Thanksgiving November 25-26, 2015 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 Shirley Hess Parish Nurse 651-210-3380 pnstjlc@saintjameslutheran.com
WELCOME TO WORSHIP! THE TITLE OF TODAY S SERMON IS Thankful for Adversity? It s hard to be thankful in the hard times even when we know God is with us. So what needs to change so we can be truly thankful? Thanksgiving November 25-26, 2015 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. PREPARING FOR WORSHIP Does Thanksgiving feel like obligation, like you should be thankful even if you don t feel that way? Only the goodness and mercy of God can produce a true sense of thanks in our hearts. Read Psalm 136 for a sampling, then add your own verses before God. 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. THE ORDER OF SERVICE PRELUDE: (Wednesday) The Handbell Choir With Heart and Hands and Voices Sing to the Lord of Harvest Rejoice, Give Thanks and Ring!... Wagner... Borroughs... Larson ORGAN PRELUDE: (Thursday) Now Thank We All Our God... Manz/Bach-Fox Those able, please stand for stanza 3 OPENING SENTENCE: (Wednesday) Praise To God The Saint James Choir...arr. Hoekstra GATHERING HYMN: Christian Worship #611 For the Fruit of His Creation 2
PASTORAL GREETING AND INVOCATION Pastor Critchley God gathers His baptized people PSALMODY VENITE 3
ANTIPHON When the Bible calls on us to praise and thank God, we re always given a reason, and the reasons are many. Please be seated Even though the Israelites complained for their 40 years of wandering, God still blessed them. And so He blesses us in spite of our frequent ingratitude. PSALM: Psalm 67 P: 1 May God be gracious to us and bless us C: and make his face to shine upon us, P: 2 that your way may be known on earth, C: your saving power among all nations. P: 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God; C: let all the peoples praise you! P: 4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, C: for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. P: 5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; C: let all the peoples praise you! P: 6 The earth has yielded its increase; C: God, our God, shall bless us. P: 7 God shall bless us; C: let all the ends of the earth fear him! OLD TESTAMENT READING: Deuteronomy 8:1-10 1 The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell 4
these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Reading Response P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God! ANTHEM: Praise God for Every Gift... Williams/Lantz III The Saint James Choir THE GOSPEl: Luke 17:11-19 11 On the way to Jerusalem [Jesus] was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 When he saw them he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? 19 And he said to him, Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well. Gospel Response P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ! RESPONSORY P: Forever, O lord, Your Word is firmly set in the heavens. C: Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells. P: Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it. C: Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells. P: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. C: Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells. SERMON HYMN: Christian Worship #283 Speak, O Savior; I Am Listening SERMON: Text: Deuteronomy 8:1-10 Title: Thankful for Adversity? Those able, please stand Note that all the lepers were healed in spite of only one coming back to give thanks. God doesn t heal based on our merit, but based on His mercy. His mercy, not our gratitude, sent Jesus to the cross to give us forgiveness and eternal life. Please be seated Children are invited to come forward during the final stanza 5
Those able, please stand TE DEUM 6
OFFERTORY: LSB #789 Praise and Thanksgiving Please be seated 1987 Oxford University Press. Used by permission: OneLicense.net, no. A-724499. Public domain OFFERING: Give online at give.4gvn.us OFFERING VOLUNTARY: (Wednesday) The Handbell Choir: For the Beauty of the Earth... McChesney (Thursday) Organ: Thanks Be to Thee... Handel KYRIE PRAYER FOR OURSELVES AND OTHERS P: O Lord, hear my prayer. C: And let my cry come to You. PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND INTERCESSION LORD S PRAYER 7
Those able, please stand BENEDICAMUS P: Let us bless the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. BENEDICTION SENDING HYMN: Christian Worship #610 Now Thank We All Our God ORGAN POSTLUDE: Now Thank We All Our God...Sigfied Karg-Elert. Acknowledgments Matins from Lutheran Service Book Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Created by Lutheran Service Builder 2006 Concordia Publishing House. SERVING IN OUR WORSHIP TODAY Pastor Dale Critchley (preaching) Pastor Michael Albrecht Pastor Ralph Rokke Organist and Choir Director: Tom Rowland Saint James Choir The Handbell Choir and Director Winnifred Farley The Saint James Brass and Director Roger Grimm Ushers: (Wed) Steve Lehmann and Team #2 (Thurs) Len Bohrer and Team #3 Audio Video Team: Dani Critchley, Hannah Critchley, Sharon Ferrara, Glenn & Wendy Gatzke, Jerry Hinz, Len & Diane Munson, Jerry Peterson, Lorna Redding, Michael Schroeder, Leif Thune and Gil Ude Screen Slide Production: Ami Heesch THE THANKSGIVING ARRANGEMENT on the altar has been provided by The Saint James Altar Guild. SCHEDULE OF CHRISTMAS SERVICES Sunday, December 13 Sunday School Christmas Service beginning at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Services at 1:30 and 4:00 p.m. Pastor Critchley preaching: Luke 7:18-28 How to Find What You re Looking For Thursday, December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 10:45 p.m. Pastor Albrecht preaching: Luke 2:1-7 Does Jesus Count? Friday, December 25 Christmas Day Festival Service at 10:30 a.m. Pastor Rokke preaching: Luke 2:1-14 Christmas Angels 8