Sunday, March 15, 2015 Bridesmaids (or Talents) Matthew 25:1-13

Transcription

1 Sunday, March 15, 2015 Bridesmaids (or Talents) Matthew 25:1-13

2 Grace Lutheran Church March 15, :30 a.m. Bridesmaids (or Talents) Welcome to worship at Grace! May this time of gathering in Christian community bless you and enable you to be a blessing to others. Special welcome to Newcomers in the name of Christ! We pray that our time of worship would give you the chance to offer your prayer and praise, hear anew the Word of God, and receive our Lord s presence in Holy Communion. Enlarged print bulletins and personal assist hearing devices are available. Please see an usher for assistance. Children s bulletins and activity bags are also available. The order of worship, and many of the prayers, can be found in the worship bulletin. Hymns and worship music can be found in the red worship books. Hymns are in the back of the worship book, with the large numbers at the top of the page. Service music is in the front of the worship book, with the small numbers on the bottom of the page. Every Sunday we share Holy Communion. All are welcome to the Lord s Table. When invited by the ushers, please come forward using the center aisle. To receive the bread, hold out your hand, palm up. The minister will place the bread in your hand along with the words "The Body of Christ, given for you." You may respond, "Amen," or "Thanks be to God." Standing at the cup, dip the bread into the wine or juice. The Communion Server will say, "The blood of Christ, shed for you." You may respond "Amen," or "Thanks be to God," before consuming the wine/juice-soaked bread. Then, return to your seat by way of the side aisles. Note: Grape juice (lighter in color) is available as well as wine (darker in color). Gluten-free wafers are available on the table between the servers---after receiving the words of promise, simply take a wafer, dip it into the wine/juice also provided on the table, eat both and return to your seat by way of the side aisles." *Please stand as you are able. 2

3 Prelude *Gathering Hymn #244 Rejoice, Rejoice Believers *Greeting P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. C: And also with you. Confession and Forgiveness P: With humility, we confess our sins before God and one another. Pause for silence and reflection. P: Gracious and forgiving God, C: The consequences of our sin are relentless and fierce. Sometime we may not see the outcome of our thoughtless words and deeds. Other times we may feel deeply the pain of our sin. Help us to consider the result of our actions. Create in us a desire to choose better. Forgive us, and teach us to forgive. Amen. P: We can forgive because we first have been forgiven by a loving and gracious God. We can love because we first were loved. Receive today the entire forgiveness of all your sins. Delight in God s love, given freely through the gift of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Kyrie, setting 8-p.184 Prayer of the Day L: Let us pray. C: God of good gifts, you entrust the gifts of your kingdom to our care. Help us to be prepared for your coming at all time, for the glory of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 3

4 Welcome and Announcements Temple Talk Jim Schimdt-Camp Onomia Children s Message Anthem I m Just A Poor Wayfaring Stranger by Waldrop Scripture Matthew 25:1-13 At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. The foolish ones took their lamps but didn t bring oil for them. But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil. When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. But at midnight there was a cry, Look, the groom! Come out to meet him. Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out. But the wise bridesmaids replied, No, because if we share with you, there won t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came and said, Lord, lord, open the door for us. But he replied, I tell you the truth, I don t know you. Therefore, keep alert, because you don t know the day or the hour. L: The Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. 4

5 Sermon Hymn of the Day #678 Pastor Karen Williams God Whose Giving Knows No Ending A Scottish Creed For Lent L: Let us confess our faith using the words found in A Christian Creed for Lent C: We believe in the God of Life who creates and loves people, who acts in history, and who promises never to leave us alone. We believe in Jesus of Nazareth, who is Lord and Redeemer, who died and rose again, and who wants not be idolized but to be followed. We believe that we live in the presence of the Holy Spirit; without it we are nothing; filled with the Holy Spirit we are able to become creative, lively, and free. We believe in the Church of Jesus Christ, a community where we find companions for the struggle of life; where we grow in understanding of the faith through worship, prayer, fellowship, and action. We believe that God has a purpose for us in this time and place. We believe in living, hoping, laughing and enjoying the good earth. We believe that people can change, attitudes can change, and that God keeps leading us towards life, and to a new world of justice and joy. (from the Parish of Balerno outside Edinburgh, Scottland) 5

