Holy Trinity Lutheran Church September 2, 2018 Our Mission Statement: Marked with the cross of Christ forever, we are claimed, gathered, and sent for the sake of the world. SNACKS FOR NA The Rev. Matthew Masko Pastor 24 Check out a sign up sheet in the Narthex for snack donations. The first Monday and Wednesday of each month, a simple snack will be set out for the NA meetings. Please help with this outreach! Thank you! Your Evangelism Team
W E L C O M E TO W O R S H I P O N T H I S Fifteenth Sunday AFTER PENTECOST Jesus protests against human customs being given the weight of divine law, while the essence of God s law is ignored. True uncleanness comes not from external things, but from the intentions of the human heart. Last week Jesus told us the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. Now James says God has given us birth by the word of truth. We, having been washed in the word when we were born in the font, return to it every Sunday to ask God to create in us clean hearts. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, ELCA 535 S. 14th St., New Castle, IN 47362 (765) 529-2421 htlc2421@sbcglobal.net Pastor Matthew Masko (765) 529-2421 Cell: (563) 663-6674 Pastor@holytrinitync.org Salvation Station Happenings surrounding The Salvation Army A huge thank you to everyone in the congregation for all of your help in August s collection. We are so proud of the overflowing baskets of underclothes. Your generosity in this collection is positively heartwarming. We are so excited to share our bounty with our friends at the Salvation Army. Thank You Holy Trinity An Italian meal was taken to the ladies of Sowers of Seeds on August 26. Thank you to those who contributed their time and their food! As we share a meal each month, we show God's love for these ladies. The next meal for Sowers of Seeds will be September 30. Please say "yes" if you are asked to help! Thank you! Your Evangelism team Stephen Price, Music Director (765) 529-2421 sprice@holytrinitync.org GATHERING 2 The Holy Spirit calls us together as the people of God. Prelude Welcome and Announcements Holy Trinity Annual Outdoor Service September 9 10:30 a.m. Please join us for worship, music, and fellowship outdoors. Immediately following the service we will have activities for children and adults to kick off our start to the Sunday School year. Then, please join us for a cook out. Pulled pork and drinks will be provided. Look for a sign- up sheet for the dish you plan to bring to share! See you outdoors! 23 WORSHIP MEDITATION
Confession and Forgiveness P Blessed be the holy Trinity, the one who fashions us, the one who heals us, the one who reforms us again and again. C Amen. P Let us confess our sin, calling for God's transforming power. Silence for reflection and self-examination. KAIROS COOKIE HELP WANTED On September 17 beginning at 9:00 a.m., cookies will be baked for the Kairos Prison Ministry in our church kitchen. 80 dozen are needed! How can you help? *cash donations for ingredients *come mix dough, bake cookies, bag cookies *pray for this ministry Come join in with the baking of these cookies! Come any time the morning of September 17. Donations or questions may be directed to Patty or Marti. Thank you! Source of all life, C 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. P 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. C Amen. 22 3
GATHERING HYMN ELW 807 Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing GREETING P The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. C And also with you. KYRIE GOD S WORK. OUR HANDS. God s work. Our hands. Project for 2018 is displayed in the narthex. Check it out!. ELCA "God's Work. Our hands. " project for 2018 will be collecting new stuffed animals for a pediatric unit at the hospital. Stuffed animals will be donated with a note, which states the "animal" has been blessed and a picture of the "animal" sitting in a pew. The deadline for these donations will be September 9th. A box for the stuffed animals will be found in the narthex. God s work. Our hands. t-shirts will be worn on September 16th to wind up the project. Thank you! Your Evangelism team 4 21
CANTICLE OF PRAISE Salvation Army Collection for September Personal and feminine hygiene products Some Examples: Shampoo Conditioner Body Wash (no bar soup please) Deodorant (mens and womens) Toothbrushes Toothpaste Floss Hairbrushes/combs Tampons Pads 20 5
Prayer of the Day P Let us pray. O God our strength, without you we are weak and wayward creatures. Protect us from all dangers that attack us from the outside, and cleanse us from all evil that arises from within ourselves, that we may be preserved through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. C Amen. WORD God speaks to us in scripture reading, preaching, and song. In our prayers John Maher Mike Poeppelman (Jessica Wenning s father) Angie Libby (Linda Maher s friend) Marilyn Nichols (Darlene Manthei s mother) Travis Wenning (Jim and Patty Wenning s great-nephew) Dean Pitchford (friend of David and Jackie Manthei) Kermit Razor Erin Kitchell Sean Kitchell Jim Small Dorothy Phillips (Bethany s mother) Nick Wilkey (Trina & Jason s son) 6 First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 The Israelites believed the law was a divine gift that provided guidelines for living out the covenant. Moses commands the people to obey the law and to neither add to nor subtract from it. The Israelites are also to teach the law to their children and their children s children. 1So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. 2 You must neither add anything to what I command you nor take away anything from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God with which I am charging you. 6You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people! 7 For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today? 