CALL TO WORSHIP - PSALM: 71:1-6
In you, O LORD, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free; incline your ear to me and save me.
Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; you are my crag and my stronghold.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the clutches of the oppressor.
For you are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence since I was young. I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother's womb you have been my strength; my praise shall be always of you.
GATHERING SONG “God of Tempest, God of Whirlwind” #400
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
As God's beloved children, let us call to mind our sin
and our need for reconciliation with God and one another.
Silence is kept for reflection.
Strong and faithful God,
we confess that we have not lived as your holy people in the world.
We have closed our hearts to your love.
We have resisted your light.
We have failed to proclaim your mercy.
Forgive what we have done and what we have left undone,
heal us with your abundant grace,
and help us walk as children of the light.
Amen.
Rejoice in this good news: In ☩ Christ Jesus, your sins are forgiven.
You are descendants of the Most High, adopted into the household of Christ,
and inheritors of eternal life. Live as freed and forgiven children of God.
Amen.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and love; and that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
FIRST LESSON: Jeremiah 1:4–10
Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the LORD said to me, “Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
SECOND LESSON: 1 Corinthians 13:1–13
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: Luke 4:21–30
The holy gospel according to Saint Luke. Glory to you, O Lord.
Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, "Is not this Joseph's son?" He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' And you will say, 'Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.'" And he said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian." When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON “Truly I Tell You” Pastor Phil Wold
HYMN OF THE DAY “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” #836
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
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.
PRAYERS FOR HEALING
In response to the Word of God, we pray for those in need, and ask God's blessing on those who seek healing and wholeness through Christ our Lord.
God the Father, you desire the health and salvation of all people.
We praise you and thank you, O Lord.
God the Son, you came that we might have life, and might have it more abundantly.
We praise you and thank you, O Lord.
God the Holy Spirit, you make our bodies the temples of your presence.
We praise you and thank you, O Lord.
Holy Trinity, one God, in you we live and move and have our being.
We praise you and thank you, O Lord.
Lord, grant your healing grace to all who are sick, injured, or disabled, that they may be made whole;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Grant to all who are lonely, anxious, or despondent, the awareness of your presence;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Mend broken relationships, and restore those in emotional distress to soundness of mind and serenity of spirit;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Bless physicians, nurses, and all who minister to the suffering; grant them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Grant to the dying a peaceful, holy death, and with your grace strengthen those who mourn;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Restore to wholeness whatever is broken in our lives, in this nation, and in the world;
hear us, O Lord of life.
Hear us, O Lord of life:
heal us, and make us whole.
Gracious God, in baptism you anointed us with the oil of salvation, and joined us to the death and resurrection of your Son. Bless all who seek your healing presence in their lives. In their suffering draw them more deeply into the mystery of your love, that following Christ in the way of the cross they may know the power of his resurrection; who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen
THE SIGN OF PEACE IS SHARED
The peace of Christ be with you always. And also with you.
NOISY OFFERING
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
BLESSING
SENDING SONG “Bless the Lord, Oh My Soul"
SENDING
Go in peace. Live the gospel. Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
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