September 9, 2018 Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

September 9, 2018 Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST September 9, 2018, 8:15 am & 10:30 am Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota Rev. Drew Bakken, Pastor Rev. Kari Williamson, Pastor GOOD MORNING & WELCOME TO LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE CROSS! Welcome to worship as we come together in praise and thanksgiving to our living Savior! Holy Spirit, blow through our church with power. Open our hearts to follow your call. INTRODUCTION James tells us to stop showing favoritism in the assembly, treating the rich visitor with more honor than the poor one. Jesus himself seems to show partiality in his first response to the Syrophoenician woman in today s gospel. Was he testing her faith in saying Gentiles don t deserve the goods meant for God s children? Or was he speaking out of his human worldview, but transcended those limits when she took him by surprise with her reply? Either way, the story tells us that God shows no partiality. Everyone who brings her or his need to Jesus is received with equal honor as a child and heir. PRELUDE WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS PEACE (please stand, as you are able) The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you. O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing (AZMON), M. Smith GATHERING HYMN Earth and All Stars! HYMN #731 (vss. 1, 2, 4) CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS Blessed be the + holy Trinity, the one who fashions us, the one who heals us, the one who reforms us again and again Amen. Let us confess our sin, calling for God's transforming power. Silence for reflection and self-examination. Source of all life, we confess that we have not allowed your grace to set us free. We fear that we are not good enough. We hear your word of love freely given to us, yet we expect others to earn it. We turn the church inward, rather than moving it outward. Forgive us. Stir us. Reform us to be a church powered by love, willing to speak for what is right, act for what is just, and seek the healing of your whole creation. Amen. God hears our cry and sends the Spirit to change us and to empower our lives in the world. Our sins are forgiven, + God s love is unconditional, and we are raised up as God s people who will always be made new, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

GREETING The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the refining fire of the Holy Spirit, and the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, be with you all. And also with you. PRAYER OF THE DAY Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform sickness into health and death into life. Open us to the power of your presence, and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the whole world, through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord. Amen. (please be seated) CHILDREN'S MESSAGE Zach Malecha MUSICAL OFFERING Jesus Wants Me As I Am, C. Murray Markus Rustad and Emily Smith of the King s Kids FIRST READING Isaiah 35:4-7a These verses are a word of hope to the exiles in Babylon. Chapter 34 portrays God s vengeance on Edom, Israel s age-old enemy, which makes the path from Babylon to Zion safe for the exiles return. The desert itself will flow with water to give drink to the returning exiles. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Praise His Holy Name, K. Hampton Sr. Choir

GOSPEL (please stand) Mark 7:24-37 In Mark s gospel, encounters with women usually signify turning points in Jesus ministry. Here, a conversation with a Syrophoenician woman marks the beginning of his mission to the Gentiles. The holy gospel according to Mark. Glory to you, O Lord. [Jesus] set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children s food and throw it to the dogs. But she answered him, Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children s crumbs. Then he said to her, For saying that, you may go the demon has left your daughter. So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ. (please be seated) SERMON Ministry of Interruptions Pr. Drew Bakken HYMN OF THE DAY O Blessed Spring HYMN #447 (vss. 1 & 5) (please stand as you are able, during the last verse) APOSTLE'S CREED I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's 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 to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen (please be seated) OFFERING O For a Thousand Tongues To Sing (AZMON), M. Sedio OFFERTORY Lord, Whose Love in Humble Service vs. 1 HYMN #712 (please stand as you are able) OFFERING PRAYER God of life, you give us these gifts of the earth, these resources of our life and our labor. Take them, offered in great thanksgiving, and use them to set a table that will heal the whole creation; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Light. Amen. PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION Freed by God in Christ to live and love and serve, we pray for the church, those in need, and all of God s beloved creation. Gracious God, you call your church to proclaim the love of Christ to a needy world. Embolden us to be your risen body by welcoming strangers and serving our neighbors. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Loving God, you give us all that we need. When your children suffer from hunger, poverty, loneliness, persecution, injury, or illness, send generous helpers and companions. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Welcoming God, you set a table for us. Embolden this congregation to seek new ways of inviting others to the feast of all creation. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. You bless us with throngs of saints who witness to your compassion. With gratitude, we recall the lives and deeds of those who proclaim lovingkindness to a needy world. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer. Into your wide embrace, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your boundless mercy through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen. WORDS OF INSTITUTION

THE LORD S PRAYER 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. COMMUNION Lamb of God

Taste and See HYMN #493 I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light HYMN #815 POST COMMUNION PRAYER Holy and compassionate God, in bread and wine you give us gifts that form us to be humble and courageous. May your words come to life in our serving and in our witness, that we might speak a living voice of healing and justice to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. BENEDICTION God, creator of all things, speaking reformation into being; Jesus Christ, savior of the world, raising the dead; Holy Spirit, living voice, calling and enlightening the church: Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen. DISMISSAL Go in peace. Sound the good news. Thanks be to God. SENDING HYMN O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing HYMN #886 (vss. 1, 2, 6) POSTLUDE O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (AZMON), R. Hobby From Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2015 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #24150. New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Christian Copyright Solutions Worshipcast License #7366

Organist/ Pianist Musicians Cathy Taylor Chris & Sarah Fogderud Acolytes 8:15 Nick Evanson, Ethan Paulson 10:30 Bailey Clausen, Jesse Clausen Greeters 8:15 Lloyd & Connie Foster 10:30 Jess, Angie, Lukas & Aliana Lind Scripture Readers 8:15 Leif Rustad 10:30 Hilary Johnson Musical Offering King s Kids, directed by Carol Smith Sr. Choir, directed by Brian Stubbs Sound Room Bob Burns Ushers 8:15 Brad & Joanie Swanson 10:30 Jim Bailey, Denny Holmen Fellowship Hour/ Brew Crew Ministry Fair & Rally Day Celebration Dennis & Bonnie Morris Worship Coordinators 8:15 Ron Halligan 10:30 Marv & Karen Green Nursery Anne & Hannah Hayes Comm. Asst 8:15 Chad & Jaime Boesen 10:30 Dave & Andi Clausen Altar Guild Linda Olson, Vicki Sullivan Church of the Cross Office 218.963.2564 Office Hours Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm Email: lcc@lccnisswa.org Web Site: lccnisswa.org Pastors Rev. Drew Bakken Rev. Kari Williamson Youth and Family Ministry Zach Malecha Custodian Clint Baker Office Manager Laurie Hemish Children and Family Ministry Kari Erickson Financial Secretary Karen Wiele DIRECTORY Music Ministry/Organist Cathy Taylor Lay Ministries Coordinator Sally Hodgson Senior Choir Director Brian Stubbs Organist Laura Raedeke Bell Choir Director Judy Rickbeil King s Kids Director Carol Smith ELCA Global Missionary Pr. Bradn Buerkle Lutheran Church of the Cross 5064 Co. Rd. 13 Nisswa, MN 218-963-2564 www.lccnisswa.org lcc@lccnisswa.org