Prelude
Announcements
Call to Worship based on Psalm 121
Lift up your eyes to the hills! Look around. Where does our help come from?
People of God: Our help comes from God, the Maker of heaven and earth.
God will not let us stumble or fall;
People of God: the One who watches over us will never slumber or sleep.
God will keep us safe from all of life’s evils;
People of God: the sun will not strike us by day, nor the moon by night.
God will keep our lives,
People of God: from our first breath to the last breath we breathe.
Confession and Forgiveness based on Psalm 51
The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit, a broken heart filled with regret and remorse. This heart God will not despise. We are a broken people. Trusting in God’s mending ways, let us confess our sins before God and one another:
Silence for reflection
Let us pray. Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out our transgressions.
People of God: Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. For we know our transgressions, and our sin is ever before us.
Against you, you alone, have we sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
People of God: Indeed, we were born guilty, sinners when our mothers conceived us. You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach us wisdom in our secret hearts.
Purge us with hyssop, and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow. Let us hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities.
People of God: Create in us a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within us. Do not cast us away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and sustain in us a willing spirit.
O Lord, open our lips, and our mouths will declare your praise. The Lord creates in us clean hearts; God puts new and right spirits within us. We are not cast away from the presence of the Holy One, and the Holy Spirit is not taken from us. In Christ, we are restored to the joy of God’s salvation; and by God’s grace, our spirits are remade to follow God’s will.
People of God: Thanks be to God!
Gathering Hymn
ELW #778 The Lord’s My Shepherd
Prayer of the Day
Assisting Minister: Let us pray. O God our help and keeper, you protect us from the dangers of this world. When there is deep darkness, you are there with us. When the sun is oppressively hot, you are our shade. Give us eyes to see your presence and hearts to know that you are always there. People of God: Amen.
Reading
Psalm 121
Assisting Minister: I lift up my eyes to the hills — from where will 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.
He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at 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 on and forevermore.
The word of the Lord. People of God: Thanks be to God
Sermon Rev. Arlyn Tolzmann
Hymn
ELW #789 Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us
Prayers of the People
Assisting Minister: Trusting in God’s abundant mercy, let us offer our prayers for a world in need.
A brief silence.
Assisting Minister: You entice your church to speak truth that challenges false notions of peace. Prevail upon us with the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection, that we are compelled to share the gospel with all the world. God, in your mercy, People of God: hear our prayer.
Assisting Minister: Under your watch not even a sparrow goes unnoticed. Safeguard plant and animal habitats threatened by melting glaciers, rising oceans, and receding coastlines. Amplify the voices of those calling for responsible stewardship of the earth’s resources. God, in your mercy,
People of God: hear our prayer.
Assisting Minister: Our world is enduring violence and destruction. Rescue your people in nations experiencing conflict or crisis, especially Afghanistan, El Salvadore, Ethiopia, Ukraine, the United States, and so many more where violence is a daily threat. Thwart the efforts of those who sow chaos and terror, and guide those working to bring about peace and reconciliation. God, in your mercy, People of God: hear our prayer.
Assisting Minister: You have counted even the hairs of our heads. Reassure anyone experiencing poverty, homelessness, unemployment, or exploitation that every life has value. Look favorably upon all who struggle, especially the Daharsh (day harsh) family, Frank, Peggy, Rori, Susan, Grace, Alice, Gus, Faith, Denise, Leslie, Brian, Scott, Jessica, Jeanne, Barb, Cecil (See-sil), Stan, Marlene, Ryleigh, Dylan, Sandy, Hopie (Hope-y), Allen, Bunny, the Vogt (vote) family, Patricia, Michael, Nicholas and his family, Beth, Betty, Tom, and those we name silently or aloud <pause>. Answer us, for your steadfast love is good. God, in your mercy, People of God: hear our prayer.
Assisting Minister: Even when we experience rejection, your love invites us to new life. Lift up anyone who feels shunned or excluded on account of their gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or any other human distinction. Make your people one. God, in your mercy,
People of God: hear our prayer.
Please offer your own prayers of joy or concern, ending with “God, in your mercy,”
We respond with “hear our prayer.”
Assisting Minister: All who have died with Christ also live with him. We give thanks for all the saints whose faithful confession inspired our own discipleship, and raise us, with them, to eternal life. God, in your mercy, People of God: hear our prayer.
Receive our prayers and answer us, O God, in the name of Jesus Christ.
People of God: Amen
Children’s Sermon Rev Arlyn Tolzmann
The Peace (Please share peace by waving or showing the peace sign.)
The peace of Christ be with you always. People of God: And also with you.
Offering
Let us pray. God of field and forest, sea and sky, you are the giver of all good things. Sustain us with these gifts of your creation, and multiply your graciousness in us, that the world may be fed with your love, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. People of God: Amen
Communion
The Lord be with you.
People of God: And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
People of God: We lift them to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
People of God: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread and gave thanks; he 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.
And now let us pray with confidence in the words that Jesus taught us:
People of God: 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
Invitation to Communion
Assisting Minister: All people are called to Christ’s table. Come, eat what is good.
For our at-home worshippers, you may take communion using these words:
The body of Christ, given for you.
The blood of Christ, shed for you.
Communion Songs
ELW #841 Lift Every Voice and Sing
ELW #773 Precious Lord, Take My Hand
Use the hymnal
ELW #768 Lead Me, Guide Me
Use the hymnal
ELW #793 Be Thou My Vision
Table Blessing
And now may the body and blood of our ☩ Lord, Jesus Christ, strengthen you and keep you in his grace. People of God: Amen
Prayer after Communion
Assisting Minister: Let us pray. We thank you, generous God, for the refreshment we have received at your banquet table. Send us now to spread your generosity into all the world, through the one who is our dearest treasure, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. People of God: Amen
Blessing
The God who calls across the cosmos and who keeps us from evil ☩ bless, keep, and sustain you now and to the end of the age. People of God: Amen
Sending Hymn
ELW#821 Shout to the Lord
Dismissal
Assisting Minister: Go and come in peace, knowing God will keep you. People of God: Thanks be to God.
Thank you to those serving us today
Pastor: Rev. Aryln Tolzmann
Worship Assistant: Janet Dorn
Acolyte: Michael Parmele
Music: Gloria Peetz ~ Song Leader: Steve Jaenicke
Altar Guild: Dianne Brooks
Usher/Greeter: Andy Taylor & Bob Eccker
Sound Board: Jason Brescia
Producer: Mark Gates ~ Graphics: Dawna Gates
Counters: Jeanne Soberg & Nancy Rochford
From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved
Confession and Forgiveness based on the work of Amy Loving, posted on The Worship Closet