The Virtual Service for October 11, 2020
Worship for Sunday, October 11, 2020
19th Sunday after Pentecost
GATHERING
Prelude music
Introduction to the day
In Isaiah we are given a vision of the great feast to come, when God will wipe away death forever. In Jesus’ parable about a great banquet, those invited do not come, so the invitation is extended to others. In our liturgy God spreads a table before us. Even amid anxiety and hardship we rejoice in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.
GATHERING SONG
O Day of Rest and Gladness (ELW 521)
Charles P. Price
Christopher Wordsworth
Performed and arranged by Robert Prester & Adriana Samargia
O day of rest and gladness
O day of joy and light
O balm of care and sadness
Most beautiful and most bright
On you the high and lowly
Through ages joind in tune
Sing holy holy holy
To the great God Triune
On You at earth’s creation
The light first had its birth
On You for our salvation
Christ rose from depths of earth
On You our Lord victorious
The Spirit sent from heaven
And thus on You most glorious
A three-fold light was given
New graces ever gaining
From this our day of rest
We reach the rest remaining
To spirits of the blest
We sing to you our praises
O Father Spirit Son
The church its voice upraises
To You blest Three in One
To You blest Three in One
To You blest Three in One
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,
who creates, redeems, and sustains us and all of creation.
Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Faithful God,
have mercy on us.
We confess that we are captive to sin
and cannot free ourselves.
We turn from your loving embrace
and go our own ways.
We pass judgment on one another
before examining ourselves.
We place our own needs before those of our neighbors.
We keep your gift of salvation to ourselves.
Make us humble, cast away our transgressions,
and turn us again to life in you
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
God hears the cries of all who call out in need,
and through his death and resurrection,
Christ has made us his own.
Hear the truth that God proclaims:
Your sins are forgiven in the name of ☩ Jesus Christ.
Led by the Holy Spirit, live in freedom and newness
to do God’s work in the world.
GREETING
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Lord of the feast, you have prepared a table before all peoples and poured out your life with abundance. Call us again to your banquet. Strengthen us by what is honorable, just, and pure, and transform us into a people of righteousness and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
WORD
THE READING Isaiah 25:1-9
A reading from Isaiah.
After a hymn of praise acknowledging God as a shelter for the poor, the prophet portrays a wonderful victory banquet at which death—which in ancient Canaan was depicted as a monster swallowing up everyone—will be swallowed up forever. The prophet urges celebration of this victory of salvation.
1O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
2For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more,
it will never be rebuilt.
3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
cities of ruthless nations will fear you.
4For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat.
When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm,
5the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place,
you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds;
the song of the ruthless was stilled.
6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
8he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL: Matthew 22:1-14
The holy gospel according to Matthew.
Glory to you, O Lord.
1Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ 5But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. 13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON
RSVP
Pastor Carlson
HYMN OF THE DAY
Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness (SCHMÜCKE DICH) (ELW 488)
Johann Franck
Performed and arranged by Robert Prester & Adriana Samargia
Soul, adorn yourself with gladness
Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness
Come into the daylight's splendor
There with joy your praises render
Bless the one whose grace unbounded
This amazing banquet founded
Christ though heavenly, high and holy
Deigns to dwell with you most lowly
Now in faith I humbly ponder
over this surpassing wonder
that the bread of life is boundless
though the souls it feeds are countless
with the choicest wine in heaven
Christ’s own blood to us is given
Oh most glorious consolation
pledge and seal of my salvation
Jesus, source of lasting pleasure
truest friend, and dearest treasure
peace beyond all understanding
joy into all life expanding
humbly now, I bow before you
love incarnate, I adore you
worthily let me receive you
and so favored never leave you
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Drawn together in the compassion of God, we pray for the church, the world, and all those in need.
A brief silence.
The response to “Lord, in your mercy,” is, ”Hear our Prayer.”
The Prayers conclude:
All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
OFFERING
ANTHEM
How Great Thou Art
Boberg; Swedish Melody
Christine Franks, solo
OFFERING PRAYER
Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things.
You have set before us these gifts of your good creation.
Prepare us for your heavenly banquet,
nourish us with this rich food and drink,
and send us forth to set tables in the midst of a suffering world,
through the bread of life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
BENEDICTION
Mothering God,
Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you and lead you into the way of truth and life.
Amen.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. Remember the poor.
Thanks be to God.
SENDING SONG
God Be with You Till We Meet Again (ELW 536)
Jeremiah Eames Rankin
Performed and arranged by Robert Prester & Adriana Samargia
God be with you till we meet again;
By good counsel guide, uphold you,
With a shepherd's care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again;
Wings of shelter safely hide you,
Daily manna still provide you:
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.
God be with you till we meet again;
When life’s perils thick confound you,
Put unfailing arms around you:
God be with you till we meet again.
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet;
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you
God be with you
God be with you till we meet again.
Postlude
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