The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Stewardship Sunday October 8, 2017 Saint James Evangelical Lutheran Church 460 West Annapolis Street - West Saint Paul, MN 55118 Church Office: (651) 457-9232 Fax: (651) 457-1893 E-mail: stjlc@saintjameslutheran.com Visit our web site: www.saintjameslutheran.com Pastor Michael Albrecht 651-457-6796 malbrecht@saintjameslutheran.com Pastor Dale Critchley 651-689-3253 dcritchley@saintjameslutheran.com Terese Thune Youth Director 651-336-2117 tthune@saintjameslutheran.com Pastor Ralph Rokke 651-457-3955 rrokke@saintjameslutheran.com Pastor Richard Stadler 651-338-8621 rstadler@saintjameslutheran.com Tom Rowland Organist & Choir Director 612-861-4503 trowland5726@comcast.net Shirley Hess Parish Nurse 651-210-3380 pnstjlc@saintjameslutheran.com
WELCOME TO WORSHIP! THE TITLE OF TODAY S SERMON IS: Fruit at Harvest Time. The Old Testament and Gospel readings today tell similar stories about God planting the nation of Israel like a vineyard, and looking for spiritual fruit from it. But instead there was crop failure. Good spiritual fruit - faith, obedience, and love for God - wasn t there. Bad fruit grew instead. The warning for us is not to disappoint God too, but to yield good fruit for him at harvest time. The fruit he wants is faith in Jesus, and thoughts, words, and deeds that flow from that faith and express love for God. Stewardship Sunday October 8, 2017 GUESTS AND VISITORS, we are delighted that you are worshiping with us today! Please take a moment to fill out a Welcome, Guest card which is available in the pew racks and place it in the offering. For every guest who completes this form, Saint James will donate $5 to the Neighbor s Food Shelf. Also, stop by the Visitor Welcome Center as you leave and pick up a small gift. Thank you for coming, and please come back and visit again soon. You are always welcome here at Saint James. LARGE PRINT COPIES OF THE SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE IN THE NARTHEX. SPECIAL POCKET HEARING SYSTEMS are available from the ushers for anyone desiring an amplified broadcast of the service. THE NURSERY is not staffed but is available for parents who have young children who become noisy or restless during the service. We are thankful for families who teach their children to worship by bringing them to church. When your little ones become noisy, feel free to take them to the narthex or the nursery to settle them down. The service can be seen and heard on TV in both locations. PRE-SERVICE PRAYER GRACIOUS HOLY SPIRIT, you call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify the whole Christian church on earth, and preserve it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. Lord, you have made us your vineyard to grow spiritual fruit for you. Make us fruitful, and forgive us when we are not. May there be fruit in our lives for you at harvest time. Amen. 2
THE ORDER OF SERVICE PRELUDE: Fantasy in A Minor J.S. Bach OPENING HYMN: Be Thou My Vision, O Lord of My Heart (melody: Slane, as found in hymn # 367) 1. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light. 2. Be thou my Wisdom, and thou my true Word; I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, and I thy true son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one. 3. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise; Thou mine inheritance, now and always; Thou and thou only, be first in my heart, High King of heaven, my treasure thou art. 4. High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. Please stand for stanza 4. PASTORAL WELCOME AND INVOCATION: Congregation responds by singing: A-men. Pastor Rokke CONFESSION OF SINS: P: 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. P: Our help is in the name of the Lord C: Who made heaven and earth. P: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, C: And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. TOGETHER: Almighty God, Maker of all things and Judge of all souls, we confess to you our sinfulness. We have turned away from you and from each other in our thoughts, words, and actions. We have done the evil you forbid, and have not done the good you demand. We repent in sorrow for these our sins. Have mercy on us, gracious Father, because of the obedience of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Forgive us for his sake, and with the power of your Holy Spirit move us to serve you faithfully. Set our feet upon the path of new life, and build your kingdom among us, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 3
