Jesus Takes Hold 9 th Sunday after Pentecost August 9 & 10, 2014
Ebenezer Lutheran Church Port Hudson The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod 9100 Highway YY Leslie, Missouri Parsonage 573-459-6432 Church 573-459-6431 Rev. William F. Zastrow, Pastor Mary Sprick, Secretary ebenezerlutheran@hotmail.com ebenezerlutheranchurch.wordpress.com AS WE GATHER: Job suffered losses that few of us could endure: his livelihood, his family, and his own health. At Jesus invitation, Peter exited the boat and began to walk to Jesus, until he started sinking. Both Job and Peter call to mind the words from a hymn, When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down. We all have those sinking down times in our lives. This is why today s Gospel is so uplifting. When Peter was sinking down, Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him (Matthew 14:31). In Holy Baptism, Jesus reaches out His hand and takes hold of us. The hymnwriter also pens, Christ laid aside His crown for my soul. There is no moment of sinking down where God in Christ Jesus does not reach out His hand and take hold of us. We gather in worship, then, as those who at times are sinking down, of whom Jesus has taken hold. Therefore, to God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing! PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP: Gracious heavenly Father, Your Son reaches out His hand and takes hold of us when our weak faith threatens to pull us down to the depths of despair. Move us to reach out graceful hands to our neighbors when they near despair, so that we may reflect Christ s love and Your name may be glorified in all creation; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 2
DIVINE SERVICE HYMN Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me LW 361 In the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. THE CONFESSIONS OF SINS Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. Our Help is in the name of the Lord. Who made heaven and earth. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. And Thou forgave the iniquity of my sin. Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confess unto You that we are by nature sinful and unclean, and that we have sinned against You by thought, word, and deed. Wherefore we flee for refuge to Your infinite mercy, seeking and imploring Your grace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. O most merciful God, who has given Your only begotten Son to die for us, have mercy upon us and for His sake grant us remission of all our sins; and by the Holy Spirit increase in us true knowledge of You and of Your will and true obedience to Your Word, to the end, that by Your grace we may come to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 3
Almighty God our heavenly Father, has had mercy upon us and has given His only Son to die for us and for His sake forgives us all our sins. To them that believe on His name He gives the power to become sons of God and has promised them His Holy Spirit. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. Grant this, Lord, unto us all. Amen. INTROIT Psalm 34:4 8; antiphon: v. 1 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 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. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. KYRIE 4
Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us. HYMN OF PRAISE Gloria in Excelsis SALUTATION Glory be to God on high: And on earth peace, good will toward men. We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee, we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory. O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, That takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord. Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. PRAYER OF THE DAY Almighty and most merciful God, preserve us from all harm and danger that we, being ready in 5
both body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish what You want done; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. OLD TESTAMENT READING Job 38:4 18 (The Lord speaks to Job) This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. GRADUAL Psalm 34:9, 19 All: Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing! Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. EPISTLE Romans 10:5 17 (Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.) This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. HALLELUJAH All: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 14:22 33 (Jesus Walks on Water) The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 14th chapter. Glory be to Thee, O Lord. (The Gospel is read.) 6
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise be to Thee, O Christ. THE APOSTLES CREED I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into Hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the Living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. HYMN OF THE DAY What Wondrous Love is This? HS98 860 SERMON OFFERING OFFERTORY Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy 7
Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Amen THE PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH LORD S PRAYER (Matthew 6:9 13) 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. HYMN Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me LW 513 THE CLOSING COLLECT Let us pray. Blessed Lord, who has caused all Holy Scripture to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by the patience and comfort of Thy holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast 8
