NEW YEAR S WORSHIP
3461 Merle Ave Modesto, CA 95355 (209) 551-0563 www.stpetermodesto.org W New Year s Worship December 30, 2018 Enter a New Year with God s Presence elcome and thank you for joining us for worship today! In our service, we gather before our almighty and saving God to offer him our worship and praise. We also assemble to hear God s holy and powerful word and celebrate his life-giving sacraments. Through these means, God strengthens our faith and walks us ever closer to our eternal home with him. The Lord s Supper (Holy Communion) The Bible tells us that those who take Communion together are to: Recognize that Christ s true body and blood are present in the Sacrament (1 Cor. 11:29), Examine themselves as Scripture instructs (1 Cor. 11:28), and Be one in faith and belief with the congregation with which they commune (1 Cor. 10:17). For these reasons, it is our practice that only those who are members of our congregation or a congregation of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) join us for Holy Communion. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a member of our body of believers or want to find out more about our Communion practice please speak to Pastor Schroeder after the service. PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP You have promised, O Lord, that you will be with us to the very end of the age. Now as we begin a new year, we thank you for all the ways you have been with us this past year supporting, strengthening, guiding, comforting, and healing. And we look forward to sharing all our moments with you in the coming year. Be our constant companion in whatever comes our way. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Flowers adorning our altar this morning are given to the glory of God by the Hejnal family in thanksgiving for all God s blessings of 2018. Worship Leader: Jared Johnson (Elder) Pianist: Judith Winsor The following were reprinted under OneLicense.net #A-706579: Cover artwork by Ian M. Welch. Copyright 2015 Ian M. Welch. All Rights Reserved. Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. 1
PREPARING FOR WORSHIP Observing the New Year helps us remember God s presence throughout our lives. While another year has passed, and we look forward to the coming of the year 2019, we recognize that in both our joys and our sorrows, God has been with us. It is his presence in our lives that gives our lives meaning and worth. It is his presence that gives us hope for the future as time ticks on. OPENING HYMN Help Us, O Lord, for Now We Enter Christian Worship #70 CALL TO WORSHIP M: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. CONFESSION OF SINS M: Beloved in the Lord: let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins to God our Father, asking him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. C: Holy and merciful Father, I confess that I am by nature sinful and that I have disobeyed you in my thoughts, words and actions. I have done what is evil and failed to do what is good. For this I deserve your punishment both now and in eternity. But I am truly sorry for my sins, and trusting in my Savior Jesus Christ, I pray: Lord have mercy on me, a sinner. LORD, HAVE MERCY (KYRIE) ABSOLUTION M: God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ 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. 2
M: In the peace of forgiveness, let us praise the Lord. 3
PRAYER OF THE DAY M: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. M: Let us pray. Eternal Father, before whom all generations rise and fall, teach us to think earnestly on the brevity of our lives and on the immensity of your goodness. Help us to enter the new year trusting in the name of your Son and walking in the way of his peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen. THE WORD OF GOD FIRST LESSON Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 There is a time for everything There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. (NIV) 4
PSALM OF THE DAY Psalm 90 The Psalm will be sung in unison. The Lord is beyond time and teaches us to number our days Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Refrain You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. You turn mortals back to dust. You sweep them away in the sleep of death. The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Refrain Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Glory be to the Father and to the Son And to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, Is now, and will be forever. Amen. Refrain 5
SECOND LESSON 1 Peter 1:22-25 The Word of God endures and stands the test of time Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that was preached to you. (NIV) VERSE OF THE DAY Psalm 119:105 Alleluia. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Alleluia. 6
GOSPEL LESSON Luke 13:6-9 God has great patience After the announcement of the Gospel, the congregation sings: Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now I ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? 8 Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year, and I ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down. M: This is the gospel of the Lord. After the Gospel, the congregation sings: 7
NICENE CREED We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who in unity with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. HYMN OF THE DAY O Lord, Our Father, Thanks and Praise Christian Worship #72 SERMON Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 Time Keeps on Ticking 8
CREATE IN ME THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER OFFERING The members of St. Peter Congregation have joined together to do the Lord s work in this community and around the world. Guests at St. Peter are welcome to participate in the offering but need not feel obligated to do so. 9
PRAYER FOR THE NEW YEAR & LORD S PRAYER M: I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. C: Every day I will praise you and extol your name. M: It is fitting, O Lord, in the final days of this year, to express our gratitude for the countless gifts of grace we have received from you. C: You have been faithful to your promises and loving toward all you have made. M: You clothe your creation with beauty; you feed even the birds and tell us that we are much more valuable than they. C: You know what we need, and you give us all good things. M: Clothing and food, safety and health, possessions and money, even life itself all these come to us from your generous hand. C: We thank you for these blessings, and we ask that you continue to grant them to us. M: We thank you especially for your Word and Holy Supper, which strengthen our faith, shield us from temptation, and equip us for service. C: Increase our commitments to these precious gifts, so that we may continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Special prayers and intercessions may follow. M: Eternal Father, before whom all generations rise and fall, teach us to reflect earnestly on the brevity of our lives and on the immensity of your goodness and mercy as revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. Help us to begin 2019 trusting in the name of your Son, eagerly sharing him with others and walking in the way of his peace. C: Amen. M: In Jesus name we also join in praying the prayer he has taught us: 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. 10
THE SACRAMENT St Peter Lutheran Church practices close communion. We invite confirmed members to come forward to partake of the Sacrament. Thank you for your consideration. M: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. M: Lift up your hearts. C: We lift them up unto the Lord. M: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C: It is good and right so to do. M: It is truly good and right that we should at all times and in all places give you thanks, O Lord, holy Father, almighty and everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, for in the wonder and mystery of his birth you have opened our eyes to the glory of your grace and renewed in our hearts the fervor of your love. Therefore, with all the saints on earth and hosts of heaven, we praise your holy name and join in their glorious song: 11
WORDS OF INSTITUTION M: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night he was betrayed, took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me. M: The peace of the Lord be with you always. C: Amen. O CHRIST, LAMB OF GOD DISTRIBUTION OF THE LORD S SUPPER During the distribution you are invited to join in singing the indicated hymns or to use the time for private prayer and meditation. Appropriate prayers are found on page 11 in the front of the hymnal. A personal preparation for the Lord s Supper is found on page 156. 12
DISTRIBUTION HYMNS The Old Year Now Has Passed Away Christian Worship #71 Draw Near and Take the Body of the Lord Christian Worship #309 SONG OF SIMEON THANKSGIVING & BLESSING M: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. C: And his mercy endures forever. M: We give thanks, almighty God, that you have refreshed us with this Holy Supper. We pray that through it you will strengthen our faith in you and increase our love for one another. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen. M: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look on you with favor and give you peace. 13