Fourteenth Sunday of
Pentecost
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the day
Conflict is a part of relationships and life in community. Jesus’ words
in today's gospel are often used in situations having to do with church
discipline and Paul reminds us that love is the fulfilling of the law. We
gather in the name of Christ, assured that he is present among us with gifts of
peace and reconciliation.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever. Amen.
Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the God, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, the fountain of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation. Amen.
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God's mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and by your Word you created the world, calling forth life in which you took delight.
Through the waters of the flood you delivered Noah and his family. Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery into freedom.
At the river your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit. By water and your Word you claim us as daughters and sons, making us heirs of your promise and servants of all.
We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life, and above all we praise you for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ.
Shower us with your Spirit, and renew our lives with your forgiveness, grace, and love. To you be given honor and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
Gathering Song – Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (ELW #807)
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Canticle of Praise (p. 213)
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy. Without your help, we mortals will fail; remove far from us everything that is harmful, and lead us toward all that gives life and salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
A reading from the Book of Exodus 12:1-14
Israel remembered its deliverance from
slavery in Egypt by celebrating the festival of Passover. This festival
featured the Passover lamb, whose blood was used as a sign to protect God’s
people from the threat of death. The early church described the Lord’s supper
using imagery from the Passover, especially in portraying Jesus as the lamb who
delivers God’s people from sin and death.
1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the passover of the Lord. 12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both human beings and animals; on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
14This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall
celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall
observe it as a perpetual ordinance.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 149
Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of
the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in
its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their
King.
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with
tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes
pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their
couches.
Let the high praises
of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,
to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
to bind their kings
with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
to execute on them the judgment decreed.
This is glory for all his
faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans 13:8-14
The obligation of Christians is to love
one another and so fulfill the heart and goal of the law. Clothes make the
person as we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” and live today in light of the
future God has in store for us.
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
11Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation (p. 216)
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The holy gospel according to Matthew 18:15-20
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus offers practical
advice to his disciples on how individuals—and the church as a whole—should go
about restoring relationships when one member has sinned against another.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
In Matthew 18:20, Christ tell
us that “for where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among
them.”
But what happens when those
two or three can’t gather together? Does that mean that Jesus, and therefore
God, is not among them?
The word, “church,” means
fellowship, a gathering, a grouping.
The church is a community of
loving people. The church is a community of people who love you, know your
name, and are concerned about you. Is it not important for you that as a member
of a church, that people know your name? That they know what you struggle with?
Isn’t that at the heart of a church? Where you are known and loved as a friend?
We want to be wanted. We want
to be loved. We want people to treat us as friends. The church is a fellowship.
The church is a community. The church is family.
As this pandemic marches on
with seemingly no end, there is a growing feeling of loneliness and isolation
as church families are not able to worship together, a feeling of loss as
prayers and hymns are silenced and the Eucharist tabled (pun intended), or at
the very least, much different than what we are used to experiencing.
Discussions are taking place
around virtual Eucharist and about what “real church” looks like now that we
are worshiping online, at home but also “together”.
Do the empty church buildings
mean that Christianity is coming to a halt, that Jesus is no longer present in
our lives? Is “church’ cancelled because two or three can no longer gather?
The younger, tech-savvy
generation, whom we have struggled to get in a pew on a Sunday morning, are
listening online when and where they choose.
The aging generation who can
no longer attend worship services in person due to health and mobility issues
are now able to tune in via YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.
Those who are searching for a
place to worship, but who’s social and general anxiety don’t allow them to step
through the door of a place full of strangers, are, through the joys of technology,
able to church-surf without the pressure of going from place to place.
Those who have been harmed by
the Church, yet long for connection with God, can do so from the safety and
comfort of their homes.
“Where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am there.” These words seem particularly poignant in our
COVID-19 pandemic reality. A word for our present experience where many are
gathered in twos or threes, as families, as cohort units, as bubbles. A word of
promise, for this time, that Jesus is with us, “I am there.”