the blessed hope of everlasting life which Thou hast given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. BENEDICTION 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. Numbers 6:24 26 Amen. Amen. Amen. Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series A, Part 3. Copyright 2014 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. OUR MISSION AND MINISTRY IN OUR PRAYERS: We pray for safe travels for Pastor, Margaret and Mary Beth as they have begun their vacation this past Friday. We hope they will have a wonderful relaxing time this week. We pray for the many who are near and dear to us who call out to our heavenly Father in their various needs, especially, Paula Gleitz, as she is still recovering from a serious automobile accident and surgeries; Phil Hubenthal, who is doing some better; Ray Huxel, who is still at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis for lung surgery; Judy Luecker, who is recovering from hip surgery; Diane Luechtefeld, Michael Klienhieder, Lawrence Pelster; Debbie Donatti; David Door and Brenda Bailey. 9
We want to remember in our prayers the friends and shut-ins of our congregation and community, especially, Adeline Keune, Wilbert Helling in Arizona, Dalphrine Deppermann, Hulda Althage; Edna Deppermann and all those we hold dear in our hearts. We pray for our ministry here at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and all the Pastors of our Missouri Synod. Grant them insight that they may rightly and faithfully speak both Law and Gospel for the good of Your people. We especially pray for the safety of all our Missionaries as they spread Your Word and Gospel especially those that are in countries of unrest and trouble. We especially want to remember Robin McCoy and her students in Thailand and John Strasen with Lutheran Bible Translators in Botswana, Africa. Please remember and grant wisdom to our elected officials especially our President, Vice President, Governors of all our States and Judges. We ask that our Lord would strengthen and protect all those who keep the peace in our communities, respond to emergencies of health, fire and flood and who meet the physical and emotional needs of those who rely on them. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ To our members and guests who are here with us today. We are very glad you are here for our worship services on this Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. May the Lord refresh you with peace and love during our worship services. Please join us here at Ebenezer again soon! Please sign the guest register near the front entrance with your name, address, and Church affiliation. Thank you! We welcome Rev. Walter Otten who is our guest preacher for our Saturday and Sunday worship services this weekend. Pastor and family will be taking a vacation to Florida. They left this past Friday and will be returning on Monday, August 18 th. During this time if there is a Pastoral emergency, please call Rev. Tim Brown at 573-484-3575 or his cell at 636-744-9044. Next weekend, on August 16 th and 17 th, we will have Holy Communion 10
with Pastor Robert S. Cochrane from High Ridge, Mo. If you need to call one of our Elders, their phone numbers are: Warren Bauche 573-237-2230; Tom Anderson 573-308-5880 or 573-237-3027, David Summers 573-459-2005. Pastor will also be gone on August 25 th to the 28 th to visit his mother who just celebrated her 95 th birthday. He will also be visiting with other members of his family. Pastor will only be gone for two weekends. He will be here August 23 & 24 and August 30 & 31. Ebenezer Lutheran Sunday School will have a Sunday School Rally Day on Sunday, August 24 th at 11:30 AM. Please bring a salad or dessert to share at a light lunch after the 10:00 AM Worship service. Everyone is welcome to join in the fun or watch the activities. Please see the poster on the bulletin board at the back of Church. Please remember our on-going collection of shoes for the Shoeman Water Projects. Shoeman Water Projects raises funds from the donations and sales of new and used shoes to bring water to people in Kenya, Haiti and South America. With proceeds from shoes sales and monetary donations, Shoeman makes several water project mission trips a year to drill wells, repair pumps, install purification systems and train local residents to operate and maintain pumps. As mentioned before, we collected 380 pairs of shoes during our Vacation Bible School. We will have more information in the September newsletter. We would also appreciate donations to the Leslie Food Pantry. We have a box on the table at the back of Church for the collection of non-perishable foods, hygiene products etc. A Reminder - $5,714 was directed to our congregation on behalf of Thrivent Choice Dollars year to date. Please consider directing your Choice Dollars to Ebenezer again. We very much appreciate your consideration! All ladies of our congregation are invited to attend and join the Ebenezer Mission Society. The quarterly meeting will be held Monday, August 18 th to plan our fall projects. Please consider 11
joining this group of ladies as all are welcome. If you need transportation, call Barb Kassebaum at 237-2509. Voting members of our Congregation we are looking for someone to be a Delegate to the Missouri District Convention. The Convention will be held June 14-16, 2015 in Springfield, Mo. More information will be available later. Those Serving Today Organist Saturday Jennifer Huellinghoff Organist Sunday Ruth Marschel Head Usher Saturday Tracey Bade Head Usher Sunday Lee Kassebaum Acolytes Kennedy Siefken and Zach Brunkhorst Bell Ringer Jeff Hohlt Altar Guild Janice Meyer and Mary Sprick Offerings and Attendance Weekly Contributions - $1,306.00 Plate - 203.48 Sunday School - 19.00 Gardner Memorials - 395.00 (includes $220.00 for Cemetery Fund) Mission Offering - 10.00 Vacation Bible School - 600.61 Recycle Funds - 56.55 $2,590.64 Attendance: Saturday Worship 27 Sunday Worship 80 Sunday School: Children 5 Adults 18 This Week at Ebenezer Pastor and family will be on vacation Saturday Worship with Holy Communion 5:00 PM 12