In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and local recommendations, we are continuing to post our digital services for the time being for those who feel more comfortable worshiping at home. Socially-distanced in-person worship is now resuming each Sunday at 12pm. Please click the audio bar below to listen to the service. Scroll down to follow along with the service text.
INVOCATION
P: We make our beginning in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
Hymn “Christ, the Word of God Incarnate” LSB # 540
1 Christ, the Word of God incarnate, Lord and Son of Abraham;
Christ, the radiance of the Father, Perfect God, the great I Am;
Christ, the light, You shine unvanquished, Light and life You bring to all;
Light our path with Your own presence, Grant us grace to heed Your call.
2 Christ, the living bread from heaven, Food for body, food for soul;
Christ, the manna daily given, Nourish, strengthen, make us whole.
Feed us with the food of heaven, Fore-taste of the feast to be;
Quench our thirst with living water Springing up eternally.
3 Christ, the shoot that springs triumphant From the stump of Jesse’s tree;
Christ, true vine, You nurture branches To bear fruit abundantly.
Graft us into You, O Savior; Prune our hearts so we remain
Fruitful branches in Your vineyard Till eternal life we gain.
4 Christ, our good and faithful shepherd, Watching all Your lambs and sheep;
Christ, the gate that guards the sheepfold, Never failing vigil keep.
When we stray, Good Shepherd, seek us, Find us, lift us, bear us home;
Lamb of God, our shepherd, keep us; Let us hear Your voice alone.
5 Christ, the way that leads unfailing To the Father’s home on high,
Christ, the truth that frees the captive, Christ, the life that cannot die.
Mediator to the Father, Sacrifice and great High Priest:
Lead us to Your heav’nly mansions, There to share Your wedding feast.
6 Christ, the Alpha and Omega, Christ, the firstborn from the dead,
Christ, the life and resurrection, Christ, the Church’s glorious head:
Praise and thanks and adoration And unending worship be
To the Father and the Spirit And to You eternally.
CONFESSION & ABSOLUTION
P: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
C: But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)
We reflect on God’s Word and examine ourselves.
P: Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.
C: Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. 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 the Word, I announce the grace of God to you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
PSALM 80 (7-19)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
C: 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.
COLLECT FOR THE DAY
P: Let us pray. Gracious God, You gave Your Son into the hands of sinful men who killed him. Forgive us when we reject Your unfailing love, and grant us the fullness of Your salvation through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Scripture Readings
Old Testament Reading (Isaiah 5:1-7)
1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard:My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it;and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,judge between me and my vineyard.4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it?When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up;I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting;and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle Reading (Philippians 3:4b-14)
4 If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Gospel Reading (Matthew 21:33-46)
P: The holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the 20th chapter.
C: Glory to You, O Lord.
1 [Jesus said:] “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: Praise to You, O Christ.
Hymn of the Day “If Your Beloved Son, O God” LSB #568
1 If Your beloved Son, O God,
Had not to earth descended
And in our mortal flesh and blood
Had not sin's power ended,
Then this poor, wretched soul of mine
In hell eternally would pine
Because of my transgression.
2 But now I find sweet peace and rest;
Despair no more reigns o'er me.
No more am I by sin oppressed,
For Christ has borne sin for me.
Upon the cross for me He died
That, reconciled, I might abide
With You, my God, forever.
3 I trust in Him with all my heart;
Now all my sorrow ceases.
His words abiding peace impart;
His blood from guilt releases.
Free grace through Him I now obtain;
He washes me from ev'ry stain,
And pure I stand before Him.
4 All righteousness by works is vain;
The Law brings condemnation.
True righteousness by faith I gain;
Christ's work is my salvation.
His death, that perfect sacrifice,
Has paid the all-sufficient price;
In Him my hope is anchored.
5 My guilt, O Father, You have laid
On Christ, Your Son, my Savior.
Lord Jesus, You my debt have paid
And gained for me God's favor.
O Holy Spirit, Fount of grace,
The good in me to You I trace;
In faith and hope preserve me.
Sermon “God’s Vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1-7)
CONFESSION OF FAITH: THE NICENE CREED
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son
who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH
P: Lord, in you mercy,
C: hear our prayer.
THE LORD’S PRAYER
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
CLOSING HYMN: “Almighty Father, Bless the Word” LSB #923
1 Almighty Father, bless the Word
Which through Your grace we now have heard.
Oh, may the precious seed take root,
Spring up, and bear abundant fruit!
2 We praise You for the means of grace
As homeward now our steps we trace.
Grant, Lord, that we who worshiped here
May all at last in heav'n appear.
3 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
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.