Thanks, Lord! St. John Lutheran Church November 25, 2015 A Service of Thanksgiving PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP: I come before you, O Lord, to gratefully acknowledge your many spiritual and material blessings. As I hear your Word and sing your praises, keep me focused on your many kindnesses, for me and for others. Bless all who gather with me at this time, that together we grow in our relationship to you and to each other. Amen. St. John Choir singing Make a Joyful Noise THE OPENING HYMN:CW #613 Come, You Thankful People, Come Come, you thankful people, come; Raise the song of harvest-home. All be safely gathered in Ere the winter storms begin. God our maker shall provide For our wants to be supplied. Come to God's own temple, come; Raise the song of harvest-home. All the world is God's own field, Fruit unto his praise to yield; Wheat and weeds together sown, Unto joy or sorrow grown. First the blade and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear. Lord of harvest, grant that we Wholesome grain and pure may be. For the Lord our God shall come And shall take his harvest home, From his field shall in that day All offenses purge away, Give his angels charge at last In the fire the weeds to cast, But the fruitful ears to store In his garner evermore. (please stand) Even so, Lord, quickly come To your final harvest-home; Gather all your people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In your garner to abide. Come with all your angels, come; Raise the glorious harvest-home. THE RESPONSIVE READING: M inister: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. C ongregation: Amen. M: Let us give thanks to our heavenly Father, who has made us and provides for us;
who guards and protects us, upholds and sustains us; C: who loves us with redeeming love in Jesus Christ, His Son. M: Let us give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God who became flesh for us; who gave His life upon the cross for our redemption and was raised for our justification, C: who pleads for us before the throne of grace, and will come again to receive His faithful into everlasting joy. M: Let us give thanks to the Holy Spirit, by whom we are brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ, united with God s people in His holy family, C: through Him we are graced with all the gifts of God, and empowered to live as God s beloved children, now and to all eternity. M: Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Maker of all that exists. Blessed are You, Lord Jesus Christ, Redeemer of all the world. Blessed are You, O Holy Spirit, promised Friend and Counselor. C: Praise and thanksgiving be to our God forever and ever! C: (sung) Now thank we all our God With hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things has done, In whom his world rejoices, (CW #610) Who from our mother's arms Has blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love And still is ours today. THE PRAYER: ALL: O Lord God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier: You have brought us safely to this hour of praise. We thank you for providing all that we need for body and life. Bless us who have gathered in your name. Forgive our sins. Speak to our hearts. Dispel our sorrows with the comfort of your Word and receive our hymns of thanks and praise, through Jesus Christ our living Savior, who reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. C: (sung) 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 ills In this world and the next. (please be seated)
THE THANKSGIVING GOSPEL: Luke 17:11-19 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well." C: (sung) 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. A CONFESSION OF FAITH: M: I believe that God has created me and all that exist. He has given me and still preserves my body and soul with all their powers. He provides me with food and clothing, home and family, daily work, and all I need from day to day. C: (sung) We praise you, O God, our Redeemer, Creator! In grateful devotion our tribute we bring: (CW #609) We lay it before you; we kneel and adore you; We bless your holy name; glad praises we sing. M: God also protects me in time of danger and guards me from every evil. All this He does out of fatherly and divine goodness and mercy, though I do not deserve it. C: (sung) We worship you, God of our fathers; we bless you. Through trial and tempest our guide you have been; When perils o'ertake us, you will not forsake us, And with your help, O Lord, our battles we win. M: Therefore I ought to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true. C: (sung) With voices united our praises we offer; To you, great Jehovah, glad anthems we raise. Your strong arm will guide us; our God is beside us. To you, our great Redeemer, fore'er be praise!
THE SERMON: T. H. A. N. K. S. LORD It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night. Psalm 92:1,2 Triune God C: (sung) Dear Father, endless praise I render For soul and body, nobly joined I praise you, Guardian kind and tender, For all the daily joys I find (CW #194) So richly spread on ev ry side And freely for my use supplied. peace. I praise you avior, whose compassion has brought you down to ransom me. Your pitying heart sought my salvation; You bore the cross triumphantly, Bought me from bondage full release, Made me your own, and gave me Glory and praise, still onward reaching, Be yours, O Spirit of all grace, Whose holy pow r and faithful teaching Give me among your saints a place. Whatever good by me is done Is worked by grace divine above. Home C: (sung) Oh, blest the house, where faith you find And all within have set their mind To trust their God and serve him still And do in all his holy will. (CW #506) Oh, blest the parents who give heed Uto their children s foremost need And weary not of care or cost. May none to them and heav n be lost. Blests such a house; it propsers well. In peace and jy the parents dwell, And in their children s lives is shown How richly God can bless his own.
Adversity C: (sung) When peace, like a river atttendeth my way, When sorrows like billows roll Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. (LAPPY # 154) Refrain: It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. My sin, oh, the joy of this glorious thought My sin, not in part, but the whole, Is naild to the cross and I bear it no more: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. Refrain Nation C: (sung) God bless our native land! Firm may she ever stand Through storm and night! When the wild tempests rave, (CW #619) Ruler of wind and wave, Do thou our country save By thy great might. For her our prayers shall rise To God above the skies; On him we wait. Thou who art ever nigh, Guarding with watchful eye, To thee aloud we cry, God save the state! Knowledge C: (sung) Praise to God, immortal praise, For the love that crowns our days. Bounteous Source of ev'ry joy, Let your praise our tongues employ. (CW #612) All to you, our God, we owe, Source whence all our blessings flow. Peace, prosperity, and health, Private bliss and public wealth, Knowledge with its gladd'ning streams, True religion's holier beams -- Lord, for these our souls shall raise Grateful vows and solemn praise. Salvation C: (sung) Christ, the Life of all the living, Christ, the Death of death, our foe, Who, thyself for me once giving To the darkest depths of woe -- (CW #114) Through thy suff'rings, death, and merit I eternal life inherit.
Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto thee. Thou has suffered great affliction And hast borne it patiently, Even death by crucifixion, Fully to atone for me. Thou didst choose to be tormented That my doom should be prevented. Thousand, thousand thanks shall be, Dearest Jesus, unto thee. THE OFFERING: Handbells will be playing This Is My Father s World (please stand) THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER: THE 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; and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and forever Amen. THE LORD S SUPPER DISTRIBUTION HYMN: # 317 O Lord, We Praise You THE BENEDICTION: M: 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: (sung) Amen, amen, amen. THE CLOSING HYMN: #260 "Let All Things Now Living" Let all things now living A song of thanksgiving To God the Creator triumphantly raise, Who fashioned and made us, Protected and stayed us, Who still guides us on to the end of our days. God's banners are o'er us, His light goes before us, A pillar of fire shining forth in the night, Till shadows have vanished And darkness is banished, As forward we travel from light into light. His law He enforces, The stars in their courses And sun in its orbit obediently shine. The hills and the mountains, The rivers and fountains, The deeps of the ocean proclaim Him divine.
We, too, should be voicing Our love and rejoicing. With glad adoration a song let us raise Till all things now living Unite in thanksgiving: "To God in the highest, hosanna and praise!" A Blessed Thanksgiving to All!