Order of Worship September 4, :00 am. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod)

Transcription

1 16 TH Sunday after Pentecost Order of Worship September 4, :00 am Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) McKinley St NE Minneapolis, MN website: 1

2 Welcome to God s house today!!! A special welcome to visitors today; we are pleased that you have joined us today! If you have no church family or if we can be of any help to you, please call the pastor or speak with him after the service. We pray that as we celebrate Christ s resurrection, as every Sunday is a celebration of this that, you will feel God s love for you and be empowered to live as God s child this week. Today s Focus- Christ Jesus Has Paid the Cost of Discipleship A disciple of Jesus Christ will carry his own cross (Luke 14:27) and follow the Lord through death into life. Discipleship is costly because it crucifies the old man with all his own possessions (Luke 14:33), in order to raise up the new man in Christ. That way of the cross is impossible, except that Christ Jesus has already paid the cost. Taking up His cross is to choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him (Deut. 30:19 20). To live that life in Christ is also to bear His cross in love, that your goodness should not be as it were by compulsion, but of your own free will (Philemon 14). Children are welcome in worship! If childcare is needed, an unattended nursery is open during worship services. It is located across from the restrooms next to the Church Offices. We also have quiet activity toys for children s use during worship on the ushers counter in the back. On Holy Communion Sundays, children are also welcome to come with you where they will receive a blessing. The Lord s Supper is celebrated on the 1st & 3rd Sundays of each month. We joyfully share our conviction that this is The Lord's Table. We receive the true Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, together with the bread and wine in a manner our human reason cannot understand. (Real Presence) By communing together with our Lord: - we believe that Jesus is the Son of God & Son of Man, - that Jesus is our Savior and only way for salvation; - That Jesus offers us His Body & Blood in a mysterious yet real way - that Christ's sacrificial death assures us of forgiveness of all our sins - and that God is strengthening us in this Sacrament to live a more godly life and to amend with the help of the Holy Spirit, those areas not in conformity with God s will. We declare these statements because it is our concern for people to not be hypocritical between their faith and practice. Those who share these convictions are welcome to come and celebrate the blessings of God's Table at the Altar. Persons unable to approach the Altar may be communed in the pew, please notify the Pastor or Elder if you wish this service. White wine in the center of tray is denatured (alcohol removed) 2

3 16 TH Sunday after Pentecost WE ENTER TO WORSHIP and BE BLESSED PRESERVICE MUSIC WELCOME CTW How Clear is Our Vocation Lord Tune: LSB 389 INVOCATION CALL TO WORSHIP THE CONFESSION OF SINS THE LORD COMES TO US IN HIS WORD OLD TESTAMENT READING Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ESV EPISTLE READING Philemon 1: 9-10, ESV GSOPEL ANTHEM Oh, That the Lord LSB 707 THE GOSPEL LESSON Luke 14: ESV THE NICENE CREED HYMN of the DAY Knowing You Jesus Graham Kendrick SERMON How Much? How Many?. One Luke 14: WE RESPOND TO GOD S WORD THE GIVING OF OUR TITHES and OFFERINGS OFFERING PRAYER PRAYER OF GOD S PEOPLE THE SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION PREFACE SANCTUS LSB 161 THE LORD S PRAYER THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION PREPARATION HYMN "Lord Jesus Christ" LSB 622 THE DISTRIBUTION- HYMNS DURING THE DISTRIBUTION "Your Table I Approach" LSB 628 Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness LSB 563 THANKSGIVING PRAISE Thank the Lord THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER BENEDICTION CLOSING HYMN Praise to the Lord LSB 790 +Silent Prayer + ANNOUNCEMENTS POSTLUDE WE DEPART TO SERVE SALVATION ARMY FOOD 65 lbs of food was delivered in August! Thank you to all who donate to this cause 3

