Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit 3461 Cedar Crest Blvd. EMAIL Info@holyspirit-emmaus.org Emmaus, PA 18049-1599 www.lchsemmaus.org PHONE 610.967.2220 www.facebook.com/lchsemmaus FAX 610.966.3021 Festival of Reformation Sunday, October 28, 2018 7:30 am The Holy Spirit Empowers Us for Ministry in Daily Life Gathered by God s grace and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we invite and welcome all people to join us on our journey to become more faithful ministers of Jesus Christ in our homes, our communities, and the world.
ELW refers to the Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the red worship book. Page numbers are in the front of the book with hymn numbers following in the middle & end. During worship, please silence all communication devices. *Please stand as you are able. GATHERING Gathering Music Now Thank We All Our God Cruger/Kimball Welcome/Theme of the Day Reformation 501 Welcome to this liturgy of Word and Sacrament in which we commemorate the 501st Anniversary of the Reformation! The hymn, A Mighty Fortress, a musical banner of the Reformation down through the centuries, is a musical foundation in which Lutherans have identified and taken refuge. Martin Luther based his hymn on Psalm 46, which affirms over and over again that God alone is our refuge, not our music, not the signs of our identity, not our name Lutheran, but God alone. The 501st Anniversary of the Reformation is commemorated in an age of ecumenical accountability. We receive the many fruits of the Reformation and we repent for our wrong doing and division. We engage a spiritual and theological challenge: telling our story from a perspective of unity, not division. As we worship together we remember the beginnings of faith: we are made new through baptism, washed in the waters of regeneration. We give thanks to God who calls us in this time and place to be God s people full of grace and truth. Lutheran World Federation 2
*Reformation Confession and Forgiveness + All may make the sign of the cross, the sign marked at baptism. Blessed be the + Holy Trinity, the one who creates 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. 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. *Gathering Song Now Thank We All Our God ELW Hymn 840 *Greeting Sisters and brothers in Christ, beloved children of God: grace, mercy, and peace be with you. And also with you. *Hymn of Praise This Is the Feast ELW setting 3, page 140 3
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*Prayer of the Day Let us pray. God, renewer of life and our reformer, you surround us with a great cloud of witnesses throughout time and place whom you have called into your work, witnessing to your Gospel of liberation by grace alone. Continue now to raise up witnesses for your work of renewal and reform that we may all grow more deeply into that mystery of communion that is your church. Keep us steadfast in your Word. Come now and inspire the on-going reformation of your church and world. We ask this all through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. Lutheran World Federation 5
Word First Reading A Reading from Jeremiah 31:31-34. NRSV, page 642 The renewed covenant will not be breakable, but like the old covenant it will expect the people to live upright lives. To know the Lord means that one will defend the cause of the poor and needy (Jer. 22:16). The renewed covenant is possible only because the Lord will forgive iniquity and not remember sin. Our hope lies in a God who forgets. After the reading, Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God. Psalm 46 The assembly reads responsively. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved, and though the mountains shake in the depths of the sea; though its waters rage and foam, and though the mountains tremble with its tumult. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be shaken; God shall help it at the break of day. The nations rage, and the kingdoms shake; God speaks, and the earth melts away. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come now, regard the works of the LORD, what desolations God has brought upon the earth; behold the one who makes war to cease in all the world; who breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire. "Be still, then, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 6
Second Reading A Reading from Romans 3:19-28. NRSV, page 915 Paul s Words stand at the heart of the preaching of Martin Luther and other Reformation leaders. No human beings make themselves right with God through works of the law. We are brought into a right relationship with God through the divine activity centered in Christ s death. This act is a gift of grace that liberates us from sin and empowers our faith in Jesus Christ. After the reading, Word of God, Word of Life. Thanks be to God. *Gospel Acclamation ELW setting 3, page 142 *Gospel The Holy Gospel according to John 8:31-36. NRSV, page 871 Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus speaks of truth and freedom as spiritual realities known through his Word. He reveals the truth that sets people free from sin. After the reading of the gospel, The Gospel of Our Lord! Praise to You, O Christ! Sermon Pr. Spencer Steele *Hymn of the Day A Mighty Fortress Is Our God ELW Hymn 504 7
*Reformation Commitment to God's Word People of God, on this Reformation 501 Sunday, I invite us to commit ourselves and our whole lives to God's holy Word and to God s loving purpose for us and the world. By your holy Word, you sent forth your Son to bring us salvation through the cross of death and resurrection. By your holy Word, we know that we live in grace and hope. By your holy Word, you have called us together to be a Church of love and service in the world. Keep us ever close to your Word, that it may be written on our hearts. Help us grow in faith and love toward you, so that we may always live in trust and hope. Center us in routines that keep us close to you, O Lord. Center us in weekly worship. Center us in daily prayer. Center us in reading and living out of holy scripture. Center us in the mission of the church. Center us in lives of thankful giving and loving for all the blessings you have given us. Rev. Thomas Weitzel, ELCA Pastor *Prayers of the People Open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we pray for the church, the world, and all of God s creation. After each petition: Come Holy Spirit, re-form and renew us. Into your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting the power of Christ and the gifts of the Spirit. Amen. 8
