CALL TO WORSHIP - PSALM 1
Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on God's teaching day and night.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither;
everything they do shall prosper.
It is not so with the wicked;
they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall be destroyed.
GATHERING SONGS “Immortal, Invisible” #834
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who creates us and forms us, who redeems us and
calls us, who unites us and sends us.
Amen.
Gathered in God’s presence, let us confess our sin.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Mighty and loving God,
we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.
We seek our own way. We divide the body of Christ.
In your mercy, cleanse us and heal us.
Let the words of our mouths, the thoughts of our hearts, and everything that we do be filled with faith, hope, and love.
Amen.
Hear the voice of Jesus:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim release to the captives.”
In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, I proclaim to you
that your sins are forgiven and you are released.
The joy of the Lord is your strength,
and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are yours forever.
Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Living God, in Christ you make all things new. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST LESSON: Jeremiah 17:5-10
Thus says the LORD: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse--who can understand it? I the LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.
Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
SECOND LESSON: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
GOSPEL INVITATION "Lord, Let My Heart Be Good Soil" #512
THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: Luke 6:17-26
The holy gospel according to Saint Luke. Glory to you, O Lord.
He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them. Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
"Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
"Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON “On the Level” Pastor Phil Wold
The service was livestreamed, click here.
HYMN OF THE DAY “Follow Me”
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.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
THE SIGN OF PEACE IS SHARED
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
THE OFFERING AND OFFERING PRAYER
Let us pray. Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: our selves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered, in feeding the world with your love, through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
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
BLESSING
SENDING SONG “Canticle of the Turning” #723
SENDING
Go in peace. Live the gospel. Thanks be to God.
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