6 *Prayers of Intercession The liturgist leads the congregation. Each petition concludes: L: Lord in your mercy, C: Hear our prayer. The prayers conclude: P: With grateful praise, we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. Offering & Offertory *Offering Hymn #339 vs.1 Christ, The Life of All the Living *Offering Prayer L: Let us pray. C: Good and loving God, we rejoice in the birth of Jesus, who came among the poor to bring the riches of your grace. As you have blessed us with your gifts, let them be a blessing for others. With the trees of the field, with all earth and heaven, we shout for joy at the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. *Offering Hymn #339 vs. 2 Christ, The Life of All the Living 6

7 Communion Liturgy *Great Thanksgiving P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Lift up your hearts. C: We lift them to the Lord. P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C: It is right to give our thanks and praise. *Words of Institution *Lord s Prayer Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen. Invitation to our Lord s Table Distribution of Communion Please see inside of front cover of this bulletin for a note on receiving Holy Communion Lamb of God Hymn #336 Distribution Hymn #708 Jesu, Jesu 7

8 *Post Communion Blessing and Prayer Almighty God, by our Baptism into the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ, you turn us from the old life of sin. Grant that we who are reborn to new life in him may live in righteousness and holiness all our days, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. *Benediction Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen *Sending Hymn #580 How Clear is Our Vocation, Lord *Dismissal L: Go in peace! Serve the Lord. C: Thanks be to God! Postlude ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Presiding Minister: Rev. Karen Williams Liturgist: Jan Steingas Lay Reader Greg Mohwinkel Pianist: Sylvia Dyhaug Anthem: Bells of Grace-Pete Zitzewitz, Director Acolyte: Evan Taylor Communion Servers: Dave & Phyllis Hunter Worship Coordinator: Jan Steingas Greeters: Charles & Beverly Henderson Ushers: Team B: Norm Walby-Head Usher & Captain, Rick Major-Captain, Coley Gillis, Julie Major, Rudolph Wiemann, Mike Welte Money Counters: Team F: Kate Pray-Captain, Larry Carlson, Bob Golder, Justin Pray Grace Geek Squad: Pray Family 8

9 We lift our prayers to God in times of thanksgiving and times of need, in times of joy and times of sorrow, we pray for Kathleen Hollar, Musu Goll, Terry Larson, Carol Golder, Justin Dike, Julie Doree, Randy Warn, and the Jennifer (nee Lindquist) Danny Turner and Curt and Gerry Lindquist on the death of their daughter and great-granddaughter Josephine JD Turner who was born on January 4, Jennifer is the granddaughter of Curt and Gerry and Josephine is their great-granddaughter. Please keep all in your prayers. In case of an emergency after church office hours and weekends, please contact Pastor Karen Williams at Talkpoints today Jim Schmidt, Executive Director at Camp Onomia will talk about the Camping Opportunities at Camp Onomia. Futures Task Force Meeting will meet today after service with Linda Baer in Conference Room 1 after worship today at 10:45 a.m. The April Intouch article deadline is Friday, March 20, Next Sunday, March 22, 2015, Connie Smeby will present TalkPoints on the sun eclipse and Blood Moons. We should not forget that God uses the sky as His billboard for announcements. This sequence of moon eclipses with a solar eclipse on these specific dates has only happened three times since 1493! It has always had significant meaning - what could it mean for us? Attention all campers! We have reserved camp sites at Lake Elmo Park Reserve for the weekend of July 10-12, All ages and types of camping equipment are welcome. We will enjoy the great outdoors and have some fun together. Please sign up as soon as possible in the Shepherd s Lounge. You won't want to miss out! Thanks to those who donated pajama s to Project Home. 9

