The Service in PDF format is at: September 20,2020 Service
Video of service is at: Facebook Video
Peace Lutheran Church
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 20, 2020
AS WE GATHER: In Isaiah 55:8-9, God likens the difference between our thoughts and His thoughts to the expanse of space. “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” Here is one person’s interpretation of Isaiah 55: your best thought on your best day is at least 15.5 billion light years short of how great and how good God really is! Today we hear again that God is bigger than big. But we also hear that God is closer than close.
OPENING SONG “Blessed Assurance” TOSB 16
By: Fanny J. Crosby & Mrs. J.F. Knapp ©1971 by William J. Glaither. The Other Song Book.
(sung on April 8, 2018 by the congregation)
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
CHORUS
This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long;
This is my story, This is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
CHORUS
Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
CHORUS
P: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
C: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
P: When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh,
C: my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.
P: Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
C: though war arise against me, yet I will be confident.
P: One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:
C: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
P: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
C: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
CONFESSION & FORGIVENESS Psalm 27
P: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Silence for self-examination
P: Let us confess our sins to God, confident of His grace and forgiveness to all who are repentant.
C: Lord, we confess our lack of faith. We see a glimpse of what we ought to be and we know we fall short of the goal. We desire faith that is solid and unchanging, yet we crumble under trials. We want to be strong, but we know our own weakness. Lord, forgive us. Accept us as we are, unworthy for the task, yet gifted for Your purposes. Give us Your gift of faith.
P: Our God is a great God and knows our needs for all areas of our life. God knows our weakness and our unbelieving hearts, yet loves us enough to die on a cross and provide forgiveness of our sin. Now the focus is not on the faith that we can muster, but on the great gifts that our Lord gives daily as we live in trust. God has faith for every temptation, faith for every difficult situation. Praise God for this inexpressible gift of faith.
C: Amen.
P: Let us pray. Lord God, heavenly Father, since we cannot stand before You relying on anything we have done, help us trust in Your abiding grace and live according to Your promises; through Jesus, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
R: Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel. None went out, and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
R: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God!
R: (Jesus said) “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’So the last will be first, and the first last.”
R: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ!
MESSAGE “Dream Big”
P: Lord God, You have promised to hear the prayers of Your people, and so we come to You this day offering You petitions for all manner and needs of people.
P: You have invited us to seek Your face and to call upon You while You are near. Lord, grant to us such confidence in Your grace and favor that we seek Your wisdom, walk in Your ways, and delight in Your gift of salvation with thanksgiving in our hearts. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: You are our light and our salvation and in You we rest our fears. Lord, grant Your aid, comfort, and strength to all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit. Be especially with the sick for whom we pray this day, (especially…). Heal them in accordance with Your will and sustain them through their challenge until the perfect healing comes in heaven. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: Your power is greater than all and Your mercy is without limit. Lord, look with compassion upon our world of violence and terror. Bless those who govern here and everywhere that they protect the weak, promote the cause of virtue, administer justice to the criminal, and act with mercy toward those in need. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: You have shown us generosity great than we deserve, O Lord. Silence our complaints when we would question Your mercy, and teach us to be satisfied by Your grace in all that we need for this life and find contentment in God’s promise of the life to come. Teach us to rejoice whenever another person comes to You in faith. Lord, in Your mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
P: All these, and whatsoever we need, we ask You to grant us in the name of Jesus, our Lord. Into Your hands, O gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy for the sake of Your Son, Jesus, our Lord.
C: Amen.
P: 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 + give you peace.
C: Amen.
CLOSING SONG: “Shine, Jesus, Shine”
By: Graham Kendrick ©1987 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
(sung by congregation on September 10, 2017)
Lord, the Light of Your love is shining
In the midst of the darkness shining;
Jesus, Light of the World, shine upon us.
Set us free by the truth You now bring us.
Shine on me, shine on me.
REFRAIN
Shine, Jesus, shine, Fill this land with the Father’s glory;
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, Set our hearts on fire.
Flow, river flow, Flood the nations with grace and mercy.
Send forth Your Word, Lord, and let there be light.
Lord, I come to Your awesome presence,
From the shadows into Your radiance;
By the blood I may enter Your brightness,
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness,
Shine on me, shine on me. –
REFRAIN
As we gaze on Your kingly brightness,
So our faces display Your likeness;
Ever changing from glory to glory,
Mirror’d here may our lives tell Your story,
Shine on me, shine on me. –
REFRAIN
DISMISSAL