings my soul
My Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art
How great Thou art
.
When through the woods
And forest glades I wander
And hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees
When I look down
From lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook
And feel the gentle breeze
Chorus
And when I think
That God His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die
I scarce can take it in
That on the cross
My burden gladly bearing
He bled and died
To take away my sin
Chorus
When Christ shall come
With shout of acclamation
And take me home
What joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow
In humble adoration
And there proclaim
My God how great Thou art
Chorus
Dismissal
Leader: Go in Peace. Serve the Lord!
People: Thanks be to God!
Announcements
FREEZER MEAL Ministry. We have meals available in the freezer. Know that the meals are for anyone in need! The team is going to be getting together to make some more meals this summer and fill up our supply.
ADULT SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL. We continue study for the summer on Jesus’ parables. Next Sunday we will discuss The Great Banquet, Luke 14:16-24. All are welcome! We begin at 9:00 am in the fellowship hall.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY. Sandi Labahn has agreed to be Prayer Shawl Coordinator. Now she needs some prayer shawl makers If you or any of your friends are interested in making a prayer shawl please let her know. Ladies guild will buy the yarn.
Scholarships for Camp Lutherwood. The Ladies Guild is graciously offering $250 scholarships for camp Lutherwood this summer. Please see Peggy Krueger for an application.
Updating Pictures of the congregation. We will start taking pictures of the congregation to update the picture wall between the Narthex and Fellowship Hall and the church directory. Trudy will be taking pictures through the month of July.
Pastor will be away and the office closed. Pastor Lucke will be away June 30 to July 5 – the office will be closed this week.