10 Committee of the Month: Mission Committee The Mission Committee currently consists of Sue Atneosen, Carolyn Hesterberg, Shirley Walby, Lydia Rose and Tootie Henningsen. We meet the second Monday of the month at 9:30 a.m. in the church s Conference Room. Our responsibility is to offer opportunities to the members of Grace Lutheran Church to put their faith into action by reaching out to God s people in need across the street and around the world. We try to do this by using conventional and some new and innovative ways. Some of the ongoing outreach opportunities include a Mission of the month each month (placing a new organization each month for consideration) as well as non-perishable food collection and money for Merrick Food Shelf. Twice a year in February and in September a Bloodmobile is held at Grace. This is a life-saving ministry that we provide in conjunction with St. Pascal s Catholic Church (they hold 2 or 3 bloodmobiles each year) and we encourage and support each other as well as share our donor lists. We sponsor the Giving Tree each December and collect gifts for the children served by Merrick Community Center and the seniors served by the Living at Home/Block Nurse Program. One of our huge endeavors and successes is the sponsoring of students in Sierra Leone. In 2014, Grace sponsored 75 students. Grace is helping to change lives. The Mission Committee also sponsored a sandwich making day and provided 150 sandwiches for the homeless. The Mission Committee set up and organized an evening of service at Feed My Starving Children. The Mission Committee reaches out to members of Grace through Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas gifts in memorial. We would appreciate new members (we are willing to switch our meeting time if necessary) as well as ideas and suggestions from the Congregation. We continue to be thankful for the Congregation s financial support and gifts of time, energy and prayer. March s Mission of the Month is ELCA Disaster Relief ELCA Disaster Relief brings God s hope, healing and renewal to people whose lives have been disrupted by disasters in the United States and around the world. Even after headlines fade, ELCA Disaster teams stay to provide ongoing assistance to those in need. Some of the areas where Lutherans are currently responding include: Typhoon Haiyan: one year later; Gaza Humanitarian Assistance; Ebola Outbreak Response; Unaccompanied and migrant children; South Sudan conflict; U.S. tornadoes, Syria and U.S. flooding. Together we make a difference. Please support this ministry by using your multi-purpose blue envelope and mark Mission of the Month. Checks should be made payable to Grace Lutheran Church. Thank you. 10

11 For 11 years, Grace has provided overnight shelter for homeless families through Project Home of the St. Paul council of Churches. However, in recent years we have not had a permanent schedule but have served on an as-needed basis. This year we didn t hear anything until just now for hosting the program in the month of April. Since Grace was given so little lead time, and Project Home has no other options but us, that means recruiting lots of volunteers in a very short time. Our busy members are asked to find to find the time to share the burden to do the work of the Lord in this way. A First Communion Class will be held on April 12. Please see Pastor Karen to participate. New Members will be received next Sunday, March 22. There is always room for more. Please speak to Pastor Karen 11

12 Sunday, March 15-Sunday, March 22, 2015 Sunday 9:30 a.m. Worship 10:30 a.m. Coffee Hour 10:30 a.m. Craft Group Meeting 10:45 a.m. Sunday School/Talkpoints Jim Schmidt, Executive Director-Camp Onomia 7:00 p.m. Metro Brass Rehearsal Tuesday 12:00 p.m. Customized Options 7:00 p.m. Church Council Wednesday 10:00 a.m. Coffee & Conversation 10:00 a.m. Sew Day 5:30 p.m. Soup & Lenten Service 5:30 p.m. Bells of Grace 6:30 p.m. Joyous Jrs. 8:00 p.m. Sanctuary Choir Saturday 8:00 a.m. Men s Bible Study 9:00a-3:00p Laura Gorton-Tower Room 10:00 a.m. New Member Orientation Sunday 9:30 a.m. Worship/New Members 10:30 a.m. Coffee Hour 10:45 a.m. SS/Talk Points Pastor Karen Williams Rhynda Landt, Administrative Associate 1730 Old Hudson Road Saint Paul, Minnesota