ABSOLUTION: P: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, has had mercy upon you, and He has given His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the atoning sacrifice for your sins. Therefore, as a called and ordained servant of Christ, in his stead and by his command, I forgive you all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. C sings: A-men. HYMN OF THANKS AND PRAISE: Christian Worship # 376, stanzas 1, 2, 6 Jesus, your blood and righteousness My beauty are, my glorious dress; Mid flaming worlds, in these arrayed, With joy will I lift up my head. Bold shall I stand in that great day Who can a word against me say? Fully absolved through you I am From sin and fear, from guilt and shame. Jesus, be worshiped endlessly! Your boundless mercy has for me, For me and all your hands have made, An everlasting ransom paid. Please be seated PRAYER OF THE DAY The Prophet Isaiah tells a story about Israel. God planted the nation of Israel like a vineyard, and he wanted spiritual fruit from it: faith in his promises, love for him, and obedience to his Law. Instead Israel produced bad fruit: pride, love of wealth, love of luxury, and disobedience to God. FIRST READING: Isaiah 5:1-7 5 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you 4
what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! READING RESPONSE P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. EPISTLE READING: Philippians 3:4-14 3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. All God s blessings to Israel were given to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. The Apostle Paul had formerly prided himself on being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but once he came to know Jesus, that was no longer important to him. All that mattered was knowing the Savior and serving him. That s spiritual fruit. 5
READING RESPONSE P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. P: Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. Alleluia! VERSE OF THE DAY: Christian Worship, page 40 Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! These words are written that we may believe That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Please rise for the Gospel Jesus tells a parable similar to Isaiah s story about Israel. In Jesus parable, tenant-farmers represent the High Priests and the Pharisees of Jesus day. Jesus predicts that they will reject and kill him, their master s son. GOSPEL READING: P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 21:33-46 C: Glory to You, O Lord. 33 Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? 41 They said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? 43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. GOSPEL RESPONSE P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ! 6
THE APOSTLES CREED: Christian Worship, p. 41 SERMON HYMN: Christian Worship # 467 May the Mind of Christ My Savior Children are invited to the front of the church during stanza 6 of this hymn for the introduction of the sermon. SERMON: Text: Matthew 21:33-46 Theme: Fruit at Harvest Time RESPONSE TO THE SERMON: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free Spirit. Amen. OFFERING: Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your income. Proverbs 3:9 OFFERING VOLUNTARY: Choral Prelude on Rockingham H. Willan HYMN OF REDEDICATION: Christian Worship # 489 Lord, You Love the Cheerful Giver ANNOUNCEMENT BY CATHRYN MILLER Please rise after the sermon to sing the Sermon Response. Be seated as we present our offerings to the Lord. Give online at give.4gvn.us You can find step by step directions in the I Give Online card available in the pew racks. Please stand PRAYER FOR OURSELVES AND OTHERS Please be seated THE LORD S PRAYER THE BENEDICTION Congregation sings: A-men, A-men, A-men Please stand CLOSING HYMN: Christian Worship # 491 O Master of the Loving Heart POSTLUDE: Trumpet Tune in D H. Purcell 7
SAINT JAMES FOUNDATION Remember the Foundation in your will your gift can make a difference for generations to come. Suggested Wording: In thanks to God for the gift of His Son Jesus, and for all His blessings to me in my lifetime, I gift and bequeath to Saint James Lutheran Church Foundation at 460 West Annapolis Street, West Saint Paul, MN 55118 the amount of $ or (specify the asset.). SERVING IN OUR WORSHIP TODAY Pastor Ralph Rokke (preaching) Organist: Tom Rowland Ushers: (8:00) Loren Bahls and Team #5 (10:30) Virginia Genz and Team #6 Audio Video Team: Hannah Critchley, Sharon Ferrara, Glenn & Wendy Gatzke, Jerry Hinz, Len & Diane Munson, Jerry Peterson, Becky Martinez, Lorna Redding, and Leif Thune Screen Slide Production: Ami Heesch PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR Let us remember to pray for some of our veteran members: Irene Steenberg, Lu Trowbridge, Wilmer Unruh MISSIONS TO PRAY FOR This week please pray for Pastor John Fehrmann and the Confessional Lutheran Education Foundation, as they provide theological training for Lutheran pastors in Chile and Venezuela and Ghana and Sri Lanka and The Philippines. Stewardship Thought Over time food will spoil, but the spiritual nourishment that Jesus gives lasts forever. (Contributed by a Saint James member) FLOWERS The flowers in the chancel vases are provided by the Saint James Altar Guild. If you would like to order FLOWERS please contact Altar Guild Flower Chairwoman Kathy Stadler at 651-450-6452 or stadlerek@comcast.net. Living as a Local Missionary If you find out a neighbor is having trouble (health, etc.), offer to pray for them, and place your hand on a shoulder while you do. 8