PENTECOST 24 Worship Service | 11-12-23
St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
PENTECOST 24
11-12-2023 10:00AM “Hybrid” Worship
+ We Rejoice in the Spirit +
THE OPENING RITE: Pastor Gwen
L The day of the Lord is near.
C Any time is God’s time!
L The day of the Lord is coming.
C We want to be ready at all times!
L This might be the very day and hour of the Lord’s coming.
C We will not fear as those who have no hope! We will be prepared!
L But the truth is that sometimes we are wise and sometimes foolish, sometimes watchful and sometimes careless,
sometimes ready and sometimes unprepared. And so we confess as individuals and as a congregation…
C O Lord, you know our failings better than we do; our sins are revealed in the light of your face.
We are not always the faithful servants you expect us to be or the committed Christians we pretend to be. Our days and years pass by; the things we trust in fade like grass.
Often we miss the moments you offer us –
those moments meant to bless, assure, and strengthen us…
those moments for our faithful witness or our loving service.
Before it is too late, we pray for your forgiveness.
While there is still time, we beg for a second chance. Have mercy on us, Lord! Amen.
L The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord will stand forever. Through the living Word, (+) Jesus Christ, God forgives your every debt, your every sin, all your failings and missed moments… and gives you a new heart and a new spirit. So take the grace now, live the grace now, follow Christ now, believe now, allow your life to change for the better now, serve God now. O my sisters and brothers, turn to God. He will not turn away from you! Hallelujah!
OPENING SONG: “LEANING ON THE EVERLASTING ARMS” Brown #220
PRAYER OF THE DAY (together):
Almighty God, you have created your people to be the Body of Christ here on earth,
ONE HOLY CHURCH of faithful living and fervent loving.
Give us the light that we need, and awaken us to the needs of others.
We want to be ready when the trumpet sounds, when the saints go marching in. Amen.
+ We Rejoice in God’s Saving Word +
FIRST READING: AMOS 5:18-24 Ben Shipanga
[The DAY OF THE LORD – Wonderful worship, no matter how sincere, will never be a worthy substitute for daily lives of justice and righteousness.]
5:18 Alas for you who desire the day of the LORD! Why do you want the day of the LORD? It is darkness, not light;
5:19 as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake.
5:20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
5:21 I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
5:22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon.
5:23 Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.
SECOND READING: 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18 Regina Carter
[The DAY OF THE LORD – The faithful who have already died and the faithful who are still alive will all be saved and will dwell with Christ forever.]
4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
4:16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.
4:18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
GOSPEL VERSE:
“I really love the Lord… I really love the Lord!
You don’t know what He’s done for me, gave me the victory.
I love Him, I love Him… I really love the Lord!” (repeat)
HOLY GOSPEL: MATTHEW 25:1-13 Riana Mathis
[The DAY OF THE LORD – Will you be ready for judgment or ready for resurrection? Don’t wait “too long” and risk “too late”!]
25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
25:2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.
25:3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them;
25:4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.
25:5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.
25:6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’
25:7 Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps.
25:8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
25:9 But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’
25:10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut.
25:11 Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’
25:12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’
25:13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
SONG SELECTION ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE SERMON: Pastor Neil or Pastor Gwen
SONG RESPONSE: “IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR HIS COMING”
- It’s about time for His coming, it’s about time for His coming,
It’s about time for His coming, the coming of the Lord.
It’s about time for His coming, it’s about time for His coming,
It’s about time for His coming, the coming of the Lord!
- It’s about time, are you ready? …
- It’s about time, yes I’m ready! …
THE PRAYERS… We pray for NEW LIFE in the Spirit and the MISSION of the Church to the world! Ida Swindle
+ We Rejoice in God’s Nourishing Meal +
THE OFFERING… May the Spirit of God within us guide us to grateful, generous, and fruitful discipleship!
SONG SELECTION: ALL SAINTS CHOIR
THE OFFERTORY SONG:
“Thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… thank you, Lord… I just want to thank you, Lord!
(2) Been so good…
(3) Love you, Lord…”
OFFERING PRAYER led by the Communion Assistant: Maliek Patterson
God of grace and glory, we thank you for the gift of creation and the gift of our lives,
for the gift of salvation and the gift of Jesus Christ,
for the gift of your Holy Spirit and the gift of your Church.
Take our attitude of gratitude and transform it into caring and sharing towards the least, the lost, and the lonely all over the face of this earth.
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Amen.
THE PREFACE:
L The Lord be with you. C And also with you.
L Lift up your hearts! C We lift them up in love for God!
L Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. C It is right to give God our thanks and praise
L Almighty God, today we celebrate Christ’s coming among us in the word of life and the feast of victory.
Today we want to humble ourselves, repent, and be grateful for the gift of God’s saving grace.
Today we pray to do our best to serve Christ in faith, hope, and love.
And today we add our voices with all the faithful of every time and place in singing…
C [singing]… (1) “O when the saints go marching in… O when the saints go marching in…
O Lord, I want to be in that number – when the saints go marching in!
(2) O when they gather ‘round that throne…
(3) O when they crown him King of kings…
(4) And on that hallelujah day…”
THE EUCHARISTIC WORDS by the Celebrant, who recalls and re-enacts Jesus’ Holy Meal.
THE LORD’S PRAYER (spoken)
COMMUNION AND BLESSINGS… All believers in Jesus Christ are welcome at the Lord’s Table! We will have “continuous distribution” with wafers and your choice of wine from the chalice or grape juice from the tray . Praise the Lord for this community meal that renews our spirits, powers our faith, and reminds us of the future heavenly banquet that awaits us!
COMMUNION SONGS: Brown #119 Brown #38
THE COMMUNION BLESSING by the Celebrant after all have communed.
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER by the Communion Assistant. Tanya Morris
+ We Rejoice in Our Mission +
THE BENEDICTION by the Pastor…We are sent forth to be and become the BODY OF CHRIST for the world!
CLOSING SONG: “WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!” Brown #295