Thanksgiving Service

Thanksgiving Service November 23 and 24, 2016 Volume 79 No. 59 Deacon Charles Olmanson/Mark Stelter Organist Kristen Friedrichs Sound Craig Stelter/Andrew Stelter Screen Rachael Hanel/Clifford Kuehne Head Usher Fred Friedrichs Assistant Usher John Heinze Pre-service Meditation: Psalm 150 (TLH p. 157) Pre-service Prayer: Lord, help me on this day of Thanksgiving to focus on thanking You for the spiritual gifts that You have given me. Thank You for the gifts of forgiveness, redemption, faith, life, hope, joy, peace, love, happiness, contentment, and most of all for the salvation won for us in the life and death of Jesus Christ our Lord. May every day be a new opportunity for me to thank You! Amen! 1

Opening Hymn: TLH # 568 We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer, Creator Gathering of Thankful Hearts P: Give thanks to the Lord with all your heart. C: My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God. P: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. C: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. P: A broken and a contrite heart our God will not despise. C: He heals the brokenhearted and binds up all their wounds. P: Lift up your hearts. It is right to give God thanks and praise. Hymn 36:1 Now thank we all our God With heart and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, In whom His world rejoices; Who from our mother's arms Hath blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today. P: Give thanks to the Lord with all your heart. C: My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God. P: Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the name of the Lord. C: I will bless the Lord as long as I live; I will lift up my hands and call upon His name. P: Lift up your hearts. C: We lift them up to the Lord. P: It is right to give God thanks and praise. Hymn 36:2 Oh, may this bounteous God Through all our life be near us, With ever joyful hearts And blessed peace to cheer us; And keep us in His grace And guide us when perplexed And free us from all ills In this world and the next. P: Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You do I cry all day long. C: Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 2

P: For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on You. C: I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, P: And I will glorify Your name forever. C: For great is Your steadfast love toward me. Hymn 36:3 All praise and thanks to God The Father now be given, The Son, and Him who reigns With them in highest heaven: The one eternal God, Whom earth and heaven adore! For thus it was, is now, And shall be evermore. Prayer of the Day Thanksgiving Psalm 146 (Page 41 in the Worship Supplement) Old Testament Reading Deuteronomy 8:1-10 "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 "Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 "You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. 6 "Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil 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 "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. 3

4 Anthem by the Adult Choir Worship the King of Kings Refrain (sung twice): Worship the King of kings; come lift your voice and sing. Praise His name, God's love proclaim, His mercy knows no end. Worship the Lord of lords; bow before Him and adore our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend. Come and worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; Worship the Lord and celebrate His grace. Come and sing to the Lord from a heart filled with gladness; Honor the Lord with your sacrifice of praise! Congregation: O worship the King, all glorious above, O gratefully sing His power and His love: our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise. Worship the King of kings; come lift your voice and sing. Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend. Worship the King! Words & Music: Lloyd Larson. Copyright 2016 Lorenz Publishing Company All rights reserved. OneLicense.net License #A-710933 New Testament Reading Matthew 6:25-33 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Confession of Faith The First Article of the Apostles Creed and Prayer C: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. P: Dear heavenly Father, what does this mean? C: I believe that God has created me and all creatures. P: You, then, O God, are our Creator, our Maker to whom we owe all things, and to whom we must give account. Forgive us, then, O Lord, for our waywardness, our self-interest; our coldness toward You and toward our fellow man. C: He has given me my body and life, eyes, ears, and all my bodily members, my mind and all my senses, and still keeps them for me. P: What wonders you do work in our creation, Lord. Fearfully and wonderfully made, we were created to serve and glorify you with our mind, talents, strength, and substance. Again, forgive us where we have done wrong and wrongfully employed our mind, eyes, ears, hands, and tongue. Cleanse our hearts, that no evil thought may linger in us, that no evil word, nor wicked deed should manifest itself in us, but that we be pure and holy before you all of our days. C: God also preserves me by richly and daily providing clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all my property and all I need to support this body and life. P: On this thanksgiving festival, we especially bring praise and thanks to you for your bountiful goodness in all areas of our lives. You are justly displeased with us when we take for granted these many blessings, or when we misuse or squander what has been given to us for our good. Open our hearts, then, by your Spirit to share our blessings with those who are in need; make our hearts tender toward those who struggle in life; and perform all tasks, simple or great, to your glory. C: He protects me from all danger. He guards and defends me from every evil. P: We look to you, heavenly Father, for divine protection and care. How many dangers and disasters we have escaped through your providence and the tender care of your angels. We thank you for the relative peace and privilege that we have experienced in our beloved country. If we should experience some political and economic uncertainty, let it be bent toward our ultimate good teaching us to turn our eyes heavenward, rather than to count on the ways of mankind for our safety. 5

