The Bulletin is at: 10-14-2018 – Bulletin

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TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

October 14, 2018

PRE-SERVICE MUSIC

AS WE GATHER… “All In!”  This is the theme for Concordia University Portland for the 2018-2019 academic school year.  What a blessing it is to have representatives from CU Portland leading us in worship today!  “All In!” This is also an apt way to describe our Lord Jesus.  We will be reminded today in Philippians of Jesus’ attitude; “(he) did not consider equality with something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”  Jesus held nothing back in the giving up of himself for us.  Because of his full sacrifice, eternal life is ours.  Life is at its best when we know that Jesus is “All In!” for us and that we can be “All In!” for one another.

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

OPENING HYMN: “Now Thank We All Our God”              LBW 533

Now thank we all our God with hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things has done, in whom his world rejoices,

Who, from our mothers’ arms, has blest us on our way

With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

 

Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,

With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us,

And keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed,

And free us from all harm in this world and the next.

 

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given,

The Son, and him who reigns with them in highest heaven,

The one eternal God, whom earth and heav’n adore;

For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

 

CALLING ON GOD

P:  In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

C: Amen. 

CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION

P:  As we worship our faithful God with cleansed minds and hearts, let us join in a time for silent prayer and confession.

C: We confess that we are sinners by nature as well as by choice.  We have willfully turned away from Your faithful love and embraced shadow and death instead.  We admit our powerlessness to return to You; and we believe that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, You have decisively acted to forgive, heal, and restore us to life.  By Your Spirit, make what Jesus has done real in our lives this day.    

RECEIVING FORGIVENESS

P:  People dearly loved, God hears your cry for mercy and answers when you call.  Therefore, as a called and ordained servant of Jesus 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.

SONG OF PRAISE:                                                 LBW pg. 58-59

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly king, almighty God and Father:

We worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your

glory.  Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God:  You take away the sin of the world;

Have mercy on us.  You are seated at the right hand of the

Father; receive our prayer.  For you

Alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,

You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,

in the glory of God the father.  Amen

 

PRAYER OF THE DAY

P:  Let us Pray.  Lord Jesus Christ, Your grace goes before us and behind us.  Your love is over us and beneath us.  Your faithfulness will ever lead and guide us.  By Your Word, draw us into Your presence and help us to treasure all that we share in You; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C: Amen.

CHOIR ANTHEM                               “I Bring a Heart of Thanks”

Words & Music by Pepper Choplin

I bring a heart, a heart of thanks to You. 

I bring a heart, a heart of thanks to You. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You.

My voice will raise a song of praise. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You. 

My soul will rejoice to sing with boisterous praise. 

How great is Your love, Your love and Your care,

Your care and Your faithfulness, and great,

How great my desire, desire to express my heart of thanks. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You.

My voice will raise a song of praise. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You. 

My soul will rejoice to sing with boisterous praise. 

Lord, we come to put our faith in You.

Faithful in ev’rything You do,

You love what is righteous and is true. 

The earth is full of Your unfailing love, Unfailing love. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You.

My voice will raise a song of praise. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You. 

My soul will rejoice to sing with boisterous praise. 

How great is Your love, Your love and Your care,

Your care and Your faithfulness, and great,

How great my desire, desire to express my heart of thanks. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You.

My voice will raise a song of praise. 

I bring a heart of thanks to You. 

My soul will rejoice to sing with boisterous praise. 

 

EPISTLE:                                                          Philippians 2:5-12

Consider the attitude of Jesus.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

 CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

GOSPEL:                                                          Matthew 22:34-40

The Greatest Commandment

34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

 

SERMON HYMN: “Christ Be My Leader”

Christ be my leader by night as by day;

Safe through the darkness, for He is the way.

Gladly I follow, my future His care;

Darkness is daylight when Jesus is there.

Christ be my teacher in age as in youth,

Drifting or doubting, for He is the truth.

Grant me to trust Him; Though shifting as sand,

Doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand.

Christ be my savior in calm as in strife;

Death cannot hold me, for He is the life.

Nor darkness not doubting nor sin and its stain

Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.

 

SERMON          Pastor Herbert Hoefer

 

APOSTLES’ CREED

C:  I believe 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 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.

 

OFFERING

The offerings gathered are a sign of our whole lives offered to God in humble gratitude for his greatest of all offerings, his Son offered for our salvation.

OFFERTORY

 

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH  

P:  Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

P:  Gracious Father, it is Your gracious will that we sinners come to You in faith so that we may share in Christ.  We thank You for the forgiveness we have in Him and for the assurance we are given that You hear and answer us for His sake.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C: hear our prayer. 

P:  Lord of the Church, You reveal Yourself wherever Your Word is proclaimed in all the world.  Grant that all souls burdened by sin and guilt find salvation in You.  That we proclaim Christ to all those for whom He gave His life, guide us here at Peace, the Northwest District, and Your people throughout the world.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C: hear our prayer. 

P:  Lord Jesus Christ, in love You gave Yourself on the cross that we may have life abundantly.  We give You thanks for Concordia University Portland.  Guide Concordia in the year ahead in the impact it makes with those it serves.  Let Your Word dwell richly in the lives of the administration, faculty and students this year.  Let what is learned be a blessing to others for many years to come.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C: hear our prayer. 

P:  Your Word, O Lord, commands us to pray for those in authority and in leadership over us.  Bless this land in which we live.  Grant that all those who govern us do so diligently.  Grant that all those who enforce our laws do so wisely.  Grant that all those who serve us do so wholeheartedly.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C: hear our prayer. 

P:  Faithful healer of both soul and body, we lift up before You those who are suffering in any way:  physically, mentally, relationally, and spiritually (especially…).  Grant that their hearts and minds be guarded in Christ Jesus.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C: hear our prayer. 

P:  Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

C: Amen. 

 

LORD’S PRAYER

 

BENEDICTION

 

CLOSING SONG: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”               LBW 551

Joyful, joyful we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love!

Hearts unfold like flow’rs before thee, Praising thee, their sun above.

Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, Drive the gloom of doubt away.

Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day.

 

All thy works with joy surround thee, Earth and heav’n reflect thy rays,

Stars and angels sing around thee, Center of unbroken praise.

Field and forest, vale and mountain, Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,

Chanting bird, and flowing fountain Call us to rejoice in thee.

 

Thou art giving and forgiving, Ever blessing, ever blest,

Wellspring of the joy of living, Ocean depth of happy rest!

Thou our Father, Christ our brother, All who live in love are thine;

Teach us how to love each other, Lift us to the joy divine!

 

DISMISSAL

 

POST-SERVICE MUSIC