EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN BOOK OF WORSHIP SETTING EIGHT Loving, Living & Sharing Christ Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School 99 Central Park Rd., Plainview, NY 11803 Phone: 516.349.1966 Website: ourshepherdlives.org Email: church@ourshepherdlives.org Liturgy + Sundays at 8:00 a.m. 10:15 a.m. & 6:00 p.m.* *2 nd, 4 th & 5 th Sunday Service of Healing with Holy Communion *Contemporary Worship with Meal at 5:00 p.m. on every 1 st Sunday *Taize at 6:00 p.m. on every 3 rd Sunday
November 4, 2018 ALL SAINTS SUNDAY Our Chancel Flowers are Dedicated Anonymously to the Glory of God. Worship Assistants Ministers The People of Good Shepherd Presiding Minister Pastor Eric O. Olsen Assisting Minister (8:00 a.m.) Bonnie McGowan Assisting Minister (8:00 a.m.) Jim Blewett Assisting Minister (10:15 a.m.) Marge Wenger Assisting Minister (10:15 a.m.) Lori Mason Lector (10:15 a.m.) Paul Wenger Altar Care Victoria Shenko-Jacobson Flower Care Gisela Conforti Flower Care JoAnn Schulz-Dellacona Cantor/Choir Director Caryn Yakacki Minister of Music Teresa Ratkowski Organist Christian Cuesta Cang Reverend Eric Olaf Olsen, Pastor Home Phone: 516-342-9501 Cell Phone: 716 352-0055 pastorolsen@aol.com Teresa Ratkowski, School Director Cell Phone: 516-343-2763 E-mail: Teresa.Ratkowski@gsplainview.org Website: gsplainview.org
A Warm Welcome to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School We hope that your worship experience this morning is spiritually enriching and meaningful; we invite all to stay for fellowship in the narthex following the liturgy. Children are always welcome to join us at worship. If you have small children with you today who need a break, please feel free to utilize our Kids Corner in the Agape Room. We also provide religious coloring books and crayons that your children may wish to use during the liturgy. If you missed seeing them when you came in, they are in a basket in the rear of the chancel on the bell table. Your children are welcome to take the coloring book home after the liturgy. We would, however, like the crayons returned in the plastic bag to the basket in the back. As always there are age appropriate Little Lambs Activity Bags located on the stands in the narthex. Are you new to Good Shepherd? Our congregation is a member of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and our day school is a member of the Lutheran Schools Association. If you are looking for a church home/school we would be happy to share more information with you. At the entryway to the church you will find a guest book in which to leave your name and contact information. You may use the pew card for the same purpose and place it in the offering plate. We d be delighted to keep you informed about events and opportunities here at Good Shepherd and hope you will join us again. Restrooms are located off the narthex and a handicapped accessible restroom is located near the main entrance of the education building. Cell phones create a distraction during worship. We ask that you turn them off while in our church building. Our team of ushers is available throughout the service to be of any assistance you might need. Gluten-free hosts: all of our baked bread is gluten free.
GATHERING The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God. Announcements Prelude Brief Order of Confession & Forgiveness P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever. C: Amen. P: God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. C: Amen. P: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another. Gracious God, C: have mercy on us. We confess that we have turned from you and given ourselves into the power of sin. We are truly sorry and humbly repent. In your compassion forgive us our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you, and uphold us by your Spirit, so that we may live and serve you in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. P: God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of + Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven. Almighty God strengthen you with power through the Holy Spirit, that Christ may live in your hearts through faith. C: Amen. Entrance Hymn: ELW#422 For All the Saints vs. 1-4
Apostolic 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! Kyrie
Canticle of Praise
P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. P: Let us pray Almighty God, you have knit your people together in one communion in the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen. WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song First Reading Isaiah 25:6-9 6 On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. 7 And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9 It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. L: The Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Children s Sermon (10:15 a.m. service) Antiphon (sung by choir) They shall receive blessing from the God of their salvation. Second Reading Revelation 21:1-6a 1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, See, I am making all things new. Also he said, Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true. 6a Then he said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. L: The Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. Gospel Acclamation
Gospel John 11:32-44 P: The Holy Gospel according to John the 11 th Chapter C: Glory to you, O Lord. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, See how he loved him! 37 But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go. P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to you, O Christ. Sermon Hymn of the Day ELW#628, Jerusalem, My Happy Home
Apostles Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's 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 to the dead.* On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Prayers of the Church P: Lord, in your mercy, C: hear our prayer. Peace P: The peace of Christ be with you always. C: And also with you. The Offering is received as the Lord s table is prepared. Choir Anthem: Peace Like a River I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river I've got peace like a river in my soul I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river I've got peace like a river in my soul
I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean I've got love like an ocean in my soul I've got love like an ocean, I've got love like an ocean I've got love like an ocean in my soul I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain I've got joy like a fountain in my soul I've got joy like a fountain, I've got joy like a fountain I've got joy like a fountain in my soul I've got peace like a river, I've got peace like a river I've got peace like a river in my soul Offertory (Stand) MEAL God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ Offering Hymn ELW#184 Let the Vineyards be Fruitful
Offertory Prayer A: Let us pray. C: Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. The Great Thanksgiving Proper Preface The preface appropriate to the day or occasion is sung or said. Sanctus
A brief silence. Eucharistic Prayer P: within each cell; with every breath. C: We praise you, O God. P: into the future. C: We bless you, O God. P: among the poor; with us now. C: We thank you, O God. P: we proclaim the mystery of faith: C: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. P: by your Spirit, in your church, without end. C: Amen. The Lord s Prayer
Period of silence Lamb of God Distribution Good Shepherd practices Eucharistic hospitality. All baptized Christians are welcome at the Lord s Table, believing that in bread and wine we truly receive the Lord s precious body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Hymns During Distribution ELW#423, Shall We Gather at the River ELW#728, Blest Are They
Blessing P: The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in His grace. A: Amen. Post-Communion Canticle
Post-Communion Prayer A: God of abundance, with this bread of life and cup of salvation you have united us with Christ, making us one with all your people. Now send us forth in the power of your Spirit, that we may proclaim your redeeming love to the world and continue forever in the risen life of Jesus Christ, our Lord. C: Amen. Silence for reflection. Temple Talk Ellen Bensoni Benediction P: The God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus. C: Amen. P: The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. P: The God of all grace + bless you now and forever. C: Amen. Sending Hymn ELW#785, When Peace Like a River Dismissal A: Go in peace. Serve the Lord. C: Thanks be to God.
