Concordia Lutheran Church 255 West Douglas St. South St. Paul, MN 55075 651-451-0309 Vision Creating a Christ-Centered Community, one family at a time, beginning in South St. Paul and continuing through the world Mission Creating a Christ-Centered community gathered together To joyfully worship our God To grow in faith and knowledge To love one another And to share the Good News of Jesus Christ
2
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST PROPER 15 August 20, 2017 AS WE GATHER Pet dogs know the right place to be at mealtime: under the table. They know you don t need a special seat; these dogs are happy to get crumbs of people food. And we rejoice to receive what we don t deserve: whatever blessings God bestows on us, disobedient sinners that we are. In the Old Testament Reading, God promises that He would call us foreigners to His table, and here we are. Even the disobedience of God s Old Testament people has proven good for us, as we see everyone receiving mercy from a gracious God. The Canaanite woman in the Gospel saw herself in the position of a dog, trusting she would receive crumbs from the family table. But the bread crumb falling to earth she and we have received is none other than the Son of God, the Bread of Life. The crumb each of us receives is priceless! As we gather around Word and Sacrament, we get no stale food, but the nourishment we need for abundant life each day until we join saints and angels at the eternal feast in heaven. PRE-SERVICE MUSIC THE WELCOME THE RITE OF FRIENDSHIP PREPARATION OPENING SONG/HYMN Thy Word Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path When I feel afraid and I think I've lost my way Still You're there right beside me Nothing will I fear as long as You are near Please be near me to the end Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path 3
I will not forget Your love for me and yet My heart forever is wandering Jesus be my guide and hold me to Your side I will love You to the end Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and a light unto my path INVOCATION P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION P Our gracious God has promised to hear and forgive for Jesus sake. Let us therefore go to Him, confessing our sins. Silence for reflection on the Word of God and for self-examination. P Creator God, C: we confess our sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, as well as our sinful condition. We are not the creatures You intend us to be. Forgive us and rescue us from our unrighteousness that we may reflect Your righteousness and holiness. P Promised Savior, C: we confess that we are not only in the world, but too often act as part of it. We are as aliens in Your kingdom of grace. Forgive us and graciously treat us as Your own people for Your own name s sake. P Holy Spirit, Comforter, C: we confess that we have wandered from the truth and sought to fulfill our own wants and desires. Forgive us, renew in us pure hearts, and guide us to walk in Your ways each day as long as we live. P Our heavenly Father sent His Son into the world to bear the sins of all. He has opened the kingdom of heaven to all who trust in Him for salvation. As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. C: Amen. 4
WORD INTROIT Psalm 28:1 2, 6 7; antiphon: Psalm 28:8 P The LORD is the strength of His people; C: He is the saving refuge of His anointed. P To You, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, C: lest, if You be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. P Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to You for help, C: when I lift up my hands toward Your most holy sanctuary. P Blessed be the LORD! C: For He has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. P The LORD is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; C: my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. All: 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. P The LORD is the strength of His people; C: He is the saving refuge of His anointed. KYRIE ALL Lord, have mercy on us. Christ Jesus, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us, and grant us Your peace. Amen. SALUTATION P: The Lord be with you. C: And also with you. PRAYER OF THE DAY P: Let us pray. Almighty and Everlasting Father, You give Your children many blessings even though we are undeserving. In every trial and temptation grant us steadfast confidence in Your lovingkindness and mercy; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. C: Amen. 5
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 56:1, 6 8 Thus says the LORD: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my righteousness be revealed. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. 8 The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. GRADUAL 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. HYMN/SONG I Love You Lord (sing 2 times) I love You, Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You, O my soul rejoice. Take joy, my King, in what You hear, may it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear. 6
EPISTLE Romans 11:1 2a, 13 15, 28 32 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. P: This is the Word of the Lord. C: Thanks be to God. ALLELUIA AND VERSE ALL: Alleluia. The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Alleluia. HOLY GOSPEL Matthew 15:21 28 P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the fifteenth chapter. C: Glory to You, O Lord. 21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us. 24 He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. 27 She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. P: This is the Gospel of the Lord. C: Praise to You, O Christ. 7
APOSTLES CREED C 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 at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will 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 In Christ There is No East or West LSB 653 SERMON OFFERING HYMN/SONG Bind us Together Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together. Bind us together in love. There is only one God. There is only one King.. There is only one body. That is why I sing. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together. Bind us together in love. Made for the glory of God, purchased by His precious Son Born with the right to be clean, for Jesus the vict ry has won. 8
Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together. Bind us together in love. You are the fam ly of God, you are the promise divine. You are God s chosen desire. You are the glorious new wine. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together with cords that cannot be broken. Bind us together, Lord, bind us together. Bind us together in love. PRAYER OF THE CHURCH SILENT PRAYER The congregation is encouraged to take a few moments to pray silently for anything that weighs heavily on our hearts. We are also encouraged to pray for those in our lives who do not know Christ that the Holy Spirit may work powerfully to bring them to saving faith. LORD S PRAYER (Matthew 6:9 13) C: 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. 9
BENEDICTION P: 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 C: Amen. CLOSING HYMN/SONG Built on the Rock LSB 645 10
11
Serving In God s House Pastor: Reverend William L. Keller II Organ/Piano: Beth Ekblad Usher Captain: Don Volbrecht Altar Guild: Don & Shirley Volbrecht Acknowledgments From Creative Worship for the Lutheran Parish, Series A, Part 3. Copyright 2016 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission 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. 12