WELCOME! To those who worship with us today we bid welcome in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that this service will enable you to seek His forgiveness and prepare you for a new week with our Master as together we recommit ourselves to serving Him. Visitors, please introduce yourselves to the pastor and sign our guest book prior to leaving this morning. Those having no regular place of worship are heartily invited to join us _____________________________________________________________________________ X Seventh Sunday of Easter X Memorial Day Weekend May 24, 2020
Liturgy: Matins (pages 219-228)* Hymns:
The Responsory is the one for Easter on page 222; the canticle is the Te Deum on pages 223-225. ____________________________________________________________________________
THE PSALM Psalm 68:1-10 (ESV)
Pastor: God shall arise, His enemies shall be/scattered;
and those who hate Him shall flee be/fore Him!
Congregation: As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive/them away;
as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish be/fore God!
Pastor: But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult be/fore God;
they shall be jubilant/with joy!
Congregation: Sing to God, sing praises/to His name; lift up a song to Him who rides through the deserts; His name is the Lord; exult be/fore Him!
Pastor: Father of the fatherless and Protector of/widows
is God in His holy habi/tation.
Congregation: God settles the solitary in a home; He leads out the prisoners to pros/perity, but the rebellious dwell in a/parched land.
Pastor: O God, when You went out before Your/people,
when You marched through the/wilderness,
Congregation: the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of/Sinai,
before God, the God of/Israel.
Pastor: Rain in abundance, O God, You/shed abroad;
You restored Your inheritance as it/languished;
Congregation: Your flock found a dwell/ing in it;
in Your goodness, O God, You provided for the/needy.
All: Glory be to the Father and/to the Son
and to the Holy/Spirit;
as it was in the be/ginning,
is now, and will be forever./Amen.
THE FIRST READING Acts 1:12-26 (ESV) Then [the apostles] returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was taken up from us--one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
THE EPISTLE 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11 (ESV) Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of Glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
THE HOLY GOSPEL John 17:1-11 (ESV) When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. I have manifested Your name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world. Yours they were, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. For I have given them the words that You gave Me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are One.”
COLLECT OF THE DAY
Pastor: O King of Glory, Lord of Hosts, uplifted in triumph far above all heavens, leave us not without consolation but send us the Spirit of Truth whom You promised from the Father; for You live and reign with Him and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Congregation: Amen. _____________________________________________________________________________ Acknowledgments: Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Propers © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Reprinted by permission. License #000010218.