9But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children s children. The reading is concluded: L The word of the Lord. C Thanks be to God. Rally Day Come Rally next Sunday! Sunday School begins September 9th! Join us as we rally together to begin this year s faith formation journey. We will meet in Luther Hall for a light breakfast at 9:30 next Sunday. Following breakfast, our special guest, Meganne Masko, will share how music and faith connect. Fun activities are planned for the younger crowd. Holy Trinity s education and service fair will follow the worship service. Stop at the fair booths to see what the groups and committees are doing in our church and our community. Sunday morning faith formation classes begin Sunday, September 16th at 9:15 am in the sanctuary. Small group classes are available for all ages: babies, preschool, school aged, confirmation age, high school, young adults, adults. Choose to nurture your soul by attending a small group. Come and bring a friend to Sunday morning faith formation! 19
Acolyte/Crucifer Ushers Altar Guild Building Steward Teller Lector Altar Flowers Communion Greeter SERVING TODAY Joe Allen, Eric Yanos, Roscoe Rogers LeeAnn Kitchell, Nancy Fisher, Margo Poore Marti Allen Joe Allen LeeAnn Kitchell Todd and Melissa Hiday Marybelle Grimm Bethany Phillips Attendance Last week: 64 WEEKLY CALENDAR Sunday 09/02 10:30 a.m. Worship w/ Holy Communion Monday 09/03 Labor Day Office Closed Psalm 15 Psalm to be spoken responsively. 1Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill? 2Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right, who speak the truth from their heart; 3they do not slander with the tongue, they do no evil to their friends; they do not cast discredit up- on a neighbor. 4In their sight the wicked are rejected, but they honor those who fear the Lord. They have sworn upon their health and do not take back their word. 5They do not give their money in hope of gain, nor do they take bribes a- gainst the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be overthrown. Wednesday 09/05 10:00 a.m. Evangelism Meeting Thursday, 09/06 7:00 p.m. Table Talk at Primo Sunday 09/09 9:30 a.m. Rally Day 10:30 a.m. Annual Outdoor Service With pitch in CHILDREN'S SERMON Next week s readings are: Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17; Mark 7:24-37 Women s Bible Study will not meet Monday, September 3rd, but resumes September 10th. 18 The church office will be closed on Monday, September 3rd, for Labor Day! We will re-open on Tuesday, September 4th with regular hours. 7
Second Reading: James 1:17-27 Prayer after Communion The letter of James was intended to provide first-century Christians with instruction in godly behavior. Here, Christians are encouraged to listen carefully and to act on what they hear, especially by caring for those least able to care for themselves. 17Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act they will be blessed in their doing. 26If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. The reading is concluded: L The word of the Lord C Thanks be to God. P Let us pray. 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. C Amen. Blessing SENDING God blesses us and sends us in mission to the world. P 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. C Amen. SENDING HYMN ELW 631 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Dismissal P Go in peace. Share the good news. C Thanks be to God. 8 17
Lord s Prayer Gospel acclamation Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray. 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. DISTRIBUTION OF HOLY COMMUNION 16 9
Gospel: Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 THANKSGIVING AT THE TABLE 10 The gospel is announced: P The Holy Gospel according to Mark. C Glory to you, O Lord. Mark s gospel depicts Jesus as challenging traditional ways in which religious people determine what is pure or impure. For Jesus, the observance of religious practices cannot become a substitute for godly words or deeds that spring from a faithful heart. 1Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around [Jesus], 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? 6 He said to them, Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. 8You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition. 14Then he called the crowd again and said to them, Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. P The Gospel of the Lord C Praise to you, O Christ. SERMON HYMN OF THE DAY ELW 793 Be Thou My Vision Holy God, you alone are holy, you alone are God. The universe declares your praise: beyond the stars; beneath the sea; within each cell; with every breath. We praise you, O God. Generations bless your faithfulness: through the water; by night and day; across the wilderness; out of exile; into the future. We bless you, O God. We give you thanks for your dear Son: at the heart of human life; near to those who suffer; beside the sinner; among the poor; with us now. We thank you, O God. In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me. Remembering his love for us on the way, at the table, and to the end, we proclaim the mystery of faith: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. We pray for the gift of your Spirit: in our gathering; within this meal; among your people; throughout the world. Blessing, praise, and thanks to you, holy God, through Christ Jesus, by your Spirit, in your church, without end. Amen. 15
APOSTLES' 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. Prayers of Intercession PEACE P The peace of Christ be with you always. C And also with you. MEAL God feeds us with the presence of Jesus Christ. OFFERTORY 14 11
OFFERTORY SONG GREAT THANKSGIVING The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give our thanks and praise. It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ; who on this day overcame death and the grave, and by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: OFFERTORY PRAYER P Let us pray. 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. C Amen. 12 13