Sunday: The 15th Sunday After Pentecost Date: September 21, 2014 First reading: Isaiah 55:6 9 Second reading: Phil. 1:12 14, 19 30 Gospel Reading: Matt. 20:1 16 Greetings: Introduce yourselves and ask everyone s name. Opening Prayer (Read together): Dear heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have brought us together again, for this time of worship and meditation in your Word. The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is, when brothers and sisters live together in unity. As we gather together Lord, we are reminded that we are here because You have called us out of darkness into Your wonderful light. Assure us Lord, of Your mercy and ever present forgiveness. Help us to look to the cross and remind us that Your Son Jesus Christ died and rose again, to give us the victory over our sins, over the devil and over this evil world. Help us to walk in Your path, the path You have set before us in Jesus Christ. Keep us close to You and close to one another. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Absolution: Dear friends, God s Word tells us that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come. Because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, His death and resurrection, God assures you that your sins are forgiven. In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn: #712 Seek Ye First 1 Seek ye first the kingdom of God, And His righteousness. And all these things shall be added unto you! Allelu, alleluia! 2 Ask and it shall be given unto you, Seek and ye shall find, Knock and the door shall be opened unto you, Allelu, alleluia! 3 Man does not live by bread alone, But by ev ry word That proceeds from the mouth of the Lord, Allelu, alleluia! FIRST READING: Isaiah 55:6 9 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Hymn: #783 Take My Life and Let it Be 1 Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. 2 Take my hands and let them move At the impulse of Thy love; Take my feet and let them be Swift and beautiful for Thee. 3 Take my voice and let me sing Always, only for my King; Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee. 4 Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold; Take my intellect and use Ev ry pow r as Thou shalt choose. 5 Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine; Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne. 6 Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store; Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee. SECOND READING: Phil. 1:12 14, 19 30 12 I want you to know, brothers,[a] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[b] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more boldto speak the word[c] without fear. 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy[a] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ
you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. Hymn: #827 Hark the Voice of Jesus Calling 1 Hark, the voice of Jesus calling, Who will go and work today? Fields are white and harvests waiting Who will bear the sheaves away? Loud and long the Master calleth; Rich reward He offers thee. Who will answer, gladly saying, Here am I, send me, send me? 2 Some take up His task in morning, To their Lord responding soon; Some are called in heat of midday, Others late in afternoon; Even as the sun is setting, Some are sent into the fields, There to gather in the bounty That God s Word so richly yields. 3 For as rain and snow from heaven Water seeds in dusty soil, Causing them to bud and flower, Giving bread to those who toil;
So the Lord sends forth His promise, Words of life and joy and peace Never void to Him returning, Bearing fruit with great increase. 4 Hearken to the Lord whose coming Marks the time when grace shall end, When with His angelic reapers He in glory shall descend. Soon the night, the final harvest; Soon the time for work shall cease. Then the souls His grace has garnered Shall enjoy His Sabbath peace. GOSPEL READING: Matthew 20:1 16 For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius[a] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you. 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day? 7 They said to him, Because no one has hired us. He said to them, You go into the vineyard too. 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first. 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.10 Now when those hired
first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. 13 But he replied to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you.15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? [b] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last. Devotion Written by Angie Johnson In my high school freshmen English class we read a short story called Marigolds by Eugenia W. Collier. It was a coming of age story in which the narrator, Lizbeth, learns Innocence involves an unseeing acceptance of things at face value, an ignorance of the area below the surface. In that humiliating moment [she] looked beyond [herself] and into the depths of another person. This was the beginning of compassion, and one cannot have both compassion and innocence. By most definitions, I am very innocent. I have been blessed with a loving family, with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins that love each other and love me. I grew up in a middle class, suburban area and went to a good school. I grew up going to church every Sunday and listening to Christian music. I currently attend a private university and am studying to be a Director of Christian Education. I never drank or smoke or did any other drugs. But I have had my heart broken. I ve read stories of people that have died for their faith and more recently have seen the news of Christians persecuted by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). I remember comforting my mom when my grandparents died. I have worked with kids from broken homes and homeless street youth. I ve talked with friends struggling with anxiety and depression and abuse. I have had my heart broken with compassion and I am no longer innocent. If innocence is ignorance to pain and injustice, none of us are innocent. We ve all experienced pain and heartache.
We are not alone in it though, David wrote Psalm 27 in the midst of a war. Though he is surrounded by his enemies, David does not simply ask for deliverance the situation but for more of Jesus. In all things we can look to Jesus. Paul knew suffering too, he was put in prison for sharing his faith. Yet what he said was startling, what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel...yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body. That is so weird because when I talk to the guys at Giddings State School, a prison for underage guys, they are usually counting down the days till their release not praising God that they are there. He was a cheerful prisoner! We are all prisoners of something: guilt, addiction, grief, sickness, etc. We are often told that God allows us to go through these difficult things to make us stronger. But really it s not about being stronger; it s about where our strength is found, not in ourselves but in God. When I look to myself to find my strength, I block others out, not being vulnerable, not being able to be comforted, and constantly letting myself down. And when I look to others to find my strength, I am constantly worried about what they think of me. Relying on my own strength reminds me that I can t. Relying on God reminds me that I don t have to be strong enough and I don t have to have validation from others. Because of Christ we can proclaim what He has done for us! Christ meets us where we are and uses us to advance the gospel. In all the things our world is facing today, Jesus is bigger. In all the things our nation and government is facing today, Jesus is bigger. In all the things we face personally today, Jesus is bigger. When Christ came to the earth, died on the cross, and rose victorious, He overcame the sin that has imprisoned us and caused our pain and heartache. And He promises a day when He will come again and there will be no pain and heartache, sin and prisons. That s the gospel that we share! Paul shared with those where he was at, the imperial guard and the other prisoners. What pain and heartache are you experiencing? Look to Jesus. What prisons are you in? Let Jesus be your strength. Who is around you? Tell them about you pain, heartache, and prisons, but also about the God that has already overcome them!
Hymn: 922 Go, My Children, with My Blessing 1 Go, My children, with My blessing, Never alone. Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are My own. In My love s baptismal river I have made you Mine forever. Go, My children, with My blessing You are My own. 2 Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure. Here you learned how much I love you, What I can cure. Here you heard My dear Son s story; Here you touched Him, saw His glory. Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure. 3 Go, My children, fed and nourished, Closer to Me; Grow in love and love by serving, Joyful and free. Here My Spirit s power filled you; Here His tender comfort stilled you.
Go, My children, fed and nourished, Joyful and free. 5 In this union I have joined you Husband and wife, Now, My children, live together As heirs of life: Each the other s gladness sharing, Each the other s burdens bearing, Now, My children, live together As heirs of life. 4 I the Lord will bless and keep you And give you peace; I the Lord will smile upon you And give you peace: I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother. Go, My children; I will keep you And give you peace. PRAY TOGETHER: 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.
Benediction: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Visit! Get to know one another and remind people that they are blessed in the Lord!