GATHERING SONG “The Church of Christ, in Every Age” #729
CALL TO WORSHIP
O Lord, I cry to you for help.
In the morning my prayer comes before you.
Let my mouth be full of your praise
and your glory all the day long.
Every day will I bless you,
and praise your name forever and ever.
Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation,
O hope of all the ends of the earth and of the seas that are far away.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.
You redeem my life from the grave,
and crown me with mercy and steadfast love.
Lord, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come before you.
PRAYER OF THE DAY
Let us pray. O God, you direct our lives by your grace, and your words of justice and mercy reshape the world. Mold us into a people who welcome your word and serve one another, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen
ORDER FOR CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, full of compassion and mercy,
abounding in steadfast love. Amen.
Trusting God’s promise of forgiveness, let us confess our sin against God and one another.
Silence for reflection and self-examination.
Eternal God our creator,
in you we live and move and have our being.
Look upon us, your children, the work of your hands.
Forgive us all our offenses, and cleanse us from proud thoughts and empty desires.
By your grace draw us near to you, our refuge and our strength;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us.
In the mercy of almighty God, Christ died for us while we still were sinners;
and for his sake, God ☩ forgives you all your sins. Amen.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: Romans 6:12–23
Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.
When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Word of God, word of life. Thanks be to God.
THE GOSPEL FOR THE DAY: Matthew 10:40–42
The holy gospel according to Saint Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord.
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward."
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ.
SERMON “Welcoming Jesus” Pastor Phil Wold
HYMN OF THE DAY “All Are Welcome” #641
THE 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 “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” #888
SENDING
Go in peace. Live the gospel. Thanks be to God.
POSTLUDE
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