Fulfilling God s Purpose! Witnessing for Jesus God has strategically placed us in the lives of certain people to make an eternal difference for him. God calls us to share our faith and to let his light shine brightly. You and I have something to share that is needed by others, and that is the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ. We live as witnesses for Jesus as God's light is reflected through us. How, then, can we be more motivated to share the Good News of Jesus with others? How can we become more effective in sharing our faith and reflecting God's love? How can our lives impact the life of someone else for Christ? The following truths impact our witness for Jesus. People without Christ are lost. What do we really believe to be true about the people around us? The first core belief that impacts our witness for Jesus is that people without Christ are lost. This fundamental belief must motivate us to look at each person we meet as one for whom Christ died, one who is precious in his sight, one who, apart from a living relationship with Jesus Christ, cannot be made right with God and receive eternal life, for Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus said, No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). People without God matter to God. God's heart is breaking for every person who does not have a relationship with him. We may not care about them (although we should), but God does; they matter to him. God gave himself in the person of his Son Jesus to have you and all people back.
The Bible says, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). Jesus took the initiative "to seek"; Jesus paid the price "to save." Reaching people with the Gospel is not optional; it's central. When he lived on this earth, "Jesus went through all the towns and villages... preaching the good news of the kingdom... When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them... because they were... like sheep without a shepherd" (Matthew 9:35-36). Jesus still feels compassion in his heart when he looks down on the world today, and he uses us to show his compassion. God didn't say, "There are people out there who need me, and, if you get around to it someday or feel like it, go for it." He said, "GO!" (Matthew 28:19). It's not optional; it s a command. This is a matter of life and death. God wants to use the gifts and stories we have. "You're my plan A, and there is no plan B." God is saying, "You're the one I'm counting on to reach the people in your life." It's not just about what we believe; it's also about what we're willing to do. Being willing to share Christ with someone else is not just a matter of our beliefs; it's also about the depth of our compassion. What are we willing to do? Do we care in our hearts about people who don't have Jesus Christ? Do they matter to us? Sometimes we don't witness because we fear we ll be rejected, but that should not influence whether or not we share the Gospel. There are people around us who are looking to connect with God and need to know how! If we're hiding our faith under a bushel basket of fear, pride, or shame, they're never going to know whom to talk with to find out what to believe or how to believe. Not everybody is going to want what you have to offer, but somebody does. If we love God, we will love his people (1 John 4:20), and, if we love people, we will be compelled to witness. Our love will overcome our fears. Our compassion will overcome our inhibitions. Let your light shine. The Bible says, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven" (Matthew 5:16). The question we have to ask is, "How clearly and how brightly are we
reflecting Christ in our lives?" There are lots of things that diminish our reflections. Willful disobedience to God's will, unconfessed sin in our lives, grudges and anger, grief, and guilt diminish and tarnish our reflections. God designed us to be reflections of him, and what is happening in our lives, in our hearts, in our minds, and in our actions affects the brightness of the reflections. God wants us to be his light, so others will be drawn not to us, but to Jesus, the light of the world (John 8:12). The depth of our own relationships with God matters a lot when it comes to letting his light shine! Through that relationship, these words from Paul begin to come to life: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with every increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). We busy ourselves with a lot of activities, things that are important to us, and rightly so. We are going to be investing our time and energy in many things, yet each of us needs to ask, How much am I investing in the lives of others? Do you know someone who is struggling in his faith or has no relationship at all with Jesus? One of the most valuable things you could do is to strengthen your relationship with Christ and strengthen your relationship with that person. Ask God to give you a heart of compassion for that person and to help you be a reflection of Jesus that can turn him toward Jesus. Of all the things we could invest ourselves in, of all the things we could exchange our time or energy for, there is nothing more valuable than investing in people to help them know Jesus Christ. It's an investment that lasts forever. When we reflect God's light to others, fulfill God s purpose!