Fifth Sunday After Pentecost Worship Order of Service

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

PENTECOST 5   –    Coronavirus

06-27-2021      10:00AM Zoom Worship

THE OPENING RITE:

L   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   Sisters and brothers: Tenderly, graciously, God reaches out to us…

C    to touch us with mercy and love!

L   God knows our suffering and our sickness…

C    God’s will is for health and wholeness.

L   God shares our trials and tribulations…

C    God’s Spirit surrounds us and flows through us.

L   God confronts us in our sin and embraces us in our sorrow…

C    God offers us healing and new life.

L   No disease, no addiction, no illness of any kind, no burdens, no brokenness, no sin, no suffering, no troubles, no torment, no danger, no disaster of any kind – no, not even death! – will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

C    There is no power like GOD’S POWER! And there is no love like GOD’S LOVE! 

L   Therefore, let us gather together in worship and partake of God’s grace…

C    for here there is a new day, with new beginnings and fresh hope! Amen to that! 

OPENING SONG:    “THERE’S NOT A FRIEND LIKE THE LOWLY JESUS”                           Tan #308

PRAYER OF THE DAY:       

        O God, the loving touch of Christ has drawn us here, the healing power of Christ has brought us together.
        Heal the wounded places and the wounded ways in our lives, and help us to touch others with your love.   Amen.  

FIRST READING:   LAMENTATIONS 3:22-33   [A people accepts its guilt, hopes that God will renew his mercy.]

3:22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

3:23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

3:24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.

3:26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

3:27 It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,

3:28 to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,

3:29 to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),

3:30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.

3:31 For the Lord will not reject forever.

3:32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

3:33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.

PSALM 30 (selected verses):

L   I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have surely lifted me up!
Lord, you have protected me from my enemies!
Lord, you have restored me to health!
Lord, you have brought me up from the dead!
Lord, you have saved me and spared me so many times! HALLELUJAH today and always!

C    My praise is shouted in humble gratitude!
    My songs are offered with unlimited joy!
    My midnight weeping has turned into the sunrise of joy!
    My sad slumped shoulders have yielded to dancing feet!
    O Lord, you are surely my strength and my peace! HALLELUJAH today and always!

SONG SELECTION

SECOND READING:   2 CORINTHIANS 8:7-15   [The call to show Christ-like love through financial giving to others.]

8:7 Now as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you–so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

8:8 I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.

8:9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

8:10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something–

8:11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.

8:12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has–not according to what one does not have.

8:13 I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between

8:14 your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.

8:15 As it is written, “The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.”

GOSPEL VERSE:     “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

      Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.   
      Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.   
      Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” 

THE HOLY GOSPEL:   MARK 5:21-43   [The barrier-breaking and life-giving love of Jesus!]

5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.

5:22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet

5:23 and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.”

5:24 So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.

5:25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.

5:26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

5:27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

5:28 for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.”

5:29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

5:30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

5:31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?'”

5:32 He looked all around to see who had done it.

5:33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

5:34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

5:35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?”

5:36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

5:37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

5:38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

5:39 When he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

5:40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

5:41 He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha cum,” which means, “Little girl, get up!”

5:42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.

5:43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

THE SERMON:       Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen 

SONG SELECTION:        “MY GOD IS AWESOME”

A CREED OF FAITH:                    

    As long as I have breath in my body…
                I will seek to praise God.

    As long as I have a mind that is sound…
                I will try to walk in the love of Christ.

    Oh, deep down in the soul of my heart…
                I desire to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

    Because I have been saved to serve…
                I will do my best to think right, say right, do right, and be right.

    Because I am serving to save others…
                I want to be real around others,

        to be a liberating presence in the lives of others,
                        to be a person for others,
                            walking in faith and sharing God’s grace
                            every hour, every day.     Amen to that!

OFFERINGSaint Paul encouraged the Christians of the city of Corinth, who were Gentiles, to reach out with Christ-like love and financial aid to Jewish Christians back in Jerusalem, thus bringing two types of healing. How will we respond to the needs of others, even if they are “different” from us? Lord, make us as generous as you!  

OFFERING SONG:       “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!
                                        Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

                THIS IS MY STORY, THIS IS MY SONG,
PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG!   [sing the chorus 2 times]

         We are God’s people, we are Christ’s Church, called by God’s Spirit into the world.
 We have God’s power from heaven above, we’ll share God’s justice, mercy and love!” 

OFFERING PRAYER:                 

     Lord God, thank you for making a way out of no way in my life!
     During this summer may I dedicate my leisure and my work, my rest and travel, my service and spending, my health and my wealth, my worship and my witness to glorify You and to extend your Kingdom to others.
 Someone somewhere is in need of your Good News.  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:        “I’M SO GLAD JESUS LIFTED ME”                              Tan #238

THE BENEDICTION