The Joy of Generosity 5 th Sunday After Pentecost June 27 & 28, 2015
Ebenezer Lutheran Church Port Hudson The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod 9100 Highway YY Leslie, Missouri Parsonage 573-459-6432 Church 573-459-6431 Rev. William F. Zastrow, Pastor Mary Sprick, Secretary ebenezerlutheran@hotmail.com ebenezerlutheranchurch.wordpress.com AS WE GATHER: The Lord s mercies are endless and are renewed toward His people every morning. The sure and unchanging love of God never stops. How great is God s faithfulness! This divine generosity is exemplified in the person of Jesus as He goes with Jairus to visit and heal his sick little girl. Along the way a woman who had been infirm for twelve years touched the Lord s garment; power went out of Him and healed her! God in Christ is so gracious that healing generosity brushes off Him as He walks through the crowd. His healing generosity and steadfast love are present and poured out among His gathered people still today through His Word and Sacrament. So filled by God, we are empowered to live generous lives toward others. PRAYER BEFORE WORSHIP: Heavenly Father, Your generosity and steadfast love are made manifest in the healing ministry of Your Son, Jesus. As You are graciously healing our lives by Your Word and Sacraments, so use us as eager vessels of Your generosity in the lives of others; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. HYMN In Thee Is Gladness LW 442 O Lord, open Thou my lips. And my mouth shall show forth Thy praise 2
Make haste O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O God. All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be forever. Amen. Hallelujah! INVITATORY O come, let us worship the Lord; For he is our Maker THE VINITE (Psalm 95) (sung to ST. THOMAS) Come, sound his praise abroad, and hymns of glory sing: Jehovah is the sovereign God, the universal King. He formed the deeps unknown, he gave the seas their bound; the wat'ry worlds are all his own, and all the solid ground. Come, worship at his throne; come, bow before the Lord: we are his works, and not our own; he formed us by his word. Today attend his voice, nor dare provoke his rod; come, like the people of his choice, and own your gracious God. PSALM 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. 3
From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. 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. LECTION Lamentations 3:22 33 (New mercies every morning) Mark 5:21 43 (Jesus heals a woman and a little girl.) But You, O Lord, have mercy upon us. Thanks be to You, O Lord. HYMN Great Is Thy Faithfulness HS98 899 SERMON 4
THE OFFERING Te Deum God, we praise you, Lord, we bless you. We acknowledge you as Lord. You, the Father everlasting, Be eternally adored. Angels sing, all heav'n rejoices, Cherubim and Seraphim, Join the choir of heavenly voices In the never ending hymn. Holy, Holy, You are Holy, God of Glory, Lord of Might. Earth and heaven extol your glory, Majesty of Highest Height. Martyrs, Prophets, Saints, Apostles, All the church does worship You. Father, Christ the King of Glory, Spirit, who makes all things new. Christ, you came and lived among us, Humbly of a virgin born. Grave and Death You have defeated. Heav'n was opened Easter Morn. On the throne of God you are seated, You will come and be our Judge. Count us as your saints before you, Redeemed by your precious blood. Let your mercy fall upon us, In you, Lord our trust we place. Rule our hearts and minds forever, Lift us while we run the race. Guard us, guide us, and protect us. 5
PRAYERS Keep us free from sin, we pray. Day by day we magnify you, You we worship and obey. Amen. Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their need. Generous God, You have forgiven our sins for Christ s sake and have poured Your love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit You have given us. Grant that we may widen our own hearts that the generosity You have shared with us may overflow from our lives into the lives of people around us who are in need. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our Prayer. Loving Lord, You healed many who were sick and restored them to life before You. Today, we pray especially for Jim Kormeier, and for all who have requested our prayers. Sustain them by Your love during their affliction, and according to Your gracious will, heal them whether here or in Your nearer presence. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our Prayer. Lord we give thanks for the gift of Vera (Brune) Kemper, the sister of Gilbert Brune. Unto you we entrust our loved ones, grant us to look to your mercy, remembering the cloud of faithful witnesses with which we are surrounded, and grant that we may share your joys with those 6
who rest in the joyful peace of your presence. Lord in Your mercy, Hear our Prayer. Generous God, You have provided peaceful order for our lives through the civil servants You have placed in positions of authority in our land. Grant that they may serve the good of the people and seek in all things to do Your will. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our Prayer. Into Your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. KYRIE All: Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us. THE LORD S PRAYER All: Our Father, who are 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. THE SALUTATION The Lord be with you. 7
And with thy spirit SATURDAY EVENING ALL: I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. SUNDAY MORNING All: I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen. Bless we the Lord Thanks be to God THE BENEDICTION The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen HYMN Lord of All Hopefulness HS98 886 8