*Share the Peace The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you. Worshipers greet one another with a sign of Christ s peace. Offering Great Is Thy Faithfulness Chisholm/Runyan Dave Rishel, soloist setting: Schrader The assembly responds to the Word of God by giving an offering for the mission of the church, including the care of those in need. You may give your offering in the offering plate located on the small table when you enter the worship space, or by using a credit or debit card at the Giving Kiosk, or Give by Text (610-981-1312), or through Simply Giving, or by sending it to the church office. *Great Thanksgiving Meal 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 the great shepherd of your flock, our Savior Jesus Christ; who after his resurrection sent forth the apostles to preach the gospel and teach all nations, and promised to be with them, even to the end of the age. And so, with Martin Luther, the glorious company of the apostles, with the choirs of angels and all the hosts of heaven, we praise your name. O God of the covenant, O God of the church, we hear you speaking to centuries of your people. We come as your children to this table, and we give thanks for your presence among Lutheran congregations around the world. We praise you, now and forever. You gave us Mary and Magdalene, Peter and Paul, Luther and Melanchthon, Henry Muhlenberg, Katharina Luther the homemaker, Cranach the artist, Bach the musician, Kierkegaard the philosopher, Bonhoeffer the martyr, Hammarskjöld the statesman, and countless other servants of the Reformation. May your Word transform our lives as forgiven, grace-filled people of God. 9
You came as Jesus, our wisdom, our guide, embodying forgiveness, giving us grace, setting us free, dying for sin, and alive for the life of the world. We worship you, now and forever. Words of Institution Remembering Christ s death, we cry out Amen. Trusting Christ s presence in every time and place, we pray Amen. Celebrating Christ s resurrection, we shout Amen. Come, Holy Spirit, and make here the body of Christ. Breathe onto this food, that it brings us your life. Empower your Reformation people throughout the world to preach and teach, baptize and feed, pray and sing, comfort and heal. By your Spirit, preserve what is faithful; reform and create in us what is vital and new. We honor you, now and forever. God before time, God at the end, Father, Son, and Spirit, we praise you, our Redeemer, the Strength of truth. Glory and praise, blessing and worship, honor and power and might be to you, our God, forever and ever. Amen. Reformation 500 Sourcebook *Lord s Prayer Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen. *Invitation to Communion Come, be freed from your sins by Christ. Be renewed and re-formed. Amen. 10
Sacrament of Holy Communion All who are baptized and believe in the presence of Jesus Christ in Holy Communion are welcome to receive the Sacrament. The people come forward, using the center aisle, and may kneel or stand at the altar rail. Gluten free wafers are available. Our wine is grape juice so that all may freely receive and is served by intinction, dipping the bread into the chalice. Please return to your seat using the side aisles. Children may receive the sacrament if they have completed instruction with a pastor. Children who do not commune may come forward for a blessing. *Prayer Let us pray. Holy and compassionate God, in bread and wine you give us gifts that have embraced and healed us, making us one in the body of Christ. May your Words come to life in our witness and in our serving, that we may speak a living voice of healing and justice to all the world, through Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Sending *Blessing God, creator of all things, speaking reformation into being; Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, raising the dead; giving real freedom who frees us through the gift of God s grace to be re-formed in and through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God, Father, + Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you now and forever. Amen. *Sending Song Praise to the Lord, the Almighty ELW Hymn 858 *Dismissal The assisting minister sends the assembly into mission. Go, Christ has made you free! We are free indeed! Postlude Postlude on Ein Feste Burg setting, Whitsett 11
Commemorations Reformation Day, October 31 By the end of the seventeenth century, many Lutheran churches celebrated a festival commemorating Martin Luther's posting of the Ninety-five Theses, a summary of abuses in the church of his time. At the heart of the reform movement was the gospel, the good news that it is by grace through faith that we are justified and set free. All Saints Day, November 1 The custom of commemorating all of the saints of the church on a single day goes back at least to the third century. All Saints Day celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who make up the body of Christ. On this day or the following Sunday, many congregations will remember the faithful who have died during the past year. CCLI #678084 One License A-701076 HymnPrint.net License #11804. The Toolkit all content Changing Church Forum, Inc. Reproducible for church use only. Liturgy from Sundays and Seasons.com. Copyright 2018 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission under Augsburg Fortress Liturgies Annual License #20593. 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. Some liturgy reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion. 2014. Used by permission. Baptismal liturgy [from Holy Baptism and Related Rites. Renewing Worship, Volume 3. Holy Baptism. Pages 5-10 Used by permission.] Welcome and Prayer of the Day from Lutheran World Federation Reformation Sunday liturgy, The LWF Department for Theology and Public Witness prepared this global liturgy material. LWF. Reformation Commitment by the Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel, ELCA pastor. Reformation Great Thanksgiving Permission is granted for congregations to reproduce these materials provided copies are for local use only and the following copyright notice appears: From Reformation 500 Sourcebook, copyright 2016 Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission. 12