CALL TO WORSHIP - PSALM 92:1-4, 12-15
It is a good thing to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praise to your name, O Most High;
to herald your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night;
on the psaltery, and on the lyre, and to the melody of the harp.
For you have made me glad by your acts, O LORD; and I shout for joy because of the works of your hands.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God;
they shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be green and succulent;
that they may show how upright the LORD is, my rock, in whom there is no injustice.
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God who gives us a new birth into a living hope,
who raises us with Christ from death who fills us with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us repent of our sin and claim the promise of God.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Living God, we confess before you and one another our futile ways,
our pursuit of perishable things, our own part in crucifying the Lord Jesus.
Forgive us, O God; renew the face of the earth;
and give us the assurance that you have rescued us from the power of sin
and made us alive in the Spirit forever. Amen.
Christ suffered for sins once for all in order to bring you to God.
Now you are God's people; now you have received mercy.
In the name of the risen + Lord Jesus I declare to you that your sins are forgiven.
Lay aside guilt, put away shame, for you are chosen and precious in God's sight.
Live in the marvelous light of Christ
Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. O God, you are the tree of life, offering shelter to all the world. Graft us into yourself and nurture our growth, that we may bear your truth and love to those in need, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: 2 Corinthians 5:6–10, 14–17
So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: Mark 4:26–34
The holy gospel according to Saint Mark. Glory to you, O Lord.
He also said, "The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come."
He also said, "With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade."
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON “The Kingdom of God” Pastor Phil Wold
With worship outside this morning, we did not record - and so, here is 3 Pentecost from last year...
The text for this sermon is: Matthew 10: 24-39
“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION
THE PEACE IS SHARED
The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.
THE OFFERING and OFFERING SONG
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
BLESSING
SENDING
Go in peace. Share the good news. Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
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