C: God does all this because He is my good and gracious Father in heaven, not because of anything I have done to earn or deserve it. For all of this it is my duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. P: Lord, we most of all have reason to thank and praise you for the great gift of your Son Jesus Christ, in whom we have full redemption for our sins, and through whom we are reconciled to You, to know You, and live to you all our lives. Thanks be to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. C: This is most certainly true. Hymn: WS #742 Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven The Sermon Luke 12:16-21 Then He [Jesus] spoke a parable to them, saying: The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops? So he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. YOUR TRUE TREASURES ARE IN HEAVEN! Pastor Joe Naumann The Offertory 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. 6

The Offering of Thankful Hearts Responsive Prayer (based on 2 Corinthians 9:8,10) P: God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance... C: We give You thanks, O God, for the blessings You have provided in such abundance that they are beyond our counting or remembering, as rich and manifold as Your great gift of life itself, and life eternal granted us by Jesus Christ, our Lord! P:...so that you may always have enough of everything... C: Your bountiful goodness, O gracious Giver, overflows our barns and cupboards; we have enough, and more to spare! Our present needs are met by Your providing goodness, and our eternity is sure in Jesus Christ, our Lord! P:...and may provide in abundance for every good work. C: Open our eyes, we pray, to remember the needs of others; and open our hearts and hands to meet those needs according to Your gracious giving, that all whose lives we touch may know the riches of Your grace, made ours and theirs through Jesus Christ, our Lord. P: He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your resources and increase the harvest of your righteousness. C: For all of Your gracious giving, God, and for all that is to come from Your providing hand, we give You thanks, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who also taught us to pray... The Lord's Prayer AN ACT OF THANKSGIVING From Psalm 148 P: Praise the Lord, all you hosts of heaven! C: Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, shining stars and all the firmament! P: Let them all praise the name of the Lord! Hymn 39:1 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him, for He is Thy Health and Salvation! Join the full throng: Wake, harp and psalter and song; Sound forth in glad adoration! 7

P: Let the earth join His praise: C: The seas and all that dwell therein, the forces of nature that obey His command; P: Hills and mountains, trees and forests, birds and animals of every kind. Hymn 39:2 Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth, Who, as on wings of an eagle, uplifteth, sustaineth. Hast thou not seen How thy desires all have been Granted in what He ordaineth? P: Let the people praise the Lord C: Rulers and subjects, men and women, the old and the young alike. P: Let them all praise the name of the Lord! Hymn 39:4 Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee, Who from the heavens the streams of His mercy doth send thee. Ponder anew What the Almighty can do, Who with His love doth befriend thee. P: The name of the Lord is greater than all others. C: The glory of the Lord is above earth and heaven. P: He blesses all who are His own, so that all may praise Him. Hymn 39:5 Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore Him! All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him! Let the Amen Sound from His people again; Gladly for aye we adore Him. Amen. Benediction Closing Hymn: TLH #566:1 Christ, by Heavenly Hosts Adored 8 Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted service elements are in public domain