Indeed, empty church buildings
do not mean that Christianity is coming to a halt, or that Jesus is no longer
present in our lives. Rather, the increasing number of online viewers indicate
a new way of evangelizing and a growing need for faith and spirituality in a
world suffering together.
As we roll into September,
parishes are contemplating opening their doors once again and schools are welcoming
the return of students. There is a sense of life returning to “normal”.
But in the background, there
lies fear and anxiety about what will come next.
What is going to happen once
hundreds of children head back to school and daycares?
Earlier in today’s passage
from Matthew, Jesus says, essentially, that being a member of the church means
you have a responsibility.
We, as the church, have a
responsibility to set an example for the community.
We need to show the world that
our faith is strong despite not being able to worship in our buildings.
We need to support our
communities by keeping the vulnerable safe through the use of masks, social
distancing, and staying home unless necessary.
This pandemic is not finished
with us yet and we need to support our communities through an extremely anxious
time. Parents, teachers, students, everyone is scared for what September will
bring.
Jesus promises us that he is
present, that his presence is real for us, when we are gathered in his name. It
is just an important for our communities to know that we are present for them.
Pray for the students as they
head into school days that will be very different from what they know.
Pray for the teachers as they
figure out how to teach while keeping everyone safe.
Pray for the parents to have
courage as each day brings new anxieties.
May Jesus walk with them all
during the upcoming days, guiding them and giving them the strength they need
to make it through, one day at a time.
Hymn of the Day – Lord, Listen to
Your Children Praying (ELW #752)
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say 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
Drawn together in the compassion of God, we pray for the church, the
world, and all those in need.
Silence
Unite your church, O God. Grant us the gifts of repentance and reconciliation. Bless the cooperative work of churches in this community. Strengthen ecumenical partnerships; guide the work of the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Protect your creation, O God. Teach us ways that do not harm what you have entrusted to our care. Renew and enliven places suffering from drought, flood, storms, or pollution. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Turn nations and leaders from ways that lead to death. Shape new paths toward peace and cooperation, teaching us to recognize one another as neighbors. Guide legislators, civil servants, judges, and police toward laws that protect the well-being of all. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Tend to all in need of your compassion. Hear the cries of those awaiting justice and those yearning for forgiveness. Give community to the lonely and neighbors to the outcast. Shelter all who are vulnerable in body, mind, or spirit. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Sustain us in our work, O God, and give work to those who need it. Shape societies to ensure fair treatment for all who labor. Help us to love our neighbors in and through our work. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
We remember with thanksgiving those who have died in faith. As you equipped them, equip us with your protection and power, until with them we see your salvation. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering
**Although
not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would
encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off
or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the
church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking
place.
Let us pray.
Salvation belongs to our God
and to Christ the Lamb forever and ever.
Great and wonderful are your deeds,
O God of the universe;
just and true are your ways,
O Ruler of all the nations.
Who can fail to honor you, Lord,
and sing the glory of your name?
Salvation belongs to our God
and to Christ the Lamb forever and ever.
For you alone are the Holy One,
and blessed is the one
whose name is the Word of God.
All praise and thanks to you, holy God!
Salvation belongs to our God
and to Christ the Lamb forever and ever.
Amen.
Thanksgiving for the Word
Let us pray.
Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and brought life into being. For your Word of life, O God, we give you thanks and praise.
By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from exile, wisdom for life with you. For your Word of life, O God, we give you thanks and praise.
Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the way of your self-giving love. For your Word of life, O God, we give you thanks and praise.
Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory forever. Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your
name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in
heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time
of trial
and deliver us from
evil.
For the kingdom, the
power,
and the glory are
yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Blessing
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord’s face shine on you with grace and
mercy.
The Lord look upon you with favor and give you
peace.
Amen.
Sending Song – Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart (ELW #800)
Dismissal
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage;
hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the
fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and
serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
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