Hymn “Glorious Things of You Are Spoken” LSB # 648
1 Glorious things of you are spoken, Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken Formed you for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake your sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded, You may smile at all your foes.
2 See, the streams of living waters, Springing from eternal love,
Well supply your sons and daughters And all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river Ever will their thirst assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the giver, Never fails from age to age.
3 Round each habitation hov'ring, See the cloud and fire appear
For a glory and a cov'ring, Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from their banner Light by night and shade by day,
Safe they feed upon the manna Which God gives them on their way.
4 Savior, since of Zion's city I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity, I will glory in Your name.
Fading are the world's vain pleasures, All their boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasures None but Zion's children know.
P: In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
C: Amen.
P: Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C: who made heaven and earth.
P: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,
C: and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
(We reflect on God’s Word and examine ourselves)
P: O almighty God, merciful Father,
C: I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You, and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
P: Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of 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.
The Introit is read…
(Sung)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
The Antiphon is read…
(Sung)
Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray.
Collect of the Day:
P: O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy, be gracious to all who have gone astray from Your ways and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of Your Word; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C: Amen.
Hymn “We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died” LSB # 429
1 We sing the praise of Him who died, Of Him who died upon the cross.
The sinner's hope let all deride; For this we count the world but loss.
2 Inscribed upon the cross we see In shining letters, "God is love."
He bears our sins upon the tree; He brings us mercy from above.
3 The cross! It takes our guilt away; It holds the fainting spirit up;
It cheers with hope the gloomy day And sweetens ev'ry bitter cup.
4 It makes the coward spirit brave And nerves the feeble arm for fight;
It takes the terror from the grave And gilds the bed of death with light;
5 The balm of life, the cure of woe, The measure and the pledge of love,
The sinner's refuge here below, The angels' theme in heav'n above.
6 To Christ, who won for sinners grace By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race Forever and forevermore.
Scripture Readings
Old Testament Reading (Exodus 20:1-17)
And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
Epistle Reading (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
P: This is the Word of the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
P: The holy Gospel according to St. John, the 2nd chapter.
C: (sung) Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
(John 2:13-22)
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
P: This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C: (sung) Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
Confession of Faith -- 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 at 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.
Hymn “Jesus Shall Reign” LSB # 832
1 Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does its successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 To Him shall endless prayer be made, And endless praises crown His head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise With ev'ry morning sacrifice.
3 People and realms of ev'ry tongue Dwell on His love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim Their early blessings on His name.
4 Blessings abound where'er He reigns; The pris'ners leap, unloose their chains,
The weary find eternal rest, And all who suffer want are blest.
5 Let ev'ry creature rise and bring Honors peculiar to our King;
Angels descend with songs again, And earth repeat the loud amen.
Sermon
Offertory
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence,
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
And uphold me with Thy free Spirit. Amen.
Prayer of the Church
Offering
Prayer of the Church
P: Lord, in your mercy,
C: Receive 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
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And with thy spirit.
P: Bless we the Lord.
C: Thanks be to God.
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 “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” LSB # 809
1 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not: Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.
Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
2 Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. [Refrain]
3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! [Refrain]