Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost Worship Bulletin

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

PENTECOST 18   –    Coronavirus
09-26-2021      10:00AM Zoom Worship

OPENING SONG:     “REVIVE US AGAIN”                                                                      Brown #100   

THE OPENING RITE:       

L   May the steadfast love of God, the life of (+) Jesus Christ, and the growth of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C    And also with you.

L   Are any among us suffering? We should pray.
Are any of us cheerful? We should sing songs of praise.
Are any of us sick? Let us call the elders of the church, and have them pray, anointing the sick with oil in Jesus’ name.

C    Let us sing together, pray together, bear one another’s burdens, be honest and open about our failures, forgive one another, share in one another’s sufferings, support and guide one another in our weaknesses, and in all ways conceivable carry on together like the FAMILY OF CHRIST we are called to be and become.

L   Let’s work on it together.
Let’s try to do better as a congregation and as individuals.
Let’s blend our faith and abilities with the faith and abilities of others who also share Jesus’ name, spirit, and mission.
Let’s not be a stumbling block to the faith of others.
Let’s offer life and save lives through the new life we have in Jesus Christ!

C    And let us pray.
    Loving God of generous grace, saturate us with your Spirit, enlighten our eyes, instruct our minds, strengthen our hearts, revive our souls, and guide our lips and our lives to bear witness to Jesus Christ and to become a blessing to others.  Amen.  

FIRST READING:   NUMBERS 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29    [The Creator: faithful mercy and abundant grace.] 

11:4 The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat!

11:5 We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

11:6 but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

11:10 Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the LORD became very angry, and Moses was displeased.

11:11 So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?

11:12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors?

11:13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’

11:14 I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me.

11:15 If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once–if I have found favor in your sight–and do not let me see my misery.”

11:16 So the LORD said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you.

11:24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent.

11:25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again.

11:26 Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp.

11:27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

11:28 And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!”

11:29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!”

SECOND READING:   JAMES 5:13-20      [The Church: praying, healing, forgiving, reconciling, restoring.]

5:13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.

5:14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.

5:15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.

5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

5:17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.

5:18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

5:19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,

5:20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

GOSPEL VERSE:
“There is strength in the name of the Lord…
There is power in the name of the Lord
There is hope in the name of the Lord…
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”  

THE HOLY GOSPEL:   MARK 9:38-50    [The disciple: Not a stumbling block to Jesus’ way.]

9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.

9:40 Whoever is not against us is for us.

9:41 For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

9:42 “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.

9:43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.

9:45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.

9:47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,

9:48 where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

9:49 “For everyone will be salted with fire.

9:50 Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

SERMON:    Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen

SONG SELECTION           

AFFIRMATION OF BAPTISM  [Previously baptized into the ONE Church of Jesus Christ on this earth, and now officially joining our St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church family through public affirmation of his baptism, is  John Gotschall.] 

L   Let us pray. Merciful God, we thank you for our brother in Christ, whom you have made your own by water and the Word in baptism. You have called him to yourself, enlightened him with the gifts of your Spirit, and nourished him in the community of faith. Uphold your servant in the gifts and promises of baptism, and unite the hearts of all that you have brought to new birth. We ask this in the name of Christ.

C    Amen.

L   I ask you to profess your faith in Christ Jesus, reject sin, and confess the faith of the church.
Do you renounce the devil and all the forces of evil that defy God?

• • • I renounce them.

L   Do you renounce the powers of this world that rebel against God?

• • • I renounce them.

L   Do you renounce the ways of sin that draw you from God?

• • • I renounce them.

L   Do you believe in God the Father?

• • • (and ALL)   I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

L   Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

• • • (and ALL)   I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.   He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.  He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.  He descended into hell.  On the third day he rose again.  He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come to judge the living and the dead.

L   Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

• • • (and ALL)   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.

L   You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy Baptism: to live among God’s faithful people; to hear the Word of God and share in the Lord’s supper; to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; to serve all people, following the example of Jesus; and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?

• • • I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

L   People of God, do you promise to support our brother and pray for him in his life in Christ?

C    We do, and we ask God to help and guide us.

L   (laying hands on and praying)  O God, stir up in John the gift of your Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever.  Amen.

OFFERING… Through loving deeds and generous acts, God gives each of us the opportunity to become a blessing to others. Let us truly represent the presence, the peace, the power, and the promises of Jesus to a searching, sinsick, and suffering world. 

THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“More about Jesus would I know, more of his grace to others show,

           More of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me.

                               MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS… MORE, MORE ABOUT JESUS…

                    MORE OF HIS SAVING FULLNESS SEE, MORE OF HIS LOVE WHO DIED FOR ME.

           More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern;

           Spirit of God, my Teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.” 

OFFERING PRAYER  (see Philippians 3:10-11):        

     Dear God, I want to know Christ inside and out. I want to experience the power of his resurrection and join him in his suffering. I want to be like him in his death and be raised like him from death. As I grow in the grace of Christ, make me strong in my faith, bold in my witness, and fervent in my servant-love. There is no better life than life in Christ!   Amen. 

MUSIC SELECTION:    Dennis Fortune 

THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and for the MISSION of the Church to the world!    ?     

THE LORD’S PRAYER

SONG SELECTION               

THE BENEDICTION… We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!