X In Nomine Iesu Christi X
THE OPENING SENTENCES
Pastor: O Lord, open my lips,
People: and my mouth will declare Your raise.
Pastor: Make haste, O God, to deliver me.
People: Make haste to help me, O Lord.
THE GLORIA PATRI All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
THE SEASONAL VERSE All: Praise to You, O Christ, Alleluia.
THE VENITE All: Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. The deep places of the earth are in His hand; the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
THE PSALMODY Psalm 146
Pastor: Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! People: I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Pastor: Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. People: When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Pastor: Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, People: who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; Pastor: who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. People: The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. Pastor: The Lord watches over the sojourners; He upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked He brings to ruin. People: The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
THE GLORIA PATRI All: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
THE CHILDREN'S SERMON
THE HYMN (Lutheran Service Book #797) All: Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him! Yes, I will laud Him until death; With songs and anthems I come before Him As long as He allows me breath. From Him my life and all things came; Bless. O my soul, His holy name. Alleluia! Alleluia! Trust not in rulers; they are but mortal; Earth-born they are and soon decay. Vain are their counsels at life’s last portal, When the dark grave engulfs its prey. Since mortals can no help afford, Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord. Alleluia! Alleluia!
THE FIRST READING Acts 6:1-9; 7:2; 51-60 (ESV) Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.” And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. And the Word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of Glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
THE EPISTLE 1 Peter 2:2-10 (ESV) Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation--if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him, a living Stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a Cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The Stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone,” and “A Stone of stumbling, and a Rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the Word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
THE HOLY GOSPEL John 14:1-14 (ESV) [Jesus said:] “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
THE RESPONSORY Pastor: Sing to the Lord and bless His name, Proclaim His salvation from day to day. People: Give to the Lord all glory and strength, give Him the honor due His name. Alleluia, alleluia. Pastor: Now Christ is risen from the dead and become the Firstfruits of them that sleep. People: Give to the Lord all glory and strength, give Him the honor due His name. Alleluia, alleluia. Pastor: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. People: Give to the Lord all glory and strength, give Him the honor due His name. Alleluia, alleluia. THE
SERMON “Seeing and Showing God” (John 14:8-10)
THE CANTICLE The Te Deum Laudamus All: We praise You, O God, we acknowledge You to be the Lord. All the earth now worships You, the Father Everlasting. To You all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the powers therein. To You cherubim and seraphim continually do cry: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Your glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise You. The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise You. The noble army of martyrs praise You. The holy Church throughout all the world does acknowledge You: The Father of an Infinite Majesty; Your adorable, true, and only Son; also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. You are the King of Glory, O Christ; You are the everlasting Son of the Father. When You took upon Yourself to deliver man, You humbled Yourself to be born of a virgin. When You had overcome the sharpness of death, You opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You sit at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father. We believe that You will come to be our Judge. We therefore pray You to help Your servants, whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood. Make them to be numbered with Your saints in glory everlasting. O Lord, save Your people and bless Your heritage. Govern them and lift them up forever. Day by day we magnify You. And we worship Your name forever and ever. Grant, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin. O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us. O Lord, let Your mercy be upon us, as our trust is in You. O Lord, in You have I trusted; let me never be confounded.
THE LORD’S PRAYER All: 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.
COLLECT OF THE DAY Pastor: Let us pray: O God, You make the minds of Your people to be of one will. Grant that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Congregation: Amen.
THE PRAYER OF THE CHURCH (after each petition:) Pastor: Lord, in Your mercy, People: hear our prayer. (at the end:) People: Amen.
THE COLLECT FOR GRACE Pastor: O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in the same with Your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, being ordered by Your governance, may be righteous in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. People: Amen.
THE BENEDICTION Pastor: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit X be with you all. People: Amen.
THE HYMN (Lutheran Service Book #797)
All: Blessed, oh, blessed are they forever Whose help is from the Lord Most High, Whom from salvation can nothing sever, And who in hope to Christ draw nigh. To all who trust in Him, our Lord Will aid and counsel now afford. Alleluia! Alleluia! Penitent sinners, for mercy crying, Pardon and peace from Him obtain; Ever the wants of the poor supplying, Their faithful God He will remain. He helps His children in distress, The widows and the fatherless. Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise, all you people, the name so holy Of Him who does such wondrous things! All that has being, to praise Him solely, With happy heart its amen sings. Children of God, with angel host Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Alleluia! Alleluia!