Prelude
Announcements
Call to Worship based on Psalm 34
Living Rock of Abundant Life, the poor cried out;
People of God: you heard and saved them from all their troubles.
To those who have nothing, your promise is this:
People of God: whatever is needed will be given.
Your eyes are on those who do justice,
People of God: and your ears are open to their voice.
To those who yearn for peace, your promise is this:
People of God: whatever is needed will be given.
Your arms enfold the brokenhearted,
People of God: and rescue those whose spirits are crushed.
To those who fear the future, your promise is this:
People of God: whatever is needed will be given.
O taste and see how God is good!
People of God: Happy are those who take refuge in the Living Rock.
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 #555 Oh, Sing to God Above
Prayer of the Day
Assisting Minister: Let us pray. God, you send us to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. People of God: Amen.
Reading
Matthew 25:31-40
Assisting Minister: [Jesus told the people gathered to hear him,] “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” The word of the Lord. People of God: Thanks be to God
Sermon The Mission Trippers
Hymn
ELW #798 Will You Come and Follow Me
Prayers of the People
Assisting Minister: Confident that God receives our joys and concerns, let us offer our prayers for the church, those in need, and all of creation.
A brief silence.
Assisting Minister: Guide your church, O God, to care for all and especially for the least of your people. Direct us to proclaim your love in this congregation and throughout the world. Thank you for the opportunity for our youth to care for and to serve your people in Milwaukee. Hear us, O God. People of God: Your mercy is great.
Assisting Minister: Sustain your creation, O God, by sending favorable weather, causing trees and fields to grow, protecting waterways from pollution, and instilling in all people the need to be good stewards of all you have given us. Hear us, O God. People of God: Your mercy is great.
Assisting Minister: Maintain peace among all people, O God, and raise up lawyers to work for justice in the courts, advocates to speak for the downtrodden, and politicians to work on behalf of the common good. Hear us, O God. People of God: Your mercy is great.
Assisting Minister: Heal those who are sick, O God especially John, Marsha, the Knight family, Frank, Peggy, Rori, Susan, Grace, Alice, Gus, Denise, Leslie, Brian, Scott, Jessica, Jeanne, Barb, Cecil, Stan, Ryleigh, Dylan, Sandy, Hopie, Allen, Bunny, Patricia, Michael, Beth, Betty, Tom, and those we name silently or aloud. Guide health care workers to care for those who suffer, scientists to conduct lifesaving research, and counselors to care for victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. Hear us, O God. People of God: Your mercy is great.
Assisting Minister: Answer the prayers of those gathered in worship, O God. Protect those who travel near and far, accompany visitors to this congregation, and nurture our faith. Thank you for the protection you provided for the mission trip this past week, and may the faith of all touched by their ministry continue to grow and deepen for many years to come. Hear us, O God.
People of God: Your mercy is great.
Please offer your own prayers of joy or concern, ending with “Hear us, O God,”
We respond with “Your mercy is great.”
Assisting Minister: Inspire us by the faithful departed, O God, examples of your embodied love, whose confidence in the resurrection guides us in living lives worthy of the gospel. Hear us, O God.
People of God: Your mercy is great.
Into your hands, O God, we commend all for whom we pray, in the name of the one who reconciled all creation to himself, Jesus Christ our Savior. People of God: Amen.
Children’s Sermon Rev. Sarah Wilson
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 #583 Take My Life that I May Be
ELW #772 Oh That the Lord Would Guide My Ways
ELW #513 Listen, God is Calling
ELW #698 How Long, O God
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 sends us to care for all people ☩ bless, keep, and sustain you now and to the end of the age. People of God: Amen
Sending Hymn
ELW#525 You are Holy
Dismissal
Assisting Minister: Go in peace. Serve the Lord. People of God: Thanks be to God.
Thank you to those serving us today
Pastor: Rev. Sarah Wilson
Worship Assistant: Andy Taylor
Acolyte: Adam Vogt
Music: Gloria Peetz ~ Song Leader: Sean Rochford
Altar Guild: Sally Skalany
Usher/Greeter: John Ulaszek & Dianne Brooks
Sound Board: Phyllis Blumke
Producer: Mark Gates ~ Graphics: Dawna Gates
Counters: John Ulaszek & Sally Skalany
Altar flowers: Bob & Denise Kubas
In Celebration of their Anniversary
From sundaysandseasons.com. Copyright © 2023 Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved
Confession and Forgiveness based on the work of Amy Loving, posted on The Worship ClosetCall to Worship based on Psalm 34 from Stone Soup, a liturgy on the Seekers Church website: http://www.seekerschurch.org/