NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST August 2, 2020
ORDER OF SERVICE: LSB DS4, p. 203
THE HYMNS: 817, 642, 652
THE SERMON TEXT: Romans 8:28-39
OPENING HYMN: “Earth and All Stars” (LSB 817, verses 1, 2, 6, 7)
Earth and all stars!
Loud rushing planets!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Oh, victory!
Loud shouting army!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
[Refrain]
He has done marvelous things.
I too will praise Him with a new song!
Hail, wind, and rain!
Loud blowing snowstorm!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Flowers and trees!
Loud rustling dry leaves!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
[Refrain]
Knowledge and truth!
Loud sounding wisdom!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Daughter and son!
Loud praying members!
Sing to the Lord a new song!
[Refrain]
Children of God,
Dying and rising,
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Heaven and earth,
Hosts everlasting,
Sing to the Lord a new song!
[Refrain]
[Stand]
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
[The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.]
P: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord
C: who made heaven and earth.
P: If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
C: But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
P: Since we are gathered to hear God’s Word, call upon Him in prayer and praise, and receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in the fellowship of this altar, let us first consider our unworthiness and confess before God and one another that we have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and that we cannot free ourselves from our sinful condition. Together as His people let us take refuge in the infinite mercy of God, our heavenly Father, seeking His grace for the sake of Christ, and saying: God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
C: Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life. Amen.
P: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
THE INTROIT (all): Psalm 105:2-6; Antiphon: Psalm 105:1
Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
KYRIE ~ Lord Have Mercy (Sung) (LSB 204)
C: Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS (Sung) ~ Glory to God in the Highest (LSB 204)
To God on high be glory and peace to all the earth;
Goodwill from God in heaven proclaimed at Jesus’ birth!
We praise and bless You, Father; Your holy name, we sing—
Our thanks for Your great glory, Lord God, our heav’nly King.
To You, O sole begotten, The Father’s Son, we pray;
O Lamb of God, our Savior, You take our sins away.
Have mercy on us, Jesus; Receive our heartfelt cry,
Where You in pow’r are seated at God’s right hand on high.
For You alone are holy; You only are the Lord,
Forever and forever, be worshiped and adored;
You with the Holy Spirit alone are Lord Most High,
In God the Father’s glory. “Amen!” our glad reply.
SALUTATION and COLLECT OF THE DAY
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. Almighty and everlasting God, give us an increase of faith, hope, and love, that receiving what You have promised, we may love what You have commanded; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
[Sit]
BOOK OF CONCORD: Apology Articles VII & VIII: The Church
[The Papists] have condemned Article VII of our Confession, in which we said that the Church is the congregation of saints. The adversaries have added a long essay stating that the wicked are not to be separated from the Church, since John the Baptist has compared the Church to a threshing floor on which wheat and chaff are heaped together (Matt. 3:12), and Christ has compared it to a net in which there are both good and bad fish (Matt. 13:47). This is a true saying: "There is no remedy against the attacks of the slanderer." Nothing can be spoken with such care that it can escape ridicule. For this reason we have added Article VIII. Let no one think that we separate the wicked and hypocrites from the outward fellowship of the Church, or that we deny power to Sacraments administered by hypocrites or wicked men. There is no need here of a long defense against this slander. Article VIII is enough to acquit us. For we grant that in this life hypocrites and wicked people have been mingled with the Church, and that they are members of the Church according to the outward fellowship of the signs of the Church, that is, of Word, profession, and Sacraments. Neither are the Sacraments powerless when administered by wicked men. Paul predicts, "[The antichrist] takes his seat in the temple of God" (2 Thess. 2:4). In other words, he will rule and bear office in the Church.
OLD TESTAMENT READING: Deuteronomy 7:6-9
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations."
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE: Romans 8:28-39
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C. Thanks be to God.
[Stand]
ALLELUIA (Sung)
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
These things are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
P: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the 13th chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
HOLY GOSPEL: Matthew 13:44-52
44 [Jesus said:] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
[Sit]
HYMN OF THE DAY: “O Living Bread from Heaven” (LSB 642)
O living Bread from heaven,
How well You feed Your guest!
The gifts that You have given
Have filled my heart with rest.
Oh, wondrous food of blessing,
Oh, cup that heals our woes!
My heart, this gift possessing,
With praises over flows.
My Lord, You here have led me
To this most holy place
And with Yourself have fed me
The treasures of Your grace;
For You have freely given
What earth could never buy,
The bread of life from heaven,
That now I shall not die.
You gave me all I wanted;
This food can death destroy.
And You have freely granted
The cup of endless joy.
My Lord, I do not merit
The favor You have shown,
And all my soul and spirit
Bow down before Your throne.
Lord, grant me then, thus strengthened
With heav’nly food, while here
My course on earth is lengthened,
To serve with holy fear.
And when You call my spirit
To leave this world below,
I enter, through Your merit,
Where joys unmingled flow.
SERMON
[Stand]
Apostles’ Creed
C: I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His 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 into hell.
The third day He rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits and the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
After each petition:
P: Lord, in Your mercy,
C: Hear our prayer.
LORD'S PRAYER
BENEDICTION
P: The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you
and be gracious to you.
The Lord look upon you with favor and give you peace.
C: Amen.
CLOSING HYMN: “Father, We Thank Thee” (LSB 652)
Father, we thank Thee who hast planted
Thy holy name within our hearts.
Knowledge and faith and life immortal
Jesus, Thy Son to us imparts.
Thou, Lord, didst make all for Thy pleasure,
Didst give us food for all our days,
Giving in Christ the Bread eternal;
Thine is the pow’r, be Thine the praise.
Watch o’er Thy Church, O Lord, in mercy,
Save it from evil, guard it still,
Perfect it in Thy love, unite it.
Cleansed and conformed unto Thy will.
As grain, once scattered on the hillsides,
Was in this broken bread made one,
So from all lands Thy Church be gathered
Into Thy kingdom by Thy Son.