4 TODAY S LUTHERAN HOUR September 4 "Choose Life!" Deuteronomy 30:15-20 In Christ, you have been called God's friend. Now you get to befriend others in His Name. NEXT WEEK ON THE LUTHERAN HOUR September 11 There s No Other Friend Like Jesus We befriend, love, and show care for other people because Jesus loved, befriended, and saved us. Luke 15:1-10 Listen on WCCO AM at 6:05 am, Sunday mornings, or listen anytime at If you subscribe to XM Satellite Radio you can also hear The Lutheran Hour on XM 170 Sundays at noon. LUTHERANS FOR LIFE The world was not empty when we came into it; we must not leave it emptier for having been here. Our duty is to leave it richer and better because we have shown our gratitude to the Lord by being productive Christians. R. J. Rushdoony A Life Quote from Lutherans For Life If you have Thrivent insurance, don't forget Thrivent Choice Dollars! Call Thrivent ( ). When asked for subject, say "Choice Dollars". When asked for a choice, press 1. Then answer the next question with your birth date. Then A Thrivent person will answer. Tell the person you want to direct your choice dollars to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 3014 NE McKinley St, Mpls Call every month! We received $ in July! Thank you so much for your generous giving STEWARDSHIP- Matt. 6:25, Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life. God is in charge. God is our loving Father. Put those two statements together and they spell the end of worry and anxiety. Yes, we will have crosses to bear. Yes, we will have difficulties. But through it all, our loving heavenly Father is in charge and He will carry us through. It is that simple faith, the faith of a child, that frees us from worry. And in the absence of worry, faith can step forward in bold action and into the kind of generosity that can only operate in an atmosphere of trust. CAPITAL REPAIR NEWS Recently a motor in one of the three air handling systems was replaced at a cost of $256. Now one of the AC Condenser units is out. The estimate including install is: new compressor $2,060 or new Condenser unit, $3,120. Other estimates are being sought. FLOWERS FOR THE ALTAR Cost for flowers is $20 with a $10 charge for delivery. If you wish you may pick them up yourself at Pletschers Floral. You can also bring your own flowers. ALTAR CARE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for October 4

5 BIRTHDAYS: Sept. 9 TH Beverly Svac ANNIVERSARYS Sept. 10 th Karmon & Meridel Christopherson IN OUR PRAYERS Arlene Derksen, Debra Forsberg, Derald Hadrath, LeRoy Halvorson, `Harriet Harris, Roselyn Norman REQUESTED PRAYERS Vera Gade (Pastor s mother) In hospice, urinary tract cancer The Rixe Family Jarrin Stark (Verlayne Sather s brother) cancer Dee Sund (Verlayne Sather s sister) cancer Sandy Lewis, (Ada Samson s daughter) stroke recovery Dick Gillund (Patty & Meridel s brother) Jimmy Royal & Dave (friends of Dick Gillund) Dennis Larson (Dorothy Woll s brother) cancer John Svac (Bev s son) cancer Renae Wiegert (Layne Bettermann s friend) cancer Dr. Lori Ongeri (Deb Forsberg s niece) for safe delivery Marvin &Norma Thor (former members) poor health/stomach cancer Bev Papcek (Grunnes cousin) cancer Amy Price (Pam & Al Morelli s niece) treatments for stage 4 cancer Mandy Forsberg (Andrew s wife) leukemia John Gilbert (Verlayne s foster child) family issues and decisions Chaplain Everett Theis (retired CrestView Chaplain) Cancer Greg Henderson (Vicki s husband) recovery from a stroke SERVING TODAY Elder: Karmon Christopherson Ushers: Morelli family Counters: Verlayne Sather and Shirley Slagle Altar Care: Pam and Aaron Morelli Attendance: 8/28-29 Giving: Loose/Regular $979 Rent $0 Powerpoint projector $500 Memorial Total: $1,479 Needed each week for the 2016 Budget $3, Simply Giving Program Endorsed by Thrivent Federal Credit Union The Simply Giving Program is an automated stewardship program that helps members live generously. It's a convenient, safe and simple way for individuals to make automatic payments to nonprofit organizations through electronic funds transfer (EFT) directly from checking or savings accounts. Thrivent Federal Credit Union has contracted with industry leader Vanco Payment Solutions to provide electronic payment processing services at reduced rates so your generosity goes further. Call Vanco Payment Solutions at to get started. 5

