+ PREPARATION +
HYMN I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus TLH 428
I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, Trusting only Thee;
Trusting Thee for full salvation, Great and free.
I am trusting Thee for pardon; At Thy feet I bow,
For Thy grace and tender mercy Trusting now.
I am trusting Thee for cleansing In the crimson flood;
Trusting Thee to make me holy By Thy blood.
I am trusting Thee to guide me; Thou alone shalt lead,
Ev'ry day and hour supplying All my need.
I am trusting Thee for power; Thine can never fail.
Words which Thou Thyself shalt give me Must prevail.
I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus; Never let me fall.
I am trusting Thee forever And for all.
INVOCATION
Pastor: In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION
Pastor: Our help is in the name of the Lord,
People: who made heaven and earth.
Pastor: If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?
People: But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
Pastor: Since we are gathered to have our faith strengthened by hearing God’s Word and by receiving our Lord’s body and blood in the fellowship of this altar, but cannot come before God in our sinful condition, let us seek His infinite mercy and ask our heavenly Father’s forgiveness.
People: Almighty God, have mercy on us, forgive the weakness of our faith and our many sins, and restore us to fellowship with You and one another, now and forever.
Pastor: In Holy Baptism our heavenly Father declared us to be His children and united us to His Son, by whose death and resurrection all our sins are forgiven. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
People: Amen.
+ WORD +
HYMN OF PRAISE Praise to the Lord, The Almighty TLH 39
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is Thy Health and Salvation!
Join the full throng: Wake, harp and psalter and song;
Sound forth in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle, uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief Ever hath failed of relief?--
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of His mercy doth send thee.
Ponder anew What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Pastor: Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, our support and defense in every need, continue to preserve Your church in safety, govern her by Your goodness, and bless her with Your peace; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
People: Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING Isaiah 50:4–10 (Isaiah urges a bold faith.)
4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
5 The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.
6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;
I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
7 But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me.
9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?
Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
EPISTLE James 3:1–12 (James warns against an uncontrolled tongue.)
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
HOLY GOSPEL Mark 9:14–29 (Jesus exorcizes a spirit after the disciples are not able.)
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
HYMN Great Is Thy Faithfulness CH 139
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!
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
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow –
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside! (Refrain)
SERMON
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 Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe 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.
GREETING/ANNOUNCEMENTS
OFFERING
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH Psalm 116:1–2, 5, 7–9
Pastor: Let us pray for ourselves, the church around the world, and all people in their various conditions. Today’s Psalm is the response of a trusting person, confident that God has heard the prayer.
Be present, Lord our God, wherever wars rage and governments fail, where homelessness and disease are rampant, and where the poor are forgotten.
People: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Pastor: Guard, defend, and give wisdom to all who go into harm’s way to do battle against foreign enemies and in emergencies here at home. Use medical personnel and caring neighbors to bring about health and healing.
People: Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.
Pastor: Provide faith-filled leaders and followers to proclaim the Gospel, serve You with the gifts You have given them, and care for the needs of people around the world.
People: Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; our God is merciful.
Pastor: Be with all who tend flocks, raise harvests, and distribute food so that many may be fed.
People: Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
Pastor: Visit, relieve, and console those who are sick or in mourning, [including . . .], according to Your gracious plans for them.
People: For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
Pastor: These and any other things You see that we need, grant to us for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
People: I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. Amen.