OUR MISSION AND MINISTRY To our members and guests who are here with us today. We are very glad you are here for worship services on this Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. May the Lord refresh you with peace and love during our worship services. Please join us here at Ebenezer again soon! Please sign the guest register near the front entrance with your name, address, and Church affiliation. Missouri District Convention: Delegates to the LCMS Missouri District s 19 th convention June 14-16 in Springfield, Mo. elected on the first ballot the Rev. Dr. R. Lee Hagan of Concordia, Mo., to his first term as district president. Hagan, senior pastor of St. Paul s Lutheran Church in Concordia since 2002, has been the district s first vicepresident since 2012. As president, Hagan succeeds the Rev. Dr. Ray Mirly, who is retiring after serving three three-year terms. Also elected were: Rev. William Marler, senior pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Springfield, as first vice-president. He previously was a third and fourth vice-president of the district. Rev. Dr. Ron Rall, senior pastor of Timothy Lutheran Church, St. Louis, second vice-president, after serving as fourth vice-president. Rev. Alan Wollenburg, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church, Sikeston, Mo., re-elected third vice-president. Rev. Brian Thieme, associate pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Columbia, Mo., newly elected as fourth vice-president. 9
Hagan s installation is set for July 15 at St. Paul s Lutheran Church, Des Peres, Mo. Others elected will be installed July 16 prior to the district board of directors meeting in St. Louis. Under the convention theme Put Out Into the Deep, based on Luke 5:1-11, delegates adopted resolutions to: memorialize the 2016 Synod convention to reaffirm the current LCMS Bylaws governing election and responsibilities of the boards of regents of the Concordia University System colleges and universities. prorate convention assessments so that congregations can include those assessments in their budgets for three years. create a Missouri District task force to promote and preserve Lutheran-school education. recognize official conferences of the district, to include setting the cycle for those conferences. change the procedures for planning those district conferences, as well as their composition. give thanks to Christ for Mirly s service as district president. Also at the convention, Synod President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison led a Bible study, LCMS First Vice-President Rev. Dr. Herbert C. Mueller Jr. preached at the opening worship and LCMS Michigan District President Rev. Dr. David P.E. Maier served as essayist. Welcome to VBS Camp Discovery: Jesus at Work Through Us! We are happy to invite children ages 3 through grade 8 to attend Vacation Bible School with us here VBS Decorating Request We are gearing up for VBS 2015 and would like to start collecting items for decorating the Church for Camp Discovery: Jesus at Work Through Us. Since it s the camping theme this year, we are asking for 10
artificial Christmas trees (not the pre-lit kind) of all shapes and sizes. We just ask that they are green! We can also use artificial evergreen garlands and silk greenery. In addition, we are looking for camping items (lanterns, canteens, binoculars, sleeping bags, fishing nets, fishing poles, butterfly nets, etc.) to decorate with. We are also looking for toy stuffed animals that you would find in the woods (raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, bears, foxes, etc.) Children will not be allowed to play with these items. All items will be returned to you after VBS, but please mark them so we know who they belong to. If you have something to lend, please call Julie Hilkerbaumer at 636-584-9239 or send an e-mail to ajhilkerbaumer@att.net. Thank you! Ladies Aid Country Store Sincere thanks to everyone for your support of our country store at the picnic. We have a number of beautiful doilies and many patterns, books, etc. If anyone is interested in any of these items, they will be on display in the Church basement through July 12, 2015. Please help yourself to any items for a donation to Ladies Aid. Thanks again for your help and support! Recycle Update We are pleased to report the addition of $20.85 for recycle aluminum to our recycle for missionaries project. This brings our grand total for all aluminum recycle to $4,797.85 and the grand total for all recycle to $9,147.50. Thanks for all of your support of our missionaries! Books by Richard Althage When Was The Last Time You. These books are $9.00 each. There is a sign-up sheet on the table at the back of Church if you would like to order a book(s) or you can let Mary Sprick know that you d like to order one or more. There are also flyers about the book near the sign-up sheet. 11
Bethlehem Lutheran Church invites our congregation t their Annual Church Picnic TODAY. Serving will be from 11:30 to 3:00. Come and enjoy the food, fellowship, and Country Store. Those Serving Today Organist Saturday Laura Nichols Organist Sunday Ruth Marschel Head Usher Saturday Tracey Bade Head Usher Sunday Wilbert Baumann Altar Guild Joan Menke and Margaret Zastrow Acolytes Ava Monzyk Danielle Gerding Paige Thurmond Trent Huellinghoff Bell Ringer Corey Adams Offerings and Attendance Weekly Contributions $1,110.00 Plate 127.50 Sunday School 23.44 $1,260.59 Attendance: Saturday Worship 21 Sunday Worship 84 Thursday Friday This Week at Ebenezer VBS Adult Bible Study 10:00 AM Pastor and Margaret to Wartberg, Illinois Chinese VBS Saturday Worship with Holy Communion 5:00 PM Have a safe 4 th of July! Be Sure to Read the July Newsletter 12