The Virtual Worship Service for September 19, 2021
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Worship at 9:00 a.m.
The congregation reads the boldface responses.
PRELUDE
When Peace Like a River / It is Well With My Soul - Horatio Spafford, Philip Paul Bliss
GATHERING
ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Today we hear James warn against selfish ambition, while the disciples quarrel over which one of them is the greatest. Jesus tells them the way to be great is to serve. Then, to make it concrete, he puts in front of them a flesh-and-blood child. We are called to welcome the children God puts in front of us, to make room for them in daily interaction, and to give them a place of honor in the assembly.
The congregation stands.
A PRAYER FOR GOOD SHEPHERD DURING OUR VISIONING PROCESS
Dear God, We thank you for your continued guidance as we look for the next pastor to lead, inspire, and help our church grow. We ask that you keep our hearts open and our eyes looking to you, so that you may direct all that we do towards the vision and plan you have for us. Again, we thank you Lord for all your blessings of wisdom, knowledge, and strength during this time of transition and your plentiful blessings unbeknown to us in the future. We pray this in your name. Amen.
GATHERING HYMN
There is a Wideness in God’s Mercy (LBW 447)
1. There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in his justice
which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heav’n.
There is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgment giv’n.
2. There is welcome for the sinner,
and a promised grace made good;
there is mercy with the Savior;
there is healing in his blood.
There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.
3. For the love of God is broader
than the measures of our mind;
and the heart of the eternal
is most wonderfully kind.
There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that has been shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the head.
4. ’Tis not all we owe to Jesus;
it is something more than all:
greater good because of evil,
larger mercy through the fall.
If our love were but more simple,
we should take him at his word;
and our lives would be all sunshine
in the sweetness of our Lord.
Text: Frederick W. Faber, 1814-1863
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Blessed be the holy Trinity,☩ one God,
the God of manna,
the God of miracles,
the God of mercy.
Amen.
Drawn to Christ and seeking God’s abundance,
let us confess our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
God, our provider,
help us.
It is hard to believe there is enough to share.
We question your ways when they differ from the ways
of the world in which we live.
We turn to our own understanding
rather than trusting in you.
We take offense at your teachings and your ways.
Turn us again to you.
Where else can we turn?
Share with us the words of eternal life
and feed us for life in the world.
Amen.
Beloved people of God:
in Jesus, the manna from heaven,
you are fed and nourished.
By Jesus, the worker of miracles,
there is always more than enough.
Through Jesus, ☩ the bread of life,
you are shown God’s mercy:
you are forgiven and loved into abundant life.
Amen.
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
O God, our teacher and guide, you draw us to yourself and welcome us as beloved children. Help us to lay aside all envy and selfish ambition, that we may walk in your ways of wisdom and understanding as servants of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
The congregation is seated.
WORD
FIRST READING
Jeremiah 11:18-20
A reading from Jeremiah.
Today’s reading tells of the suffering of the prophet Jeremiah, who announced God’s word to Judah but was met with intense opposition and persecution. Jeremiah continues to trust in God in the midst of his suffering.
It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew;
then you showed me their evil deeds.
But I was like a gentle lamb
led to the slaughter.
And I did not know it was against me
that they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will no longer be remembered!”
But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously,
who try the heart and the mind,
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
PSALMODY
Psalm 54
(Read responsively.)
Save me, O God, by your name;
in your might, defend my cause.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen up against me, and the ruthless have sought my life,
those who have no regard for God.
Behold, God is my helper;
it is the Lord who sustains my life.
Render evil to those who spy on me;
in your faithfulness, destroy them.
I will offer you a freewill sacrifice
and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
For you have rescued me from every trouble,
and my eye looks down on my enemies.
SECOND READING
James 3:13-4:3,7-8a
A reading from James.
The wisdom God gives unites our hearts and minds. Instead of living to satisfy our own wants and desires, we manifest this wisdom in peace, gentleness, mercy, and impartiality toward others.
Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.:
Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The congregation stands.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
GOSPEL
Mark 9:30-37
The holy gospel according to Mark.
Glory to you, O Lord.
[Jesus and the disciples went on] and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
The congregation is seated.
SERMON
Let the Little Children Come!
Pastor Harkness
The congregation stands.
HYMN OF THE DAY
Children of the Heavenly Father (LBW 474)
1. Children of the heav'nly Father
safely in his bosom gather;
nestling bird nor star in heaven
such a refuge e'er was given.
2. God his own doth tend and nourish,
in his holy courts they flourish.
From all evil things he spares them,
in his mighty arms he bears them.
3. Neither life nor death shall ever
from the Lord his children sever;
unto them his grace he showeth,
and their sorrows all he knoweth.
4. Though he giveth or he taketh,
God his children ne'er forsaketh;
his the loving purpose solely
to preserve them pure and holy.
Text: Carolina Sandell Berg, 1832-1903; tr. Ernst W. Olson, 1870-1958
Text © 1925 Board of Publication, Lutheran Church in America, admin. Augsburg Fortress.
APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s 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 to the dead.*
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
*Or, “he descended into hell,” another translation of this text in widespread use.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
Made children and heirs of God’s promise, we pray for the church, the world, and all in need.
A brief silence.
The response to “Lord, in your mercy,” is “hear our prayer.”
The prayers conclude:
Receive these prayers, O God, and those in our hearts known only to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The congregation is seated.
OFFERING
OFFERTORY
Make Me a Channel of Your Peace - Sebastian Temple
Robert Prester
The congregation stands.
OFFERING PRAYER
God of abundance,
you cause streams to break forth in the desert
and manna to rain from the heavens.
Accept the gifts you have first given us.
Unite them with the offering of our lives
to nourish the world you love so dearly;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
Amen.
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.
SENDING
BLESSING
The blessing of God,
who provides for us, feeds us, and journeys with us,
☩ be upon you now and forever.
Amen.
SENDING HYMN
All Depends on Our Possessing (LBW 447)
1. All depends on our possessing
God’s free grace and constant blessing,
though all earthly wealth depart.
They who trust with faith unshaken
by their God are not forsaken
and will keep a dauntless heart.
2. God, who hitherto has fed me
and to many joys has led me,
is and ever shall be mine.
He who did so gently school me,
he who daily guides and rules me,
will remain my help divine.
3. When with sorrow I am stricken,
hope my heart anew will quicken,
all my longing shall be stilled.
To his lovingkindness tender
soul and body I surrender,
for on God alone I build.
4. Well he knows what best to grant me;
all the longing hopes that haunt me,
joy and sorrow, have their day.
I shall doubt his wisdom never;
as God wills, so be it ever;
to him I commit my way.
5. If on earth my days he lengthen,
God my weary soul will strengthen;
all my trust in him I place.
Earthly wealth is not abiding;
like a stream away it’s gliding;
safe I anchor in his grace.
Text: Gesang-Buch, Nürnberg, 1676; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878, alt.
DISMISSAL
Go in peace. You are the body of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
What a Friend We Have in Jesus - William Bolcom, Charles Crozat Converse
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