6 Our Weekly Calendar 09/04 Sun 15th Sunday after Pentecost 8:45 am Adult Bible Study KEEP WATCH 10 am Worship w/hc 6 pm NA 09/05 Mon OFFICE CLOSED-LABOR DAY 6:30 pm AL-ANON 1 8 pm AA & AL ANON 2 09/07 Wed 10 am Bible Study - 1 Peter 6:30 pm TLWCC Bible Class 09/09 Fri 5 pm TLWCC Music Practice 8 pm AA 09/10 Sat 10 am TLWCC Worship 6 pm TLWCC Worship & Fellowship 09/11 Sun 17th Sunday after Pentecost 8:45 am Adult Bible Study 10 am Worship 6 pm NA SUNDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY For two millennia, Christians have proclaimed that Jesus would return bringing God s redemptive work to all its fullness. And for two thousand years we ve waited... and waited... waited. Yes, we affirm that Jesus is returning and could at any moment, but do we live that way or does it have any real bearing on our life as a disciple. Today continue 5 week series called Keep Watch. WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY How can you be holy within an immoral culture? How do you function in a society where Christians are an oppressed minority? 1 Peter recognizes the difficulties that Christians encounter when living in a society that opposes their values. So you are welcome to come as we tackle these important questions. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Trinity First Lutheran School has over 160 students enrolled for the school year, and we are looking for volunteers to serve alongside us as we educate and share Jesus love with our families and children. Volunteers are needed in all areas, particularly in our afterschool program. Please our Educational Support Coordinator, Anna VanVleet, at vanvleet.tfl@gmail.com or visit ww.trinityfirstschool.org/support. PRAYER CHAIN UPDATE A new prayer chain list of those who want to be called about prayer chain requests is being put together. There is a signup sheet on the entry way bulletin board, but if you want to be included but haven t signed it. Please call the Church Office. (612) We hope to have the new Prayer Chain Guideline booklet and list published by September 8 th. 6

7 Catechesis Note for the Week Did Jesus teach His disciples to hate their parents? "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters yes, even his own life he cannot be my disciple." The statement of Jesus in Luke 14:26 is confusing. Is Jesus saying we need to hate our parents in order to follow Him? So, if we don't hate our family and our own lives, we can't be His disciple. But does He mean we are to have real hatred for our parents? It is not so much the true explanation to say that hate here means love less, as it is to say that when our nearest and dearest relationships prove to be positive obstacles in coming to Christ, then all natural affections must be flung aside. The word "hate" in the Bible is often used to express priority and preference rather than emotional hatred. For example, in Malachi 1:2-3,.the word hate refers to a preference rather than an emotional hatred. "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?' "Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals." This type of Hebraism shows how hate is used to express an idiom where hate means hate by comparison. Our Lord purposely stated great principles in their boldest and even most paradoxical form by which He alone has succeeded in impressing them forever as principles on the hearts of His disciples. In the metaphor that follows of examining whether one has the money to finish building a house Jesus is showing us the explanation to His difficult statement. We must count the cost of discipleship. This is the point of the passage. In order to be a disciple, we must be willing to give up everything for Jesus. Therefore, if our parents will not follow Jesus, or even if they disown us for being Christians, we must still choose Him over them. It is in this sense that we are "hating" our family members who reject the Lord or reject us because of the Lord.. 7

8 Today s Scripture Readings Deuteronomy 30:15-20: The way of life and good is to walk in the fear and love of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. The ways of the Lord that our flesh finds so distasteful actually lead to life and freedom because they draw their strength from Christ. Philemon 1-21: Paul writes this pastoral epistle to Philemon whose slave, Onesimus, had run away from Philemon only to encounter the Apostle Paul and become a Christian. Now that Onesimus had been brought to faith, he realizes that he must return to his master. Paul urges Philemon to receive his slave as a brother in Christ and not to cast him out. Luke 14:25-35: Shocking! Is how the words of Jesus sound in our ears: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. How can Jesus say such things? Jesus words are shocking to our ears precisely because, whether we realize it or not, there are many other relationships that are more important to us than our relationship to Him. Only Jesus is our creator and Savior. True love and the meaning of life comes only from Him who hated Himself enough to lay down His life for us. No one is more important than Jesus and no work is greater than His sacrifice for us upon the cross. Take away Jesus and His suffering and death, and there is no life, no father, mother, wife or children, brothers or sisters. Take away Jesus and all our relationships are actually self-serving and idolatrous. Everything that we are and have is dependent upon Him. Though Jesus speaks of the exclusivity of the Christian faith that it MUST be in HIM ALONE the paradox of the Christian faith is that those who love Him above all others are those who love others best. The Christian faith and life has a cost to every Christian: the letting go of self. None of us can pay that price; nevertheless, it is what faith demands. It is Christ, who works in us by His Word and Spirit, who enables us to love Him alone. And it is Christ in us who enables us to love rightly those who are nearest and dearest to us. This is, after all, why we are His disciples. Next Week s Readings 17 th Sunday after Pentecost Ezek. 34:11-24; Psalm 119: ; 1 Tim. 1: 5-17; Luke 15:1-10 8